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Bitcoin Goes Mainstream with New York Stock Exchange Index
In a move that could further legitimize the digital currency, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ICE) announced on Tuesday that it has launched a bitcoin index called NYXBT. The index will track the daily price movements of the virtual coin, which they are currently valuing at $237.03.
NYXBT will calculate the currency value based on transactions from “select” bitcoin exchanges. A standardized metric for bitcoin value is increasingly necessary, as businesses including Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) accept bitcoin as a digital payment.
“Bitcoin values are quickly becoming a data point that our customers want to follow as they consider transacting, trading or investing with this emerging asset class,” said NYSE Group President Thomas Farley, in a statement. “We are pleased to bring transparency to this market.”
Proponents of bitcoin see the need for an alternative to government-issued money, especially in countries where the currency value is volatile. Bitcoin itself has fluctuated over the past two years, and in late 2013 was valued as high as $979 U.S. dollars, according to Coindesk.
“We welcome any index that increases price transparency and discovery,” said Cameron Winklevoss, president at bitcoin exchange, Gemini. With his brother Tyler, the Winklevoss twins have their own bitcoin index called the Winkdex. They are also in the process of developing a bitcoin ETF, pending regulatory approval.
“As bitcoin and the blockchain become increasingly mainstream, major exchanges around the world will track and cover bitcoin prices and volumes, as well as timely new developments with the technology,” said James Robinson IV, managing partner at RRE Ventures. Robinson is amongst the venture capitalists fueling bitcoin-retailed startups.
Earlier this year, NYSE participated in a $75 million funding round for Coinbase, a virtual bitcoin wallet that links to bank accounts. Co-investors included venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
While the Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was once labeled as the tech exchange, NYSE has also been making technology companies a priority, increasingly securing more tech listings, including Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).


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Zillow has just announced the launch of an iOS 10-centric update to its flagship app, now featuring iMessage App Store support. This new iMessage app allows users to quickly access and share photos and information about a home's key features through text messages with friends – all without leaving the messaging screen.
According to the Zillow Group Report on Consumer housing Trends, home shopping is a shared activity, with 86 percent of people co-shopping with a spouse or partner, and 13 percent with a friend or other family member. Zillow for iMessage is designed to fit into the browsing behavior of today's shoppers, who are increasingly searching for homes on their smartphone with the help of their family and friends. In November alone, home shoppers clicked to share homes via text over 1.68MM times in the Zillow iOS app.
"Millennials, the largest segment of home shoppers today, bring a deeply social approach to finding a new home unlike anything we've seen with the other generations," said Jeremy Wacksman, Zillow chief marketing officer. "They bring all the available tools into the process, including their smartphones, social media and their personal network. This new iMessage feature brings Zillow's visual search experience alive in a text, giving home shoppers a faster, more delightful way to share the homes they love with family and friends."
With the iMessage App, home shoppers on Zillow can:
The new iMessage feature was created during Zillow's November Hack and Innovation Week events. Hack Week is a Zillow tradition, held three to four times per year, when all Zillow employees are invited to dedicate their time to dream up and innovate special projects of their choice. Tapping into the talented minds within the company, this event has seeded some of the most innovative products and enhancements on mobile and desktop including an app designed for real estate agents and a website feature that helps connect income-restricted renters with property managers. Now, only a few weeks after the event, the new iMessage App has gone live.
The Zillow app is available as a free download from the App Store on iPhone and iPad devices. Once downloaded, simply tap the app store logo within Messages, and turn on the Zillow iMessage app. Users will be able to immediately share their saved home searches instantly, anytime and anywhere.

domain: news


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SINGAPORE (Oct 13): Singapore’s retail sales have contracted for the seventh consecutive month, falling 4.1% year-on-year in August, according to the Department of Statistics (DOS).
For the first eight months of 2019, retail sales have shrank 2.6% y-o-y.
“The fall in retail sales was largely concentrated in big ticket items, suggesting sustained cautious behaviour in consumer expenditure given the economic slowdown,” says Barnabas Gan, an economist with UOB Group.
Overall, the decline in retail sales has been driven by a 20.3% y-o-y drop in motor vehicles, as consumers put the brakes on car purchases amid the cautious economic outlook. Excluding motor vehicles, August’s retail sales figure would have fallen by a more modest rate of 1.0% y-o-y.
“Notably, a decline in motor vehicle sales has been seen in eight months out of the last eleven months,” Gan says.
Meanwhile, furniture & household equipment as well as watches & jewellery also contributed significantly to the decline in overall retail sales.
Retail sales for furniture & household equipment fell 9.8% y-o-y, marking its seventh straight month of decline, while retail sales for watches & jewellery retreated 8.6% y-o-y.
“August’s decline in retail sales growth could also suggest that tourist receipts in the nine months of 2019 may likely stay benign,” Gan adds. “Tourist receipts data however remains rather laggard, and has registered a contraction of 4.8% to S$6.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019.”
According to recent data released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), visitor arrivals for the first eight months of 2019 have climbed 1.9% y-o-y to 12.6 million.
In August alone, visitor arrivals climbed 3.1% y-o-y to hit 1.73 million. The influx was mainly attributed to the longer holidays in the month, as well as the unrest in Hong Kong, which is said to have diverted tourists here.
But Gan says the data suggests the uptick in arrivals may not necessarily translate into higher tourism spending.
“Given the disappointing August’s retail sales print as well as the overall economic slowdown seen to-date, we keep our retail sales growth outlook to average -2.0% y-o-y in 2019,” he says.
Gan adds that analysts will also be keeping a close eye on the upcoming flash GDP report and MAS Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Oct 14.
“[These] will likely give further colour on Singapore’s economic environment,” he says.


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While OUYA happens to be the first Android-based gaming console to really see success so far even if it is just a successful Kickstarter campaign and developer support right now, there is a new kid on the block aiming to compete with OUYA called GameStick.
GameStick looks to compete with OUYA and it has a neat little gimmick that it will try to do that with. That gimmick is the fact it will be a pocketable gaming console system. While OUYA is pretty small, the size of a Rubik’s Cube, that still is a bit hard to stuff in your pocket. GameStick, however, will be able to easily fit into your pocket.
How will it accomplish this? By providing the console platform on a USB that fits inside the top of the controller that comes with this console. This will also be an open platform like OUYA is and the company behind GameStick is already working with developers to port their games over as well. Hardware-wise, GameStick sports a dual-core Cortex A9 chip at 1.5GHz along with a dual-core Mali 400 GPU at 400MHz, has 1GB of memory and 8GB of flash storage.
It will also have connectivity through both Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n and will support gamepads, mice and keyboards. It will also support up to four controllers at once and come powered by Jelly Bean.
GameStick looks to take on OUYA in different areas as well aside from being more portable friendly and that is through pricing as well. A GameStick unit will run about $79 and is slated to ship starting April 2013, just one month after OUYA’s slated launch. Right now the GameStick Kickstarter campaign is sitting at a little under $30K of their $100K goal.
Website Referenced: TechCrunch


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Hostess Brands: Q2 Earnings Snapshot
LENEXA, Kan. (AP) _ Hostess Brands, Inc. (TWNK) on Wednesday reported second-quarter net income of $30.5 million.
On a per-share basis, the Lenexa, Kansas-based company said it had net income of 22 cents.
The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 22 cents per share.
The company posted revenue of $340.5 million in the period, exceeding Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $329.7 million.
Hostess Brands expects full-year earnings in the range of 93 cents to 98 cents per share.


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There are already two models of the Mi 13 series on sale today, but as evidenced by previous Mi Digital models, Xiaomi has one true top-notch flagship yet to be released: the Mi 13 Ultra.
Although in the previous Xiaomi fan festival, the official is officially announced the existence of the new machine and opened the preheating, but until now, millet has not announced the official release time of the machine, the disclosure of its configuration information is much less. You can check minecraft apk 1.20 here.
A digital blogger has released what appears to be a real Mi 13 Ultra. From the images, we can see that the Mi 13 Ultra will come with a plain leather back cover, providing at least one solid black color scheme.
The rear camera module has a circular design, with four cameras and two flash lights inside, and a circle around the camera module.
It’s worth noting that the submersible telephoto lens of the Mi 13 Ultra’s four cameras can be seen in the lower-right corner of the body camera module.
On the whole, if the real picture released this time is true, then this generation of Mi 13 Ultra and Mi 12S Ultra in appearance design is not low similarity.
The Mi 13 Ultra will be powered by a second-generation Snapdragon 8 mobile platform with a 2K resolution 6.7-inch AMOLED LTPO display and four 50-megapixel main-level lenses on the back, one of which will be SONY’s IMX989 one-inch outsole.
In addition, the Mi 13 Ultra may also use USB 3.0, which many netizens have been teasing.


