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MSN and its parent company, Microsoft, announced at its Sixth Annual MSN Strategic Account Summit that it will leap into the paid search market with the introduction of its next generation online advertising platform, the MSN adCenter, and new paid search service to be piloted in Singapore and France, where customer feedback will be monitored over the next six months.
But before the foreign market gets to put their two cents in, it would be interesting to see how MSN’s announcements are being received by others in the online community.
MSN, which only in January launched its own beta search engine after years of relying on Yahoo’s search technology to feed its results pages, attracts more than 380 million worldwide users a month. Still, that places it at a far third in the search engine race behind Google and Yahoo. While the release of its own search engine gave hints that Microsoft was looking to cut a slice out of the booming search industry pie, its most recent announcement solidifies those suspicions.
But while MSN might be ready to immerse itself fully into the search market, is the search industry ready for MSN?
To some it seems like just another business tactic, but the new MSN paid search service promises to pose a real challenge to Google’s and Yahoo’s paid search services. The service will allow advertisers the use of Web analytics tools unlike any currently offered by other paid search services.
Previous to beginning a campaign, advertisers will be able to view information on MSN search users including age, gender, geographic location, time of day and lifestyle characteristics. Surely no one can argue that this data will help advertisers better target their ads to the most qualified buyers.
But while it is obvious that these new features will raise the bar in the paid search industry, some in the online and offline community fear how high that bar will go. Privacy advocates are concerned about the new service, fearing that MSN will go as far as selling users private information to the highest bidder. However, MSN denies such claims, stating that they will only be using aggregate data to fuel their analytics program, not the personal or private information of individual users.
But with MSN offering up the challenge of providing additional, useful information in its search program, some are also concerned that Google, in an effort to compete might also use its desktop search tool to gather information from its users’ personal desktop programs to sell to advertisers further narrowing the threshold between consumer privacy and “personalized marketing.” This just speculation, but with the trend in the current search market it would not be surprising to see it occur in the near future.
For those who have concerns that the search engine market is becoming too crowded, they should have their eyes checked for being way too short-sighted. While the new MSN service might mean that more advertising might appear on more Web pages, the implications for both consumers and advertisers far outweigh the possibility of that slight increased inconvenience.
The search engine market is already at $6 billion and expected to grow to $10 billion by 2008 so the increase in the number of ads pervading computer screens isn’t likely to slow with or without MSN’s entrance into the paid search market. If anything, MSN’s new service will actually help to bring down the prices (at least initially) in what many have argued is an over-inflated paid search industry dominated by Google and Yahoo.
Because of its new offering, MSN will most likely enter the search market with lower prices per click than its competitors, possibly prompting them to lower prices to compete with MSN’s “new” appeal and additional analytics tools. Though this might not be the best change for Google and Yahoo’s paid services, it is good news for advertisers who can better target the market most interested in their products and for searchers who will then have paid search services competing to provide them with the best and most “relevant” paid advertising.
Primarily, the biggest benefit from the new service is that it promises to provide advertisers with the best in paid search technology allowing them to target audience most qualified for their services and products even if it is at the cost of search services relinquishing profits that inefficient targeting has been known to afford them.
Microsoft’s philosophy on paid search is that it should be about forming a real connection with the consumer. For the sake of search marketers and searchers alike, let’s hope that this is as true as it gets in the search marketing industry.


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On March 22nd CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd posted a 6% rise in attributable profit to HK$33bn (US$4.2bn) for the full-year 2016. The Hong Kong conglomerate's profit was boosted by gains from telecommunication and infrastructure-related acquisitions, and the disposal of some pipeline assets. The company has interests in the telecoms, infrastructure, retail and energy sectors.
Last November, CK Hutchison's Italian subsidiary, 3 Italia SpA, merged with Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, controlled by VimpelCom Ltd, in a bid to improve the quality of services while cutting costs. Earlier in the year CK Hutchison had sold a chunk of its oil pipeline and storage assets in Canada for C$1.7bn to raise cash.
However, CK Hutchison's revenue fell by 6% to HK$372.7bn over the year ended December 31st hurt by the impact of volatile global market. The company's retail business reported flat revenue at HK$151.5bn. The unit comprises 41% of the company's total revenue and operates over 13,000 stores across 25 countries. Revenue from the telecommunication business in Europe, and that from Hong Kong and Macau declined by 1% and 45%, respectively. However, the business recorded a 19% revenue rise in Asia, helped by subscriber growth.
The company said that its performance was hurt by the continuing decline in the euro and the pound sterling against the Hong Kong dollar since the Brexit vote. It expects global income volatility – from regulatory and political uncertainties – to persist in the current year. CK Hutchison raised its annual dividend payout by 5% to HK$2.68 per share.

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The upcoming smartphone is anticipated to be a radical change for the company, which will seek to wow users for the 10th anniversary of the device.
The iPhone 8 has been rumored to include wireless charging, facial recognition, an edge-to-edge display and – for the first time – no home button. Apple is expected to release it alongside two other phones, the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, which will be upgraded on its current offering.
iPhone 8 is expected to unveil the at an event in California September 12 according to the latest leaks. Tradition dictates the devices will go on sale a week after their announcement, making it likely the iPhone 8 will hit stores on Friday, September 22.
The company normally releases a new design one year and follows with a slight upgrade the year after. Following this logic, the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus are anticipated to feature minor upgrades to the iPhone 7, such as a faster chip and longer battery life.
The iPhone 8 will probably be Apple’s most expensive handset year, with estimates suggesting it could cost $1000 in the US.
Source: Technology News agencies


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Economic uncertainty and rising concern about consumer debt levels are shaking up the cozy world of Canadian banking, forcing players to compete ever more fiercely on rates just to preserve market share.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto-Dominion Bank, which reported lower than expected second quarter results on Thursday, both acknowledged that intense competition in their core business has resulted in lower net interest margins — the difference between what it costs them to borrow funds and what they charge customers.
Speaking on an analyst conference call, Tim Hockey, head of TD’s Canadian banking operation, said he expects the market “to continue to be quite competitive” and that will “keep up the pressure on margins.”
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Toronto-Dominion Bank posted second quarter profit of $1.3-billion, or $1.46 a share, up 13% on the back of higher loan volumes and lower credit provisions. The main driver was the domestic retail operation which posted income of $847-million, up 11% from the same period last year on higher loan volumes.


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As the e-reader and tablet wars heat up, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 0.04 % is launching a digital-book lending library that will be available only to owners of its Kindle and Kindle Fire devices who are also subscribers to its Amazon Prime program.
The program will be limited, at least at the beginning, in what is available to borrow. Amazon will initially offer slightly more than 5,000 titles in the library, including more than 100 current and former national bestsellers, such as Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."
None of the six largest publishers in the U.S. is participating. Several senior publishing executives said recently they were concerned that a digital-lending program of the sort contemplated by Amazon would harm future sales of their older titles or damage ties to other book retailers.
Moreover, Amazon will restrict borrowers to one title at a time, one per month. Borrowers can keep a book for as long as they like, but when they borrow a new title, the previously borrowed book automatically disappears from their device.
The new program, called Kindle Owners' Lending Library, cannot be accessed via apps on other devices, which means it won't work on Apple Inc. AAPL -1.55 % 's iPad or iPhone, even though people can read Kindle books on both devices. This restriction is intended to drive Kindle device sales, says Amazon.
The program, which is effective Thursday, comes a few weeks before Amazon ships the Kindle Fire tablet on Nov. 15, which is a direct competitor with the iPad.
The lending library reflects a broader effort by Amazon to lure consumers to Prime, a service that costs $79 a year.
Amazon Prime began as a membership plan to offer package-shipping perks. Then, earlier this year Prime added a video-streaming feature to the subscription. Nearly 13,000 movies and TV shows are now available under the streaming feature.
Amazon, the market leader in e-readers, made Kindle titles available to libraries beginning in September and libraries said the impact already has been significant.
At the Seattle public-library system, e-book borrowing rose 32% in the month after Kindle books became available, said Seattle's electronic-resources librarian Kirk Blankenship. E-book borrowing had typically been rising 10% or 15% a month, he said.
Mr. Blankenship said he isn't worried about Amazon starting its own lending service.
"There's a lot of people that can't afford Amazon Prime," he said. "We also want to be a resource for people looking for other things beyond the best-seller list."
Russell Grandinetti, vice president for Kindle content, said "the vast majority" of participating publishers were receiving a flat fee for their titles, while a more limited group is being paid the wholesale price for each title that is borrowed. "For those publishers, we're treating each book borrowed as a sale," he said.
Despite concerns among major publishers about the potential impact on sales of the program, some see it as a positive. Arthur Klebanoff, chief executive of RosettaBooks LLC, an e-book publisher that is making Mr. Covey's title available under a flat-fee arrangement, said he did so because he believes it will spur sales of Mr. Covey's other works.
"I'm attracted to the incremental promotion/visibility for participating titles," he said. "All site promotion, especially of backlist titles, drives sales in the Kindle Store." Mr. Klebanoff said that he's providing about 200 titles in all.


