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The AOL of crypto? Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency could be the product that takes digital currency from the fringes to the mainstream, writes Daniil Saiko THE EARLIEST iteration of email was a fringe application used by tech-savvy engineers and hobbyists. Its everyday practicality was yet to be seen. That changed with the introduction of AOL and its ubiquitous CDs, which took the internet and email from fringe to mainstream. Despite mass media coverage, crypto currency is currently in the same position as the pre-AOL internet. Generally only used by speculators or people deeply involved in blockchain technology, digital currency still hasn’t been widely understood or adopted by the general public. The world’s largest social media company, Facebook, is attempting to become the AOL of cryptocurrency with its first offering, Libra. A cryptocurrency designed for a mass audience, Libra’s mission is to “enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people.” Facebook has been very strategic, cherrypicking cutting-edge ideas from leaders in the crypto space, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and truly leveraging open-source and community knowledge. Libra is built on a blockchain system and backed by the Libra Reserve, which employs a basket of global currencies and short-term government securities to maintain a stable price for its tokens. Facebook envisions multiple real-world applications for Libra, from peer-to-peer payments to both online and bricks-and-mortar shopping. Facebook has set up an entity called the Libra Association, a non-profit organization made up of 28 founding companies, which will control the development of the central code
base for Libra. Members come from various industries and include notable founding members such as Visa, Uber Technologies and Women’s World Banking. Contrary to many claims, Libra is federated and not decentralized. That means that while some aspects of the application will be open-source and decentralized, the Libra Association will still control the fundamental code base and what will get deployed to the user base.
maintain its own unique value, independent of sovereign currencies. The second type is Libra’s Investment Token, which will be exclusive to the founding 28 members and other accredited institutions that have invested a minimum of US$10 million. The token entitles holders to a proportion of the interest earned on the assets in reserve after the Libra Association pays for engineering research, non-profit grants and other operating costs. This creates an incentive for Libra’s founding members to make the application more popular and grow the amount of money held in reserve. Libra has drawn some serious concerns from regulators and governments, which have called for stringent oversight or even a complete ban. At a recent G7 meeting, French finance minister Bruno Le Marie said that “a private company shouldn’t have the possibility to create a sovereign currency.” In addition, there are fears that the digital currency could be used for money laundering, fraud and other financial crimes. Furthermore, Facebook has to contend with its less-than-stellar track
“For Libra to break into the mainstream of society, users will need to be confident that their money and data are secure” For a crypto economy to be successful, there needs to be an underlying incentive system to keep the network running. In the case of Bitcoin, digital mining rewarded users by compensating them in bitcoin. This process helps validate transactions, which in turn encourages further transactions. Libra’s twotoken system attempts to improve upon this structure by creating separate incentives for consumers and investors. The first type of currency will be the Consumer Token. Users can buy Libra with their local currency, which will be held in the Libra Reserve. If they decide to cash out, the Libra will be destroyed, and the user will receive the equivalent value back in the currency of their choosing. This means there will always be 100% of the value of Libra in circulation, allowing the cryptocurrency to
record when it comes to protecting user privacy. For Libra to break into the mainstream of society, users will need to be confident that their money and data are secure. Facebook has a long road ahead to make Libra the currency of the future, but it became one of the most successful technology companies in history by changing the way people communicate. Its next feat could be revolutionizing the way we purchase our coffee, split dinner cheques and send money across the world. Daniil Saiko leads global sales engineering and integrated products strategy for cross-border payments and currency risk management solutions at Cambridge Global Payments, where he works with companies and banks to design FX and payments infrastructure.
18/10/2019 4:30:17 AM