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Laurent Prescelti visited the United States for the first time at age 17. He returned home to Marseille, France, with a dream in his heart – to one day return and open his own restaurant.
A quarter of a century later, that dream is coming true as Prescelti prepares to open Crepes and Croissants at 1456 Sumter St. in Columbia by May 1.
“I’m excited,” said Prescelti, now 43, who moved to the Midlands about a year ago to look for the perfect location for his new venture.
Prescelti, who spent time in Houston as a foreign exchange student all those years ago, says he picked Columbia for its “famously hot” weather and the friendliness of its people. He visited the city for three days in December 2010 on the recommendation of a friend in France who had traveled here for business.
“The weather was great … and it was so cold in France,” he said. “And the people are really friendly, welcoming.”
A few months ago, Prescelti found his location and began working to renovate the restaurant and get all of his permits lined up. If not for a water-heater issue, he might already have been open.
Prescelti enlisted the help of Columbia interior designer Sarah Roddey as a consultant.
“He had his own wonderful flair and take on things,” Roddey said.
Prescelti ended up with what Roddey called a “surprisingly contemporary” French restaurant with a “very warm European sensibility.”
Prescelti used basic materials – glass, stainless steel, wood – that come together in a soothing, inviting way, Roddey said. And he used warm grays and a cool green-blue on the walls with accent pieces such as a piece of distinctive wallpaper framed as if it was a piece of art.
When Prescelti opens the restaurant next month, he will serve something he has been making all of his life. Crepes, he said, are like very thin pancakes that can be topped with anything from chili and cheese to strawberries or eggs. The varieties are “sweet and savory,” says Prescelti, who sold his cleaning business in France to raise money for the new restaurant and then spent years working in restaurants to gain experience in the food industry.
He also will sell a variety pastries, quiches and baguettes, as well as coffee, tea and hot chocolate.
The average breakfast will cost from $3.50 to $4. And lunch, including a drink, crepe and dessert, will fall generally in the $8 to $9 range.
Prescelti already has a small following in Columbia of people who have sampled his food at events around town, such as the Urban Tour, Roddey said.
At the International Festival this year, she said, “he couldn’t make crepes fast enough.”
•If the shoes fits.
Footwear discounterOff Broadway Shoes
entered the Columbia market this week, opening a new store at 262 Harbison Blvd. The store has more than 30,000 pairs of women’s, men’s and children’s shoes at 25 percent to 60 percent off department store prices. The retailer has more than 2,000 stores throughout Europe and the United States.
•Unplugged. Batteries Plus
opened its second store in the Columbia area this week at 10159 Two Notch Road, Suite B. The store has access to more than 30,000 kinds of batteries and more than 10,000 kinds of light bulbs. The franchise is owned byBates Kennedy
, who along with two partners also owns a Harbison-area location. Batteries Plus has more than 500 locations in 46 states and Puerto Rico.


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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 4-year-old girl became an entrepreneur with the launch of her homemade baked goods and sweets business Saturday afternoon.
Mariah’s Munchies held its official launch on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Our Favorite Things Boutique & Event Center in Cleveland.
The 4-year-old business owner, Mariah Morning, loves to bake and cook. She uses recipes passed down from her mother and her grandmother.
Mariah’s baked goods were so delicious, her mother decided to let her sell them to teach her financial literacy, how to manage money and entrepreneurship at an early age.
Her mom, Angela Tatum-Morning, said the business is a dream of theirs and they hope it promotes positive relationships between grandmothers, mothers and daughters.
The Saturday launch gave the community a chance to taste Maria’s creations and showcased her treats to potential vendors in the area.
Mariah will get to bake a lot of treats over the holidays, filling the orders received for her baked goods at the official launch.
Tatum-Morning said her daughter got a lesson in philanthropy after her launch as well, donating some of the remaining “Munch Boxes” to Cleveland VA’s Fisher House.
Mariah’s mom created a Facebook page for her business that you can check out here.
Tatum-Morning said her daughter prays for her business every day as she works hard to be a successful young entrepreneur in Cleveland.
This story was originally published by Camryn Justice at WEWS.


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The Bogotá-based coffee chain says high tourist footfall and a strong economy make the UAE an ideal base to implement a wider Middle East expansion strategy
The Jumeirah Beach outlet will officially launch on 22 February 2024 | Photo credit: Juan Valdez
Colombian coffee chain Juan Valdez has made its debut in the UAE with a store in Dubai’s upmarket Jumeirah Beach.
The outlet is currently in a ‘preliminary opening’ phase and will officially launch on 22 February 2024.
Juan Valdez International Vice President Sebastián Mejía said Juan Valdez is planning to open more company-owned and franchised stores in the UAE, as well as develop its online and horeca channels in the country.
The coffee chain’s Dubai debut also marks the beginning of the brand’s planned expansion across the Middle East and Asia.
“This key and strategic market represents a great opportunity for Juan Valdez's expansion in the Middle East. Dubai, due to its levels of tourism and the dynamism of its economy, is the perfect place to make our coffee visible,” Mejía said.
Bogotá-based Juan Valdez currently operates approximately 560 stores globally, including 200 across 17 international markets. The brand made its Middle East debut with an outlet in Kuwait in 2013, before launching in Qatar in April 2022 and Egypt in October 2023.
The UAE is the second largest branded coffee shop market in the Middle East, behind Saudi Arabia, and has developed into an attractive hub for international operators, with Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ and Caribou Coffee all scaling their presence in the country over the last few years.
Read related content: Branded coffee shops become big business in the Middle East
More international brands, including the UK’s Black Sheep Coffee, boutique label Ralph’s Coffee and California’s Reborn Coffee, are set to enter the UAE in 2024.
Additionally, South Korean bakery cafe chain Paris Baguette, London-based specialty coffee group Grind, Brazilian small-format concept The Coffee and bubble tea giant Gong cha are among those to have signed, or are currently seeking to sign, franchise agreements to open stores in the country.


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Just days after Boohoo divided the internet with their controversial inside-out jeans, the online retailer has once again caused a stir.
The UK-based brand has been accused of using fake bumps, made of pillows, to replicate a baby bump on their maternity range models.
Confused customers took to Twitter to question whether the models featured on their official site, were using pillows to plump up their stomachs to appear pregnant, due to the odd and unnatural shape of the ‘bumps’.
"Looking at maternity dresses on Boohoo and I bet none of the girls are actually pregnant," commented one user.
"I feel like @boohoo didn’t even try to make this model look like she was actually pregnant," wrote another.
While the brand has yet to make an official comment about the speculation, it’s the latest in a list of controversies the international retailer has had to deal with.
Last week, Boohoo was found to have stocked a jumper made from real animal hair, despite claiming it was made with “faux fur”.
The item in question was a white jumper that featured coloured pom poms on the front.
The animal rights charity, Humane Society International (HSI), commissioned a test that uncovered the poms poms contained real fur, like to have come from a rabbit.


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GSMA is proud to announce the launch of the GSMA Inclusive Tech Lab! The Lab is a GSMA-led industry initiative that will take a hands-on approach to researching, testing and developing the inclusive technologies of the future. Together with industry stakeholders, GSMA will establish and share proofs of concept aimed at increasing financial and digital inclusion for underserved groups.
This Lab represents the power of collaboration and GSMA welcome your thoughts on which technologies will prove the most impactful for digital and financial inclusion in years to come. If you are interested in collaborating with the Lab, contact [email protected]


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Jason McQuaid, Woolworths Commercial Director, Bakery said: “Our teams across the country have been baking up innovation and quality to bring customers a fresh range of Hot Cross Buns for the Easter season.
“Our indulgent flavours are also highly anticipated, and what could arguably be our most exciting flavour yet is the Hot Cross Buns made with Cadbury Caramilk chips.”
Cadbury milk chocolate chips will also feature in a decadent Brioche Chocolate Hot Cross Bun made with Cadbury milk chocolate six pack.
A Premium Fruit Bun, packed with Australian-sourced soaked vine fruit, candied orange and cranberries will also hit shelves at selected stores from tomorrow. Both are available for $4.50.
Another flavour available is the Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Bun, which makes a popular return from last year, and retails for $3.50.
Free From gluten Hot Cross Bun alternatives and the popular Hot Cross Fruit Loaf will also make a return this year.
The partnership between Cadbury and Woolworths for the Hot Cross Bun range coincides with the brand’s 100 Year Anniversary.
“Since the launch of our first Easter Egg in 1875, it’s safe to say a lot has happened since then, and Woolworths has been with us along the way, so it’s fitting for us to partner with this iconic Australian company, to disrupt the bakery category,” Joanne Raven, Licensing and Cobranding Manager ANZ, Cadbury Australia said.
“Perhaps one of our most iconic flavours to date, it’s no surprise that Aussies love Cadbury Caramilk, and what better way to close off 2021 and celebrate Easter then with the launch of this new decadent bun.”


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Former TV Dragons Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis has given a business boost to luxury travel agency Mulberry Travel.
This came after staff at the Chester-based agent tweeted him about the company during ‘Small Business Sunday’.
It was one of six weekly winners to gain a re-tweet by Paphitis to his 500,000 Twitter followers.
Mulberry Travel has seen a rise in social media followers and an increase in business enquiries as a result.
They are also profiled on the #SBS website (www.theopaphitissbs.com) that is exclusive to all Small Business Sunday winners.
The weekly initiative, set up by Paphitis in 2010, supports small businesses throughout the UK.
Agency founder Lee Higgins said: “We’re delighted to win and it’s great to have support from Theo. We’re very much looking forward to meeting him.”
Paphitis added: “We’re thrilled to welcome new #SBS members every week and highlight just how important it is to support our small businesses here in the UK.
“My vision is that everyone who has ever won an #SBS re-tweet from me becomes part of a friendly club; like-minded individuals who can share successes and learnings. The website will also give a valuable profile to the winners chosen and I wish Mulberry Travel every success.”


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Global server sales up 11% in Q4 2003
Looser corporate technology budgets and a push by customers to replace aging machines drove worldwide sales of server computers up 11.4% in Q4 2003 YTY, according to IDC. Total server sales reached $13.7 billion in Q4 and $45.7 billion for the full year. Market-leader International Business Machines Corp. had a share of 37.9% in Q4, followed by HP with 25.8% share. For the full year, IBM led HP by about 4%.


