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The iPhone 8 leaks continue to pour in thick and fast as Apple’s special event approaches. The latest, believed to be a SIM tray, all but confirms the all-new handset will be available in an all-new copper or “blush gold” color option.
The iPhone lineup has been available in the same color options for years now. Apple added a PRODUCT(RED) option to the iPhone 7 series earlier this year, almost certainly in an effort to boost weak sales, but we don’t expect it to be a permanent addition.
There will be new options for iPhone 8, however. Recent reports have promised us a new copper or “blush gold” model, which looks pretty spectacular in early, unofficial renders. Now those claims may have been confirmed by what is said to be a leaked iPhone 8 SIM tray.
The images were published by Benjamin Geskin, @VenyaGeskin1 on Twitter, who has become well-known for his iPhone leaks. Assuming they are genuine, they reveal the new gold finish for iPhone 8 that’s significantly darker than previous gold models.
#iPhone8 SIM Card Tray
— Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin) September 5, 2017
It’s not totally clear what the other color options will be. We can see another SIM tray in silver in the photo above, but we don’t know if the existing black and jet black options will be sticking around. It’s unlikely Apple would offer just two models, however.
The company’s plans will become clear next Tuesday, September 12, when it hosts its big iPhone event from the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park.


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Could this 'miracle berry' hold the key to long-term weight loss? Fruit-based pill turns sour foods sweet - and may even cure diabetes
A wild berry native to West Africa which has been turned into a dissolving tablet, may hold the key to successful long-term weight loss.
Nicknamed the miracle berry, the plant contains a naturally-occurring protein that temporarily inhibits sour flavors from entering taste bud receptacles, while at the same time sweentening spicy, salty and bitter foods.
Homaro Cantu, a Chicago-based chef who re-discovered the berries properties, said the organic, non-genetically modified plant could help in eliminating sugar and sweeteners from American diets altogether.
Sour to sweet: The berry contains a naturally-occurring protein that temporarily inhibits sour flavors from entering taste bud receptacles
Mr Cantu believes the berries will revolutionize eating habits, and eventually help in the decline of diagnosed diabetes.
'It tricks your tongue into thinking something that's sour, is sweet,' he explained to Good Morning America.
The protein found in the berry, called miraculin, can make a glass of water with lemon tastes like lemonade, and nonfat plain Greek Yogurt taste like cheesecake.
When the fleshy part of the berry is eaten, the miraculin binds sweet receptors on the taste buds - at a neutral pH, the protein simply blocks receptors, but at low pH, after eating sour foods, the miraculin actually activates the sweet receptors, resulting in the perception of sweet taste.
Key to long-term weightless? A Chicago-based chef has developed recipes that use the berry tablet instead of sugar or other sweeteners (left); the brand mberry sells 10 tablets for $15 on its website (right)
Mr Cantu, known for his scientific gastronomical experiences like printing edible sushi, re-discovered the berry six years ago while working with a cancer patient who lost her sense of taste after intensive chemotherapy treatment.
The berry, which is classified as a food additive by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, allegedly counteracts one of the many side effects of chemotherapy - a metallic taste in the mouth.
Miracle chef: Homaro Cantu discovered the berry six years ago while working with a cancer patient who lost her sense of taste after chemotherapy
Now, he has taken his findings to create hundreds of recipes that use the berries instead of sugar or other sweeteners.
Purchsing the actual berries is costly and time-sensitive (their sehlf-life stands at one or two days in the fridge), so Mr Cantu's The Miracle Berry Diet Cookbook uses recipes designed to interact with a natural miracle berry tablet.
Once the tablet has dissolved on your tongue, it takes three minutes for taste bud receptacles react. Limes start to taste like oranges, and spices, like hot sauce of hot pepper, are toned down and even take on a sweeter flavor, Mr Cantu explained.
Some of his recipes include Orange Waffles, made with lime juice instead of oranges, and Teriyaki chicken with no added sugar, or honey.
The effects of the miracle berry, which is used to sweeten palm wine in its native West Africa, lasts 30 to 40 minutes, and is available in a pill, powder or plant form.
The brand, mberry, sells 10 tablets for $15 on its website, or $2 per fresh berry.
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Efigas, a Colombian gas company, together with its technology provider, Open International, shared their success story at the 2021 Digital + Cloud for Utilities Summit, discussing how they have been able to face the operational challenges arising from the pandemic, while also strengthening their customer service and billing operations with Open Smartflex’s cloud solution.
July 2021. On July 27, the webinar “EFIGAS – Empowering business growth with cloud” was held, where the natural gas company that distributes its services to over 600,000 customers in Colombia, shared the history of its technological evolution with its partner, Open International, a provider of customer service and billing solutions specialized for utility and telecommuncation companies.
Throughout the discussion, Eduardo Alzate, CFO of Efigas, shared how the company has been able to boost the growth of its business and the satisfaction of its users with the support of Open Smartflex, a holistic CIS solution, on the cloud. Alzate explained how having an adequate technological strategy, implemented 8 years ago, has leveraged the development of new business lines such as Brilla, a non-bank financing service that offers users an approved credit quota with which they can access a portfolio of products and services focused on improving their quality of life. This business model has allowed Efigas to increase their revenues and improve their innovation capabilities. He also shared how Efigas has managed to overcome disruptive events such as the pandemic. During the conference, Alzate said, "To overcome the challenges brought by COVID-19, Efigas relied on technology. At that time, we took full advantage of the flexibility of Open Smartflex’s software to introduce new products and services and comply with regulations in record time. What is clear to us from this experience is that to support your billing processes and adapt quickly to market changes, choosing the right partner is not an option, it is an obligation. That's the key to achieving business goals, and the reason we work with Open International."
Hernando Parrott, the president of Open International in North America, complemented Eduardo's presentation, sharing the benefits of having a billing and customer service solution within a cloud and the software requirements necessary to support business growth and operational stability. About the presentation, Parrott commented, "During this virtual session, we had the opportunity to discuss how an agile CIS solution gave Efigas the ability to accelerate its digital transformation and generate new lines of business, preserving the quality of its services, even during truly disruptive events, like the Covid-19 pandemic. We also demonstrated Open's commitment to working with our customers so that they can overcome their biggest business challenges while meeting their customers' expectations."
Finally, Rick Cutter, Managing Partner of Cloud for Utilities, stated, “It was a real pleasure to have Eduardo and Hernando be a part of Cloud for Utilities 2021. In this session we were able to learn how a utility company like Efigas managed to strengthen its operation and focus on its core business, thanks to a strategy that involves a cloud architecture infrastructure and a cloud enabled CIS solution, such as Open Smartflex, which enabled them to be agile to support new emerging customer needs”. We remind all utility attendees that if they missed the session, "Empower Growth with Cloud CIS + Cloud-Based Tech", they can view it on our virtual platform on-demand until October.
About Efigas EFIGAS is a company that distributes natural gas in 63 towns in the coffee region or central zone of the country. It stands out for receiving the Icontec seal of sustainability for the implementation of the best sustainability practices, achieving a rating of 97% in the economic dimension and 93% in the social and environmental dimension. The company's highest purpose is to transform lives for a lifetime.
Maria Corredor, US Marketing Communications Specialist, Open International [email protected]
Maria del Mar Caldas, Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations Chief, Open International [email protected]


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During its regularly scheduled meeting yesterday, the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development voted to approve Food and Agriculture Investment Fund grants for three food and agriculture projects in Michigan. The projects will help grow companies focused on cheese-making, asparagus packing and production, and grain processing as well as support the expansion of consumer-demand driven, value-added Michigan products.
“Despite being relatively new, our Food and Agriculture Investment Program is already having a significant and positive impact on businesses in every corner of the state,” said Gordon Wenk, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. “These modest investments not only help create more jobs in the short term, but they also help food and agriculture businesses position themselves for long-term success. And that’s good for everybody.”
Ridgeview Orchards LLC, of Conklin, Michigan, will receive a $50,000 performance-based grant to expand their asparagus packing and production line in Kent City. The project will require a $257,500 investment and will lead to the installation of two new buncher and labeling machines that will make the asparagus packing operations more efficient. Michigan grows approximately 20 million pounds of asparagus each year and having an efficient supply chain to move the product from the fields to the retailers is key to maintaining a strong and healthy industry in Michigan.
“Food and agriculture processing is a diversified business in Michigan, and these three projects are great examples of the support we can give to small companies in order to accelerate their growth,” said Peter Anastor, Director of MDARD’s Agriculture Development Division. “We hope these companies continue to grow and establish themselves as key pieces of our food and ag supply chain that will support local, regional and national food companies and consumers.”
The Food and Agriculture Investment Program provides financial support for food and agriculture projects that help expand food and agriculture processing to enable growth in the industry and Michigan’s economy. Projects are selected based on their impact to the overall agriculture industry and their impact to food and agriculture growth and investment in Michigan.


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Popular brand influencer, Nina Ivy is relieved of her ambassadorial deal with an organic body enhancement brand following her plastic surgery procedure
It would be recalled that the screen diva made a post with her doctors before undergoing a body enhancement surgery few days back.
In a now-deleted post, the brand with which Nina Ivy was once signed made a public disclaimer that the reality star is no longer on their team.
“Disclaimer: @mav_herbals has canceled all further contacts with the celebrity influencer @nina_ivy_. Her products are and will always be 100% organic and effective. Signed management @wynerztalent”it wrote on their Instagram page.