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Kind embarks on Waterloo sampling campaign
To celebrate the fact that Kind has become the UK’s #1 healthy snack bar and mark their ongoing and growing partnership with WHSmith, Kind will be taking over the WHSmith store at Waterloo station with a new wrap of the store which features the brand’s new creative campaign.
On the morning of September 26th the entire UK Kind team will be sampling in the station (including the Kind International President Juan Martin.)
The creative has been done by agency Intermarketing – and heroes the ingredients and the product in a playful and premium way. They will be spreading their message across multiple channels including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest and Youtube.
They are planning to sample 80,000 bars over the two weeks.
Working with WH Smiths as one of their partner retailers – Kind has a presence in 318 travel stores, including all major airports and train stations. They have x2 core SKUs and x2 Protein SKUs in full distribution.
Kind invest the majority of their budget in direct consumer sampling as they believe they can earn trust with consumers by interacting directly with them and sharing the Kind product principles and brand ethos and They are planning to sample 80,000 bars over the two weeks.
Kind has seen 59% growth YOY and has also become the #1 selling protein bar brand in the UK.


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Frustrated global sales analysts, rejoice; the leading charts authorities in the world are close to agreeing a new monthly report that will offer definitive sales data for ‘the whole planet’.
The news comes after GFK-ChartTrack, NPD and Enterbrain launched the Top Global Markets Report last month – bringing together monthly sales data for the UK, Japan and US.
And the new goal for all three companies is to bring in other ‘periphery’ territories into the mix – including wider European, Asian and South American territories.
The new project would give subscribing publishers a one-stop source of sales information for every significant territory in the world, including the emerging markets.
The aim from all of us – GFK-ChartTrack, NPD and Enterbrain – is to produce a definitive report for the whole planet,” GFK-ChartTrack business group director Dorian Bloch told MCV.
We’re discussing it now. We’re looking at South America, Asia and other European countries than the UK. All of the companies that are involved are very keen to put something together that covers these areas.”
GFK-ChartTrack launched two new monthly reports at the Games Convention in Leipzig last month.
As well as The Top Global Markets Report, the firm teamed up with MediaControl-GFK for a full European sales document, which covers up to 19 countries including the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy and Benelux.
We have over ten years experience with Ireland and the UK, so it made perfect sense for us and MediaControl-GFK to team up,” added Bloch.
It is of benefit both to publishers concentrating on Europe – and US mega-publishers that want to learn about trends in the territory. It’s something everyone can benefit from.”


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Get paid to go on a £5,000 shopping spree – and keep all your purchases
Treating ourselves feels good.
Whether it’s new clothes, skincare, shoes or foodie treats, we get instant pleasure when we purchase new goodies.
But one company is now on a mission to see exactly how a shopping spree can affect our bodies, so they’re willing to pay people to splash the cash – all in the name of science.
Online luxury marketplace Hush Hush is launching a new professional ‘spenders’ scheme to see how splurging impacts things such as heart rate and temperature.
Those taking part in the programme will be given a prepaid credit card to purchase high-value goods on – all while having their physical and mental behaviour tracked.
Individuals taking part will have £5,000 to spend over the course of eight hours – but will have to wear a heart rate monitor during the process.
Before and after every purchase, a medical professional will assess and record pupil dilation, body temperature, sweat and salivation levels.
Participants will also have to fill in a psychological survey when they buy something and then again one week later – to understand the long-term emotional impact of the purchase.
While it might sound like a fair bit of work, it’s actually a pretty sweet deal – as not only will spenders get to keep everything they buy, but they’ll also be paid a salary of £100 a day for their efforts.
Anyone looking to get involved must be over 18 and have no medical conditions that could impact the findings of the study – or their own personal health and safety.
It’s also important that applicants are based near luxury shopping outlets – or can access them easily by transport.
What’s more, the Hush Hush team say that this opportunity will be better-suited to those who aren’t accustomed to spending large amounts of money on material items. So if you usually go on enormous spending trips, this one might not be for you.
More details about the role and the application form can be found here.
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Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
Source: Read Full Article


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Down 12 percent in the wake of earnings results, Square’s stock is taking a linear path downward.
The second quarterly report by the payments processor since going public in a disappointing debut in November of last year (but shares have rebounded by 50 percent) showed a loss of $0.14 per share on $379 million in revenues, up 51 percent, compared to the $0.09 per share loss on $344 million in sales The Street expected for the March period. That shortfall indicates that transaction volumes have been ramping up well (and, after all, gross payment volume was up 45 percent in the quarter, year over year), but that costs have more than kept pace, all in, up 72 percent overall. Software and data product revenues grew as well, up 197 percent year over year, but still remain a relatively small part of the business.
Despite the fact that the company boosted its EBITDA (a rough measure of cash flow) projection to $8 million to $14 million, compared to a previous range of $6 million to $12 million, investors were obviously nonplussed and seemed to take the guidance with a “show me” approach. The volumes may be on the upswing, as its readers are gaining traction, but could it be that the days of focusing only on the top line are shifting toward a desire for something more concrete, like positive numbers down to the bottom of the income statement? Yes. Part of that comes from litigation expense, to the tune of $50 million paid out to Robert Morley over disputes tied to who invented the company’s card reader. But still, product development expenses, on their own, were up 63 percent year over year, on the back of higher personnel costs. Excluding the litigation costs, Square would have missed expectations by roughly a nickel.
By vertical, as disclosed by Square’s first quarter shareholder letter, retail garnered 26 percent of contactless and chip reader orders, followed by services at 16 percent. Square Capital extended $153 million in advances in the period, with anemic sequential growth of 4 percent, stymied by pushouts of two large investors, a “result of more challenging credit market conditions,” though the firm noted those two investors did sign on after the close of the quarter.
Starbucks, which is rolling off next quarter in 2016, offered up $39 million in sales in the quarter. Previously, transaction and advance losses had been as high as $16 million and now have been tempered (though are still notable) at $9 million.
The lockup expiration looms, when 64 million options and warrants are free to be traded beginning mid-month, and that represents about 10 percent of all shares outstanding. Could the after-hours flight from the stock be retail and institutional investors getting out before the ground-floor investors do?


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Ratan Tata’s retirement yesterday, on his 75th birthday, from the chairmanship of Tata Sons, India’s biggest conglomerate, marks the end of an era for Indian business as well as the group. No-one has bestraddled Indian business in the way that he has done, presiding over Tata’s $100bn-plus revenues, more than half from 80 countries overseas, with over 450,000 employees in 100 operating companies and interests ranging from tea to telecoms, software to hotels, wrist watches to defence rockets, and coffee (Starbucks) to power and steel.
There is no other Indian business figure of similar stature, and no one near to being able to take his place as a symbol of managerial ethics and success. He took over in 1991, the year of India’s economic reforms, first uniting the loosely run group under the Tata banner, ousting elderly satraps, and then using opportunities unleashed by the reforms to spend $20bn on foreign take-overs and become India’s first group with $100bn revenues (2011-12). His dream for 2020-21 is $500bn.
He strove for a corruption-free group, and lost influence in Delhi and elsewhere as a result – he has always seemed uncomfortable with the complexities of political and corporate corruption that has grown enormously in India during the past 20 years. “I can say, with my hand to my heart, that we have not in fact partaken in any clandestine activity,” Mr Tata said last year when being questioned about his group’s involvement in a far-reaching telecoms scandal. “I think there are many honest businessmen. There are many that bend. I am happy that I have not bent”.
But such a massive array of businesses could never fully match the “exemplary” ethics and values that he has said he would like to be his legacy, and he unwisely hired Nira Radia, an influence peddler at the centre of a telecoms-linked political crisis in 2010, as his trusted public and government relations adviser. His companies’ environmental record has also not always been as good as he would like it to appear, especially in the extractive industries, and his lack of concern was demonstrated by the construction of the Dhamra Port in Orissa in 2008.
His biggest contribution has been to spearhead Indian companies’ foreign investments abroad, starting rather unexcitingly with the purchase of Tetley Tea in the UK in 2000. Much more significant was a take-over of South Korea’s Daewoo truck manufacturer in 2004. This was a trailblazer because it showed that someone in India’s largely unimpressive and uncompetitive manufacturing industry had the ability and nerve to venture abroad. I have always thought that this deal was a turning point in Indian industry’s self-confidence, which then grew rapidly in the mid-late 2000s.
It led on in 2007 to Tata Motors’ $2.3bn purchase from Ford Motor of the Jaguar Land Rover business, which has been a huge success. Sceptics criticised the deal because they had not foreseen that, by capitalising on design work started but not carried through by Ford, Tata had the energy, finance and managerial strength to produce impressive new models and expand sales internationally, especially in China. This demonstrated Mr Tata's capacity to drive through his decisions, as he also did, against advice from senior colleagues, on his far less successful $11bn take-over in 2007 of Europe’s Corus steel business that has left Tata Steel heavily indebted.
He then spearheaded the misguided concept and launch in 2009 of the Nano, the world’s cheapest car, which failed to take off. Aspirational Indian families, who Mr Tata dreamed of upgrading from unsafe over-loaded scooters, did not want to own the world’s cheapest product – it has now been re-launched slightly upmarket and is doing better.
Tata Motors was the company where Mr Tata had most direct influence and significantly, he spent yesterday, his last day at work, at its Pune factory. But the company’s India operations need an overhaul now that it is no longer controlled by the patriarch, as do the steel and telecommunications businesses plus, according to some reports (left), the Taj hotels. The company that needs least attention is TCS, the information technology cash cow.
Over the last two decades, Mr Tata has changed many parts of the group and has led it abroad to many countries including the UK where it is the largest private sector employer. He has did that at a time when other big Indian companies, which thrive by bribing the Delhi and state governments, were shy of venturing into unknown territories.
He now retires to be chairman of the Tata’s charitable trusts that own 66% of the group, having handed over as chairman of Tata Sons, the main holding company, to Cyrus Mistry, a 44-year old businessman linked to the Tata family by marriage and the Parsi religion, and to the group by an 18% equity stake.
Mr Tata’s leadership has symbolised ethics and vision, despite a few bumps, and the gap left by his retirement is the absence of an Indian businessman with a similar renowned image in India and abroad.
For a longer version of this article go to John Elliott’s Riding the Elephant blog at http://wp.me/pieST-1SaReuse content