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The all-new 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class is launching this month and will blow away a new generation of buyers in Chicago tomorrow. Mercedes-Benz is bringing the Evolution Tour to Chicago tomorrow and it’s coming to nine cities across the U.S. The concert series features three bands who will be playing to an intimate, invite-only audience. Tomorrow night, Thursday, September 18, Young the Giant will be in Chicago to help Mercedes show off the new 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class to a new generation of buyers.
This is brilliant marketing by the German automaker as they attract a new buyer to the luxury brand. Mercedes wants to get new millennial buyers into their cars, and once you test drive the new luxury compacts, they hope you will be hooked. How will Mercedes attract a new generation of buyers to the brand with the GLA-Class?
4MATIC all-wheel-drive technology
The GLA-Class features the 4MATIC all-wheel-drive technology, which offers a tailor-made 4WD drive for this luxury compact SUV. GLA offers excellent traction in wet or dry conditions, outstanding agility, along with optimum handling safety and energy efficiency. The sporty AMG variants use the performance-oriented AMG 4MATIC all-wheel drive, which provides added sporty driving dynamics.
The 2015 GLA-Class is the first Mercedes to be available with the new-generation all-wheel-drive 4MATIC with fully variable torque distribution. The new system features a power take-off to the rear axle that is integrated into the seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission, and the rear-axle gear with integrated, electrohydraulically controlled multi-disc clutch. The new-generation 4MATIC has a lower weight and also allows fully variable distribution of the drive torque between front and rear axles.
GLA-Class will blow away Chicago
Why will the new 2015 GLA-Class blow away a new generation of buyers in Chicago? The new luxury compact 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class gets a progressive design that will allow new Mercedes millennial buyers to use it for daily commuting during the week, and use it for recreation on the weekends. It’s small and compact enough for city commutes and robust enough with 4MATIC all-wheel-drive for off-road adventures. The new GLA-Class will be ideal for the tough Chicago winters.
The 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class rolls into the windy city and it will blow away a new generation of buyers with its progressive new design which will allow an active generation to use the new luxury compact SUV for commuting and recreation. With 4MATIC all-wheel-drive, it will be ideal for all-weather conditions in Chicago. The new 2015 GLA250 4MATIC ($33,300) and 2015 GLA45 AMG ($48,300) arrive in U.S. showrooms this month.
Other 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class stories of interest.
Is 2015 Mercedes GLA robust enough for off-road adventures?


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Crude, Nickel, Wheat Fall; Cocoa Gains: Commodities at CloseBarbara Powell
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials fell 1.6 percent to 657.31 in New York. The UBS Bloomberg CMCI gauge of 26 prices declined 1.2 percent to 1,563.989.
West Texas Intermediate oil in New York fell to the lowest level this year as a government report showed that U.S. crude stockpiles climbed to the highest level since July.
Futures dropped 2.5 percent after the Energy Information Administration said that supplies rose 4.14 million barrels last week to 376.4 million. A 2-million-barrel gain was projected, according to a Bloomberg survey. Production jumped to the most in more than 20 years. Markets also declined after the Federal Reserve signaled that it may consider slowing the pace of asset purchases, according to minutes of the Jan. 29-30 meeting, released yesterday.
WTI crude oil for April delivery tumbled $2.38 to $92.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since Dec. 31. It was the biggest loss since Nov. 20.
Brent crude for April settlement fell $2.07, or 1.8 percent, to settle at $113.53 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Oil futures: NI CRMKTS
Gasoline futures declined for a third day in New York, the first three-day drop since December.
Gasoline for March delivery declined 2.3 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $3.0365 a gallon on the Nymex.
Heating oil for March delivery fell 6.06 cents, or 1.9 percent, to settle at $3.0957 a gallon on the Nymex.
Oil products markets: NI OPFMKT
Platinum slumped to a six-week low on signs that Europe is struggling to recover from a recession, boosting concern that demand will slow. Gold was little changed.
On the Nymex, platinum futures for April delivery fell 1.6 percent to settle at $1,620 an ounce.
Gold futures for April delivery rose less than 0.1 percent to $1,578.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York.
Silver futures for March delivery climbed 0.3 percent to $28.699 an ounce on the Comex.
Precious-metal markets: NI PCMKTS
Sugar slid on a report that a global surplus will be larger than expected, partly because of more production in Brazil, the world’s largest grower. Cotton also dropped, while coffee, cocoa and orange juice advanced.
Raw-sugar futures for May delivery dropped 1.3 percent to settle at 17.9 cents on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.
Also on ICE, cotton futures for May delivery slumped 1.5 percent to 83.23 cents a pound, the first loss in a week.
Arabica coffee for May delivery gained 0.1 percent to $1.4175 a pound in New York.
Cocoa futures for May delivery advanced 0.9 percent to $2,133 a metric ton. Orange-juice futures for May delivery rose 1.9 percent to $1.289 a pound.
Soft commodities markets: NI SOMKTS
Natural gas futures dropped in New York for the first time in three days after weather forecasts for the central U.S. turned milder heading into March.
Natural gas for March delivery slid 3.3 cents, or 1 percent, to settle at $3.246 per million British thermal units on the Nymex.
U.S. gas market: NI NUSMKT
Copper, tin and nickel fell to the lowest level this year on signs of a deepening slump in Europe and concern that the Fed will slow the pace of economic stimulus.
Copper futures for May delivery declined 1.5 percent to settle at $3.5695 a pound on the Comex.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months fell 1.2 percent to $7,861 a ton ($3.57 a pound). Nickel slumped as low as $16,600, the cheapest since Nov. 27. Tin touched $22,980, the least since Dec. 20.
Lead, zinc and aluminum also retreated in London.
Base-metal markets: NI BMMKTS
Wheat fell the most in seven weeks as snowfall expected in Kansas, the biggest U.S. grower of winter varieties, eased concern that drought in the Great Plains will damage crops. Corn fell, and soybeans rose.
Wheat futures for delivery in May fell 2.9 percent to settle at $7.24 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Soybean futures for May delivery rose 0.1 percent to settle at $14.705 a bushel on the CBOT.
Corn futures for May delivery dropped 1.5 percent to $6.855 a bushel in Chicago.
Grain markets: NI GRMKTS
Hog futures fell, capping the longest slump in 15 months, on signs of slack export demand for U.S. pork. Cattle also dropped.
Hog futures for April settlement declined 0.7 percent to close at 82.375 cents a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Cattle futures for April delivery slid 0.3 percent to $1.27825 a pound. Feeder-cattle futures for March settlement declined less than 0.1 percent to $1.407 a pound.
Livestock markets: NI LVMKTS
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|Grapegrower & Winemaker||Wine & Viticulture Journal||Wine Industry Directory||
||Daily Wine News||
Taber to examine closures at LIWF workshops
Subscribe to Daily Wine News e-mail
Browse the DWN Archive by date
American author George Taber will be the keynote speaker at the popular Wine Faults Workshops at this year’s London International Wine Fair (LIWF). Taber, of ‘Judgement of Paris’ fame, will address the burning question of how to select wine closures at the informative workshops, which have become a regular feature of the LIWF.
His latest work, ‘To Cork or Not To Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine Bottle’, which examines all sides of the closure debate, has received international acclaim.
Taber will discuss the key arguments for and against different types of closures with case history illustrations.
Independent Bordeaux scientist and winemaker Pascal Chatonnet will follow with a practical workshop on the subject of post-bottling reduction and excessive levels of sulphides — what causes it, how to spot it and how various closures perform. His talk will be accompanied by a fascinating indepth fault tasting and discussion session.
Sponsored by Amorim, the world’s leading cork producer, the 1.5 hour workshops are a must for anyone interested in the current issues on closures. They will be held on Wednesday 21 May in Waterfront Rooms 25 and 26 beginning at 11am and 3pm. Each will finish with a book signing by Taber. Featuring more than 1200 exhibitors, the LIWF is recognised as one of the most important events on the world wine calendar. In 2008, the exhibition will be held from 20–22 May.


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A2 shareholder Freedom Foods buys $589k of shares
A2 cornerstone shareholder Freedom Foods buys $589k of shares after dilution
By Paul McBeth
Sept. 5 (BusinessDesk) - ASX-listed Freedom Foods Group bought almost one million shares of A2 Milk Co this week for about $589,000 after its stake was diluted in the past year due to the issue of partly-paid shares.
The Sydney-based food company bought 942,500 shares in four transactions in A2 this week at an average price of about 62.5 cents, according to a substantial shareholder notice filed to the NZX. Freedom Foods holds about 117.9 million shares, or 17.9 percent of A2, leaving it as the biggest shareholder in the milk marketing company.
Because A2 issued partly-paid shares to executives earlier this year, Freedom Foods' stake was diluted down from 18.1 percent when it made its last disclosure in December 2012.
Shares of A2 rose 1.6 percent to 63 cents today, and have dropped 23 percent this year. The stock is rated an average 'buy' based on four analyst recommendations compiled by Reuters, with a median target price of 80 cents.
Last month A2 reported a slump in annual profit to $10,000, even as sales rose 17 percent to $111 million, as a strong kiwi dollar eroded the value of revenue and earnings.
In its Aug. 29 results announcement, Freedom Foods said it intends to keep a strategic stake in A2 in the medium-term, while keeping the option to "realise capital from the investment to support growth opportunities."
Freedom Foods said A2 offers "potentially significant value creation" through the milk marketing firm's growth in Australia and international markets.
Shares of Freedom Foods rose 3.7 percent to A$3.12 on the ASX yesterday, and have climbed 13 percent this year.


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Three top BlackBerry executives to leave in management shake-up
TORONTO Nov 25 (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd on Monday announced a management shake-up that includes the departure of three top executives, in a widely expected follow to this month's naming of a new chief executive.
The troubled smartphone maker, based in Waterloo, Ontario, said Kristian Tear, its chief operating officer, and Frank Boulben, its chief marketing officer, will leave the company and James Yersh will replace Brian Bidulka as its chief financial officer.
BlackBerry, which has shelved plans to sell itself, also said Roger Martin, a board member since 2007, has resigned.
© Thomson Reuters 2017 All rights reserved.