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Samsung, the South Korean giant, is planning to release the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 4, and Galaxy Note 3. The latest operating system from Google has been making the rounds on several Android devices, but Samsung handsets have been left behind.
However, recent leaks of the Galaxy Note 4 running Lollipop has suggested that Samsung might release the new update sooner rather than later. The leaked image showed more than just the notification and lock screen, which could be a sign that the operating system is in the final stages of being ported to the handset.
It’s not easy to tell if these images are fake, though the design screams Samsung in so many ways.
Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 4, and Galaxy Note 3
If Samsung is indeed working on porting Android 5.0 to the Galaxy Note 4, then it means the Galaxy Note 3 is bound to be a part of the process as well. Samsung centric website, SamMobile has gotten its hands on a beta version of the Lollipop for the Galaxy Note 4, and has said Samsung is working on porting the operating system to the Galaxy Note 3.
On the matter of the Galaxy S5, Samsung is also working on porting the operating system to the device.
In the past, it was reported that Samsung is focusing on releasing Android 4.4 KitKat to several of its Galaxy line of devices, so it is very interesting to see the company looking ahead with Lollipop. Samsung at the moment is staying silent on the matter because maybe the South Korean giant is planning to surprise users for the Christmas holiday.
The majority of the modern flock of Galaxy devices will likely get an update for Android 5.0 in the near future. However, the rumored Galaxy S6 is expected to launch with the operating system instead of the older Android 4.4 KitKat.
Until the day comes, Samsung users will have to wait it out a little bit longer until the company has worked out all the bugs. It is not certain when this might happen, but we expect Samsung to release the operating system sooner rather than later.
At the moment, several Android devices such as the Motorola Moto X, Moto G, Droid Turbo, Moto G 4G LTE, Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, Droid Mini and Moto E, have all been updated with the new software.


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Gameranx: "The launch trailer for BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea is out."
when is the actual DLC out
Today. Tomorrow in the EU, along with the standard store update.
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


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The latest news from the Embedded M2M Solutions Online Community. Sponsored by Sprint. Powered by TMCnet.
ITEXPO East begins in: 19 Days. REGISTER NOW!
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones, and people who live in old buildings have high utility bills. But what can we do about it? Well, if you live in a glass house, consider changing in the basement. But if you live in an older home, you could look for machine-to-machine solutions to help you save energy and money. And if you find, like Brian Zima did, that those solutions do not exist, you could create them yourself. And that is just what he did.
Global vendor of high-quality M2M modules and value-added services, Telit Wireless Solutions, today introduced two new products to its lineup, the UE910 V2 HSDPA and HE910 V2 HSPA+ modules, based on Qualcomm Technologies chipsets. Both products are to be banded for European and North American markets and feature dual-band 3G and GSM/GPRS/EDGE support.
We have all heard the phrase The Internet of Things, but, like so many other buzzy phrases, it means different things to different people. I recently had a chance to speak to Shahid Ahmed, managing director with Accenture and head of the North American Network Practice and Communications Industry division at the company. We talked about his trip to Nevada for CES, the state of the M2M space, and more.
Arterra Mobility, a company committed to making it easy for enterprises to develop custom wireless solutions to launch MNVO services faster, better and more affordably, has announced an important new hire in Andy Greig.
A telecommunication industry veteran, Greig has been appointed the senior vice president of sales and business development.
Let's face it: we are more connected now than ever before. We're on the Internet at work. Our home televisions are wired to the 'Net. We carry around a number of devices that keep us in constant connection with the world of cyberspace.
Ferrari by Logic3, a major name in premium speaker systems, has joined with GT1, and launched its new Cavallino GT1 Bluetooth speaker dock in the Ferrari Cavallino collection.
The speaker dock is largely inspired by Ferrari's timeless, high-performance GT road cars.
Recently, STMicroelectronics (ST) collaborated with Tatung, an electronics company for smart-home solutions, with an objective to develop an array of smart-home appliances that can be interconnected to form a smart-home ecosystem.
ST plans to develop variety of new products that will incorporate Tatung's variety of platforms and reference designs.
eCall cuts emergency services response time by 50 percent in the countryside and 60 percent in built-up areas. In case of a crash, an eCall-equipped car automatically calls the nearest emergency center.
The idea is to save hundreds of lives through much quicker response times.


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Nissan SA has announced plans to cut 400 of their workers in the country.
As part of an employee reduction plan, Nissan SA will be retrenching 25 percent of its workers because of its failure to secure a replacement model for its NP200 bakkie for production at its Pretoria Rosslyn Plant.
Speaking about it, The Herald reports that Nissan SA said,
“In line with our African strategy, securing a second model for production in South Africa is a priority, and a study into an alternative vehicle is already progressing.
“Until our future plans are confirmed, the business will be operating at reduced production volumes and needs to act responsibly to maintain its long-term competitiveness and be ready to secure future opportunities.”
The company has also confirmed that it has entered into a formal consultation phase to foster restructuring of the business. This, it said, “could result in a reduction in the number of employees across the company.”
The company said, “During the consultation phase, we will work with our employees, their representatives, and our partners to minimize the impact on our people and investigate other opportunities for them and for the business to ensure a sustainable future for the brand in South Africa.”
The company’s spokesperson, Mamokhele Sebatane, confirmed that 400 workers will be affected by the reduction plan.


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Media release | Fern Gavelek Communications
Leaders of the specialty coffee industry are traveling to the stateʻs largest agricultural district this weekend to learn about award-winning Ka‘ū coffee.
Representing three areas of the US Mainland, they include specialty coffee guru George Howell of Terroir Coffee in Acton, Mass.; Skip Fay of Dunn Bros Coffee in Minneapolis, Minn. and James Freeman of Blue Bottle Coffee in Oakland, Calif.
The notable coffee experts are participating in Ka‘ū coffeeʻs inaugural reverse trade mission as part of the third Ka‘ū Coffee Festival May 14-15 at the Pahala Community Center. They will learn first-hand about Ka‘ū coffee during Saturday festival activities, including guided tastings and farm tours. On Sunday, the men will give guest lectures to local coffee farmers at the free Ka‘ū Coffee College.
“We’re pleased and proud that these notable industry leaders are traveling to Ka‘ū to share in our community”, said Chris Manfredi who serves as lead festival organizer. “This strategic initiative to create collaborative relationships will benefit Ka‘ū growers and moves us another step forward on the path toward establishing Ka‘ū as a premium coffee growing origin.”
A pioneer of the specialty coffee movement in the early 1970s, George Howell founded The Coffee Connection, a high-end coffee retailer that was acquired by Starbucks in 1994. He is an expert on single-origin coffee and is a living legend in the industry.
Marshall “Skip” Fay is executive vice president of Dunn Bros Coffee Franchising, Inc. He opened Dunnʻs first franchised coffee house and roastery in 1994. Today there are 90 locations.
Named one of the New York Times’ “Nifty 50,” James Freeman is on coffee’s radar for his Blue Bottle coffee company in San Francisco’s Bay Area. Freeman’s network of coffee carts and cafes offer carefully made coffee drinks and he is committed to selling beans “less than 48 hours out of the roaster.”
The Ka‘ū Coffee Festival comes on the heels of recent coffee industry awards garnered by brews that hail from the rural southern end of the Big Island. Kailiawa Farm earned a Coffee of the Year award in the 2011 Specialty Coffee Association of Americaʻs (SCAA) annual international cupping competition. More than 120 specialty coffee submissions, representing 17 countries, competed in Houston. This marks the fifth consecutive year Ka‘ū coffees have placed at or near the top of international competition. Manfredi first introduced Ka‘ū to intentional competition in 2007 and his company, Ka‘ū Farm and Ranch, LLC, has sponsored the entries every year since.
On May 3, Hawai‘iʻs Pete Licata used Ka‘ū and Kona coffees to be the first from the 50th State to win the U.S. Barista Championship. The event is the culmination of 10 regional competitions organized by SCAA in which competitors produce espresso, cappuccinos and original signature drinks to exacting standards. Licata, of Honolulu Coffee Co., travels to Bogota, Columbia, June 2-5 to vie in the prestigious World Barista Championship.
All coffee-industry related activities at the Ka‘ū Coffee Festival are open to the general public; some require a fee.
Guided coffee tastings are $5 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and will be led by Licata and a host of coffee experts: Miguel Meza, coffee-quality consultant and co-owner of Isla Coffee Company; Dr. Shawn Steinman, coffee scientist and owner of Coffea Consulting; Andrew Hetzel, founder/director Cafemakers LLC; and Lorie Obra of Rusty’s Hawaiian Coffee, 2010 Grand Champion Hawaii Coffee Assoc. Cupping Competition.
Coffee farm tours are $10 throughout Saturday and Sunday and the Ka‘ū Coffee College is free. With the exception of the 1 p.m. recipe contest sampling for $5, all other festival activities are free, including a full day of entertainment headlined by Cyril Pahinui.
The Ka‘ū Coffee Festival is 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. For a complete lineup of activities for the entire family, visit www.kaucoffeefestival.com; and follow the Ka‘ū Coffee Festival on Facebook and Twitter at kaucoffeefest.