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|You are here: Rediff Home » India » Business » Report
A Forrester Research report has warned that what looks like just another theft might curb the booming Indian BPO industry's growth by as much as 30 per cent.
Forrester said the arrest of three former employees of MphasiS BFL's BPO operation Msource, and nine others, on April 6 in Pune -- for allegedly stealing over $350,000 from four Citibank customers -- has sent shock waves through the Indian IT-enabled services sector.
This, coupled with skyrocketing call centre attrition rates, will severely dampen BPO growth rates, especially in the call centre customer service space in the next 18 months, said the Forrester report, authored by John C McCarthy, along with G Oliver Young and William Martorelli.
How the theft occurred
The arrested MphasiS staff members acquired the passwords to end customer accounts and transferred the money to their own accounts opened under fictitious names. The fraud occurred over a period of five weeks from the end of February to early April.
The fraud came to light when customers noticed the missing funds. Citibank then tracked the fraud to MphasiS' Pune customer service centre.
MphasiS expresses regret
MphasiS, in a statement issued to rediff.com, said it was working closely with the police in Pune and expressed regret over the incident.
It is still not clear whether MphasiS dismissed the employees from service after the charges were pressed or whether they had left the company before the fraud was detected.
'This is with reference to the Pune bank fraud case reported in several publications. We are in close contact with the police and are working with them in their efforts towards law enforcement. MphasiS regrets this occurrence, which seems to involve some ex-employees. While we are unhappy with the incident itself, we are at the same time quite pleased that detection systems worked and that there was swift, coordinated information exchange between the affected parties,' the company statement said.
'While such incidents unfortunately do happen everywhere, timely and exemplary enforcement ensures that no one needs fear that culprits or potential culprits can get away and the reputation and credibility of the entire system is actually preserved and enhanced,' the company said in the statement.
'We continue to work closely with the concerned agencies and will keep you informed of further developments as appropriate,' MphasiS added.
Blow to MphasiS' move
The Forrester report said unlike past negative BPO headlines, this was not a lapse of judgment or an issue of poor customer service: the incident was an organised and systematic plot to steal customers' money.
Forrester said this breach of sensitive customer data will have far-reaching negative connotations for the offshore BPO space.
MphasiS, said Forrester, has been 'de-emphasising its slower-growth IT application development and maintenance business in favor of its BPO/call centre work. At best, this incident is going to lengthen sales cycles, slow clients expansion of current business, and cost it new business.'
Citibank is one of the firm's largest customers and if the bank cuts back its work with Msource, it will be a major setback, said the report.
MphasiS' Pune centre was BS 7799 (a security certification) and CMM Level 5-certified (quality certification), theft still occurred and Forrester said the rising attrition rates in the call centre space -- 50 per cent to 100 per cent -- undermine suppliers' ability to adhere to processes and sufficiently check backgrounds.
MphasiS has said it will more closely monitor calls in the future to ensure that staff members do not solicit customers for account pass codes/PINs. But Forrester warned clients and prospects that 'they should not be lulled into security complacency by the laundry list of certifications or process changes that suppliers roll out.'
Call centre growth may drop by 30%
'The incident will undermine call centre expansion by as much as 30 per cent as security concerns, regulatory pressure, and end customer backlash lengthen sales cycles, impede the ramping up of larger projects, or drive firms to take the captive route,' said the Forrester report.
The report said the security breach will also hasten the shift from call centre customer service work to less onerous and visible back-office accounting and claims-processing activities.
Forrester foresees a clarion call for robust data protection legislations, tighter BPO regulation and strong enforcement now. India, said Forrester, will now have to tighten its data protection and privacy laws to bolster its offshore credibility.
The National Association of Software and Services Companies will have to go beyond promotion and begin lobbying the government on issues like tightening Cyber Law -- which has not been as effective in prosecuting online offenses - and creating a more comprehensive system for checking backgrounds, said the Forrester report.
Forrester has cautioned all IT vendors to be ready for an onslaught of audits and reviews as CIOs and business executives look to reassure senior management that their IT work is not at risk. The report says while this may lengthen sales cycles and slow project ramp-ups, it will not have as broad an impact on IT services as it will on BPO.
Forrester expected firms to establish their own captive centres over which they believe they exert greater control following the theft.
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
the latest Numbers on Vinyls Growing Popularity
The resurgent vinyl market isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, recent figures released by Nielsen SoundScan indicate that overall U.S. vinyl sales will once again set a benchmark in 2009, with sales up 50% through the first five months of the year. SoundScan predicts vinyl sales will reach 2.8 million units in 2009, up from 1.9 million in 2008, a record since SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991. Already in 2009, vinyl sales have topped 1 million. Rock albums account for 70% of all vinyl sold, but country vinyl is enjoying a growth spurt. Year-to-date country vinyl sales are already at 15,000 copies, compared with 5,000 for the comparable period in 2008.
Posted by AaronX at 9:09 AM