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The PlayStation 5 will deliver a “new era for gaming”, the head of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has said as the next-generation console goes on sale in the UK.
The PS5 is several times more powerful than the current generation PlayStation 4 and is able to handle higher-quality graphics with significantly shorter loading times.
Jim Ryan, president and chief executive of SIE, said the new system had “limitless possibilities”.
I’m thrilled for the new worlds that players will begin to experience today
As well as the flagship version of the console which features an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive and is priced at £449, Sony is releasing a slimmer, digital-only version of the console which costs £349.
The console includes a new ultra-high-speed solid state (SSD) drive as well as the ability to run games in 4K resolution at up to 120 frames per second (fps).
The DualSense controller, which comes with the console, has also been given a major update and now features enhanced haptic feedback to more accurately recreate in-game vibrations through the handset.
“Today marks a historic moment for the PlayStation brand, and all of us at SIE are pleased to celebrate the release of PlayStation 5 together with our community of fans, game developers, and industry partners,” Mr Ryan said.
“PS5 is a truly next-generation console representing the beginning of a new era for gaming.
“I’m thrilled for the new worlds that players will begin to experience today, and I’m equally excited for the line-up of games still to come for PS5 that will continue to propel the gameplay experience forward.
“We are humbled to work with a talented community of world-class game developers. Their creativity will bring limitless possibilities to what the future of gaming can look like on PS5.”
The console, which first released in the United States and several other countries last week, has so far received positive reviews from critics.
Its launch also comes in the wake of rivals Microsoft releasing their own next-generation consoles – the Xbox Series X and Series S – making it a landmark month for the video games industry.
PlayStation has marked the launch of the console in the UK by taking over several London Underground stations, including redesigning the roundels outside Oxford Circus station to match the famous cross, circle, triangle and square shapes found on the PlayStation controller.


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- Supervalu has promoted Anne Dament to executive vice president of retail, marketing and private brands, according to a company release. Dament joined Supervalu in January after a two-year stint as senior vice president of merchandising at Target. She began her career at Supervalu and has also held positions at PetSmart, ConAgra Foods and Safeway.
- According to the company, Dament has played a key role in implementing programs to improve Supervalu’s retail division, reorganizing retail merchandising groups, and consolidating marketing efforts in the retail and wholesale divisions.
- Dament is also credited with introducing 350 new private label items and developing offerings like the recently released Quick & Easy Meals program.
Supervalu is going all-in on Dament at a critical time for the retailer/wholesaler. The company’s retail division is struggling most notably in Minnesota, where its market-leading Cub Foods stores are under assault from a host of competitors, including Hy-Vee, Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Dament’s former employer, Target.
Cub has been slow to respond to threats in the market, but under Dament the grocer has made significant strides. New private label offerings stand to boost sales, as does the ambitious new Quick & Easy Meals lineup she spearheaded, which ramps up the company’s selection of high-margin prepared foods and gets it into the meal kit game, too. Cub stores are also more focused on experiential shopping now, with recent remodels adding foodie touches like juice bars, burrito stands and make-your-own trail mix stations.
Supervalu no doubt wants more innovative ideas from Dament, and from her new position she’ll have more power to implement promising strategies. Product development should be a key component, with new meals and private label products being sold to wholesale customers in addition to livening up its own stores.
Dament will be under pressure to produce results quickly. Despite Supervalu’s recent strides growing its wholesale business, investors are not happy about the company’s stock price, which has plummeted from a high of $83.80 in April 2015 to just over $15 currently. Last month, Blackwells Capital, one of Supervalu’s top ten investors, sent a letter to company management saying it was frustrated by the poor performance and “the lack of clear steps Supervalu’s leadership has demonstrated.”
Dament offers Supervalu a good shot at making continued improvements. She started with the company as a buyer more than twenty years ago and has filled various positions on both the retail and manufacturing sides, including a ten-year stint with Safeway. Dament’s time at Target ended after less than two years, and may have reflected frustration with the retailer prioritizing other categories over grocery.