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Just a few days ago, TENAA presented the certification for three new OPPO phones. These went on to reveal three model numbers, and amongst them, the PBCM30 model numbers belonged to the newly unveiled OPPO K1. However, not much was revealed about the other two models, though, recently, through Chinese website listings, we came to know that the PBCM10 model number, which was amongst the three model numbers I just stated, is that of the OPPO R15x. In addition to this, we have also come to know about the leaked specs, and also the price of the OPPO R15X, and this comes as a result of the website listings.
The handset is set to come with a 6.4 inch screen, having a water drop-styled notch integrated in it. The resolution is set to be at 1080 x 2280. In addition to all this, the phone will be powered by a Snapdragon 660 chipset. Furthermore, the phone will come with two variants – one having 4 GB of RAM, while the other will come with 6 GB of RAM. While there will be a difference in RAM between the two variants, both will come with 128 GB of internal storage. The smartphone will come with a massive 3500mAh battery, and will come with Android 8.1 Oreo straight out of the box. And also not to mention, the phone will have the option for expandable storage, via the micro SD card slot.
The phone will feature a 25 megapixel selfie shooter. On the rear side of things. The phone will be equipped with a 16 megapixel + 2 megapixel dual cameras. Furthermore, the phone will also have a fingerprint scanner embedded right under its display. The phone will be available for CNY 2499, and this will bring you home the 4GB/128GB variant. The more premium variant, the one with 6GB/128GB is likely to set you back CNY 2599.
While I’ve stated the most likely cases for the phone, remember that whatever that I’ve stated is based solely on rumors, because nothing at all is official, neither the pricing, nor the specs. However, official word on proceedings should be there by OPPO in a short period of time.


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Graphics card and chip maker
ATI Technologies Inc. announced that it has reached an $8 million settlement in a class action lawsuit filed against the company in May, 2001.
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Almost two years ago the suit was brought against ATI in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs alleged ATI misrepresented sales of its RAGE 128 and RAGE 128 Pro graphics hardware prior to a May 2000 earnings warning. ATI’s maneuvering garnered the attention of Canada’s Ontario Securities Commission, which subsequently served insider trading charges against ATI CEO Kwok Yuen Ho and several others. The commission alleges that Ho and others sold ATI stock to the tune of almost $8 million, ahead of the May warning, which badly devalued ATI’s stock.
The initial complaint, which included charges of insider trading, was narrowed in July to focus specifically on the alleged misrepresentations and omissions concerning both the sales of the RAGE 128 and RAGE 128 Pro chips and ATI’s inventory. ATI said the settlement includes no admission of liability or wrongdoing by the company or others.
ATI senior VP, Finance and CFO Terry Nickerson said today in a statement that ATI is pleased to have put the issue behind them. “We remain focused on executing our strategy of technology leadership and product innovation to build shareholder value,” Nickerson added.


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Neurio monitors your energy consumption, sends you usage alerts and reminders, and can be used in conjunction with IFTTT, SmartThings, and Raspberry Pi.
CNET's Marguerite Reardon helps a busy working mother figure out how not to break the bank when a work-issued iPad has to go back.
Intel and Micron announce the all-new 3D XPoint storage technology that promises to be a thousand time faster than existing NAND Flash memory.
Road Trip 2015: The first in a two-part series on Vietnam's startup scene and how the government is trying to rev up investment and interest in businesses that hope to be the next viral hit.
The Audiophiliac tries out Nordost high-end cables, and likes what he hears.
The new technology will allow you to wirelessly charge a smartphone or other device with a metal exterior or case, a process that hasn't been possible with current charging systems.
Two supercomputing centers of excellence revolve around making sure applications can take advantage of compute horsepower and gathering feedback from developers, engineers and scientists.
Ford has launched its MyEnergi Lifestyle sustainability program at CES Asia, selling the message of renewable energy, efficient vehicles and lower energy bills to Chinese consumers.
As the tech industry eyes ways to improve its diversity, the social network publishes an internal training course on "managing unconscious bias."
LED LCD and OLED are the two major TV technologies that will fight for your TV buying dollar over the next few years. Here's how they compare.


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Amid concerns about the dire condition of newspapers and the expansion “news deserts” throughout the country, there are also signs of strength in the publishing industry as it becomes more
Total employment in news and information publishing has grown in the past decade as traditional media companies expand their online operations and digital startups
proliferate, according to a study of the economic effects of the internet by the Interactive Advertising
News and information companies last year employed 142,000 workers, a 73% jump from 2016, the last time the IAB published estimates of internet-related jobs.
The publishing categories include workers for legacy media organizations such as Gannett, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg News.
The IAB also surveyed employment at digital-first media companies that include BuzzFeed, Vox Media and Insider Inc. — along with the digital media brands that Red Ventures has
acquired, such as CNet, ZDNet and Bankrate.
Beyond those categories, the IAB also looked at internet employment growth for media companies whose roots were either in print
publishing or broadcasting. These “multi-genre and multi-platform” companies not only include Disney, ViacomCBS and Sony, but also Hearst, Advance Publications, IAC/InterActiveCorp. and
Meredith. (IAC’s digital media arm this month announced plans to buy Meredith.)
Noting that “online publishing is dynamic,” the IAB said the industry
“is growing at an accelerating rate, both as traditional publishing firms go digital and as new pure digital firms enter.”
The biggest area of internet-related
growth is coming from traditional media companies pushing into digital platforms, the report said.
“It may be the future of publishing lies with firms from the mold of
BuzzFeed and Red Ventures, but that is not how it looks today,” according to the IAB. “Incumbent traditional firms across segments as different as Disney, News Corp. and The
New York Times are adapting with dexterity.”


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Unified Communications and Collaboration CounterPath has partnered with Honeywell to create Smart Talk which is a new Unified Communications (UC) software solution that enables organistions to streamline communications, increase productivity, and enhance customer experiences.
Basically it means that mobile workers to connect and collaborate on the devices they already use and is designed for shops, hospitals, lorries and distribution centres.
The move is part of the growing demand for rugged tablets which is projected to reach US$946 million by 2025, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.9 percent during the forecast period (2018-2025).
Honeywell Smart Talk includes advanced security features that secure messages and provide voice and video calling encryption, ensuring worker communications are protected. The software integrates with all major call servers, PBX business telephone systems, and VoIP services, allowing enterprises of all sizes to overlay existing hosted or premise-based infrastructure—future-proofing their investment.
CounterPath Chief Revenue Officer Todd Carothers said: ” We’re proud to be powering Honeywell Smart Talk. In a fast-paced world, customers expect efficient service. In essence – they want to get what they want when they want it. Honeywell Smart Talk enables retail workers to communicate effectively, addressing customer concerns, satisfying their needs, and bolstering sales.”
Honeywell’s Productivity Products President Kevin Dehoff said: “Workers today are expected to know more at a moment’s notice than ever before. Honeywell Smart Talk software, combined with our powerful mobile devices, enables these mobile workers to use one device to access critical information, make calls and send messages to other employees, getting answers in an instant.”


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West End Garage Kia is full of pride as its most popular super-mini, the Kia Picanto has recently been crowned with another prestigious award. Both the Picanto and Kia’s Chief Designer, Peter Schreyer have picked up a brace of honours in the latest BBC Top Gear Magazine annual awards.
The Picanto has been named ‘Bargain of the Year’ and Schreyer was selected as one of the Men of the Year in the awards issue, out today - 30 November 2011.
Speaking of the recently won trophies, Damian Dunne, Dealer Principle at the all new West End Garage said: “Picanto is already very popular in Surrey, but recognition from a national award only gives our local Kia owners even more reason to be proud of their cars that they already drive. Anyone thinking about buying a Picanto can be confident that it not only has the backing of one of the UK’s widely-read magazines but that they’ll be driving around in a design masterpiece!”
Picanto has been showered with awards since its launch in July this year and BBC Top Gear Magazine said of the car: "Finally, here's a super mini that you could easily choose over, say, a Fiat 500. You want a bargain? The car we have here is a touch over 10 grand, but you can have one for well under 8. That's two grand less than the cheapest Cinquecento, and - for our money - the better car.
"This is the Picanto, our Bargain Car of the Year, a fluorescent metaphor for South Korea's journey from the havoc of wartime to economic enormity. A prime example of how this place is spooking big businesses, not just with cheaper substitutes, but with properly desirable stuff, from smartphones to tellies to cars," it added.
Peter Schreyer - the man behind the team that created the Picanto's strong identity - was selected for his clear design leadership (previously part of VW/Audi design team) and now at Kia.
The commendation said:" Good design is basically about creating products people want to buy. Peter Schreyer has presided over that process at Kia with impressive fortitude and skill."
Schreyer commented: "I am hugely honoured by BBC Top Gear's generosity both to me and, more importantly, to our Picanto. I have said before that it is incredibly rare for a designer to be given a clean sheet of paper when joining a company - but I think with this award, the bravery of that decision has clearly paid off’’
"Top Gear is famous all around the world as probably the most independently minded magazine staffed with car enthusiasts who are not afraid to say what they think - so this award truly excites every one of us within Kia," he added.
For more information about the award winning Kia Picanto call West End Garage Kia on 01483 797747 or drop in to the showrooms on the Guildford Road (A322), West End, Surrey, GU24 9LS.