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nuTravel CEO Carmine Carpanzano Named One Of The Top 25 Most Influential Executives In The Business Travel Industry
nuTravel Technology Solutions CEO Carmine Carpanzano was selected by Business Travel News (BTN) as one of the top 25 most Influential Business Travel Executives of 2012.
nuTravel showcasing new solution offerings to the Corporate Travel marketplace at GBTA 2012
Leading online solutions company nuTravel will be exhibiting at the GBTA Convention 2012 in Boston at Booth #2020; showcasing its newly-positioned suite of technology solutions - including the re-branded RESX tool (acquired by nuTravel in November 2011) and the recently announced global partnership - the Mundi Global Alliance.
nuTravel re-brands RESX, integrates ITA shopping technology
Seven months after its acquisition of the ResX corporate online booking tool, nuTravel Technology Solutions is re-branding ResX effective July 10th as part of its newly positioned suite of corporate travel booking technology offerings.
nuTravel rebranding RESX, opens a Dallas office with former RESX staff joining nuTravel effective May 1, 2012
Five months after its acquisition of the RESX corporate online booking tool, nuTravel Technology Solutions has unveiled plans to rebrand RESX as an enhanced nuTravel offering to its already growing line of solutions under the nuTravel name, as well as continue to develop and maintain the RESX platform.


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Virtual reality technology has progressed rapidly in recent years, with users now able to immerse themselves in another world as never before.
Online casinos have started to embrace VR, creating the opportunity for players to enjoy live interactions with the various games to make the whole experience feel like being in a real-life casino.
Gaming operators could benefit greatly from the advancements in the technology, with a 2016 report in App Developer Magazine claiming that online gambling in the UK generates around £3 billion annually.
Further growth of 10 percent per annum and figures making up nearly half of all gambling revenue by 2019 are believed to be achievable.
VR technology gives players the opportunity to transport themselves to places like Monte Carlo or Las Vegas, offering virtual reality casino games like roulette and slots.
With millennials brought up on a diet of burgeoning technology, this development could attract a whole new generation of players to the casino industry.
A VR-ready computer and a suitable headset can be used to step inside your chosen establishment, allowing players to interact with other players and the dealer at table games and around the casino.
The technology could be used to meet up with relatives or friends, wherever they are in the world, and play any number of games.
Alternatively, players may compete against thousands of people from across the world without ever leaving their own living room – the possibilities are endless.
VR also offers the opportunity to look at the environment around the casinos, offering stunning views in some breathtaking locations.
For anyone doubting the potential of VR, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is a huge fan of the technology.
He believes that VR could potentially break down the economic inequalities created by geographic divisions.
Zuckerberg sees VR as the next wave of social networking and Facebook has already made a VR version of its platform that allows virtual avatars to meet up and talk ‘face-to-face’.
As VR technology advances it seems likely the gaming industry will be amongst the main industries to benefit from the latest trend.
Youngsters brought up on mobile phones, tablets and apps are always eager to jump onto the next big technological advancement – something that will undoubtedly attract gaming operators as they look to increase their profits.
It’s debatable whether VR will ever fully replace the thrill of a visit to a real-life casino, but the technology seems certain to enhance the wide variety of ways to play from the comfort of your own home.