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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- UBM Canon, the world's leading advanced manufacturing industry resource, celebrates the 5th Anniversary of PlasticsToday, the leading online community and source of business-critical information and plastics processing technology insights for plastics processors around the world. PlasticsToday was launched in 2008 as the online portal for Modern Plastics Worldwide and Injection Molding Magazine, which served the plastics industry for more than 88 years. Since its inception, PlasticsToday has paved the way in becoming the first true online plastics community by providing high-quality editorial, vendor supplied information, and user-generated content. PlasticsToday is a one-stop-shop where plastics processors can keep up-to-date anytime, anywhere with the latest industry news, technology, events, and educational resources.
"Since its launch in 2008, PlasticsToday has experienced continuous growth in all relevant metrics," Tony Deligio, PlasticsToday Director of Content said. "More importantly, we have seen the interaction with, and among, our visitors grow as well; that's the true mark of a community."
Furthering its commitment to engagement, UBM Canon has realigned its PLASTEC, Plast-Ex, and Expoplast trade events and conferences with PlasticsToday to leverage the leading plastics community and industry information resource. PlasticsToday and PLASTEC Events will partner more closely to deliver the most relevant, cutting edge education and conferences to the plastics community both online and at its face-to-face events and conferences in North America.
"UBM Canon is a premier producer of events and conferences, and the opportunity to fully integrate the PlasticsToday experience with PLASTEC events and conferences creates a wholly unique presence in the plastics industry," Deligio said. "Online and in person, UBM Canon's Plastics Group is the best resource for plastics professionals."
PlasticsToday will begin its anniversary celebration at UBM Canon's PLASTEC Midwest event, September 10-12, 2013 in Chicago, IL. PlasticsToday will be featuring its very own Roadshow featuring industry insights from key players in the plastics processing industry. Our expert team of editors will interview key individuals live on the show floor and post the recorded sessions on the PlasticsToday website. PlasticsToday is also teaming up with Plasaver LLC, developer of innovative desktop injection molding machines, to mold special giveaways for event attendees in its booth.. These are just some of the few activities PlasticsToday has in store for the 2013-2014 event lineup.
For further information about PlasticsToday, download the 2014 Media Guide or visit plasticstoday.com. Visit ubmcanon.com/plastics to learn more about PLASTEC, Plast-Ex, and Expoplast events and conferences.
Follow @PlasticsToday for the latest news and information about the plastics industry.
About UBM Canon
UBM Canon is the leading B-to-B event producer, publisher, and digital media company for the world's $3 trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the advanced manufacturing market and leverage our proprietary 1.3 million name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. UBM Canon is part of UBM plc (UBM.L) a global provider of media and information services for professional B-to-B communities and markets.
About UBM plc
UBM plc is a global events-led marketing services and communications company. We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and sellers together at events and online, as well as producing and distributing news and specialist content. Our 5,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into expert teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
SOURCE UBM Canon


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Public Health Ontario (PHO) and the University of Waterloo collectively conducted a study recently, which analyzed around 40,000 common packaged food and beverage products in the Canadian market. The products list involved several supposedly healthier foods, such as juices, yogurts, snack bars, and breakfast cereals. It also included some baby food products and infant formulas.
What Does the Study Reveal?
The research has revealed that almost two- thirds of the commonly available packaged foods and drinks (over 65% of the products considered for the study) in Canada’s market have at least one added sugar in the featured ingredient list.
- Among sweets and snacks, over 12,500 products were analyzed and more than 85% of them have been found to contain minimum one added sugar.
- Out of over 1,000 yogurt products, nearly 74% have been identified to have added sugars.
- Among over 3,100 beverages on the market, more than 78% juices, sports drinks, pops, and other drinks are found enlisting added sugars in them.
- From around 530 baby food and infant formula products, roughly 48% have been recognized with added sugars.
David Hammond, Professor, Waterloo University, states, “It wasn’t a case of were the levels high and low in some other categories; it was a case of high and higher,” which is more concerning.
According to the US, Canadian, and other international groups, the intake of added sugars should be limited to the maximum 5-10% of the total calories consumed. PHO’s recent studies prompts at the Canada’s market for packaged food and beverages, signaling an alert on the added sugar that was observed to be of a major concern in around 40,000 products currently available on the market.
While Health Canada and dieticians across Canada are all disappointed to see such results, Health Canada has already announced some amendments to the exiting packaging rules. One of the spokespersons, Kate Comeau, says that grouping of added sugars in the ingredients list on packaging could be a positive change and the results concluded from this study could be immensely helpful to create a baseline before the new set of regulations steps in.
The Recent Coca-Cola Case with Added Sugars
A public health advocacy group, Plaintiff – the Praxis Project, filed a legal complaint against the Coca-Cola Company and ABA (the American Beverage Association) on January 4, 2017. The complaint targets the Coca-Cola Company for its consistently misleading and false advertising campaigns practiced for SSBs (sugar-sweetened beverages).
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California and highlights the connection of consuming of SSBs to getting prone to CVDs, obesity, and type II diabetes. However, the complaint by Plaintiff does not convincingly address any alternate causes of the mentioned diseases. Moreover, Plaintiff, in its complaint, has cited a number of scientific research and public health entities to support the direct linkage of SSBs with any chronic diseases.


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Today, a 3DMark user that goes by the name of ED1981 submitted an entry to 3DMark's Time Spy database that features an unannounced graphics card from AMD called the Radeon RX 590.
Many rumors have been going around claiming AMD will launch a refresh of its Radeon RX 500-series graphics card this month while it continues to work on its next-generation Navi architecture. The purported refresh, which has been dubbed Polaris 30, is expected to be built on the 12nm FinFET manufacturing process. The die-shrink from 14nm to 12nm would allow Polaris 30 graphics cards to come with higher operating clocks and lower power consumption in comparison to its Radeon RX 500-series counterparts. From a performance standpoint, we can expect an increase somewhere in the range of 10 percent to, if we're feeling optimistic, 15 percent.
The Radeon RX 590 that popped up in 3DMark's database was clocked at 1,545MHz, which is around 205MHz higher than a stock Radeon RX 580's boost clock. Much like the Radeon RX 580, the Radeon RX 590 apparently is equipped with 8GB of memory operating at a frequency of 8,000MHz. It's very likely the Radeon RX 590 leverages GDDR5 memory.
Radeon RX 590 vs. Radeon RX 580
ED1981 had previously benchmarked a Radeon RX 580 with the Time Spy benchmark. The Radeon RX 580 scored 4,399 points and recorded 29.61 frames per second (fps) and 24.55 fps in both graphics tests. The Radeon RX 590 scored 4,759 points and pumped out 32.25 fps and 26.4 fps. Based on these numbers, the Radeon RX 590 is reportedly about eight percent faster than the Radeon RX 580.
The Radeon RX 580 sits comfortably above GeForce GTX 1060 6GB on the graphics card hierarchy. With the RX 580 currently priced at $250, a RX 590's success would depend on two major factors: pricing and availability. If AMD releases a RX 590 with a sub-$300 price tag, AMD could possibly have a winner on its hands and potentially steal some of Nvidia's GTX 1060 market share.


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If you were one of roughly 50 percent of people who said they'd be interested in buying an Apple TV, you may soon be in luck.
Though talk indicates Apple is indeed moving forward with a TV set - expected sometime next year - how the Cupertino company intended to deliver programming through the device was a point of contention.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, sources are now saying that instead of Apple going head-to-head with cable providers, it's taken the position of wooing pay-TV providers with the offer of playing their live shows and other content through a set-top box built by Apple.
For those concerned about quality and compatibility, the sources reported the set-top box technology Apple's developing could be integrated with HDTVs.
Jobs not a fan
Steve Jobs, Apple's brilliant though choleric boss, was reportedly "dismissive" of attempts to build a cable box, the Journal reports, because cable operators each have limited regional exposure and don't own the content they license.
However, Jobs may have missed the boat on this one as Verizon Wireless and Comcast have apps on Microsoft's Xbox 360 apps and Samsung brings providers directly to its smart HDTVs.
Countless other providers offer streaming access through the iPad and other mobile devices.
No deal has been inked yet, perhaps because cable companies are reluctant to give an inch to the litigious Apple, but time will tell if Apple TV changes from a dream into reality.
Via The Verge and The Wall Street Journal


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This Week's Hot Headlines
Gorgeous new gelato shop scoops into this week's 5 top Dallas stories
Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines.
1. A shop with the prettiest gelato in the world is coming to Plano. The prettiest gelato in the world is coming to Plano. Amorino Gelato, the Paris-born chain known for its picture-perfect cones that look like roses, is unfurling its second shop in the DFW area with a location set to open at Legacy West.
2. Step inside these 7 spectacular houses on Lakewood's storied home tour. The 42nd annual Lakewood Home Festival will spotlight seven houses that showcase new design alongside historic architecture. This year’s theme, "I heart Lakewood," helps celebrate the many reasons that residents of this beloved East Dallas community choose to make their homes there. Here's a closer look at the houses on the tour.
3. Broadway star adds sparkle to Dallas Symphony Orchestra's grand gala. The star performer at this year's Dallas Symphony Orchestra gala is an Oklahoma girl, but the enraptured audience didn't hold it against her. Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth wowed the crowd at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Afterwards, guests, dressed in their designer best headed for the after-party.
4. These 9 food festivals make Dallas the yummiest place to be this fall. Fall in Dallas is prime time for fun food events, no matter what kind of cuisine — or party — you prefer. Whether you crave barbecue, veggies, or posh passed apps, there's a fête for that. This fall, may your cup runneth over at these nine food events that will fill your schedule and your plate, too.
5. Stylish socialites turn out for start of Dallas' fall society season. It was TGIF at the Neiman Marcus flagship store downtown, where Dallas' most fashionable ladies and gents gathered to celebrate the end of the week and the official start of fall society season with the annual Crystal Charity Ball 10 Best Dressed Fashion Show and Luncheon.