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Andbox expands into mobile esports with Call of Duty: Mobile team
The team will be known as New York Subliners Mayhem.
The New York-based esports organisation Andbox has announced its entry into mobile esports with a new Call of Duty: Mobile roster. Designed to reflect its Call of Duty League team, the New York Subliners (NYSL), the mobile team will be known as the NYSL Mayhem, and will feature several players and staff members from the team formerly recognised as Trovo Mayhem.
"Call of Duty: Mobile is a massively popular game globally and it was important for us to establish a team to represent New York given the size of the market, our leadership position in it, and our existing deep roots in the Call of Duty franchise across all platforms," said Rohit Gupta, co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Andbox. "Our presence in mobile gaming and esports puts us in a strong position to engage an even wider, diverse audience of consumers which in-turn provides brands and marketers with a clear point of entry to this increasingly valuable space."
This will make Andbox the first CDL team owner to have a team in both the CDL and in CoD: Mobile, and also marks the fourth team in Andbox's array that represents New York City: the other most prominent one besides the NYSL being the New York Excelsior Overwatch League team.
According to the announcement post, the NYSL Mayhem will have complete access to Andbox's resources, including the coaching staff of the NYSL, and the content and marketing teams.
You can take a look at the full player and staff list here.


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The Finnish company drops to the sixth place in the smartphone chart
Nokia has lost fifth place in the smartphone wars, with similarly-troubled BlackBerry maker RIM taking its place.
According to a study by International Data Corporation (IDC), Samsung was leading on smartphone sales, with 56.3 million devices shipped in the third quarter. It was followed by Apple, with 26.9 million iPhones.
Even though RIM has not released a new smartphone in a while, it still managed to break into the top five, based on sales of 7.7 million devices and a market share of 4.3 percent.
Kansas City shuffle
Smartphone vendors shipped 179.7 million devices in third quarter of the year, compared to 123.7 million units in the same period last year. This shows a 45.3 percent market growth, beating most expectations.
In the first quarter of 2012, Samsung had replaced Nokia as the top mobile phone manufacturer. Before, the Finnish company held the leading position for 14 years in a row.
The South Korean electronics giant is the world’s top smartphone manufacturer by a long stretch, with 31.3 percent share of the market, much of which can be attributed to strong Galaxy S III sales. In comparison, Apple, the world’s richest tech company, has 15 percent of the market.
Meanwhile, Nokia’s feature phone sales dropped 22.2 percent, leaving it with 18.7 of the feature phone market, its traditional domain.
Chinese manufacturer ZTE maintained its position as the fourth biggest smartphone vendor in the world, thanks to continued international diversification efforts. The company designs low-cost Android-based devices, which are popular in certain markets.
Finally, HTC has almost disappeared from the radar, with four percent current market share, as opposed to last year’s 10.3 percent. The company hopes to rejuvenate its global fortunes this quarter with the introduction of the 8X and 8S models, powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.
“Nokia’s share losses have meant gains for competitors,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “The company’s transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to ones shipped with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months.”
“Nokia is not the only smartphone vendor in transition,” added Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team. “Research In Motion, although still a market leader, expects to start shipping its first BB10 devices in 2013. Motorola, once the number 3 smartphone vendor worldwide, is redirecting itself under its parent company Google.”
“We’re not just building an update of Blackberry 7, we’re building a whole new mobile computing platform. Don’t underestimate the dynamic that this platform is going to create in the market,” BlackBerry boss Thorsten Heins told BBC on Friday.
“In the US we are going to regain our market share with Blackberry 10,” he added.
How much do you know about the iPhone’s rivals? Take our quiz!


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New Delhi, June 10
Passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in May witnessed a decline of 59% to 85,733 units as compared to April as Covid-related disruptions across states hit offtakes, automobile dealers’ body FADA said on Thursday.
According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), which collected vehicle registration data from 1,294 out of the 1,497 regional transport offices (RTOs), PV sales stood at 2,08,883 units in April this year.
Two-wheeler sales also declined 53% to 4,10,757 units last month, as compared to 8,65,134 units in April. — PTI
Registrations dip 55%
Total registrations across categories declined by 55% to 5,35,855 units last month compared to 11,85,374 units in April
World to get M-Yoga app; it will make videos on yoga trainin...
PDP’s Naeem Akhtar freed from detention
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on the political crisis b...


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Cyber wednesday sales surge in U This the holiday season shopping season, With the effects black friday sales online 2015 spilling over from so called Cyber Monday expected to be the biggest best deals online black friday shopping using the web day of the year for the third straight year.
Americans were likely to spend $1.5 billion funds, Up 20 percent from yr after on Cyber Monday, Based on quest firm comScore, As vendors expanded their deals to get shoppers to click on their web site. Early results from Monday showed internet shopping was up 24.1 per cent compared with only once or twice period a year ago, That you just can figures by IBM Benchmark released at noon. The group does not track price sales. Thanksgiving holiday holiday. And online sales on Friday, Sometimes a boom day for shopping at stores offline, Were up 26 per cent from the very same day yr after, On $1.042 billion pounds. It was the first time online sales the day after thanksgiving holiday holiday surpassed $1 billion. For dec holidays to date, ComScore noticed that $13.7 billion could have been spent online, Marking a 16 % increase over yr after. The published information firm predicts online sales will surpass 10 per cent of total retail when is black friday sale 2015 spending this holidays. Online sales on thanksgiving holiday holiday Day rose 32 per cent over last year to $633 million, By comScore. Buy and sell, Coaxing Americans to shop this xmas months are key. "With the standard spending days, Thanksgiving holiday holiday is growing black friday specials online at the fastest rate, Up 128 per cent usually in the last five years, Defined toby Lipsman, A representative with comScore.
Retailers hope the deals appeals to shoppers such as Matt Sexton, 39, Who initially plans to complete all his holiday shopping online this year on his iPad pc tablet. Sexton plans relish $4,000. How well retailers fare on Cyber Monday will offer know-how about Americans' evolving shopping habits during the holiday shopping season, An event when stores can make up to 40 per cent of their annual revenue.
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The UWB standard war is raging on, but that hasn't stopped one of the combatants, Freescale Semiconductor, from moving forward. The company has been active, with the help of Chinese consumer electronics giant Haier, in promoting its silicon in the consumer electronics market. Freescale's UWB technology is based on one developed by Xtreme Spectrum, which Freescale acquired (together with Xtreme's capable founder, Martin Rofheart) in late 2003. What used to be Xtreme's Trinity UWB is now sold by Freescale as the XS 110 chip set. This three-chip solution supports 110 Mbps at ranges of up to 20 m, consuming 750 mW. The XS 110 is priced at $19.95 in volume.
Freescale is working on improving both speed and power consumption. Its new two-chip UWB solution will offer about 500 Mbps with a 660 Mbps PHY.The new XS 660 chip set will be scalable, the company said, consuming roughly 1 mW for every megabit of data bandwidth: Thus, a 500 Mb data stream will consume roughly 500 mW, which Rofheart said is half the power required by the 802.11 WiFi technology.
Freescale plans to announce details of the XS 660 chip set next month, with sampling expected late this year and sales in 2006. The chip set was "retaped," Rofheart said, in order to take advantage of Freescale's 90-nanometer process, which required new libraries and other supporting design collateral. The XS 660 will add about $10 to the bill of materials of emerging applications, such as surround-sound stereo systems or automotive displays, he said. In parallel, Haier and Japanese company Silex Technology keep showing various implementations of UWB chips in consumer devices--HDTV, digital media servers, camcorders and more.
For more on Freescale's UWB:
- see David Lammers' commdesigns report