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Young fashion chain AllSaints is to join the raft of high-profile retailers on London’s prestigious Regent Street by opening a flagship store.
The 15,000 sq ft store at 240 Regent Street will open in early May.
Landlord The Crown Estate has revitalised the street, luring retailers including Swedish chain H&M’s more upmarket sister fascia Cos and US giant Gap’s Banana Republic.
AllSaints will also open US stores on New York’s Broadway and on Boston’s Newbury Street by early May.
The retailer has been driving overseas expansion since securing a £30m financing deal last July. It has opened stores in Miami and Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Chief executive Stephen Craig said the US stores had generated a “positive response”.
AllSaints also has standalone stores in Paris, Berlin and Antwerp and is seeking more European stores.
The new stores will retain the distinctive AllSaints feel inspired by vintage and industrial antiques.
AllSaints has about 60 stores as well as concessions in UK and French department stores.


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Ivory Coast Palmci's H1 net profit falls 30 pct year-on-year
ABIDJAN Oct 10 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast palm oil producer Palmci's net profit fell 30 percent year-on-year to 15.30 billion CFA francs ($31.53 million) due to a slump in palm oil prices, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
It said turnover for the period slipped to 86.47 billion CFA francs, compared with 97.30 billion last year.
Palmci said its annual palm oil output was expected to fall 4.6 percent to 270,000 tonnes in 2013 compared with 283,000 tonnes in 2012. ($1 = 485.3010 CFA francs) (Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Daniel Flynn)
- Man called Bitcoin's father denies ties, leads LA car chase
- Ukraine standoff intensifies, Russia says sanctions will 'boomerang' |
- Florida mayor fights backyard gun ranges in 'Gunshine State'
- Apple loses bid for U.S. ban on Samsung smartphone sales
- 'Everything is fine', Pistorius told guard after shooting girlfriend |