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CARBONDALE – The tantalizing smells of pizza and cinnamon bread twists filled the air as the doors officially opened on Carbondale's own Domino's location.
The grand opening on August 21st saw community members, the Chamber of Commerce, and members of City Hall visit. Free bread twists and music provided by the Carbondale Area High School Band.
The band will return some time in October for their own fundraising efforts. The band members will help make pizza for a day and half of the pickup sales will go to the band. No date was announced yet.
Although the new pizza place was greeted with much enthusiasm, this isn't the first time that Domino's has been in Carbondale.
About twenty years ago, there was a Domino's in the convenience store across the street from the current location. Unfortunately when the convenience store closed, so did the popular pizza place.
Seth Gollhardt, local franchise owner for Domino's of northeast Pennsylvania, pointed out that even though Domino's is a chain, it's also an opportunity to employ local people.
“All the people who work here are people from the area,” Gollhardt said. “We're looking to hire both inside staff and delivery drivers. We'll need more people.”
Anyone interested in a job at Domino's should apply online at jobs.dominos.com.
Applicants should take care to apply for the “Carbondale Pennsylvania” location.
Gollhardt pointed out with good humor that a couple customers had already made the mistake of placing an order through the Carbondale Illinois location.
“And it wasn't ready when they got here,” Gollhardt said.
Another big feature to the new location is the party/meeting room in the back, free to reserve as long as food is purchased from Domino's. That room also comes with a 60 inch TV so anyone reserving the room can hook up their laptop or Apple TV.
Visitors can look forward to a $7.99 carry out special, a free meeting and party room, modern technology and seeing more local people employed in the area. It's a good time to have pizza.


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The same day that Apple released a software update to fix an iOS 11 autocorrect bug, the company says that it's got another software update coming to fix another bug.
Apple says that it plans to release a software update to address an issue that causes the iPhone X's touchscreen to become unusable in cold environments. The screen will become fully responsive a few moments after being exposed to cold environments, Apple explains, but it still wants to release an update to fix the issue.
Here's the full statement that Apple sent to The Loop regarding this issue:
“We are aware of instances where the iPhone X screen will become temporarily unresponsive to touch after a rapid change to a cold environment. After several seconds the screen will become fully responsive again. This will be addressed in an upcoming software update.”
Earlier this week, Reddit user darus214 said that their iPhone X became unresponsive after stepping outside in the cold. Some other users reported the same issue while others had no problem using their phone in the cold, and some said that locking and then unlocking the phone would fix the problem.
While not everyone seems to be affected by this problem, it is an issue as winter and cold temperatures are approaching for many of us. It's unclear when Apple plans to release this update, but with iOS 11.2 currently in beta, it's possible that Apple will bundle a fix in an upcoming beta and then release it with the public iOS 11.2 update.
Are you iPhone X owners having any issues using your phone's touchscreen in cold temperatures?


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The MarketWatch News Department was not involved in the creation of this content.
Nov 25, 2020 (Market Insight Reports) —
Selbyville, Delaware. The Automotive Transmission Market report upholds the future market predictions related to Automotive Transmission market size, revenue, production, Consumption, gross margin and other substantial factors. It also examines the role of the prominent Automotive Transmission market players involved in the industry including their corporate overview. While emphasizing the key driving factors for Automotive Transmission market, the report also offers a full study of the future trends and developments of the market.
The global Automotive Transmission Market is anticipated to reach around USD 304.5 billion by 2026 according to a new research published by The marker research report. The diesel fuel type dominated the global market in 2017. In 2017, Asia-Pacific accounted for the majority share in the global automotive transmission market.
Request a sample Report of Automotive Transmission Market Analysis Report at: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1695167?utm_source=marketwatch&utm_medium=PC
The significant increase in demand for passenger and commercial vehicles, and growth in global automotive industry boosts the demand for automotive transmission in the coming years. The demand for luxury and comfortable vehicles has increased significantly, especially from the emerging economies driving the automotive transmission market growth. Consumers prefer comfortable and enhanced driving experience, which boosts the automotive transmission market. The introduction of stringent government regulations regarding carbon emissions has encouraged market players to launch efficient automotive transmission systems. New emerging markets, emerging consumer demographics, and stringent government regulations would provide growth opportunities for this market in the coming years.
In 2017, Asia-Pacific accounted for the highest share in the global automotive transmission market. The governments in the region have introduced stringent regulations regarding vehicular emissions owing to environmental concerns. The growing demand for automobiles in the region, established automotive industry, and technological advancements would accelerate the demand for automotive transmission systems during the forecast period. The increasing economic growth, and increasing demand from countries such as China and India to further increase the adoption of automotive transmissions in the region. Expansion of global players into these countries to tap market potential boosts the market growth. The high penetration of electric vehicles in the region promotes the adoption of automotive transmissions in the coming years. Asia-Pacific dominates the electric vehicle market due to the increasing population of vehicles and adoption of vehicular emission standards of the U.S. and European Union by Asia-Pacific countries. Moreover, concerns about rising pollution levels have accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles market in this region, thereby supporting the growth of the automotive transmission market.
The companies operating in the market include Magna International, Allison Transmission Inc., Eaton Corporation PLC, Continental AG, Schaeffler AG, Jatco Ltd, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd., BorgWarner Inc., and GKN PLC. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers.
Global Automotive Transmission Market: Drivers and Restraints: This section of the Automotive Transmission Market Analysis report


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Kampala — Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL) has introduced plans to upskill over 2,000 people hired within the hospitality sector to carry trade requirements. The coaching will probably be equipped beneath the Diageo Bar Academy, a world program that benchmarks global perfect observe to fortify the talents and competencies of each hospitality body of workers and control to force higher visitor reports.
“Uganda Breweries is pleased to be playing a role towards boosting the hospitality industry by influencing better guest experiences, which will directly result in higher consumer participation and higher revenues earned by businesses and consequently the economy. We intend to reach over 2,000 people employed in hospitality over the next two months to deliver world class practical and hands-on training around the country”, mentioned Agaba Tumusiime, Reserve Brand Ambassador at Uganda Breweries Limited.
The program objectives each industry homeowners and their staff together with managers, bartenders, waiters and waitresses. The coaching covers more than a few modules on behind-the-bar talents; hospitality necessities; global perfect observe and rising tendencies; bettering operational potency and using industry profitability, to point out however a couple of.
“The hospitality sector is one of the biggest employers in the country. With the increased number of young people joining the labor market every year, supporting business growth and stimulating entrepreneurship in this highly viable sector is critical for socio-economic growth. With this training, UBL is providing opportunities for young people to achieve gainful employment within the hospitality industry which was one of the highest contributors to GDP before the pandemic. We believe this will overtime improve the quality of life of the beneficiaries by enhancing their capability to earn a living,” Agaba added.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism and hospitality sector contributed 7.7% of GDP with income of USD1.6 billion. According to the Ministry of Tourism, the tourism and hospitality sector accounts for just about 667,000 body of workers with 90% hired within the hospitality sector and contributing 6.7% of general nationwide employment.
“The country is currently grappling with various economic shocks that have resulted in a tough operating environment. This situation comes on the heels of the pandemic that resulted in business closure for a period of close to 2 years. This is a demonstration of our commitment to supporting business recovery and survival,” Agaba mentioned.
Under the National Development Plan III, Uganda is prioritizing staff talents construction to boost up the purchase of urgently wanted talents in key enlargement spaces, and to create a talented, inclusive, and moral hard work power. These efforts are increasing alternatives for the improvement of talents which might be market-driven and enterprise-driven, together with for the casual sector.
Uganda is likely one of the youngest nations in international, with a mean age of 15.9 years. According to the World Bank, round 700,000 younger folks achieve operating age annually in Uganda. This is anticipated to upward thrust to a median of a million within the decade from 2030-2040, and it’s already making a mismatch between labour call for and provide.
Under this system, Uganda Breweries has partnered with Light of the World International to prolong skilling and coaching to folks residing with disabilities.
“We seek and strive for inclusion and diversity and this program will extend training to persons with disabilities, youth and women as we aim to create a more inclusive and sustainable world. This is in line with our parent company, Diageo’s Society 2030 agenda which intends to sustainably make a positive contribution to the community,” Agaba concluded.
Author: Independent (Kampala)