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Hearables present an unprecedented opportunity for innovation at the convergence of personalized audio and wellness technology. While the jury is still out on who will successfully deliver the most game-changing and disruptive applications into the marketplace, 2021 should be a very telling year.
Looking back at 2020, Apple
In 2020, CES - the world’s flagship of consumer electronics events - saw the arrival of several new wireless earbud contenders out to compete with Apple and, thanks in part to Qualcom’s new chipsets, over a half-dozen had noise cancellation on board. Other technical advancements that came to fruition in 2020 included the arrival of Bluetooth LE, the inclusion of Spatial Audio in high-end devices, the improved audio Codex LC3, and more sophisticated measuring and personalization features designed to create richer listening experiences as well as hearing enhancement options for the 14% of the population estimated to suffer some degree of hearing loss.
In addition to Nuheara, other available brands demonstrate real potential and a commitment to serve growing health and wellness concerns. Starkey, the only American-owned and possibly the most innovative of the Big Six that have had a stranglehold on the Hearing Aid market, just received their nod as a 2021 CES Innovation Honoree for their Livio Edge AI hearing aids, as did the British-American player Helm, who are bridging the narrowing gap between hearing aids and headphones in one of the most exciting Hearables arenas, with their hearing enhancement earbuds, SensusHD’s.
Apple can anticipate more feature-rich Hearables competitors at CES 2021, opening its virtual doors on January 11th.
You can already see several hearables stealing the show in the newly announced 2021 Innovation Awards including earbuds from Apple’s heavyweight contender Samsung, under their marquis audio brands Harmon and JBL. Like Apple, however, these products are not venturing too far into the health and wellness sector...yet.
Overall Market Predictions:
Most experts still predict a market size of $80 billion by 2025. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the supply chain, the sector has continued double-digit growth, with GlobalData projecting a market of $146 billion by 2030.
Predictions can vary, however, depending on how Hearables and the markets are defined. There are different opinions on the size of the overall market and whether the highest-earning sector will be in health & wellness or more predictable use cases championed by market leaders, like improved mobile communications options and high-fidelity audio for music and entertainment.
James Hayward, principal wearables analyst at IDTechEx, devides the Hearables into three primary segments:
- Headphones (consumer audio)
- Hearing Aids (medical)
- Biometric Tracking (wellness)
While he is admittedly most inspired by the potential in biometrics and mental health, his lowest value predictions are in wellness. This is in part based on current sales metrics and the absence of a precedent set by Apple or one of the major players.
Although current sales figures make it hard to argue on where investments and sales are dominating, I would disagree on the scale of the future opportunity and potential valuation for the Hearables in the fields of wellness and human potential.
For the most part, market growth and prediction are still driven by hardware sales. Because biometrically enhanced hearables will radically impact so many other areas of health, wellness and user experiences, the value proposition is potentially much higher than product analysts predict. One only needs to take a look at other exponential disruptors - like crypto currency, AI, DNA sequencing, electric vehicles or Airbnb - to get a sense of what happens when we move from the “elbow” of the current exponential growth curve to that exponential upward spike investors dream of.
When Hearables-based closed-loop systems provide a new personalized ecosystem for some of the most effective, safest, and affordable therapy options for reversing cognitive decline, treating stress-related health disorders, improving sleep and productivity, or transforming the world’s most beloved engagement medium - music - into a personalized, responsive and measurable therapeutic treatment at scale, the value and adoption will grow exponentially and impact multiple industries. Such a move, one that is inevitable, could cut a big slice from massive revenue pie of pharmaceutical companies and other higher-cost treatment options.
It is in these less obvious areas that companies, even music and entertainment providers, might want to take more serious stock - to re-examine how they are preparing for the inevitable disruptions to their respective industries. While the increasingly turbulent waters might not come to a boiling point in 2021, change is on the way.
If the market heavyweights hold back on taking lead or revealing the health and wellness trump cards from their already well-stacked Hearables’ decks, then that upward market spike might get ignited from the first unicorn that creates the Oura Ring or Whoop of the Hearables Revolution. In 2021 we may even witness the long-past-due publication of the FDA’s OTC Hearing Aid guidelines or the release of the 1st FDA-appoved self-fitting hearing aids from Bose.
A Closer Look at 2021
While you are awaiting to experience the full impact of the Hearables Revolution, here are a few trends you can expect to see in the year ahead:
1. Increasing Share of the Wearables Market Moving to Hearables.
Wearables will continue to migrate into our ears in 2021. The total wearables market was worth nearly $70bn in 2019, with the hearables sector (including headphones), making up $28bn of that. Despite COVID-19 production hurdles, nearly 400 million total units shipped in 2020.
As consumers await the next level of full-feature sensor-enhanced Hearables for the wellness and fitness sectors, you are going to see an interim partnerships pairing Hearables with existing wearable devices (like rings, watches and other consumer wellness-monitoring products) to collect biometric data and provide personalized audio-based solutions - ideally managed from a single software interface on your mobile phone.
We will also see the expansion of 2-way communication in non-wearable audio interfaces using Alexa, Siri and other programs to collect biometric data (like emotions and wellness metrics) from voice analytics and environmental sound data. Don’t be surprised as they start to offer responsive solutions and recommendations - from wellness coaching to music selections, from entertainment to product recommendations.
2. Major Brands to Focus on Hi-Fidelity Audio and Mobile Communication
As stated earlier, and verified by 2020 market reports, industry giants like Samsung, Apple, Google and Amazon
Despite billions of dollars already invested into health and wellness market opportunities by Amazon, Samsung and Apple, most of the more future-facing health and wellness-oriented customization features in 2021 will still be championed by smaller players and new entries in the already-competitive Hearables game.
With Apple’s 2020 launch of Fitness+, however, we might start to see some interesting integration by Apple leveraging their products and content partnerships. Not to be ignored are Apple and Amazon’s major moves in the content game in 2020. While they may be currently focused on competing for a share of the Netflix and Spotify streaming entertainment success, the winner in the Hearables wellness future will have to have stakes firmly planted in both hi-demand content and effective digital therapies.
You can witness the continued blurring of the lines between wellness content and digital wellness solutions with Headspace’s 2020 appointment of John Legend to Chief Sound Officer and the launch of their new mediation series on Netflix today. “The times - they are a changin’” At the intersection of content and human potential, Hearables will amplify optimal outcomes for users in 2021, through more personalization and scifidelity audio and wellness experiences.
If you are looking to stay ahead of the trends, however, keep a keen eye on the continued migration towards the next-generation intelligent devices and programs that deliver custom biometric-rich experiences, inclusive of hi-fidelity listening and advanced mobile communication features already driving the market.
3. Increased Biometric Validation of Audio-Based Wellness Solutions
There is an increasing demand for validated and measurable music and audio-based therapies, along with more scalable, personalized and seamless processes for fulfilling that demand.
There are also several startups hoping to become the next digital leader in the fields of functional and therapeutic music and sound therapy. We will see more of these emerge and a couple possibly acquired in 2021.
Participants range from companies curating new types of music libraries (from majors like UMG to successful indies like Liquid Mind) and hoping to imbed them into the offerings ranging from leading DSP’s (like Spotify, Apple Music) and digital wellness providers (like Calm, Headspace, and Peloton); to early stage startups hoping to leverage innovative software and patented algorithms for analyzing, tagging, and creating those music libraries (like Wavepaths, Rubato or The Lucid Project); to generative music companies and processors focused on the wellness and royalty-free music markets (like start-ups Endel and Amper Music, or tools from OpenAI, Google’s Magenta and Amazon’s DeepComposer).
The demand is coming from consumers and businesses seeking affordable alternative and supplemental therapies for dealing with stress, anxiety, and a number of other global wellness issues that have been further aggravated in the Year of the Pandemic.
The demand is also coming from music providers - including the majors - who are hoping to leverage and augment their current assets to capitalize on requests from a new wave of music consumers, the growing number of digital health providers seeking validated music therapies, and major DSP’s like Spotify, Amazon Music
Other growing interest for validated functional music content will come from hardware manufacturers, insurance companies, entertainment brands, and software-based wellness providers hoping to augment their B2C and B2B offerings with healthy and engaging music-based alternatives.
Despite the multitude of ways Hearables can help achieve wellness and performance outcomes, while providing valuable feedback through realtime biometrics, most of the consumer-facing hardware and content offerings over the next year will use only a fraction of the biometric options available. Still, the emerging opportunities will eventually transform both industries and, more importantly - your personal wellbeing and quality of life.
4. Sleep and Anxiety Management as Key Market Drivers
Sleep, or the lack thereof, has become a Global Health concern. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that adults who get fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night are more likely to develop conditions such as coronary heart disease, asthma, depression, or diabetes.
Unfortunately, that risk population includes the majority of people living in industrialized nations. The current pandemic has only fueled the fire and a multitude of associated health issues. With these growing wellness concerns, comes an increasingly important set of roles and opportunities for Hearables, biometrics and music and sound-based solutions.
Because sleep is a complex issue, Hearables are just starting to scratch the surface here. There have been many companies touting music and audio programming for sleep solutions, with aforementioned Liquid Mind being one of the most popular series. Still, better testing and individual real-time metrics are needed to validate which approaches work best. The right integrated Hearable system for sleep - one which allows us to rapidly scale research and sound health applications - could help crack that nut.
As far as form factor goes for current sleep options, Bose Sleep Buds (now on V2) probably win out. Unfortunately, they lack sensors and could benefit from richer set of audio solutions, noise cancellation (a Bose signature) and more seamless software and content integration.
Another newcomer - Kokoon sleep phones, have impressively integrated EEG sensors and other sleep-specific features. Although bulky (over-the-ear), they give more content options including third-party music sources via Bluetooth from your mobile device.
With the growing awareness around sleep as a foundation for nearly every health issue, the demand for music and audio programming to help with sleep will continue to grow. For those interested in the fascinating field of sleep and wellness solutions, Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep is a must-read.
If the solutions above don’t suit you, but you still want to avoid leaving your bedroom (or your budget) to venture into a medically-accredited sleep lab, there is another option - one that will likely lead to a number of fruitful partnerships in 2021. It will come from the pairing of existing feature rich hearables and proven audio and music solutions with the multitude of existing consumer wearable products (think Oura Ring or Apple Watch) designed to track metrics for optimal sleep.
Despite a clear winner here at this time, there is a considerable opportunity for Hearables to become the key link in and ecosystem that provides effective music and audio therapies for the global health crisis commonly known as poor sleep.
If you are waiting on more effective and user-friendly high-tech solutions emerge, or want to go counter-tech, you can look at passive noise controlling solutions like SleepSound (by 1of1 Custom) and focusing on better sound sleep preparation protocols, including throwing out that alarm clock, reducing pre-sleep screen use, and the listening to music designed for stress reduction and relaxation prior to checking out for the night.
5. Voice Analytics for Key Health & Happiness Metric
Few areas in the field of digital consumer-based collection of biometrics have received as much investment over the past decade as voice. The voice and speech recognition market is expected to grow at a 17.2% compound annualized rate to reach $26.8 billion by 2025. Voice-activated UX will eventually become the norm, rather than the exception.
With the human voice and the human ear being so intricately related, and the notable advances that have been made in the assessment of mental health and wellness indicators via voice analytics, comes another untapped opportunity in the Hearables space.
While Hearables ownership increased by a notable 23% since 2018 (despite COVID supply-chain interruptions), voice assistance use via hearables grew 103% in the same period. In 2021, voice in mobile apps is expected to see accelerated growth. While the full integration of voice sensors into Hearables to track mental and physical health may not hit the commercial market in the months ahead, the technology is there and the potential for improving and maintaining personal wellbeing is immense.
A couple of other trends that may emerge out of our 2020 COVID-19 experience include the integration of non-invasive neural stimulation for improved wellness and performance using sound and vibroacoustic devices, ranging from a broad range of vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) pads to smaller vibrotactile and meditation audio companions that can fit in the palm of your hand (like those from newcomers Sensate and CORE).
AI bots and self-help prototypes have dominated the customer service sector in 2020, a period when quality human support was at a premium, and customers paid the toll. 2021 calls for a much-needed re-design in customer service, especially when it comes to balancing hi-tech, low-touch solutions with actual human-centric physical and mental health needs. While several emerging Telehealth platforms have been trying to bridge this gap, integrated platforms using Hearables, real human connection, and sound health are only now gaining traction.
Expect to see some Hearables and Sound Health service providers integrating better remote support options featuring medical practitioners (like audiologists) and qualified wellness professionals (like music therapists). London-based startup YesHearing is building a bridge between professional audiologists and customers on their platform to help users test, select and install a broad selection of hearing aids and hearing enhancement products without having to go to the doctor’s office.
These telehealth-meets-Hearables, high-tech + high-touch options could create a much-needed and more supportive ecosystem delivering a long term win in the field of audio and sound health.
Co-Creating Toward a Better Future
2021 will continue to show increased innovation and competition in the Hearables market. My hope is that we will see more companies taking greater advantage of the converging technology to provide consumers with more user-friendly and personalized biometric tracking, much in the way Oura & Whoop have done in the wearables space. While biometric sensor-rich devices may currently appear as the minority, they are potentially the most disruptive, and thereby capable of creating the greatest benefit to the customer’s wellbeing and influencing markets in a number of industries.
Will it be one of the majors - like Apple or Amazon - that links optimal listening experiences to biometrics for health and preference recommendation tracking, or will it take a start-up?
The ability to prove the validated efficacy for engaging audio content, with hi-fidelity, and real-time health metrics tied to individualized profiles (like precision medicine) will be the ultimate game changer for wellness, and for Hearables. It will also launch new era of real-time recommendations based on wellness metrics and personal data, rather than siloed research studies, advertising interests, ineffective and cumbersome subjective analysis. By doing so, Hearables have the potential to revolutionize a number of industry sectors and amplify human potential.
Heres to a healthy and inspired 2021.
Keep your ears open to see what comes next.


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Put an end to the waves of trash at Manila Bay by volunteering for this cleanup
Here’s how you can join the Greenpeace beach cleanup
Aug 20, 2018
Metro Manila once again fell victim to harsh rains and devastating floods last week with Typhoon Karding and the habagat. Photos and videos of the effects of the typhoon made the rounds online and sparked several much-needed discussions—from the reality of Filipino resiliency, to government disaster preparedness, to the real, first-hand effects of plastic pollution.
Waves of garbage are crashing onto shoes in the Philippines pic.twitter.com/zkC03iBR0P
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 14, 2018
To help address this widespread waste problem, Greenpeace Philippines is organizing a Manila Bay cleanup and plastic waste audit this Sept. 14.
The cleanup and plastic brand audit aims to not only rid the area of waste, it also serves as “research” into what the biggest contributors of plastic waste are in the area. In a previous cleanup and brand audit done at Freedom Island in Parañaque City, Nestle, Unilever, and Indonesian company PT Torabika Mayora were found to be the three brands that contributed the most to plastic waste in the area.
Photo courtesy of Earvin Perias/Inquirer.
Get more stories like this by subscribing to our weekly newsletter here.
Read more by Pauline Miranda:
Apparently, plants can count, plan, and remember
All the best places you can bring your pet for a date
Want to discover UP Diliman’s secret spots? Take these free walking tours
Remembering the “Rape of Manila”
I tried to get my boyfriend into skincare. Here’s what happened