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Aaron Levie is one of those 26-year-old technology chief executives who make no attempt to look older than their age. His work shoes are neon sneakers, and he keeps his black hair in a frizzy mop. This geek-chic Silicon Valley uniform is usually for those consciously trying to build the next cool company.
But Levie's company is not cool, at least not in that Facebook or Twitter way. Box.net is a file storage and collaboration company that considers biggies like Microsoft, IBM and EMC to be competitors. Its customers are the IT managers who spend most of their time and budgets maintaining old systems.
Levie's pitch to them: Lighten up. "Enterprise software is sexy," he says. "Because ours looks nothing like enterprise software."
Box.net runs a website that lets people store files online and invite others to see those same files and post comments and updates. The basic version is free and requires no download that a corporate firewall might block. If someone wants additional features such as extra storage or password protection, Box.net charges users $15 per month. Enough are paying to make this a remunerative (though still unprofitable) endeavor.
Five million people use Box.net. Employees at 60,000 companies use it without the approval or awareness of their IT departments. Levie's firm is one of several business software newbies, including networking site Yammer, e-mail tool provider Xobni and document- sending outfit YouSendIt, all of whose apps are proliferating on PCs, iPads and Android phones because they're cheap, simple and easy to learn. The hope is that their free, Web-based software is good enough to achieve widespread use that will eventually convert into corporate approvals and big deals.
"There's a revolution going on that's undoing years of crappy code and lousy customer service," says Levie with the bravado of those who lived in the previous era. (He was a freshman in high school when the Internet bubble burst.)
While consumer websites with a "freemium" model such as Evernote typically get less than 3% of their customers to pay for bells and whistles, Box.net has managed to convert 8% of its business customers into paying ones, including Bank of New York, TaylorMade and ClearChannel. Revenue last year was $11 million. Levie is predicting he'll more than double that this year.
Levie has to give his product away to get the kind of reach Microsoft has with its decade-old, $1 billion (sales) SharePoint collaboration tool. Building a business software company the traditional way takes years, hundreds of millions of dollars and the kind of fine-tuned Rolodex that comes only with age. "I'm already inside Microsoft's customer base," says Levie.
He mocks what Microsoft boasts about at its conferences: the $5.6 billion "service opportunity" for consultants and programmers getting SharePoint to work right for its buyers. "Good for Microsoft partners. Not so awesome for customers," he says.
"We're not at all apologetic," counters Jared Spataro, a manager of Microsoft's SharePoint business. "[Our] market is more sophisticated than Box.net makes it out to be." Levie's model is likely limited. Firms like Box.net, Yammer and Xobni are all peddling communication tools, not the heavy-duty stuff such as financials, supply chain and human resources that companies run on. Microsoft sometime this year will launch a Web version of Share- Point bundled with Word, Excel and e-mail for $6 a month. It is targeted at workers, not their IT departments. Salesforce.com is coming out with a free version of its collaboration software, called Chatter.
"The line between consumer and business software is suddenly blurry. There's big opportunity in that," says Gordon Ritter of Emergence Capital Partners, an early investor in Web-based stalwarts Salesforce and SuccessFactors, a business performance software firm that now enjoys $188 million in sales. His firm has stakes in a half-dozen firms using the freemium model.
Yammer, a Facebook-like tool aimed at companies (it competes with Chatter), has signed up 2 million people in two years. Chevron, AstraZeneca and Molson Coors are paying customers. Yammer's founder, David Sacks, was the first head of operations of PayPal: "We avoided paying sites like Yahoo and AOL to get new PayPal customers. We'd have been toast if we hadn't stuck to that. This is no different," he says.
Yammer works much like Facebook did in its early days. An employee joins using his or her work e-mail address, then invites others to join. The company reached 500,000 members without a single salesperson. Now Sacks has 20 reps calling on a list of companies where Yammer is growing quickly without help from internal tech departments. Xobni, an add-on software for Microsoft's Outlook e-mail application, is managing to convince 12% of free customers to pay up, sometimes via their IT department bud gets or by simply using their corporate credit cards. "This is the opposite of how enterprise software has been sold," says Xobni Chief Executive Jeff Bonforte.
A year and a half ago Bonforte hired a single sales guy to take incoming calls. He told him to say no to any customer who asks for custom coding to get the deal done. It's just too expensive. Xobni ("in-box" spelled backward) did jump through hoops to land NASA and the U.S. Army and prove its software is secure, but has turned down Phillips and Intel. "We'll be a one-story building on the freeway if we take that route." Instead it constantly tweaks existing software to see what drives up usage. Paying customers follow.
Some buyers are turning down the freemium pitch. Doug Pierce, who runs technology for marketing firm Momentum Worldwide (a division of Interpublic), has twice in the past year and a half told his employees to stop using free software. He calls this new selling practice "unethical" and compares folks like Bonforte and Levie with "drug dealers": "There are two things that matter in most organizations-- people and data. These companies are knowingly taking my data, then trying to get me to pay to win back control of my data. I don't want to do business with people like that," says Pierce.
In January 2006 Levie dropped out of the University of Southern California, where he planned to major in business and film, to work full-time on Box.net. He moved into his uncle's garage in Berkeley with cofounder and high school buddy Dylan Smith and sent an e-mail catchy enough to convince billionaire Mark Cuban to invest $350,000. With that, Box.net relocated to Palo Alto, and soon afterward a blog post sparked an investment from venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (the company has since raised a total of $31 million).
Levie started calling on business customers in 2007 and asking what they'd be willing to spend on the service (most were getting it free). "It was eight times what we'd figured," he says. Levie began hiring sales guys to take calls from tech departments in January 2008. Because those calls come from companies already using the software, Box.net closes 60% of those deals within two weeks.
Last year Levie doubled his staff to 125 people, and he plans to hire another 75 this year. The license plate on his new black BMW reads: GOCLOUD.


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When Microsoft pushed out its pre-replace, err, replace they failed to predict any considerations. Granted it was the primary update to the fledgling mobile OS however what could possibly go improper? turns out, moderately a bit. reports of users having their handsets ‘bricked’ all over the replace are rife across the online, with Samsung’s hardware apparently struggling more than others.
extra: continued right here