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In a press release issued late Thursday, USA Today announced it would be undertaking a major organizational restructuring effective today.
USA Today publisher Dave Hunke told the AP the publication would lay off 130 people, or about 9 percent of its total workforce of 1,500 employees. The changes represent the biggest organizational shift in USA Today‘s 28-year history, as the Gannett flagship moves away from print and toward mobile.
“This significant restructuring reflects USA Today‘s evolution from a newspaper company to a multi-platform media company,” Hunke said in the news release. “When USA Today first launched in 1982, we led the news and information industry in aligning our content with readers and advertisers. I’m confident these key executive appointments in new and current departments will continue our legacy as a vital, valuable media brand across print, digital and mobile platforms.”
USA Today‘s print edition is still the big bread-winner for the organization, but the changes represent a focus on emerging platforms such as smart phones and tablets. These tech-friendly platforms present a new way to sell subscriptions and advertising.
Furthermore, USA Today‘s advertising revenue has dropped by nearly 50 percent since 2006 (the publication sold 580 ad pages in the most recent quarter ending in June compared to 1,098 during the same period four years ago). USA Today‘s circulation has also dropped from 2.3 million subscribers in 2007 to 1.83 million for the six months ending in March.
To address falling revenue, a decline in subscriptions and opportunities on new platforms, USA Today has announced new appointments in circulation, finance and news and five new departments have been established. As PaidContent explains, USA Today is moving toward content hubs instead of four traditional departments (news, money, life and sports).
The changes were announced internally Thursday and are being implemented today. The management and executive changes include:
- Rudd Davis will be VP of Business Development, overseeing new business opportunities and partnerships including brand licensing, content syndication, acquisitions and joint ventures. Davis will also assume oversight of USA Today‘s retail, hotel and education-based partnerships. Davis was previously President and Founder of BNQT.
- Jeff Dionise is now VP of Product Development and Design. Dionise will oversee research and development of USA Today products across all of the brand’s networks. Dionise was previously Director of Design for usatoday.com.
- Heather Frank will become VP of Vertical Development. Frank will be in charge of creating, implemented and managing new and existing content verticals. overseeing the department dedicated to the creation and implementation of new as well as existing vertical content areas. Frank was previously General Manager of USA Today‘s “Your Life” health and lifestyle vertical, which launches in September.
- Steve Kurtz is now VP of Digital Development. Kurtz will focus on developing and maintaining technology and systems to support the publication’s website, mobile, iPhone and iPad platforms. Kurtz will also oversee the development as well as acquisition of digital and emerging platform space. Kurtz was previously Director of Digital Information Technology for usatoday.com.
USA Today will get rid of the separate managing editors who oversee the publication’s News, Sports, Money and Life sections and divide the newsroom into 13 “content rings.”
The content rings will consist of Your Life, Travel, Breaking News, Investigative, National, Washington/Economy, World, Environment/Science, Aviation, Personal Finance, Autos, Entertainment and Tech. The Sports division will be a separate business headed by Ross Schaufelberger who has been named VP and General Manager of the new USA Today Sports.
USA today also appointed a number of new executives. Check out the press release for full details.


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If the private key is lost, the bitcoin network will not recognize any other evidence of ownership; the coins are then unusable, and effectively lost. For example, in 2013 one user claimed to have lost 7,500 bitcoins, worth $7.5 million at the time, when he accidentally discarded a hard drive containing his private key. A backup of his key(s) would have prevented this.
A fork referring to a blockchain is defined variously as a blockchain split into two paths forward, or as a change of protocol rules. Accidental forks on the bitcoin network regularly occur as part of the mining process. They happen when two miners find a block at a similar point in time. As a result, the network briefly forks. This fork is subsequently resolved by the software which automatically chooses the longest chain, thereby orphaning the extra blocks added to the shorter chain (that were dropped by the longer chain).
In 2014, researchers at the University of Kentucky found "robust evidence that computer programming enthusiasts and illegal activity drive interest in bitcoin, and find limited or no support for political and investment motives". Australian researchers have estimated that 25% of all bitcoin users and 44% of all bitcoin transactions are associated with illegal activity as of April 2017. There were an estimated 24 million bitcoin users primarily using bitcoin for illegal activity. They held $8 billion worth of bitcoin, and made 36 million transactions valued at $72 billion. A group of researches analyzed bitcoin transactions in 2016 and came to a conclusion that "some recent concerns regarding the use of bitcoin for illegal transactions at the present time might be overstated".
The Bank for International Settlements summarized several criticisms of bitcoin in Chapter V of their 2018 annual report. The criticisms include the lack of stability in bitcoin's price, the high energy consumption, high and variable transactions costs, the poor security and fraud at cryptocurrency exchanges, vulnerability to debasement (from forking), and the influence of miners.
As bitcoin has matured as a cryptocurrency there has been more companies warming to the idea of using various bitcoin exchange facilities to gain exposure to the volatile bitcoin price while a few websites such as reddit WordPress and overstock have begun accepting bitcoins, most major retailers have yet to take the plunge into the cryptoverse whils other pioneers have decided to create their own bitcoin forks and have listed new projects on other cryptocurrency exchanges.
Charts can be a very useful tool for those looking to trade or invest in Bitcoin. Prices are available on numerous time frames, from as little as a minute to monthly or yearly charts. Short term traders may use shorter-term charts to try to profit from buying and selling of Bitcoin. Long-term investors may use charts to try to identify areas f support and resistance. When the market declines into support levels, investors may see that as a solid buying opportunity and look to buy Bitcoin on dips.
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, a concept that was discussed in the late 90s. The first Bitcoin specification and proof of concept was published in 2009 in a cryptography mailing list. The concept was presented by a person or group known as Satoshi Nakamoto. The real identity of Nakamoto has been a mystery since that time, with various theories on who the individual or group may be.
In September 2015, the establishment of the peer-reviewed academic journal Ledger (ISSN 2379-5980) was announced. It covers studies of cryptocurrencies and related technologies, and is published by the University of Pittsburgh. The journal encourages authors to digitally sign a file hash of submitted papers, which will then be timestamped into the bitcoin blockchain. Authors are also asked to include a personal bitcoin address in the first page of their papers.
"Satoshi Nakamoto" is presumed to be a pseudonym for the person or people who designed the original bitcoin protocol in 2008 and launched the network in 2009. Nakamoto was responsible for creating the majority of the official bitcoin software and was active in making modifications and posting technical information on the bitcoin forum. There has been much speculation as to the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto with suspects including Dai, Szabo, and Finney – and accompanying denials. The possibility that Satoshi Nakamoto was a computer collective in the European financial sector has also been discussed.
Bloomberg reported that the largest 17 crypto merchant-processing services handled $69 million in June 2018, down from $411 million in September 2017. Bitcoin is "not actually usable" for retail transactions because of high costs and the inability to process chargebacks, according to Nicholas Weaver, a researcher quoted by Bloomberg. High price volatility and transaction fees make paying for small retail purchases with bitcoin impractical, according to economist Kim Grauer. However, bitcoin continues to be used for large-item purchases on sites such as Overstock.com, and for cross-border payments to freelancers and other vendors.
The future of global payments could be in the early stages of significant change, with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gaining in popularity and use. These charts can keep you up to date on Bitcoin prices and market activity, and can be a useful tool for timing purchases or sales. While prices could go down as well as up, the Bitcoin market has enormous potential, and prices seen in 2017 could eventually look like a genuine bargain.a
Bitcoin can even be purchased as a long-term investment through a Bitcoin IRA. A Bitcoin IRA can provide the same profit potential and investment opportunity as a regular Bitcoin purchase, but it can do so with the added benefits of an IRA account. Some of the primary benefits of purchasing Bitcoin in an IRA include tax-deferred growth and a possible tax deduction. For more information on Bitcoin IRA accounts, visit cyrptoira.com.
Bitcoin Trading Volume to get a Boost as Goldman Sachs Onboards Clients & with Bakkt Launch CoingapeGoldman Sachs is Signing up Customers for its Bitcoin Trading Product: Report CCNBitcoin [BTC] derivatives trading facility to be rolled out by Goldman Sachs for their clients AMBCrypto7 things to know and the best place to open a restaurant? Sorry, it's not […]
Jump up ^ Paul Vigna (18 February 2014). "BitBeat: Mt. Gox's Pyrrhic Victory". Money Beat. The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014. 'Ode to Satoshi' is a bluegrass-style song with an old-timey feel that mixes references to Satoshi Nakamoto and blockchains (and, ahem, 'the fall of old Mt. Gox') with mandolin-picking and harmonicas.
Bitcoin's blockchain can be loaded with arbitrary data. In 2018 researchers from RWTH Aachen University and Goethe University identified 1,600 files added to the blockchain, 59 of which included links to unlawful images of child exploitation, politically sensitive content, or privacy violations. "Our analysis shows that certain content, eg, illegal pornography, can render the mere possession of a blockchain illegal."
Bitcoin mining operations take a lot of effort and power, and the sheer amount of competition makes it difficult for newcomers to enter the race and profit. A new miner would not only need to have adequate computing power and the knowledge to use it to outcompete the competition, but would also need the extensive amount of capital necessary to fund the operations.
Venture capitalists, such as Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, which invested US$3 million in BitPay, do not purchase bitcoins themselves, but instead fund bitcoin infrastructure that provides payment systems to merchants, exchanges, wallet services, etc. In 2012, an incubator for bitcoin-focused start-ups was founded by Adam Draper, with financing help from his father, venture capitalist Tim Draper, one of the largest bitcoin holders after winning an auction of 30,000 bitcoins, at the time called "mystery buyer". The company's goal is to fund 100 bitcoin businesses within 2–3 years with $10,000 to $20,000 for a 6% stake. Investors also invest in bitcoin mining. According to a 2015 study by Paolo Tasca, bitcoin startups raised almost $1 billion in three years (Q1 2012 – Q1 2015).