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Petrol scarcity has resurfaced in some parts of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Abuja, as long queues of vehicles were noticed at the weekend in major filling stations across the affected states, despite promises of sufficient petroleum products by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC).
EnergyDay’s check showed that marketers and other operators within the supply chains have attributed the scarcity to the rising price of diesel needed to fuel the petrol tankers to various destinations.
Our correspondent who monitored the situation at the weekend in Lagos, disclosed that residents of Lagos Island, Victoria Island and Lekki spent hours at the filling stations to buy petrol for their vehicles and power their homes.
Some of the filling stations in the Lekki- Ajah axis recorded long queues, resulting in traffic lock jam in the axis. The stations as at the period of filing this report were dispensing the product at official pump price but the Managers blamed the crisis on supply shortage from the petrol terminals.
The situation was a bit tough on the Lagos Island / Obalende/ Ikoyi axis as most of the petrol stations were shut down due to shortage of the products. Long queues of motorists were also recorded in some stations while residents were seen with fuel kegs.
The situation was mild in most parts of the Lagos Mainland and suburbs, as queues of motorists were slightly building up as at the period of filing this report.
In Ogun state, most of the stations on Lagos Abeokuta axis were shut and few dispensing have jerked up prices above official pump price because of the supply shortfall.
Scarcity of the product was also high in Ibadan, Oyo state capital at the weekend as most filling stations were shut down.
The scarcity in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, although not new, has continued to take different dimensions everyday as residents were used to spending hours in queues and the option of buying from black marketers at very ridiculous price.
EnergyDay gathered that the situation started in 2021 after high amounts of methanol was discovered in imported fuel. Although efforts have been made by the government to ease the situation, the issues keep taking different dimensions from supply shortages to freight rate and other associated matters.
Mallam Mele, Group Managing Director, NNPC Limited, Kyari, had recently claimed that the country has significant product in stock, insisting that the country has about 1.79 billion litres of premium motor spirit on ground. He noted that the 24 hours loading agreement at the depots and selling at some selected petrol stations is still intact.
He noted that the increase in transporters freight rate will further encourage other stakeholders to deploy more trucks to transport PMS nationwide to ensure adequate supply of the product.
FG APPROVES FREIGHT RATE
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday approved a raise in freight rate for petroleum transporters above the current N25 per kilometre to enable transporters to get diesel in trucking petrol and other products.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), in a statement, said the approval was granted after due consultations with industry-wide stakeholders.
NMDPRA said the review was necessitated by the upswing in the global price of petroleum products especially Automotive Gasoil (Diesel) and its implication on the cost of transporting petrol nationwide.
“The transporters freight rate has been reviewed to reflect current market realities. The revised freight rate takes effect from 1st June 2022 while still maintaining the current regulated PMS pump price of N165/litre,” it noted.
The authority also said an inter-agency team is being constituted to reconcile and pay outstanding transporters claims under the Bridging Fund Scheme.
It however assured that NNPC Ltd, the sole supplier of petrol, has maintained over 32 days sufficiency in-country.
NARTO COMMENDS FG OVER FREIGHT RATE INCREASE
The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has commended the Federal Government over the upward review of the freight rate for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
NARTO’s President, Alhaji Yusuf Othman, said that the review would cushion the effect of the rising cost of diesel on the operations of transporters.
He said, “It is a very good development and it shows that the government is being proactive.
“It will go a long way in cushioning the effect of the diesel cost on our operations.
“Like we keep saying, diesel is more than 70 per cent of our operational cost. So it was certain that the high diesel cost would affect our operations.
“You cannot take products from Lagos to Abuja and other areas while running at a loss.”
He said NARTO members had been struggling to operate, adding that normalcy would soon return to the petroleum products distribution sector with the intervention.
While noting that the government was yet to communicate the new freight rate to marketers and transporters, Othman expressed optimism that the increment would help reduce operational losses.
He also assured Nigerians that the scarcity of petrol being experienced in Abuja and other parts of the country would soon abate.
SOUTH WEST IPMAN BLAMES DEPOTS
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), South-West Zone last week claimed that its members would start dispensing petrol to customers at N180 per litre.
The zonal chairman, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, in a statement said that the step would be taken if the appropriate regulatory agency of government failed to address the issue of irregular supply of its products to its members.
He explained that members of IPMAN in the zone had not been able to buy fuel products from any of the government depots, and had resorted to getting supplies from private depot owners, who according to him had capitalized on the situation to milk them.
Tajudeen lamented that all the depots in the zone had had overtime refused to load trucks belonging to its members since January 2022, explaining further that the private depot owners’ loading price is about N157 or N158 above the price that government depots would sell to them.
“As of today, the purchasing price of diesel has increased by 400%. Again, I want members of the general public to know that the cost of transporting the product ranges between N6 to N8 and N10 depending on where the products are being transported to from the Lagos private depot where we make purchases.”
He added, “So, by the time we add the cost of transportation to the purchasing amount, we will be arriving at a sum above N165, which is the government-approved pump dispensing price.”
“But sad enough, the regulatory agency appeared incapacitated to control and compel these private depot owners to sell at the government’s approved price for us.”
“I wish to equally intimate you that making purchases from these private depot owners is not the ultimate end, we also have some overhead costs to bear like running an electricity generator to power our filling stations; paying the staff salaries, as well as servicing the bank loans among other costs.”
Tunji Oyebanji, MD 11Plc, who was a former Chairman, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), in reaction to the regular scarcity in Abuja said it is expensive to truck products from Lagos to Abuja, due to the rising cost of diesel.
He noted that the truck drivers would prefer to load diesel than petrol. According to him, Diesel is a deregulated product unlike prices of petrol which are currently being fixed by the Federal Government.
He said, “The transporters are no longer putting all their trucks on the road again. They will prefer to ignore the person who will sell at N165, and go to another person who sells at N200 because they have added that higher cost of diesel.
“The price doesn’t reflect the market. That is why you don’t get enough trucks to go to Abuja because the enforcement of N165 is very strong in those places.
“But if it is to go to Maiduguri and other states where price control is low, you will have no problem finding trucks because prices will reflect the market there,” he said.
He noted that since NNPC is still paying subsidy on PMS, most of the products are finding their ways through the country’s porous borders to other West African countries where the petrol is expensive.
He said, “Since NNPC is the sole importer of PMS and determines the price at which the product is supposed to be sold, all our neighbouring countries that don’t have regulated prices like ours, would depend on Nigeria’s petrol.
He noted that this has encouraged all manners of people to get involved in trucking the products to different destinations. “The margin you can make if you manage to carry 50-100 litres across the border to Benin, Coutonou, Niger, Cameroun is high. You can buy at N165/litre here and sell at N400/litre there,” the 11 Plc MD said.


text: According to a report on National Public Radio, the American Medical Association (AMA) has recommended that obesity be categorized as a disease. In a statement, the AMA has said obesity should be recognized as a disease state with multiple pathophysiological aspects requiring a range of interventions to advance obesity treatment and prevention. “We felt it’s time to take a stance and say we’re going to identify this as a disease. We think that’s going to send a message not only to the public but to the physician community that we really need to make it a priority and put it in our cross hairs.” Dr. Douglas Martin, chairman of the AMA public health committee, to NPR Difference in the details Obesity is a growing problem around the world, for consumers of all ages. We’re seeing initiatives and programs geared toward educating parents of overweight kids and teens, incentivizing healthy eating habits, and brands showing how anyone can start exercising to make healthy changes. According to Mintel’s Diet Trends US November 2012 report, two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. A new categorization of obesity may have a profound effect on health insurance coverage and how being obese is treated, handled, and looked at in society. How will these changes influence the way brands market foods and products that claim to be healthy as well as those considered indulgences? We may see the appearance of warning labels on foods that are high in sodium, fat, or calories, much like cigarettes and alcohol. Brands and businesses looking to stay ahead of regulation would do well to pre-emptively label unhealthy items and push better-for-you choices. This is an observation from our Inspire trend The Big Issue, which examines polarizing attitudes toward weight. For more information on Inspire click here. You might also be interested in: No related posts.


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August 7, 2001
As president of Dalson Products Manufacturing Corp., Sally Abelson put tens of thousands of hot-dog rotisserie machines and bun warmers in movie theaters, restaurants and convenience stores nationwide. Her engineer husband, Samuel, designed the machines in the 1950s, and together they revolutionized where people snacked on hot dogs. "They were true pioneers in fast food," said her grandson Michael Konlon. Sally Abelson, 91, died following a long illness Saturday, Aug. 4, in the Desert Regional Hospital...


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Tools enabling users to download, copy, share, and then ultimately mass distribute images exist in, or are accessible from, most phones, tablets, and computers.
Photographers aside, no businesses are more aware of these vulnerabilities than publishers of Japanese comics, commonly known as manga. While manga’s cartoon cousin ‘anime’ at least has larger filesizes in its favor, manga is compact, easily copied, and simplicity itself to distribute. It’s a fact not lost on some of the world’s leading pirate sites, some fueled entirely by pirated manga.
To that background, it’s hard not to sympathize with the plight of major Japanese publishers Shueisha, Kodansha, Kadokawa, and Shogakukan. They’re leaving no stone unturned to limit piracy of their easily copied products, but when countermeasures begin to negatively affect subscribers in the legal market, that raises questions of how far companies should go.
User of Shueisha’s YanJan! App Accused of Fraud
Launched by publisher Shueisha in 2018, YanJan! (ヤンジャン!) is among a growing number of legal manga apps fighting for market share in an extremely popular market sector. Boasting well over a million downloads on Google Play alone, YanJan! can also be downloaded from Apple’s App Store, something that led to unforeseen events according to one user.
“While I was reading 100 Kano on Yanjan, my smartphone started vibrating. I took a screenshot [of a message] saying that my account was suspended, which made me angry,” X/Twitter user DeeyaUNO4dollar explains.
“We have suspended your use of this service because we have confirmed that it has been used fraudulently and violated our terms of service,” the message above reads. “This app prohibits screenshots, video recording, and screen mirroring while viewing works.”
The in-app message included an invitation for DeeyaUNO4dollar to contact YanJan! for a discussion. The message received back from YanJan! is shown below in Japanese, followed by an English summary.
“We have detected that you have taken screenshots (screen captures) and video recordings (this also applies to screen mirroring, etc.) within Manga Viewer more than a certain number of times on your account, so we have taken measures to suspend your use of the service,” the message notes.
The overall tone is that since these activities are banned, suspensions are indeed warranted. In this case, however, DeeyaUNO4dollar received a second chance along with warnings not to repeat the same conduct, which is expressly forbidden by a section in the app’s terms of service agreement, the company said.
Unfazed by a sprawling mass of legal text that realistically almost nobody is likely to read, we can confirm that screenshots are indeed outlawed (translated version below).
Accidental Screenshots, DeeyaUNO4dollar Claims
In many cases, screenshots can be entirely harmless but for content like manga, a series of screenshots can amount to a perfect copy of an entire publication, with the potential for onward sharing via any number of easily accessible tools. There’s no suggestion that DeeyaUNO4dollar distributed anything but according to the manga fan’s explanation, they had no intention of taking any screenshots at all.
The usual method to take a screenshot on an iPhone is to press the power button on the right edge of the device at the same time as pressing the volume up button on the left. However, by entering the settings menu, there’s an option in the device’s accessibility menu to take a screenshot by tapping the back of the phone instead. DeeyaUNO4dollar believes that this led to their iPhone taking screenshots ‘accidentally’ when viewing manga on the app.
While that may indeed be the case, a Tweet posted by the same user in October mentioning the ‘tap’ function reveals that the app handed out warnings back then, for exactly the same thing.
“There is a function on the iPhone that allows you to take screenshots by tapping on the back, but while I was reading a manga on a manga app, for some reason the function reacted and took a screenshot regardless of my intention, and I was told, ‘Don’t take screenshots. Don’t be silly, I’ll ban you if you do that again’.”
“The message has been displayed twice this week alone,” the tweet adds.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.