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After Neogen ($NEOG) released disappointing first-quarter earnings in September, its shares dropped 8% to $49.36--a sign that expectations had reached unprecedented heights for the Michigan-based maker of animal safety and gene-testing products. The stock recovered, and the company continues to chart double-digit sales and earnings growth, even though currency woes continue to be a drag on its bottom line, as it announced Monday before the market opened.
Neogen said revenues in its fiscal second quarter grew 16% year over year to $79.6 million, and that its net income was also up 16%, to $9 million, or $0.24 per share. The earnings missed analysts' expectations by $0.02 a share. Currency fluctuations were to blame, the company said in a press release, as it suffered particularly poor conversion rates affecting the euro, British pound, Mexican peso and Brazilian real.
One bright spot for Neogen was growing demand for GeneSeek, its service that screens cattle DNA for up to 150,000 genetic variations and provides other genomic-testing services for both the food and companion animal markets. GeneSeek revenues rose 35% in the second quarter from the same period a year ago, thanks to an uptick in orders for its testing products for chicken and swine, the company announced.
Neogen, which also makes products for the food safety industry, has been working to expand its presence in animal health. In June, it acquired Sterling Test House of India, which gave the company a home base for its animal safety business in that country. And in October, it announced that it is opening an office in Canada, which will initially focus on marketing GeneSeek.
On Wall Street, Neogen has been a hot property, with its shares up 19% for the year. That advance led TheStreet to advise its readers to take some profits out of the company before its Monday earnings release. Why? Shares were trading just a few dollars below the average analysts' 12-month target price of $61, TheStreet pointed out, and it was trading at a price-earnings ratio of 65, vs. just 21 for the Standard & Poor's 500 index. That puts the onus on the company to exceed analysts' predictions for next quarter and the full fiscal year.
Following the earnings release, Neogen's shares dropped 2.5% in premarket trading to $56.53.
- here's Neogen's earnings release
- get more at TheStreet


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Updated: Oct 20, 2021
ORAI’s Conversational AI Platform was awarded as the Best Digital Innovation Solution at the Technoviti 2021 Awards, organized by Banking Frontiers. ORAI won this award on the grounds of its nation-wide market disruption with a Conversational AI platform that integrates multiple digital channels to drive personalized customer service and operational efficiency.
“Now more than ever, businesses and consumers need a reliable solution to seamlessly connect with each other across all digital channels. The entire jury felt extremely thrilled by the level of personalized automation ORAI is bringing to the Indian mass market,” said Arjun Bhaskaran, Country Representative, India & Middle East at GamaSec Ltd while presenting the Technoviti 2021 award to ORAI.
We are concentrating on taking businesses to their full potential of communications so they can be future-ready with an AI-enabled conversational way of engaging customers, dealers, vendors, distributors, employees, and other stakeholders.
“ORAI is transforming the way customers are engaged by businesses. Our conversational AI enables exceptional customer experiences while enhancing the operational agility of businesses to help them enhance their marketing, sales, and customer service ROI,” said Swapnil Jain, Founder CEO, ORAI Robotics. “We are concentrating on taking businesses to their full potential of communications so they can be future-ready with an AI-enabled conversational way of engaging customers, dealers, vendors, distributors, employees, and other stakeholders. Big thanks to Banking Frontiers for recognizing that.”
AN AI PLATFORM THAT ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDS HUMANS
Conversational AI platform developed by ORAI is a leading intent-based AI solution. Its omnichannel deployment enables instant, intelligent and automated conversations over chat, messaging, IVR, voice, social media, and digital advertising. With multilingual AI-enabled virtual assistants, ORAI platform is bringing a new age of interactions with a natural, humanlike experience that takes very little effort from businesses and customers.
ORAI as an AI deployment team specializes in implementing conversational AI at any scale across multiple channels, third-party applications, back-end systems, SAP, ERPs, and CRMs. Easy to leverage, it supports organizations with enterprise-level text, chat, query, and service ticket volumes.
In the passionate words of Swapnil Jain, “We are on a mission to make conversational AI available for every business to help them solve the toughest challenges faced while communicating with customers.” Know more about ORAI platform!


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The FCC’s net neutrality decision quickly drew laurels and brickbats from Netflix, legislators, consumers and internet providers.
Netflix was one of those with the praise. It said consumers got a “win” from the decision.
“Today’s order is a meaningful step towards ensuring ISPs cannot shift bad conduct upstream to where they interconnect with content providers like Netflix,” the company said in a statement.
At the same time, the company said the FCC needs to be vigilant in enforcement.
“Net neutrality rules are only as strong as their weakest link, and it’s incumbent on the FCC to ensure these interconnection points aren’t used to end-run the principles of an open Internet,” Netflix said.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was caught on camera applauding following the vote and posted on Twitter that he “had to be there.”
— Steve Wozniak (@stevewoz) February 26, 2015
“This is a victory for the people … the consumers, the average Joe’s against the big suppliers who have all the power and the wealth and make the decisions for them,” Wozniak told Bloomberg TV. “They feel hopeless and helpless. I see it as an indication that the people can sometimes win.”
Also pleased were musicians.
Future of Music Coalition CEO Casey Rae called the FCC vote “an incredible moment.”
“This historic day is a testament to what can be achieved when the creative community comes together with a diverse array of advocates and activists to stand up for free expression and entrepreneurship,” Rae said.
Democratic legislators praised the FCC.
“We join with millions of Americans in celebrating today’s victory for consumers, innovators and entrepreneurs,” said a number of Democratic U.S. senators in a joint statement.
“The Commission’s vote is a decisive step to ensure the Internet remains an open platform for consumers and a level playing field for all,” wrote Sens. Patrick Leahy, Vt.; Ron Wyden, Ore.; Chuck Schumer, N.Y.; Maria Cantwell, Wash.; Sheldon Whitehouse, R.I.; Tom Udall, N.M.; Al Franken, Minn.; Richard Blumenthal, Conn.; Elizabeth Warren, Mass.; Ed Markey, Mass.; and Cory Booker, N.J.
U.S. President Barack Obama sent a handwritten note to Reddit users, thanking them for their support of the vote effort: “Thanks Redditors! Wish I could upvote every one of you for helping keep the internet open and free!”
He also sent an email, which said, “Earlier today, the FCC voted to protect a free and open internet — the kind of internet that allows entrepreneurs to thrive and debates over duck-sized horses and horse-sized ducks to persist.”
The action drew far less favorable reviews from Internet service providers, the consumer electronics industry and Republican legislators.
Michael Powell, a former FCC chairman who is now president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, called the FCC’s action “one of the most regulatory steps in its history.
“The FCC has taken the overwhelming support for an open Internet and pried open the door to heavy-handed government regulation in a space celebrated for its free enterprise,” he said. “The Commission has breathed new life into the decayed telephone regulatory model and applied it to the most dynamic, free-wheeling and innovative platform in history.”
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee in a letter sent to Wheeler today expressed deep “disappointment” with the decision.
“Today’s rules do not offer an enduring solution, only a partisan headline for a partisan initiative that is destined for years of litigation, generating years of debilitating uncertainty,” said the letter. It also suggested the FCC’s action to reclassify connections as utility like could hurt the agency’s anti-trust and consumer enforcement efforts.
“We are disappointed the Commission chose this route, which is certain to lead to years of litigation and regulatory uncertainty and may greatly harm investment and innovation,” Cohen wrote. “We just don’t believe statutory provisions designed for the telephone industry and adopted when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president should be stretched to govern the 21st Century Internet.
“We know that our business has grown and thrived because consumers want access to everything that the Internet makes possible, and we want to meet that demand. This is why we have no issue with the principles of transparency and the no blocking, no throttling and no fast lanes rules incorporated in today’s FCC Order. But we remain deeply concerned that implementing those principles through [reclassification] will do more harm to the vibrant Internet ecosystem than good.”
Verizon got cheeky, issuing a statement in Morse Code labeled “FCC’s ‘Throwback Thursday’ Move Imposes 1930s Rules on the Internet.”
A translation of the statement issued in PDF format included old-typewriter-style font.
“The Federal Communications Commission approved an order urged by President Obama that imposes rules on broadband Internet services that were written in the era of the steam locomotive and the telegraph,” the statement began.
“Today’s decision by the FCC to encumber broadband Internet services with badly antiquated regulations is a radical step that presages a time of uncertainty for consumers, innovators and investors. Over the past two decades a bipartisan, light- touch policy approach unleashed unprecedented investment and enabled the broadband Internet age consumers now enjoy,” said Michael E. Glover, Verizon senior vice president, public policy and government affairs, in the statement.
“The FCC’s move is especially regrettable because it is wholly unnecessary,” Glover continued. “The FCC had targeted tools available to preserve an open Internet, but instead chose to use this order as an excuse to adopt 300-plus pages of broad and open-ended regulatory arcana that will have unintended negative consequences for consumers and various parts of the Internet ecosystem for years to come.”
MPAA, which has repeatedly declined to take a position on reclassification said its main concern with net neutrality is whether it could impact piracy and copyright infringement.
“The MPAA member studios, like everyone, want to see the Internet continue to flourish,” said an MPAA spokesman. “Our narrow focus throughout the network neutrality debate has been to ensure that the rules do not thwart efforts to prevent copyright infringement, or otherwise chill production and distribution of innovative content. Until we see the order we cannot know for sure, but the FCC has previously indicated that it would continue to make clear that the rules do not apply to unlawful transmission of content, and would refrain from regulating parties on the edge of the Internet, such as content creators.”
“The Producers Guild of America applauds the FCC’s recently announced regulations supporting net neutrality. We believe that the FCC’s approach is realistic and provides producers of creative content with a powerful affirmation that internet distribution channels will remain equally and fairly accessible to all services, voices and perspectives,” Lucchesi and McCreary said.
TheWrap will continue to update this post with responses to the FCC’s action.