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Ikano Bank, a prominent European bank catering to both consumers and businesses, is joining forces with Qlik, a renowned provider of data integration, data quality, and analytics solutions.
Ikano Bank’s key focus for digital transformation is the effective use of data throughout its operations. From monitoring product performance to future-proofing its consumer offerings, Ikano recognises the significance of a cloud-first strategy. This recognition led them to select Qlik Cloud due to its contemporary approach to analytics which is deemed crucial in bringing data-centricity to the institution.
Recently strengthened by the acquisition of Talend, Qlik offers an unparalleled array of data integration, quality, and analytics solutions. Their advancements in real-time data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and automation are notable. Qlik’s tools are trusted by over 40,000 active customers across 100 countries and can seamlessly integrate with almost any data source or architecture.
With a mission to enable improved living standards through straightforward and fair financial services, Ikano Bank serves consumers and businesses alike. Their product range encompasses consumer loans and savings, retail sales support, and corporate leasing and factoring solutions. The bank’s presence spans across multiple European countries including Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the UK, Poland, Germany, and Austria. Majority ownership of Ikano Bank rests with Ikano Group, while Ingka Group, a principal IKEA retailer, holds the remaining shares.
Ikano Bank’s partnership with Qlik has facilitated in addressing key transformation challenges. Leveraging Qlik’s capabilities, Ikano Bank has optimised its data warehousing and provisioning, making data from over 30 varied sources accessible. This transition has witnessed an exponential rise in the use of data analytics across the bank’s operations.
Qlik’s intuitive visual tools have empowered Ikano Bank’s staff to efficiently work with substantial data volumes. With Qlik apps at their disposal, the bank’s teams can now monitor overall performance and gain deeper insights into key performance indicators throughout the customer journey.
Ikano Bank Business Intelligence Manager André Berlin said, “Feeding data into the cloud was a challenge at first as it’s a lot of data to transfer every day and most of our systems are still on-premises. But with Qlik Cloud and the Qlik Data Gateway, we are in a very good position to start moving even more data and more apps to the cloud as we go forward. Now all our departments make use of Qlik in some way, from small solutions with just one or a few users to broader bank wide KPI dashboards with much bigger target audiences.”
André Berlin also added, “A great example of where we have really benefited from Qlik is the improvements we’ve made to our customer onboarding process. The data has given us the insight to see where customers were dropping off, and also allows us to take actions and quickly follow up on the outcomes. The result is more satisfied customers and increased sales for the bank.”
Keep up with all the latest FinTech news here
Copyright © 2023 FinTech Global


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Square Enix announced Monday that the popular Super Nintendo RPG, Chrono Trigger, would be released for Nintendo DS in North America on November 25.
Originally released in 1995, Chrono Trigger sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide and received almost universal critical approval. It received “Best RPG” and “Best DS Game” accolades at E3 this year and looks to be one of the top portable games of the holiday season.
When a newly developed teleportation device malfunctions at the Millennial Fair, young Crono must travel through time to rescue his misfortunate companion from an intricate web of past and present perils. The swashbuckling adventure that ensues soon unveils an evil force set to destroy the world, triggering Crono’s race against time to change the course of history and bring about a brighter future.
- A masterpiece with an engaging and unparalleled storyline, leading to the discovery of multiple epic conclusions to a journey that transcends time
- An inspiring musical score created by Yasunori Mitsuda
- Intriguing battle system made possible by the unique combination of the “Active Time Battle” system and “Tech” skills
- Famed character designer Akira Toriyama lends his signature art style to create the vibrant world that has captivated gamers around the world
- Taking advantage of the Nintendo DS hardware, CHRONO TRIGGER makes its way onto the portable platform with all-new dual-screen presentation and Touch Screen functionality
- Brand-new dungeons and an Arena mode add exciting new dimensions to this timeless classic


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- The top digital performers transcend traditional approaches to large-scale change.
- March 8, 2018 by Alan MorrisonThe chair of a foundation dedicated to safeguarding personal information online believes blockchain is the answer.
- The right mix of talent, innovation, and experience will help your company master emerging technology.
All articles tagged: digital IQ
More PwC insights
Bold insights for bold leaders. A new series that addresses the most urgent forces facing business leaders in 2021 — and beyond. Explore the series.


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If BevMo seems like the Trader Joe's of booze and Hi-Time the farmers market, Total Wine & More would have to be the Costco.
In 2008 the alcoholic beverage chain opened their first OC store in Tustin. In the intervening years, a Brea store came, and now in an old Office Max on 16272 Beach Blvd., it'll open its third OC store in Huntington Beach.
I'll now repeat the joke I had when the Tustin store opened:
Their motto is 8,000 wines. 2,000 spirits. 1,000 beers. To clarify, that's 8,000 different kinds of wine. 2,000 different kinds of spirits. 1,000 different kinds of beers. Or as it's otherwise known in fraternities: “a good weekend”.
Now for the serious part. Though the HB store is still yet to be
open, it's holding a hiring event today at theTustin store from 8 a.m.-8
p.m today, Thursday, February 23rd. More details can be seen here.


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For the primary time in months, the cryptocurrency has clawed again a few of its losses however professional are warning it’s nonetheless dangerous.
The value of bitcoin shot previous $US50,000 ($A70,000) for the primary time in additional than three months because the broader crypto market continues to mount a powerful rally after months of weak spot.
The surge in worth put its market capitalisation nearer to the $1 trillion mark.
The digital coin rose by virtually 2 per cent in 24 hours earlier, however by the top of Monday, it had retreated barely, to $US49,251 ($A68,269).
Bitcoin’s now up virtually 7 per cent from every week in the past and greater than 55 per cent in contrast with a month in the past, when it was buying and selling at round $US30,000 ($A41,000) per coin.
The crypto’s nonetheless down virtually 26 per cent from its peak of greater than $US64,000 ($A88,000) per coin that it noticed in mid-April.
Since hitting its all-time excessive, traders offered off bitcoin in June and July, pressuring the digital coin beneath $US30,000 ($A41,000) amid renewed authorities scrutiny within the US, China and elsewhere.
However bitcoin’s been marching steadily upward for a few month now because it’s more and more recognised and embraced by politicians and the company world.
On Sunday, PayPal introduced it would launch its cryptocurrency service within the UK, letting individuals purchase, maintain and promote digital currencies on the platform. It’s an growth of the corporate’s service already supplied within the US.
Sarah Coles, private finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown mentioned PayPal’s announcement is being seen by speculators as one other signal of crypto being adopted by the mainstream.
However in actuality, it’s not clear what number of companies will truly begin accepting crypto by means of PayPal and lots of would switch it again into foreign money to keep away from any enormous slides in worth, she added.
“Bitcoin is clearly shifting additional into the mainstream, with central banks weighing up the launch of their very own cash, and asset managers increasing their crypto choices,” she informed Financial News London.
“Nonetheless, it stays an extremely dangerous and speculative guess. Dramatic rallies and spectacular falls are a trademark of any market pushed totally by hypothesis, so the rollercoaster trip is a good distance from over.”
Final week, crypto trade Coinbase introduced that it’s going to purchase $US500 million ($A693 million) in crypto on its stability sheet, and start to take a position 10 per cent of its whole income right into a crypto property portfolio.
“Hopefully over time we are able to function extra of our enterprise in crypto,” CEO Brian Armstrong mentioned on Twitter. “In the present day it’s nonetheless a combination.”
Different corporations, together with Elon Musk-helmed Tesla and Microstrategy, have additionally invested company funds into cryptos, calling it a hedge towards inflation.
Together with bitcoin, different crypto property have lately swelled in worth, too.
Ethereum was final seen buying and selling at virtually $US3340 ($A4630), up greater than 2 per cent from 24 hours in the past and virtually 65 per cent from a month in the past.
Binance coin traded at about $US498 ($A690), up virtually 9 per cent from a day earlier and over 69 per cent from a month in the past.
The crypto market total commanded a worth of about $US2.16 trillion ($A2.9 trillion) as of Monday morning, in line with CoinMarketCap.com, up over 2 per cent from a day earlier.
This text initially appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission


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The RSPCA, one of the animal welfare bodies that campaigned for a complete ban of the use of electric shock collars, has welcomed yesterday’s announcement by the government that it would ban the sale of electric shock collars. The charity, however, announced its disappointment that remote electronic training collars were excluded from the ban.
“The RSPCA strongly believes that in modern-day society there is no excuse or need for the use of devices which can compromise cat and dog welfare, especially when humane and viable alternatives to training and containing dogs and cats are available,” dog welfare expert Dr Sam Gaines said.
Dr Rachel Casey, director of canine behaviour and research at Dogs Trust, added: “Scientific research has demonstrated that electronic devices, which deliver an aversive stimulus have a negative impact on dog welfare, so this ban will have a major positive impact for dogs in the UK.
“However, we are saddened that the government hasn’t gone a step further and used this opportunity to ban the use of containment fences, to ensure that all UK dogs are protected from this outdated approach to training.”
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and environment secretary Michael Gove announced on Monday will bring in a ban on the use but not on the sale of shock collars under the Animal Welfare Act. However, the ban will not include electric containment fences, but the government will amend the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs, and the equivalent for cats, to ensure electric fences are used as a last resort, installed by professionals.
Image at post top: Dogs Trust


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It can be hard moving large amounts of data to the cloud. Even with consistent 10 Gbps of data transfer, it would take years to get hundreds of petabytes from an on-premises data center to a public cloud provider.
Amazon is aiming to speed that process up with a high-capacity data transfer product: a literal truck. The Snowmobile is a big, white semi-trailer that can hold 100PB of data. It will then get driven to an Amazon endpoint, and the data will be loaded into its public cloud storage.
For smaller migrations that can also benefit from processing at the edge, Amazon also announced a new Snowball Edge appliance that provides 100TB of storage, local compute power, and migration for handling data transfer and processing.
These new products, announced Wednesday, are aimed at helping companies get large amounts of data into Amazon’s cloud, which will then encourage them to stick with the company's services going forward. That’s especially important because the company charges for data egress, and the costs of a full migration to a competing cloud provider could be too much for some businesses to bear.
For companies that want to move large swaths of data, the Snowmobile could be a useful tool. Amazon will back it up to a customer’s data center, and the truck can handle data transfers of up to 1TB per second by hooking up multiple 40Gbps fiber connections. The Snowmobile can be filled in about 10 days at maximum speed, according to a blog post from AWS evangelist Jeff Barr.
What's more, the truck is waterproof and can be parked in either covered or uncovered locations.
Amazon takes the security of the trailer seriously — the company can provide security for the Snowmobile while it's located at a customer's data center and will provide an escort for the data to its destination. Each container will provide GPS tracking as well, and users' data is encrypted.
The trucks are already being used, including with one large customer who is undergoing a "pretty gigantic" migration, AWS CEO Andy Jassy said during a press conference.
The Snowball Edge, by contrast, is designed to be a more easily portable and compute-heavy appliance. Like its namesake, the Snowball migration appliance, it’s a ruggedized storage device that comes with an e-ink shipping label to get it back to Amazon for data transfer into AWS.
It holds 100TB of data, compared to the Snowball’s 80TB, and also sports a touchscreen for interacting with the device. That’s useful because the device is also able to handle data processing on-device using AWS Lambda functions, meaning the Snowball Edge is able to provide analytics on-device. The appliance can also do all its own data encryption, which makes transfer operations faster.
The Snowball Edge was designed to be useful for situations like research boats that don't have internet connectivity, Jassy said during his keynote address at Amazon's Re:Invent conference. A Snowball Edge can collect data, slice down a subset of key information for on-premises processing, and then send the rest of the data to Amazon's cloud.
The device was among a fleet of services that Amazon announced at Re:Invent, including new machine learning-driven APIs and major updates to its compute services.