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Loft Labs has announced that Abby Kearns, a technology executive with deep experience in cloud-native and open-source technologies, has joined the company’s advisory board. Kearns is chief technology officer at Puppet, the industry standard for infrastructure automation.
With nearly 20 years working in technology, Kearns is a veteran of the industry. Her career has spanned product marketing, product management and consulting across Fortune 500 companies, startups and open-source foundations. At Puppet, she leads the vision and direction of the company’s enterprise product portfolio.
Prior to joining Puppet, Kearns was the CEO of the Cloud Foundry Foundation where she focused on driving the Foundation’s vision and on growing the underlying open-source project and its community. Through her tenure, Kearns built a user base that included more than half of the Fortune 500.
“The Loft team is innovating at a very high pace and with deep technological expertise. I am looking forward to seeing this startup succeed and I will be offering my advice on the product roadmap and other strategic decisions along this journey,” said Kearns.


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$2.5 MILLION ONLINE MAHJONG INVESTMENT BY CRYPTOLOGIC
Another step in Internet gambling provider's move into Asia
CryptoLogic Limited continued its advance into the Asian market this week by making a strategic investment in Mahjong Time, an innovative provider of online Mahjong software and turnkey solutions.
"Mahjong is a game with an ancient history in China, and a following of well over 600 million worldwide," said Brian Hadfield, CryptoLogic's President and CEO, adding that his company is skilled in taking popular pastimes and turning them into online entertainment, and intends to continue working in Asia with partners who share that vision.
In a deal that is expected to close within the next 30 days, CryptoLogic has agreed to invest up to $2.5 million for a significant minority equity stake in Mahjong Time, subject to certain performance thresholds and milestones.
The Asian company has a patented platform created and managed by a team with in-depth Mahjong experience, and earns revenue by licensing its software to gaming operators, who attract business through tournaments, subscriptions, "pay-for-play" models and in-game advertising. Mahjong Time also earns revenue from its own site, MahjongTime.com.
Mahjong Time has a number of unique advantages for operators, claims Hadfield, including more rulesets than any other provider, multiple language versions of its software and advanced gaming features (such as play, watch and archive modes). Players benefit from a secure and robust environment featuring no-download software that supports both subscription and tournament play, as well as a practice mode that teaches the game to newcomers.
Players from 136 countries enjoy social networking through advanced community features at Mahjong Time such as an advanced avatar shop, personalisation engine, friends list, rated competitions and a patented visual "belt" rating and ranking system – all of which are keys to Web 2.0 success in gaming.
Mahjong Time is the official online partner of the North American Mahjong Federation, the European Mahjong Association and national associations in ten European countries, and has developed a unique, officially-certified rating system (MORSE) for use in online tournaments.
The company is also the exclusive online software and platform provider for the World Series of Mahjong, the biggest prize money tournament in the history of the game. Global TV coverage of the WSOM over the next three years will provide a platform to reach millions of enthusiasts across Asia and beyond.
"As a game, Mahjong is about both strategy and community, and that's the approach we have taken to building our software and our business," said William Sutjiadi, CEO of Mahjong Time. "CryptoLogic knows great innovation and great software, and together we will build a business with huge global potential."


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To foster the growth of new high-tech companies, the Summit in Tech Valley offers the $100,000 Business Plan Competition, which is in its fifth year. Past winners have benefited not only from the cash, but also from the exposure. They have been putting their business plans into action.
The first winner, in 2001, was ReQuest Inc., a Ballston Spa-based company co-founded in 1998 by Steven Vasquez, who is director of product marketing. The company creates digital multimedia storage and playback devices.
Vasquez said ReQuest's plan calls for dominating the high-end custom-audio installation market. The company has formed strong bonds with dealers in order to develop brand loyalty to ReQuest's products.
Last year, the company expanded its product line and market, introducing a new product called "VideoReQuest controller," which allows users to manage a collection of up to 1,600 DVDs and search through them according to title, actors, directors and genres.
The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association awarded this product "Best New Product of the Year" in 2004.
ReQuest's Audio ReQuest product--
essentially a digital jukebox--is in its fourth generation, and the company is expanding its markets abroad to Europe, Latin America and Australia, with a new logo and new products.
Expanding markets is a common theme with contest winners. Malta-based Starfire Systems Inc. won the competition in 2002. The company, founded in 1988, develops and manufactures advanced ceramic products and materials used in high-temperature, corrosive and high-wear applications.
Starfire has been increasing its reach by delving into new markets. NASA funded the company to develop materials for space transportation systems. The company received funding from the U.S. Navy to work on advanced ceramic clutch-plate materials for the Joint Strike Fighter. NYSERDA funded the company to test automobile brakes.
Herb Armstrong, vice president of marketing and sales, said the company is targeting a project for new Humvees, and also is also working on rotors for high-performance motorbikes.
"One of the next targets is for high-performance automobiles, and we have ongoing programs for high-speed trains, military vehicles and airplanes," Armstrong said.
Armstrong said that the path to commercialization is typically long and arduous, and requires a great deal of funding.
"[The business plan competition] was an initial validation of the quality of our business plan and perceived value that our business plan would bring to the marketplace," he said.
In 2003, Crystal IS Inc., of Watervliet, took the prize. The company produces materials used in the production of high-power, high-temperature, and optoelectronic devices used in stoplights and in military, biomedical, information technology, wireless communication and future high-power microwave applications.
At the time Crystal IS submitted its entry into the competition, it had discovered how to grow single-crystal aluminum nitrides and was the only company producing them and selling a substrate based on those crystals. The company wanted to raise the funds necessary to move into the fabrication of devices based on its product.
"That competition led to a lot of interest by potential investors," said Leo Schowalter, president and CEO of the company.
Starfire closed on a $5 million round of venture funding in September.
Following the competition, the company entered into a patent license agreement and received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Science and Technology.
The military has been funding Starfire's efforts to make ultraviolet lasers for water and air purification and sterilization, Schowalter said.
Last year's competition winner was Plattsburgh-based Natec Inc., which manufactures polymer-cased ammunition for the law enforcement and sports markets, and potentially, the military.
President and CEO Nabil Husseini said that when the company entered the competition, its product was mature enough to enter the $2 billion ammunition market, but the challenge was to gain market acceptance.
"Our product was supported with intellectual property, and the company already had patents," he said. The key was being able to sell the product.
Husseini said that the business plan has been working out great, because Natec's product was able to gain the market acceptance the company sought, and was even able to pre-sell the product before production.
Even though the company weathered a rough time last year when a conflict with one of its partners caused Natec to be shut down for three months, Husseini is still optimistic that the company is going to stay on track.
"Basically, our market is still intact," he said, noting that the company is introducing two new calibers and is working on a deal with the U.S. military.
This year, a panel of venture capitalists from the United States and Canada will judge the final round of the competition at the Summit in Tech Valley, April 26 at The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Colonie.


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After Apple, Samsung is also about to arrive in Singapore
As Apple has come up with a move to launch its Apple pay in Singapore, so soon after that the Samsung has also got into the limelight of the media, with the announcement of launching its own Samsung pay for letting the people pay for different goods with comfort and one thing is much sure that the Samsung is going to give a hard time to Apple there in Singapore. Because it has been seen that in Asian countries the Samsung has an edge over Apple, as its users are more than the users of Apple, but now it’s the time that will explain that either the Samsung or Apple will dominate the digital payment service industry in Singapore.
The Samsung’s Pay in Singapore
Those who remain constantly in touch with the tech world’s latest happening, so they will have come across the news before that the Samsung had revealed the news that Samsung will launch its Samsung Pay in Singapore this year, but now it has come up with a definite timeline. Samsung has revealed the fact that this service is going to be available in the retail stores as soon as Q2 2016 and it’s the day after Apple came up with launching its Apple pay in Singapore for the very first time. But again defeating Samsung in this specific field of digital payment service in Singapore is one of the biggest tasks so far for Apple.
What edge does the Samsung have over Apple in Singapore?
Although Apple Pay has been made officially available by Apple, but you must remember that as it is in the beginning phase so that has been confined only for the American Express Card Holders in Singapore. On the other hand Samsung Pay has been available as a payment method for both bus and train fares from the end of the March. Samsung Pay happens to shake hands with American Express, MasterCard, and Visa and many major banks in Singapore in order to let its users leverage this Samsung Pay in a more comfortable manner. The banks of Singapore, which have partnered with Samsung, are DBS/POSB, OCBC Bank and Standard Charted and that means that this Samsung pay has to work at almost every retail store that accepts credit cards once it properly finishes rolling out. Apple also seems to be on a similar path on which the Samsung is, as it has also plans to partner with all the above mentioned institutions.
In its recent announcement, Samsung has come up with a statement that 71 percent of Samsung users have shown their interest in order to leverage this exciting service of Samsung that happens to be the Samsung pay. If that is the case so we must think about this exciting service of Samsung to dominate the digital payment industry in Singapore, and according to the many I.T experts that is what Apple will have to prepare for if it wants to be the leading company proving digital payment service in Singapore.