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San Jose, CA (PRWEB) June 23, 2005
AuctionWagon (http://www.auctionwagon.com), the world's first independent eBay consignment store, announced that it is releasing the second generation of its proprietary eBay consignment system Store Manager Pro to the public today at the eBay Live! 2005 convention in San Jose. This product will provide eBay consignment stores with an all-in-one solution for drop-off consignment.
The software package is the first to perform virtually all of the functions needed by an eBay consignment store, from printing contracts, barcodes, and inventory labels to managing inventory, payments, shipping, and check writing. Store Manager Pro G2 is also the first eBay consignment software to integrate photo editing as well as eBay questions.
ÂThe release of Store Manager Pro G2 will dramatically improve the efficiency of drop-off stores, which previously had to rely on a hodge podge of tools not specifically designed for these stores,Â said Joshua MacAdam, president of AuctionWagon. ÂThe eBay consignment industry is growing rapidly, and we are pleased to provide stores with the tools to make them successful.Â
Store Manager Pro G2 was created in the AuctionWagon drop-off store as a solution to the problems encountered in operating a retail store in a new industry. The product is the first software package specifically designed for eBay consignment stores written by an eBay consignment store.
eBay consignment is a rapidly growing industry, with industry estimates showing that these stores represented over 1.2% of eBay's total worldwide revenue in 2004, after just over one year of the industry's existence.
For additional information on AuctionWagon Store Manager Pro G2, visit http://www.auctionwagon.com. The product is immediately available for download from the company website.
AuctionWagon opened its first eBay consignment store in November 2003 in West Hollywood, CA, becoming the first such store in the Los Angeles market. The first company to qualify as both an eBay certified developer and an eBay Trading Post, AuctionWagon is a pioneer in both the retail and software segments of the industry, being featured in Entrepreneur, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Dow Jones Newswire and other leading publications.
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Twitter today disclosed it had inadvertently used information gathered by f its two-factor authentication security system to serve targeted adverts. The details, which include phone numbers and email addresses, were used as part of Twitter’s Tailored Audiences and Partner Audiences advertising systems.
Tailored Audiences allows advertisers to target ads based on details of potential customers that they already have acquired. Suppose a large online retailer has a customer’s email address and wanted to recommend them a widget. Twitter Tailored Audiences would ensure that the ad goes directly to the intended audience.
The problem is that two-factor authentication is primarily a security system, and users should feel comfortable enough to use it without the fear that their details would be re-purposed for marketing purposes.
“When an advertiser uploaded their marketing list, we may have matched people on Twitter to their list based on the email or phone number the Twitter account holder provided for safety and security purposes. This was an error and we apologize,” the company wrote in a blog post.
Twitter says it plugged the hole on Sept. 17 with a software update. Unfortunately, the company is uncertain how many users were affected by this error. Those with concerns are encouraged to reach out to Twitter’s data protection bureau via an online form.
In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t much of an issue for Twitter, and seems unlikely to dent the company’s public trust. As far as privacy lapses go, it pales in comparison to what effected users in the wake of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal.
That said, the mistake could dissuade users from using two-factor authentication, which is an elemental step in protecting an online account from hackers. If people think they might end up being on the receiving end of privacy-harming targeted adverts, they might think twice before handing over their phone numbers.


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Hungarian food industry company Cerbona on Monday issued an immediate recall of Durillo- and Durum-brand dry pasta products that could contain unacceptably high levels of the toxin deoxinivalenol.
In a quality control check on June 19 of base materials for its durum pasta delivered by milling company Diamant Malom International, Cerbona found unacceptably high levels of the toxin and requested an immediate check by food safety authorities. Food safety officials found in a laboratory examination that toxin levels fell under the prescribed threshold after cooking.
Consumers who have purchased Durillo- and Durum-brand pasta products with sell-by dates between May 13, 2011 and June 18, 2011 may return them to the stores where they were purchased for a refund. (MTI-ECONEWS)


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For Sony Mobile, it’s not enough to be smart
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra (left) gets bragging rights over the Samsung Galaxy Mega when it comes to size.
If there is one thing Sony has learned in watching the rise of Samsung over the past decade, it’s been the singular power that smartphone leadership affords.
In recognition of this, Sony acquired Ericsson’s stake from its 10-year joint venture last year and created Sony Mobile. The evolution of the Sony-Ericsson mobile product line had reflected Sony’s fortunes. Imbued with such winning subbrands as Walkman and CyberShot in the feature phone era, it had to…
Read the original here: For Sony Mobile, it’s not enough to be smart