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CNN-Phil Schiller said: The white iPhone will be available this spring (and it is a beauty!)." Given that most people in the U.S. consider the first day of spring to be March 21, Apple has until has until June 21 to deliver. Further, June is the month when Apple traditionally releases new a iPhone.
Could it be that there will be no white iPhone 4, but instead a white iPhone 5? After all, neither tweet mentions a model number.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad


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Kia India has today announced that the company has surpassed the 5 lakh sales milestone in the country within 3 years of its official debut. This South Korean carmaker entered the Indian market in August 2019 with the Seltos mid-size SUV and since then it has been setting the sales chart on fire. Kia has become the fastest carmaker in India to achieve this feat.
It is also worth mentioning that including exports, Kia’s cumulative dispatches from the state-of-the-art Anantapur facility located in Andhra Pradesh have soared to 6,34,224 units. The company now contributes more than 6 per cent to the global sales of Kia Corporation. The Seltos remains the best-selling car for Kia in India and added 59 per cent to its total sales tally.
The Seltos is followed by the Sonet and it contributed more than 32 per cent to Kia India’s total sales. The Carens contributed close to 6.5 per cent to the company’s domestic sales in just five months of its launch. While the total sales figures of Kia’s premium MPV, Carnival, haven’t been revealed, it continues to sell around 400 units every month in the country.
Talking about Kia’s products’ segment-wise performance, the Seltos maintains its stronghold in the mid-size SUV segment, contributing more than 40 per cent to the sales of vehicles in its category. The Sonet holds a 15 per cent share in the sub-compact SUV segment while the Carens commands more than 18 per cent share in its segment. Moreover, in HY22, the Carens became the second most selling vehicle in its category.
Commenting on the achievement, Myung-Sik Sohn – Chief Sales Officer, Kia India, said, “In the short 3 years in India, we have not only established ourselves as the trend leading and inspiring brand but have also led the adoption of new technologies. I would like to attribute Kia India’s success to everyone who is and has been a part of the ecosystem. Most importantly, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude towards our customers who have kept their trust in the brand even in adverse situations like the global supply chain issues.”
Watch Video | Kia EV6 India Review:
He further added, “I proudly say today that we have earned a space in the hearts of Indian consumers, and that’s our biggest achievement. India remains a priority market for India, and hence our 3 out of 5 product offerings in the country are not only manufactured locally but exported to different global markets as well. India is a country with immense potential, and we aim to continue contributing to the growth of manufacturing in India by continuously bringing in our world-class products and technologies.”
Stay tuned with Express Drives for more updates and also, do subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest auto news and reviews.


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Rockstar Games is notoriously tight-lipped about what it has brewing, but the gaming company seems ready to reveal its next project.
Over the past two days, Rockstar has dropped hints about its next title, the second of which is none too subtle.
It’s clear we have some kind of follow up to Red Dead Redemption in the forecast—or perhaps a prequel. While it appears Rockstar is working on some kind of a Red Dead project, we know almost nothing about the new title, and Rockstar isn’t talking.
The original Wild-West-themed, open-world, third-person action game debuted in 2010, and since then fans have been craving more. According to Eurogamer, maps leaked from the new Red Dead project suggest it could actually take us back in time to the heyday of the Wild West.
Of course, until Rockstar reveals more than a picture, we won’t know anything for sure.


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The online gaming industry has been growing exponentially for a number of years. According to the latest quarterly update of Newzoo’s Global Games Marketing Report, 2.2 billion gamers around the world are expected to generate $108.9 billion in gaming revenue in 2017, with $46.1 billion of this coming from mobile gaming. There are many reasons as to why users are electing to log onto the internet from their tablets or mobile devices to do their gaming in favor of more traditional methods such as gaming consoles and even physical board games. Here are just a few:
Online gaming is often far more convenient for both the gaming manufacturer and the user alike. The year 2014 saw the number of mobile devices take over the number of people on the planet for the first time ever and the sheer number of these devices along with the advancement of technology has made it easier than ever for people to enjoy their gaming from the comfort of their own home. Moreover, the abundance of mobile devices also has implications for gaming companies and manufacturers, with a plethora of opportunities available to market their respective games to arguably the largest global audience on the planet.
Variety Is The Spice Of Life
Even the most stubborn and hard to please gamers are sure to find something online that tickles their fancy. There is arguably a game relating to almost anything nowadays, from eye surgery simulators (no, we’re not kidding) to a game based around the mechanics involved in ‘fixing goats’ (deadly serious here). What’s more, there are now a large number of games based on familiar elements of popular culture, which draw inspiration from a number of television and movie franchises, such as The Simpsons or the Family Guy slot games at William Hill. In the latter case, players are available to play as Stewie or Peter Griffin as they dodge giant chickens and whatever else the town of Quahog throws at them. William Hill also lets players try games risk-free with a £30 sign-up bonus, which brings us neatly around to our next point:
No Cash? No Problem!
Whether slot games, simulators, or just interactive video games for a bit of fun, a lot of online games available to users are now free or, at the very least, extremely inexpensive when compared to the relative cost of purchasing a gaming console for example. The beauty of owning a smartphone or mobile device is that they are now virtually a necessity for the busy modern individual and so you’ve got your very own entertainment system in your pocket without even realizing it. What’s more, advances in mobile technology such as the improvement of graphics as well as the ever increasing size of the screen means that gaming experiences are arguably more enjoyable and satisfying than ever.
A Whole World Waiting To Be Explored
With the gaming world at one’s fingertips, there are plenty of both classic and modern titles available to be enjoyed at the touch of a button.
The beauty of online gaming is that you can literally play from anywhere, be it on the move or whilst you’re in front of the TV watching your favorite show.
In fact, you’d even be able to catch up on your favorite box set and then move onto the gaming version of the franchise once the show has finished if you so wish.


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The Hound notes that one of the country’s poorest financially performing state-owned enterprises – the Government farming entity Landcorp (or…
Midway through its product life cycle the Nissan Navara has had a cosmetic makeover and some upgraded technology.
Recently we spent a day testing out the new rear suspension upgrades to the Nissan Navara on Australian roads. Now we've tested it in New Zealand.
THE NAVARA RX has been stripped of some luxuries to provide Nissan with a sharp-priced ute – aimed at farmers and tradies who want to pay for the practical stuff, not the gadgets and bling.


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Last week on Maker’s Row Live we were honored to be joined by Jordan Adoni and Omar Bailey of Modern Vice, the last remaining shoe factory in New York City. Maker’s Row co-founder and CMO Tanya Menendez asked them your questions about scaling, starting a shoe brand, and even who was the better dancer!
However, one of the most asked questions went back to their collaborations with their community, celebrities, and brands just starting out. Jordan and Omar gave some really great advice on what an aspiring shoe designer can do to get into the industry. You can watch the full interview on our Facebook, but here are some of the highlights!