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US financial services major Citigroup, smarting under the impact of the devastating financial marker crisis, has finally opted to sell its Japanese brokerage unit Nikko Cordial, to raise over $5-9 billion, media reports said.
Citi is planning to auction Nikko Cordial, which the troubled financial services group had acquired for about $13 billion in cash and shares, as part of the company's strategy to sell off non-core assets, the Financial Times reported.
The report said Citi has already had informal talks with potential bidders, including three of Japan's largest banks and has sought formal offers for Nikko Cordial in order to finalise a bidder before April-end, the report said.
While Citi declined to comment on the issue, the report quoted people close to the situation as saying that Citi expects Nikko Cordial to fetch the fund-starved banking major between $5 billion and $9 billion.
A sale of the securities unit, even at a price far below the $13 billion it paid for its acquisition, is expected to give Citi an accounting gain as the original take-over, included other operations of Nikko Cordial that were spinned off in a reorganisation. (See: Citi makes final $14 billion offer for Nikko)
Nikko Cordial, like the German retail bank and US brokerage unit that Citi sold earlier, is one of its best businesses. (See: Citigroup sells German unit to France's Credit Mutuel for $7.8 billion)
Analysts, however, doubt any Japanese bank might be interested in acquiring the third-biggest broker in the country at a time when competition is heating up in one of the world's biggest capital markets. They say Citi may lose more than it gains by selling it at an unknown price.
The sale comes at a time when Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Group, Japan's largest bank, are merging their Japan brokerage businesses to take on an enlarged Nomura and Daiwa Securities. Nomura is integrating the Japan operations of Lehman Brothers. (See: Nomura to buy Lehman's banking, equities units in Europe, Middle East)


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The money comes from investors, including the Berlin-based Bitkraft Esports Ventures, one of the most prolific esports investment firms. PlayBrain will use the new funding to scale the team, accelerate growth, and support costs to lead the creative direction, operation, and commercialization of League of Legends Japan League (LJL). Market researcher Newzoo reported that 67.6 million players in Japan will spend $19.2 billion in 2018, making it the third-largest games market in the world.
This deal marks the first Western investment in esports in the Japanese market. PlayBrain is a full-service esports tournament and media company in Tokyo. Its mission to help brands reach gamers and fans through large-scale esports event production.
PlayBrain has partnered with Riot Games and Yoshimoto to lead in the operation of the LJL league. Established by Riot Games, LJL is the largest esports league in Japan. PlayBrain also works with the most prominent brands in gaming including, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, CD Projekt, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Twitch, and Supercell.
“As a company that is multicultural and multilingual, we see ourselves as a bridge connecting the Japanese competitive gaming community to the rest of the world,” said PlayBrain founder Mike Sheetal in a statement. “The investment from Bitkraft Esports Ventures will enable us, and the Japanese esports market as a whole, to gain more ground in the global esports industry by developing the next generation esports cultural products born out of Tokyo’s distinct youth culture and helping foreign brands effectively enter, and engage, with Japan’s gaming community.”
“With a $19 billion games market, Japan is a sleeping giant in esports and is finally waking up and recognizing its potential to become one of the largest markets globally next to China and the US,” said Bitkraft founding partner Malte Barth, in a statement. “This investment comes at the perfect time, ahead of the 2020 Olympics when all eyes will be on Tokyo, and Japan’s quickly growing esports ecosystem.”


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The owner of 9/11 bottle-shops, Federal Group, has announced today that it will sell twenty 9/11 stores to Coles Liquor Group.
The transaction, which will include both its hotel-attached and stand-alone bottle shops, presents a significant growth opportunity for Coles Group, who currently only have two Liquorland stores on the island state.
“We’re looking forward to continuing on the great 9/11 legacy by supporting local suppliers and the community and providing great value and excellent service,” said Michael Courtney, Coles Liquor Chief Executive.
“’Our decision to purchase twenty 9/11 stores demonstrates the confidence we have in this state and supports our vision to be a simpler, more accessible and locally relevant drinks specialist.”
Federal Group’s MD, Greg Farrell, has indicated that the transaction will allow the Group to focus on re-investing in their wider business and hospitality and tourism assets. This includes a portfolio of hotels, tourism resorts and casinos.
“9/11 has become an iconic Tasmanian business providing convenience, quality service and an extraordinary range of local, national, and global products to Tasmanians,” said Greg.
“I would like to thank all of our loyal staff, suppliers and partners for their support over the past 15 years in building 9/11 into the fantastic business that it is. You should all be very proud.
“Federal Group is proud of the way it has built the 9/11 business over the last 15 years and the legacy that we will pass on to Coles Liquor.”
Both Greg Farrell and Michael Courtney have said that all 9/11 employees will be offered employment with Coles Liquor on terms equal to, or better than, what they currently hold.
“We’re excited to welcome all 9/11 employees to the Coles Liquor team and thank Federal Group for working with us to ensure a smooth transition for customers and team members,” said Michael.
Prior to finalisation, the transaction will be subject to legal and regulatory approvals, which are expected to be completed in the first half of this year.


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Sunniva (CSE: SNN) (OTCQX: SNNVF) stands out among the emerging largest compliant producers with a vertically integrated business model and commitment to delivering safe, consistent, high-quality products and services. An article discussing the company reads, “In an executive summary of Sunniva’s market potential, Canaccord Genuity states, ‘Sunniva could become one of the larger compliant producers in California heading into 2019 where more than 85 percent of product is still not in compliance with current regulations.’ The company’s strategy of placing a high degree of importance on designing its facilities with innovative technologies that allow for automation, low-cost cultivation and the ability to maximize control/monitoring of production inputs and environmental factors is a top value for investors looking at Sunniva, the report states (http://nnw.fm/u6iOF).”
To view the full article, visit http://nnw.fm/C8FvF
About Sunniva Inc.
Sunniva, through its subsidiaries, is a vertically integrated cannabis company operating in the world’s two largest cannabis markets – Canada and California – where it is committed to delivering safe, high-quality products and services at scale and creating trusted Sunniva branded cannabis products. The company’s vision is to become one of the lowest cost, highest quality vertically integrated cannabis producers in the markets it serves by building large scale purpose-built current cGMP designed greenhouses and expansion of retail locations, offering better quality assurance with cannabis products free from pesticides, providing better customer access to cannabis education and sourcing better therapeutic delivery devices. Sunniva’s management and board of directors have a proven track record for creating significant shareholder value both in the healthcare and biotech industries. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Sunniva.com
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NetworkNewsWire (NNW) is an information service that provides (1) access to our news aggregation and syndication servers, (2) NetworkNewsBreaks that summarize corporate news and information, (3) enhanced press release services, (4) social media distribution and optimization services, and (5) a full array of corporate communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and content distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. NNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Dubai Police Shows Off Amazing New Fleet of Luxury Cars for Street Patrol
Dubai police has just added more luxury cars to their lineup ogf vehicles for street patrol. They just added a 2015 RC F Lexus to their legendary collection. The city police is already well known for their impressive fleet which includes a Lamborghini Aventador, a Bugatti Veyron and a Ferrari FF.
The extremely wealthy city-state showcased the new addition to their fleet to the admiration of citizens and tourists alike, in a video posted to Youtube. See some pictures below...
AROUND THE WEB


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RBI Remains Net Seller Of U.S. Dollar In August; Sells $4.072 Billion
The Reserve Bank of India remained net seller of the U.S. dollar after it sold $4.072 billion in August on a net basis in the spot market.
During the reporting month, the Central bank purchased $615 million and sold $4.687 billion in the spot market. In July 2019, the RBI had turned a net seller of the U.S. dollar for first time in this fiscal, after it sold $93 million on a net basis.
In June 2019, RBI had net purchased $2.463 billion, as it bought $4.434 billion and sold $1.971 billion. In May and April, the Central bank had net purchased $2.538 billion and $4.901 billion, respectively. In August 2018, the apex bank had net sold $2.323 billion.
In the fiscal year 2019, RBI was a net seller of the dollar offloading $15.377 billion in the spot market. It had bought $40.804 billion and sold $56.181 billion in the year to March 2019.
In FY18, RBI had net purchased $33.689 billion from the spot market, taking its total dollar purchase to $52.068 billion, and sold only $18.379 billion.
In the forward dollar market, the outstanding sales at the end of August were $7.848 billion, compared to a sale of $8.609 billion in July, the data showed.


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DC Comics and Ed Boon’s Netherrealm Studios are teaming up once again. No, this isn’t for Injustice 2 (which I do hope is coming). Instead, they are teaming up to set the stage for the upcoming Mortal Kombat X. The two have joined forces to produce a comic book series that will set the stage for the upcoming game.
Mortal Kombat X: The Comic Book series is now available through comic book stores, DC’s website, and the Comixology app / website. The storyline being laid should help bridge the gap between the end of Mortal Kombat 9 and where things will begin when you start the game in April. I have read the first issue that was released earlier this week and must say that there are a lot of familiar faces making a return, at least in the story. Perhaps this series will slowly give us a clearer picture of who we can expect to play as in the game.


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The company, eAudit, was named 450 on this year's 5000 list after recording a three-year average growth of 1007%.
eAudit has been named to Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. It is the first year the young company has earned the distinction.
“There’s no single course you can follow or investment you can take that will guarantee this kind of spectacular growth,” says Inc. editor in chief James Ledbetter. “But what the companies on this list have in common is persistence and seizing opportunities.”
“We had a goal of making the Inc. 5000, we knew it was achievable, and we achieved it,” says eAudit operations manager Kirsten Evans. “As a small team, we have learned a lot from each other and helped each other in our individual roles, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see that teamwork and commitment pay off.”
Since the first three companies went live on the eAudit dashboard Nov 15, 2014, the firm has grown rapidly and now manages small parcel audit for 846 shippers. eAudit offers a proprietary SaaS platform that ensures customers automatically get refunds for small parcel billing errors and late deliveries, along with a business intelligence platform that identifies further opportunities for savings and increased operational efficiency. In its five years of existence, eAudit has helped its customers save $21,201,799.72.
“We have listened to clients over the years and understood their needs and added the services they have said they wanted,” says Evans. “We have a lot of plans in place to continue helping our clients with their own business growth, and in the process to make the Inc. 5000 again ourselves!”
eAudit recorded three-year average growth of 1007% percent to rank 450 on the 2019 Inc. 5000. It is the number one North Carolina company to make the 2019 list in the transportation and logistics category.
Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring the companies on the list will be held October 10 to 12, 2019, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.