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Cash in on craze for camping
TAKE to your tent - camping has become hip. After years of struggling against cheap foreign travel, domestic tourism is enjoying a revival. And franchisors could benefit.
Celebrity camping fans such as Kate Moss and Sienna Miller have attracted more young people to caravan and tent holidays in Britain. And the National Caravan Council says that 32,000 touring caravans were built last year, the highest number since 1990.
Membership of The Camping and Caravanning Club has gone up by ten per cent a year since 2001. And the club, which has 400,000 members, began a franchise operation last year. It has two franchises and four in the pipeline with plans to expand to 50 over ten years.
Sara Merckel and husband Martyn, 43, set up the club's first franchise, buying a site in Ravenglass, Cumbria, last November. Sara, 40, says: 'I was a management consultant and Martyn was running a restaurant so he worked a lot of late nights.
'Now, we start our day at 7am and often don't finish until after 8pm, but it does feel as if we're on holiday all the time.'
This type of franchise does not come cheap, however. The club expects franchisees to put up a minimum of £100,000 of their own money.
The Merckels' campsite, which has pitches for 66 caravans and ten tents, cost £460,000 to buy freehold, £150,000 to refurbish and £30,000 for the franchise itself.
But the club offers help on finding, buying and designing a site and access to its booking system. Sara says: 'It was very tight when we started and I'm convincedwe would not have done it without-the club behind us. We're now getting a lot of repeat bookings.'
One downside is that campsite owners can never take time off during the peak holiday season. And being seasonal, there are cashflow considerations to take into account.
Sara says: 'Our season runs from March to November. After that we close for the winter, so we have to manage our money quite carefully.'
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This is the new Werder Bremen home shirt 2016/17, Werder’s new home strip for the upcoming Bundesliga season. Made by Nike, the new kit was officially unveiled on 1 July, 2016.
Werder finished 13th in the 2015/16 Bundesliga season, but required a late goal from Papy Djilobodji on the last day of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt to preserve their top flight status.
The uniform sees Werder wear a green and white hooped design for the first time in their history. Blue stripes adorn the side of the jersey, with orange detailing seen on the shoulders
Check out more released Bundesliga strips here at Football kit News


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Climate change is directly impacting farmers around the world. We’re working to help them combat the impacts of extreme weather patterns on their crops, though. Here are the ‘Faces of Climate Change,’ who are on the front lines every day.
The Rainforest Alliance’s Dominique Gangneux, VP Market Transformation, was interviewed by the Times of India on why it is crucial for India to follow sustainable farming, protecting diverse species including humanity by protecting forests — and what delighted a farmer recently:
Sustainable tea production has come a long way in recent years, but there is still a long way to go. Here’s where Rainforest Alliance Certified tea production is on a global level.
As key leaders in the tea industry gear up for TEAM UP 2015, we take a look at recent developments of our work in growing the sustainable tea industry.


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One of the six games in The Witcher universe that CD Projekt Red is set to work on over the next few years is a complete remake of the original in Unreal Engine 5. Often considered the weakest of the Witcher games, and with a combat system that leaves a lot to be desired, remastering the original title will give gamers young and old a new chance to experience it in a more visually appealing guise.
It could even end up looking better than The Witcher III.
CD Projekt Red has returned to the well with its future plans, announcing earlier this year that it was going to develop a number of new Witcher-based games, one a straight sequel to The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, and the others something else entirely. One of those, at least, will be this remake of the original, and you have to imagine if it goes well, Witcher II: Assassin of Kings will get the same treatment.
It's not being entirely developed by CD Projekt Red, though. In fact, it will only be providing assistance to the Polish Studio, Fool's Theory, which previously provided developmental support for Baldur's Gate III, Divinity: Original Sin II, and Outriders.
“The game is currently in the early stages of development at the Polish studio Fool’s Theory, where veteran Witcher series staff are involved,” CD Projekt Red said in a statement. “We … are providing full creative supervision.”
No release date has been announced as of yet, but expect it to be some way off.