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Fri, 21 August 2020
Walmart reports big earnings and big growth in e-commerce. Target surges on record same-store sales growth. Home Depot and Lowe’s hit all-time highs. Uber and Lyft attempt to navigate regulatory concerns. Foot Locker gets a boost from its latest quarter and reinstates its dividend. Apple becomes the first U.S. company to hit a $2 trillion-dollar valuation. Citigroup makes a $900 million mistake. And Burger King gets creative with custom facemasks. Motley Fool analysts Ron Gross and Jason Moser discuss those stories and share two stocks on their radar: Ross Stores and Autodesk. Plus, Washington Post sports columnist Barry Svrluga talks about the future of the college and pro sports.
Direct download: MFM_podcast_08212020_mixdown.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:35pm EDT


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Chevrolet is reviving a nameplate familiar to midsize SUV buyers around the world: TrailBlazer.
Read This Article
Last week, this Chevrolet Camaro-based 2012 Trans American Muscle Bandit Freedom Edition fetched $150,000 for the Disabled American Veterans at the Orange County Barrett-Jackson charity auction.
OnStar is the first non-emergency service to be recognized by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch as a Medical Accredited Center of Excellence.
Chevrolet has begun setting prices for its redesigned 2013 Chevrolet Malibu lineup, starting with the upper-level Malibu Eco model to be priced from $25,995, including $760 for destination and handling.


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Just when you think that Dubai and the UAE are surely running out of money and they’ve built all the crazy, over the top shit they can build, they come up with something else. Like this amazing futuristic underwater hotel of the future.
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is currently the world’s tallest building at 2,723 feet, which is cool and all, but the problem is that Dubai may have a whole lot of oil money, but they haven’t apparently spent that money on sewage infrastructure. Which is bad when you have toilets half a mile in the sky.
Camel racing is pretty big in parts of the Arab world, and the camel jockeying used to be done by little kids, since they don’t weigh a whole lot. But then, after it came to light that most of these kids were being horribly abused, and not having many tiny Latin Americans at their disposal to jockey, they turned to remote controlled robot jockeys. Which is all fine and well, except now the camel racing world is in an uproar over the use of tasers in the robots to make the camels go faster. Call it Robo-Camel-Don’t-Tase-Me-Brobotgate if you will.
Several men that sold the taser camel jockey bots have been arrested, but is it the end of the controversy? What if someone’s using ROBOT CAMELS?
Several years ago, when Dubai among others were in the height of their “Let’s see how fast we can spend every penny of our oil money” frenzy, one of the things they built was a huge chain of manmade islands in the shape of a world map, in the hopes they could sell this brand new real estate and turn it into a top-notch resort. Well… so far, only one of the islands has been rented and the chances are low for anyone else considering that the islands are sinking.


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When most of the news is about negative events, we all can use information about companies who have creatively pitched in to give back to their communities. From retailers and brands helping hospitals cope, to iconic logos changing to promote social distancing, to Harbor Freight Tools donating its entire supply of protective equipment to hospitals with 24-hour emergency rooms, we hope this list adds some optimism to the start of your month.
Retailers and Brands Helping Hospitals
- 7-Eleven has donated a million masks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the medical community to use while fighting the pandemic.
- Colgate-Palmolive is using its manufacturing facilities around the world to produce and donate 25 million bars of soap to help stem the spread of the virus “in the regions facing acute needs.”
- Harbor Freight Tools is donating its entire supply of protective equipment to hospitals with 24-hour emergency rooms in communities where their stores are located.
- The Home Depot is halting the sale of its N95 masks and redirecting them to hospitals, health care providers, and first responders to offset the national shortage of personal protective equipment. This includes masks sold both in-store and online.
- Joanne Fabrics is giving away supplies and guidance for its crafting community on making 100% cotton face masks and serving as a collection point for completed masks.
- Lowe’s is donating $10 million in essential products for medical professionals. The donation is part of a $25 million commitment to help communities hit hardest within the U.S. and Canada.
Social Distancing Awareness
- Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Audi and VW temporarily changed their logos to promote social distancing.
- Dunkin’ Donuts also adopted social distancing in their branding, and shared a social media post that contained two distanced cups.
- Indie movie distributor Kino Lorber announced an agreement with independent theaters across the country to host a “virtual theatrical exhibition initiative,” and will release movies that it had scheduled to play in theaters online instead.
- NBCUniversal is also releasing new movies online instead of in theaters.
Small Business Support
- Bank of America committed $100 million in support of communities around the world that were impacted. Goldman Sachs is pledging $300 million to communities and small businesses. The Visa Foundation also committed $200 million to support women in small business.
- Facebook launched a $100 million grant program for 30,000 small businesses in 30 countries around the world.
- Google announced a more than $800 million commitment to support businesses, health organizations, governments and health workers on the front lines.
- To help small businesses and nonprofits stay connected with customers and other audiences via social media, Hootsuite is offering free access to its Professional Plan subscription, along with access to its library of training videos.
- Instagram added a new feature where users can visit a business’s website and order gift cards directly from the app.
- McDonald’s donated $3.1 million in food to support local communities, made commitments to support truck drivers across the country, donated 1 million N95 masks to Chicago and donated $1 million to the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund.
- Shopify is offering new customers access to its online storefront platform for 90 days.
- Verizon is donating $7.5 million to nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation for its Small Business Recovery Fund.
Food For More
- Beyond Meat has pledged to donate and distribute over 1 million vegetarian burgers to hospitals and food banks.
- Casey’s General Stores has donated more than 30,000 pounds of food to the Food Bank of Iowa. It also donated more than 7,700 pounds to the Terre Haute Catholic Charities.
- Little Caesars announced plans to deliver a million pizzas to health care workers and first responders in the coming weeks. The pizzas are expected to provide about 4 million meals to hospital workers and first responders across the country.
- McDonald’s offered free Thank You Meals through May 5 to health-care workers, police officers, firefighters and paramedics.
- The New York Food Truck Association is partnering with brands like Pipcorn, Core Foods, and Chobani to provide free meals to first responders and health care workers, with a dozen food trucks rotating between hospitals in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
- Starbucks has donated more than 700,000 meals to food banks across the country and is also donating more than $3 million to global relief efforts.
- Subway has donated 15 million meals to Feeding America to help those in need, and is donating a 6-inch sub to health-care workers at participating hospitals for each order purchased via Postmates.
- Wells Fargo is donating $175 million to help public health, housing, and food efforts.
Supporting Health Care Workers
- Airbnb said it will also subsidize housing for 100,000 workers at the front lines of COVID-19 care.
- Armani halted operations at its production plants to manufacturing single-use overalls for health care workers.
- Barco, the health care apparel company, is donating 10,000 scrubs each month for the duration of the pandemic.
- Delta Air Lines will fly eligible medical volunteers round-trip for free to Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan, and is looking at expanding free flights to California, New York and Washington.
- Dr. Scholls Wellness Company is donating $1.3 million in insoles to support health care workers. This includes 100,000 pairs of Dr. Scholl’s Massaging Gel Work insoles, which the company says reduce muscle fatigue and also absorb shock.
- Hilton will offer up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States to medical professionals.
- Stanley Black & Decker has donated 3 million face masks and other personal protective equipment to health care workers and first responders.
Working From Home and Education Resources
- Adobe is offering free access to Creative Cloud tools through May for home use by students attending schools that currently only provide lab access through May.
- Coursera is offering free access to 100 of its online courses in a wide variety of subjects. Of these courses, 85 include free certificates for anyone who completes the curriculum.
- LogMeIn is offering Emergency Remote Work Kits to new customers, which includes free 90-day access to GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, and LogMeIn.
- Microsoft is offering free access to its Microsoft Teams app for 6 months.
- Okta will provide its Okta Identity Cloud service for free to new customers for six months.
- Skillsoft is offering free 60-day access to its entire library of online educational content, available through its Percipio learning experience platform.
- U-Haul is offering students displaced by the coronavirus a month of free storage at company-owned storage facilities.
- Zoom is free for schools and has lifted its 40-minute meeting limit.
For more information on how COVID-19 is impacting the grocery industry, you can read our blog on the nationwide trends we’ve observed HERE. If your organization is contributing to the good news listed above, please reach out to us so we can include your efforts in future articles.


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World premiere of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s most economical, clean, low energy consumption and high-performance all-electric packaging machine to-date.
Pellenc ST and Ampacet, respectively global leaders in sensor-based sorting solutions and masterbatch solutions, collaborated on sorting studies to optimize the recyclability of dark PET packaging on existing recycling lines.
TPE materials and market experts of Kraiburg TPE are looking forward to welcoming interested visitors at boot C58-03 in hall 6. The products they will present includes Thermoplast R, the new product series consisting of sophisticated recycling compounds.
AST group uses Lindner plastics recycling technology to close the loop
Black plastics have been notoriously difficult to detect, but recent technological developments have made it possible to sort them not only by color but also by polymer, unlocking economic value for recycling companies.
At K 2022, Starlinger recycling technology will showcase the recoSTAR PET art, the company’s latest plant model in the field of PET recycling.
Borealis and Trexel announce that they have co-developed a new plastic bottle based on a grade from the Bornewables portfolio of polyolefins made using renewable feedstocks derived 100% from waste and residue streams.
VDMA and 13 member companies to present the latest technologies for the circular economy in the plastics industry at K 2022.
High-strength synthetic nonwoven now made with a recycled content of 10 percent
KraussMaffei the new site in Laatzen near Hanover covering an area of around 97,000 m², the new plant offers space for up to 750 workplaces for the production of extrusion systems and recycling equipment for the plastics and rubber processing industries.
At K 2022 Oerlikon HRSflow will focus on an extensive range of hot runners tailored to small shot weights and the new Xp nozzle series for use in thin-wall injection moulding.
Evonik is introducing a new sustainable high-performance plastic to its eCO product line: In the production of the polyamide 12 elastomer (PEBA) Vestamid eCO E40, 50 percent of fossil raw materials are saved and replaced by a starting material obtained from chemical recycling of used tires.