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Bharti Airtel announced a new brand identity to its broadband plans called 'Airtel Xstream Fibre.' As part of the new identity, Airtel revised its broadband plans starting at Rs 799. However, the company has removed the data rollover facility for broadband users which it introduced back in 2017. Airtel now allows every broadband customer to avail unlimited data (3.3TB FUP) every month by paying an additional Rs 299 every month on top of the existing plan. And the new broadband plans under Airtel Xstream Fibre come with basic FUP limit similar to JioFiber broadband plans. There are some users who will miss the data rollover facility, while some may not. For those who had a lot of data left in their Airtel broadband account, here's some good news. Airtel confirmed to TelecomTalk that the customers could make use of the leftover data in their account till the time they migrate to another broadband plan.
Airtel Removes Data Rollover Facility for Broadband Users
To recall, Airtel introduced data rollover facility on broadband plans back in 2017 when the company had only FUP enabled plans. Firstly, the data rollover facility was introduced for Airtel postpaid users, and thankfully, the company did not remove it for the postpaid subscribers though. Airtel Xstream Fibre now has just four broadband plans- Rs 799, Rs 999, Rs 1,499 and Rs 3,999, providing data benefit of 150GB, 300GB, 500GB and 3.3TB every month.
As you can see, the FUP limit is not impressive by any standards, which seems to be the reason why the company removed data rollover facility. A lot of Airtel Broadband customers are complaining on Twitter that their current month's data is no more forwarded to the next month. Yes, Airtel has officially removed data rollover facility on broadband plans. On the brighter side, the company is allowing the subscribers to make use of the already existing carry forwarded data in the customer's account until the time they migrate to another plan.
For example, if you're on the earlier Rs 1,599 broadband plan and has somewhere around 800GB data leftover in your account. Airtel will allow you to use this data until the time you fully consume it or until the time you migrate to another plan. If you shift to another Airtel Xstream Fibre plan, then the data will lapse.
Right now, we're not sure whether Airtel is migrating customers to the new plans and benefits automatically. The new plans definitely offer faster speeds and lower FUP limit, but you now have the choice of making it unlimited data at just Rs 299 per month.
Airtel Xstream Fibre Plans to Take on JioFiber Plans
In September, Reliance Jio announced JioFiber broadband plans starting at Rs 699 and the speeds start at 100 Mbps. Airtel Xstream Fibre takes on JioFiber with almost similarly priced broadband. Airtel Xstream Fibre now has four broadband plans- Airtel Basic, Airtel Entertainment, Airtel Premium and Airtel VIP. The Airtel Basic plan offers 100 Mbps speeds and 150GB of FUP limit; Airtel Entertainment plan ships with 200 Mbps speeds and 300GB FUP limit; Airtel Premium plan offers 300 Mbps speeds and 500GB of FUP every month. Lastly, the Airtel VIP broadband plan offers 1 Gbps speeds and unlimited data which will be 3.3TB every month. The prices of these plans are Rs 799, Rs 999, Rs 1,499 and Rs 3,999, respectively.
On top of these plans, Airtel Xstream Fibre allows every customer to make their plan offer unlimited data (3.3TB) at Rs 299 more, which will come as a major addition to many.


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Adobe Stock The legislation, headed to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature, would allow the state to participate in the sale of cannabis products across state lines, should the federal government allow it.
Subscribe June 12, 2019
Statesman Journal (Oregon) Legislation and regulation News State by State: Oregon
A bill that would set Oregon up to participate in the sale of cannabis products across state lines, once the federal government allows it, passed the Oregon House Tuesday with bipartisan support.
« The surplus of cannabis products we have in our state proves that without even trying we can supply a market far bigger than the local one here in Oregon, » Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, said on the House floor. « We’re ready to go, all we need is for the feds to get out of the way and for us to pass this bill. »
The bill now heads to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature. She has said she supports the legislation.
Marijuana Bill Regulation Oregon
View the Original article


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Bengaluru based digital publishing SaaS startup Quintype Technologies, has raised Rs 25 crore in Series A from IIFL AMC, part of IIFL Wealth Management.
Media entrepreneurs Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur, who had invested founding capital in the company, stated, “Quintype was born as a stand-alone, independent, arms’ length operation and its early successes are manifest in the 70 publishers from across the globe on it now. We are delighted that Quintype, with funding support from pedigree investors, is now ready to move on to big things in its next stage.”
It provides a platform to digital media publishers to create, curate, distribute and monetise content. Among clients the company counts publishers such as Bloomberg Quint, Prabhat Khabar, Bar and Bench, The Quint and Swarajya which use its platform to publish and distribute content.
Talking about the funding, Chirdeep Shetty, CEO of Quintype, said “Media companies and content creators across the world are moving towards a digital-first strategy and the current pandemic situation has only accelerated that shift. The team at Quintype has been focused on creating some of the best products for publishers and this will help us provide better support and expand our offerings to publishers globally. We do all the heavy lifting on the technology-end so that publishers can focus on creating the best content for their audience.”
Prashasta Seth, Senior Managing Partner of IIFL AMC said, “Quintype, with its suite of products, is set to accelerate the growth in digital content and publishing space. It enables more content creators to go digital easily and gives them the freedom to distribute, scale up and monetize their content using an intuitive product with hundreds of built-in features. We are happy to partner with a professionally-managed Quintype team backed by pedigree promoters who together make the best combination.
IIFL Seed Venture Fund – Series 2 was launched last June to back early-stage companies that are using technology to disrupt business processes. Quintype Technologies intends to use the funds to expand its overall operations and reach.


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According to TrendForce, the shipments of Apple laptops have risen by 17.1%. It is estimated that the appearance of new models has the accelerating effect on the shipments. There are some worries that the next quarter will not be so successful as the prospective demand was already satisfied. Here’s how the rating looks like.
I have a piece of news for Russian customers: local Apple Online Store is currently back after being inactive for a couple of days due to noticeable currency exchange variations in the country. Apple has decided to shut down the website to adjust prices for its gadgets and accessories. As a result, the worth of hardware in the store is currently 35% higher than a week ago. Well, I must admit that the increase in prices is quite noticeable.
A new tweak for those who like texting friends has recently appeared on Cydia. It is called Auki. The tweak allows to compose new and reply to messages you get within few taps on the screen.
To create a new message, all you need is to swipe down the screen. To answer a message, you need to tap on the newly added "Reply" button. Nothing more. That's all thanks to the Quick Compose and Quick Reply modes. Take a look at the video showing how Auki works.
Many apps on the App Store have become discounted or even free due to the holidays. End of December seems to be the best time to purchase new software for both iPhone and iPad since one can save a lot of money. Literally. Check out the list of all the worth purchasing apps, created by MacRumors, to make sure I'm not joking. It is available below.
A Joshua Michael Stern film called “Jobs”, starring Ashton Kutcher as Jobs and Josh Gad as Wozniak, has recently become available on iTunes. Those who want to watch the Steve Jobs biography can now do this without visiting the local cinema. How much does it cost to watch the film? As noted by MacRumors,
Yesterday The Wrap reported that Google is going to launch a Video on Demand movie rental service on YouTube, which will obviously become a rival for Apple's iTunes movie store.
Actually, YouTube started offering movie rental last year, but only independent studio movies have been available yet. Now Google plans to partner with major Hollywood studios. Read the rest of this entry »
Ryan Tate from Gawker quoted people closed to the matter who said that Steve Jobs is dissatisfied with the free app New York Times Editor's Choice. The reason is that it has a limited content of the daily NYT.
The story started when some time ago Amazon made a deal with Times and received exclusive rights on its full content. So now if you have Kindle you should pay to gain full access to the NYT edition. The same full content is also available on the web and it's free. Moreover, the deal apparently implies that other competitors may have the full text but they must sell it at a higher price.
Few days ago the New York Times decided to raise the subscription price on the Kindle, from $13.99 to $19.99 per month. That was no wonder because the NYT warned before that they want to charge readers nearly $20-30 per month. With such a deal Apple was left with a truncated version of the NYT for the iPad. Ironically, the same version for iPhone remains to deliver the full content.
Obviously, that is the reason why Apple has been ignoring the NYT iPad app recently. It is even not listed as a "noteworthy" or "favorite" in the App Store. User reviews are also mainly negative and many people ask where the full content can be found.


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Kimberly-Clark Corp raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts, as the maker of Kleenex tissues and KleenGuard benefits from price increases and resilient demand for essential products.
Pandemic-induced supply-chain disruptions that was worsened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine crisis fuelled a spike in transportation and raw materials costs, forcing consumer goods companies like Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble to raise prices.
Still, demand for daily use products, particularly in North America, has remained steady even as higher interest rates and rental costs squeezed household income.
Prices across all product categories rose 9% at the Huggies diaper maker, while second-quarter sales volume fell 3%.
Kimberly-Clark saw adjusted gross margin improve by 380 basis points to 34% in the second quarter as the price hikes offset higher input and marketing expenses.
Its adjusted earnings of $1.65 per share, topped analysts' expectations of $1.48, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Revenue rose 1.4% to $5.13 billion (€4.7 billion), but fell just short of estimates of $5.14 billion.
The company expects full-year organic sales to rise between 3% and 5%, compared with its prior forecast of 2% to 4%.
Kimberly-Clark expects annual profit to grow between 10% and 14%, compared with its earlier estimate of 6% to 10%.
Chairman and CEO, Mike Hsu said in a statement, "Our growth strategy is working, and given the strength of our first-half results, we're raising our full-year outlook.
"Continued improvement in gross margin positions us well to invest in superior brand value propositions, including innovation and digital leadership, which will help grow our market shares over time and deliver balanced and sustainable growth for long-term shareholder value."
Additional reporting by ESM