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Air freight bounces back in new pace and time
2017 is a robust year for both passenger and cargo volumes despite economic and political challenges across the world.
By the end of this year, a record 4 billion people would have traveled in different regions, sprucing up freight belly statistics in the process, analysis points out.
Technological advancements have tremendously contributed to the growth of commercial civil aviation with many passengers taking control of their own itineraries through online bookings, cutting travel agencies in the process to save money and time. Add to that is the emergence of more Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) which give them cheaper fare options as opposed to legacy carriers.
The rise of the social media, which changes the way how airlines and other companies reach out to their target markets, also significantly contribute to this phenomenon.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s newly-launched budget airline, flyadeal, booked 10,000 seats online within 24 hours without any print ads, its CEO Con Korfiatis announced at the recently concluded Aviation Show MENASA (the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia), a remarkable feat given the reclusive kingdom’s conservative policies on many things digital.
“Digitalization is driving innovation and disruption at an ever-increasing pace in all kinds of industries, and therefore for all users of airfreight. This is putting unprecedented pressure on all of us to redouble and accelerate our efforts to transform, adapt, and streamline processes in concert with regulators.”
– Oliver Evans, former chairman of the International Air Cargo Association
Elsewhere in the Middle East, where more than half of the population are below 25, the digital footprint of online bookers are growing, with many opting online transactions for safety and security reasons.
Opposite Profit Margins
But while passenger volumes are up, the profit margins of airlines are getting thinner for many different reasons.
It’s the reverse, however, for the air freight industry which adjusts prices as demand grows, especially during the holiday season or Valentine’s Day.
Muhammad Al Bakri, regional SVP AME International Air Transport Association (IATA), said at the Arab Air Carriers Association Annual General Membership held last month in Sharjah, one of the emirates in the UAE, aviation remains the beating heart of the Middle East supporting 2.4 million jobs and USD157 billion in economic activity but times are changing.
“As history shows, it is not unusual for freight volumes to continue to rise even after the peak of the growth cycle. Indeed, periods in which freight volumes have fallen typically only occur alongside wider shocks to global economic and trade conditions, such as that seen following the dot-com boom in the early-2000s and after the global financial crisis. In the absence of such a global shock, it seems reasonable to expect that air freight volumes will build on a very strong 2017 with another year of solid growth in 2018.”
“Financially, airlines in the region are seeing their profits eroded and margins squeezed. The average profit per passenger globally in 2017 is forecast to reach 7.7 US dollars. In the Middle East, it is only expected to reach 1.8 dollars per passenger,” he noted.
Statistically, Al Bakri said global aviation generates 3.5 percent of the world’s GDP valued at about USD2.7 trillion and supports 62.7 million jobs.
In addition, 35 percent of world trade worth US6.4 trillion is transported by air annually.
With high volumes of gifts sent this holiday season, the air cargo industry is at its busiest with shippers scrambling for space and customers willing to pay more.
Freightos WebCargo data shows air freight prices in certain locations have already risen by over $1 per kilo yet the demand for e-Commerce shipments keeps on rising.
Experts said e-Commerce and pharmaceutical shipments will be an important driver for the growth of the air freight industry now and in the long-term.
Global e-Commerce is projected to grow from USD1.9 trillion in 2016 to $4.5 trillion in 2021 with 19 percent annual compound growth rate over the next five years, according to the leading aviation consultancy firm Air Cargo Management Group.
Allan Hedge, senior director of ACMG, said E-commerce has disrupted retail and is now revolutionizing logistics and the air cargo industry.
In a separate report, Boeing forecast e-Commerce to grow from USD1.7 trillion in 2016 to USD3.6 trillion by 2020, largely fueled by the growth of the middle-class in the Asia-Pacific region, most notably China, the world’s largest e-Commerce market with some USD590 billion goods sold in 2015.
Boeing said the online retail trade will, thereby, push growth in the air cargo industry as consumers prefer fast shipments of goods.
New Pace & Phasess
Though slower than commercial aviation in embracing technological developments, the air cargo industry has undoubtedly adjusted to the times with many companies investing on new software solutions and technology where shipments can easily be placed and tracked, costs calculated in an instant and even options for land connectivity.
In today’s fully globalized world, the need to connect in an instant is paramount in doing business, especially where movement of goods are concerned.
“The ability to electronically exchange air waybills, house bills and status messages enables our customers to further automate and streamline processes, meet expanding carrier electronic communications requirements, increase visibility and improve performance. Customers benefit from simple and fast activation on Descartes’ GLN from CDM Software Solutions’ e-Commerce friendly software platform,” explained Darrell Ortiz, CEO and founder of CDM, on the importance of Descartes’ GLN which also provides users with connectivity to air carriers around the globe to help them meet IATA’s electronic air waybill (e-AWB) initiative.
Nagarjun Peri, Kale Logistics Solutions regional manager for international sales in the Middle East and Africa, said today’s business climate demands speed, efficiency and transparency and all that can only be provided through customized software solutions.
The India-based company has more than 500 clients across the world, including about 200 airlines, which are also linked to air cargo carriers and freight forwarding companies.
Air cargo volumes consistently posted positive growth month-by-month in 2017. In October, shipments were up 5.9 percent and IATA forecast the freight volumes to continue rising in 2018.
“Going in to next year, the cyclical drivers of freight demand appear relatively supportive of continued increases in freight volumes. In fact, factors such as the long-awaited pick-up in investment in Europe, as well as reports of strong growth in international e-commerce flows look set to help underpin freight demand in the near term,” IATA said in its October 2017 analysis report.
“As history shows, it is not unusual for freight volumes to continue to rise even after the peak of the growth cycle. Indeed, periods in which freight volumes have fallen typically only occur alongside wider shocks to global economic and trade conditions, such as that seen following the dot-com boom in the early-2000s and after the global financial crisis. In the absence of such a global shock, it seems reasonable to expect that air freight volumes will build on a very strong 2017 with another year of solid growth in 2018,” it added.


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Nexam Chemical takes first major order from South Korea
– Another success for reactive plastic recycling
Nasdaq First North-listed Nexam Chemical – which invents, develops, produces and sells additives to the plastics industry worldwide – takes the largest order to date in the South Korean market. The order applies to the Reactive Recycling area for recycled PET to a value of approximately SEK 1 million.
Nexam Chemical has previously announced that the company has a new agent in Seoul, which has successfully started to develop the market with a focus on reactive recycling. Reactive Recycling, is a product series from Nexam Chemical that can significantly improve the properties of plastics in the recycling process.
“Nexam has the chemical expertise to recycle plastic without destroying the original properties. Therefore, this is an area of the future for us. With this order, we go from delivering sample volumes to an order to be used on a larger industrial scale, which is a confirmation of how well our recycling products work,” says Johan Arvidsson, CEO of Nexam Chemical and continues:
“This time we are also doing business in a new part of the world. It strengthens our vision of what we can achieve in the rapidly growing plastic recycling market”.
For more information, please contact:
Johan Arvidsson, CEO, +46-708 97 44 39, firstname.lastname@example.org


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BlackBerry continued to struggle during the company's fiscal fourth quarter, experiencing a huge drop in revenue and a $423 million net loss.
The head of BlackBerry's enterprise services business is plotting an aggressive launch of a new version of the company's core enterprise server later this year as BlackBerry seeks to regain some of the ground it's lost over the last few years.
IBM-owned Fiberlink and BlackBerry are adding Windows Phone to the list of platforms they can manage and protect, as enterprise interest for the smartphone OS is increasing.
Leading tech vendors again urged European officials to protect them from patent trolls while creating a new pan-European patent system.
BlackBerry will launch a new version of its enterprise management server software later this year that the company hopes will strengthen its business with major corporations and help turn around its fortunes.
The first BlackBerry phone produced by China's Foxconn will debut in April in Indonesia, the CEO of the phone maker said Tuesday.
BlackBerry's mobile messaging service BBM will be available for Windows Phone and Nokia X users this summer, the company announced Monday during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Just when it appeared to be over, a public battle of words between senior executives at BlackBerry and T-Mobile USA has reignited.
Relations between BlackBerry and T-Mobile have turned frosty after a promotion last week saw T-Mobile BlackBerry users offered a cheap iPhone.
The two most talked about smartphones ahead of this year's Mobile World Congress sit at opposites sides of the spectrum; the low-end Android-based Nokia X and Samsung Electronics' new flagship model, the Galaxy S5.
The world's love affair with the smartphone continued unabated in 2013 with consumers snapping up more than 1 billion handsets during the year, according to an IDC estimate.
Typo Products, the start-up being sued by BlackBerry over an iPhone keyboard add-on, has come out swinging against a demand that its product be taken off sale in the U.S.
BlackBerry has asked a California court to block U.S. sales of the Typo keyboard, an add-on keyboard for the iPhone that BlackBerry says is an "obvious knock-off" of the keyboards on its phones.
BlackBerry, in an effort to protect one of its key designs, has filed a copyright infringement suit against a company co-founded by Ryan Seacrest that makes a keyboard case for the iPhone.
Tech stocks rose this week on the back of solid economic news and some upbeat results from software vendors, including Red Hat and Oracle.
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The use of Bitcoin as a means of payments is declining, according to a report by Chainalysis which found that the coin is not suitable for small payments but is still used by entities to pay vendors, especially freelancers.
The use of Bitcoin as a means of payment by the 17 largest crypto merchant-processing operators dropped from its peak of over $400 million in September 2017 to a low of $60 million in May 2018, according to a report by Chainalysis. The report was commissioned by Bloomberg and is aimed to analyze the trends related to the use of Bitcoin for buying goods and services.
In June, these merchant services, which include Coinify and BitPay, received only $69 million, down 74% compared to the same period of the previous year.
The trend is surprisingly declining even though the Bitcoin price has narrowed its volatile movements and has become more stable last weeks. Volatility was regarded as the first reason why the largest cryptocurrency couldn’t replace fiat currencies when buying goods and services. However, it seems that Bitcoin is still mostly used for trading.
The first major drops in BTC’s use for payments came when its price hit a record high at around $20,000 back in December. Despite the fact that Bitcoin has lost more than half of its value since late December, consumers are still wary when it comes to spending it.
Nicholas Weaver, a researcher at the International Computer Science Institute, commented:
“It’s not actually usable. The net cost of a Bitcoin transaction is far more than a credit card transaction.”
He also noted that BTC transactions could not be reversed, which is often a problem when merchants or consumers want to fight against fraud.
Kim Grauer, a senior economist at Chainalysis, stated:
“When the price is going up so rapidly last year, in one day you could lose $1,000 if you spent it.”
“What’s more, high transaction fees have made paying for small-ticket items like coffee with Bitcoin impractical,” she added.
In the last few months, more services, such as Stripe and Expedia, ceased their support of Bitcoin as a means of payment.
As result of this report, the use of Bitcoin for buying goods and services is even more insignificant given that about 66% of BTC transactions have no economic value at all, being carried out by mixers, scams, and mining pools.