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Exclusive Networks has added another brick to its expanding empire by grabbing a distributor in Turkey - one of the so-called "MINT" emerging economic giants.
The distributor's third acquisition in as many months, Istanbul-based Bilișimcim boasts 23 staff and works with vendors including Citrix, Palo Alto Networks, Infoblox and Nutanix.
Chief executive Olivier Breittmayer said he was attracted to Turkey because of its strong economy, which has been expanding at over four per cent annually over the last decade. Indeed, such is Turkey's economic potential that the same economist who coined the BRIC term in 2001 recently placed Turkey in a new group of emerging economic giants, dubbed MINT, alongside Mexico, Indonesia and Nigeria.
Breittmayer pinpointed Turkey as a potential acquisition destination a year ago as Exclusive begins to expand outside of its western European stronghold.
"We wanted to start 2014 the way we finished 2013: by adding to our EMEA presence," he stated in today's release. "The acquisition of Bilișimcim continues the momentum achieved in 2013, and critically provides us with a gateway into one of the most buoyant economies in the world."
Briettmayer recently said the distributor will break the €500m revenue barrier this year but, longer term, Exclusive is gunning for €1bn turnover.
"Our business is rapidly expanding," said Halil Ibrahim Arslan, general manager at Bilișimcim. "However, to push continued growth and to reach the next level of our development we required a partner with similar values that can help us to grow and evolve. Exclusive Networks Group has the expertise and the infrastructure to help us reach and serve both existing and new reseller partners. We are delighted to be working with the company to deliver added value to our region."
CRN pulls out the key information from Microsoft's Q4, which took the vendor above $100bn for the year
Investment will include an AI research centre in London
John Coulston outlines Rackspace's plans to partner with the channel in the UK
Chris Bunch of Microsoft partner Cloudreach gives his take on this year's Inspire conference


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Disney+ is headed to Europe, with Disney saying on Tuesday that the new streaming service will debut in the United Kingdom on March 24.
To catch Baby Yoda on “The Mandalorian” or watch classic Disney shows, U.K. customers will need to pay between £5.99-£6.99 per month — or about $7.82 to $9.12 per month, making it a bit more expensive than the $6.99 per month subscribers pay in the U.S.
Several other European countries will get Disney+ at the same time as well, including Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The Netherlands already has access to Disney+ since it was used as a test market. British and European subscribers will also have the option of paying between £59.99-£69.99 per year for the service, depending on the market.
While Disney hasn’t shared an update on Disney+’s performance since its early November debut, research firm Sensor Tower recently shared its app was downloaded 31 million times during Q4 in the U.S., easily making it the most downloaded app of the quarter. A deal with Verizon certainly helped boost Disney+ downloads, but the service has also been helped by the strong response to “The Mandalorian,” as well as its massive library of shows and movies.
Disney’s expansion announcement comes hours before Netflix is set to reports its Q4 financial performance.


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BCG's ‘Immersion Centre’ houses write-and-wipe walls, interactive wall-screens and VR headsets including a flexible centre table that dismantles into 12 smaller ones depending on the size of the meeting.
Flipkart is expected to organise its ‘The Big Freedom Sale’ from August 10-12, its fashion arm Myntra will have its ‘Right to Fashion Sale’ from August 9-12.
Pretr was founded in 2016 by Bhavik Jhaveri and Ankur Joshi to seamlessly integrate brands’ online and offline segments.
Tax authorities have kept a close watch on cos to ensure that rate cuts were being passed on to consumers, with several of them paying excess amounts collected to the government.
Amazon, Flipkart have roped in A-lister celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor as the battle for customers hots up.
The separate wing comprising officials from the industry department & the ED will handle any violations, strengthening the enforcement of the guidelines.
Myntra-Jabong combine is getting ready to triple its gross merchandise value to $4 billion.
Myntra claims that the eighth edition of their End of Reason Sale (EORS) has been the biggest sale till date for Myntra and Jabong, recording 47% year-on-year growth and 8x growth over regular business days.
A look at the top tech and startup news in the past 24 hours and its potential implications
Cure.fit is now looking to bring the model of mega sales such as Flipkart’s Big Billion Day and Myntra’s End of Reason Sale to the realm of health and fitness subscriptions.
A look at the top tech and startup stories in the past 24 hours and its potential implications
The platform, called Myntra Wearable Platform, was developed by the company's innovation labs unit and allows wearable devices to discover and talk to each other.
“The Roadster online sales have shot up after we launched the offline store,” Ananth Narayanan, CEO at Myntra-Jabong, said on the sidelines of the launch of the second Roadster store on Thursday.
The Roadster Go store is entirely RFID enabled, so consumers can pick up products they want to purchase and place them in the RFID tray at self-checkout counters.
E-commerce companies have over the past year significantly scaled up their use of this channel for last-mile delivery, allowing them to reduce their delivery staff or engage them for more advanced tasks.
While this store-pickup model could potentially boost sales for online marketplaces and brand stores, industry experts say it comes with its own set of challenges.
The financial documents of the major e-commerce companies for fiscal year ending March 2017 showed several telling trends about how the companies grew in the year.


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March is often a special time of year for Porsche and its countless fans around the world. Though this year’s Geneva Motor Show was cancelled, the event has seen more than a few notable Porsche debuts, not the least of which being the 918 Spyder Concept that appeared 10 years ago.
Move back 25 years and you’ll find attention was on the then-new 993-series 911 Turbo, the last of the boosted air-cooled machines from Stuttgart. You probably see where we’re going with this.
The birthdays for these two iconic production cars falls in March, but a third machine also shares the spotlight here. 60 years ago, the 718 RS 60 race car arrived on the scene and would ultimately claim several victories that year. As such, with three iconic Porsche vehicles celebrating aluminium, silver, and diamond anniversaries at the same time, a bit of party was in store.
Gallery: Porsche Models Birthday Party
The short-but-sweet video from Porsche at the top of the article highlights some of the pomp and circumstance that took place for the occasion. The Porsche museum stepped up to create a special photoshoot with the 918, 718 RS 60, and different examples of the 993. We don’t have photos from Porsche yet on this special event, and given the current state of things around the world, we may not see them for a while yet. At least we have this behind-the-scenes video, which suggests the photos will definitely be worth the wait.
Of course, we can’t talk about this March 2020 anniversary without foreshadowing Porsche’s big anniversary party in 2030. Yes, it's true this year's Geneva Motor Show was cancelled, but we still were introduced to the new 911 Turbo S earlier this month. That means another iconic model joins the March celebration, and it’s the most powerful production Porsche ever. In other words, don't be surprised to see another anniversary celebration in 10 years.


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VeriFone Plunges After Profit-Forecast Trails EstimatesOlga Kharif
VeriFone Systems Inc. plunged the most in more than four years after the maker of credit-card terminals forecast second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates, amid weak economic conditions in Europe.
The shares tumbled 43 percent to $18.24 at the close in New York, for the biggest intraday decline since November 2008. Earnings excluding some items will be 45 cents to 50 cents a share in the quarter ending in April, San Jose, California-based VeriFone said in a statement yesterday. Analysts on average had predicted profit of 80 cents a share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
VeriFone makes credit and debit card-accepting terminals that are used in retail stores, gas stations and taxicabs. Verifone is used in about half of New York’s taxicabs, and serves an estimated 35,000 taxis in the U.S. Beyond Europe, VeriFone said it experienced lower-than-anticipated sales from customers in Brazil, and that it had an increase in deferred revenue from clients in Africa and the Middle East.
“The preannouncement is very bad; they are missing their targets by a very wide margin,” Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a telephone interview. Luria has a neutral rating for VeriFone.“The macroeconomic conditions are certainly not enough to explain such a dramatic shortfall.”
VeriFone also announced preliminary first-quarter adjusted profit of 47 cents to 50 cents a share, less than the company’s prior projection of as much as 73 cents.
Recent acquisitions probably didn’t boost VeriFone’s growth as much as projected, and may have to be restructured, Luria said.
Last year, Verifone bought LIFT Retail Marketing Technology Inc., a provider of convenience-store digital-marketing systems, and Swedish payment-services provider Point, as well as other companies.
Victoria Brown, a spokeswoman for VeriFone, declined to comment.


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Artificial intelligence (AI) technology company Ariel AI has been acquired by Snap. Ariel AI had been concentrating on a type of AI called computer vision, which is used to develop augmented reality (AR) functionalities, CNBC reported.
Ariel AI had landed $1.1 million in investments before the Snap deal, CNBC reported, citing Crunchbase.
Snap told the outlet that the AR startup’s workforce became part of its computer vision personnel in London at the end of last year. Ariel AI’s engineers have been put to work making the Snapchat camera “smarter” and enhancing AR experiences for Snapchat users.
An online video demonstrates how the firm’s technology can render a 3D model representing a live individual, which can be used to test the fit of clothing in addition to gaming purposes, according to the report.
Companies such as Facebook and TikTok have been competing to build out intricate AR experiences and special effects.
The proliferation of AR and VR technology is not only for brick-and-mortar retailers — online shopping companies are getting into the game, too. Moreover, the number of VR users globally increased to 171 million in 2018.