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Ashland Town Center to celebrate anniversary
Published 9:59 am Wednesday, October 14, 2009
ASHLAND, Ky. — Ashland Town Center officials announced today they will be celebrating the malls 20th anniversary during the month of October. Special events will be held from Oct. 15 through Oct. 23.
The mall will host their Anniversary Sidewalk Sale from Oct. 15 through Oct. 19.
Shoppers can stock up on their favorite items such as a new pair of distressed denim jeans, a cozy fall sweater or thehottest fall accessories.
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The Taste of Ashland event will be Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The shopping center will be filled end to end with food vendors from the Ashland area. Admission is free. Guests can purchase tickets for their food samples at Guest Services prior to or during the event.
A children’s carnival will be set-up for the kids to play games and win prizes. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the United Way of Northeast Kentucky.
From Oct. 19 through Oct. 23, shoppers can earn a free $20 Ashland Town Center VISA gift card for spending $150 or more.
Customers will need to bring same day receipts dated Oct. 19 through 23 to Guest Services to redeem their gift card. Official rules for the event will be at Guest Services. Supplies are limited for this event.
For more information on the event, please visit www.ashlandtowncenter.com or call the Mall Office at 606-324-1100.
Ashland Town Center is anchored by Belk and JCPenney and is located at 500 Winchester Ave, seven blocks west of the Ashland Bridges. It features over seventy specialty shops, a food court and a kids soft play area.
Ashland Town Center is open Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Ashland Town Center is owned and managed by Glimcher Realty Trust of Columbus.


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Uncut’s celebratory Beatles edition helped it post the fastest growing ABC figure in the music market of 24.5 per cent year-on-year.
Since the magazine launched in 1997 it has grown by 90 per cent and now sells 63,361 copies per issue.
Kerrang! also attracted more readers, posting an increase of 15.6 per cent year-on-year, and increased its lead over rival Metal Hammer.
The biggest fall was recorded by Ministry, which lost 20.8 per cent of sales. Associate publisher Chris Green blamed the shake-up of senior editorial staff and management that began last year and ended in a number of redundancies.
"It’s no secret that Ministry went through a big change in the first three months and we expected sales to be poor. The first issues to be produced by the new editorial team are the last two of this ABC period," said Green.
Ministry will hope for an improvement under new editor Ollie Quain.
Rival clubbing magazine Mixmag slipped 5.4 per cent this period but is up 4.1 per cent year-on-year. It still has the lead over Ministry by 25,000 copies per issue.
Q remained market leader and increased sales by 11.6 per cent year-on-year. Editor John McKie stepped down after just four issues earlier this month and was replaced by former features editor Danny Ecclestone.
Rock Sound increased sales by 22.3 per cent year-on-year while rival Classic Rock increased its ABC by 15.8 per cent.


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- A total of more than 6 million out of 15 million card packs have been sold since yesterday.
- The Chaos Legion Pack raked in over $24 million in the first 30 minutes of opening for general sale.
- Splinterlands has been the most played game on DappRadar since September 2021.
NFT-based play-to-earn card game, Splinterlands, began the general sale phase for its latest card pack, Chaos Legion, yesterday. Within the first 30 minutes, Splinterlands saw revenue of over $24 million from sales of the Chaos Legion card pack.
This comes as Splinterlands takes the top spot for the most played blockchain game on DappRadar for five months running, continuing the growing interest in gaming metaverses.
Previously called Steem Monsters, Splinterlands is played as a one-on-one battle between teams of monsters. Players can earn rewards from winning tournaments and burning cards, receive gifts from finishing daily quests or trade in the market for an income.
Players have been able to get the latest Chaos Legion card packs through Credits which can be bought in the online shop in exchange for Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) or Splintershards (SPS).
Since the launch of the Chaos Legion pack general sale, Splinterlands has generated more revenue than 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined.
“Splinterlands is thrilled by the progress of the game. In a single night, we did more revenue than 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined. We’re growing like crazy. We’re adding new players, and new money, which is allowing us to hire more creatives and developers to the business. It’s absolutely living the crypto dream,” says Jesse “Aggroed” Reich, CEO and co-founder of Splinterlands.
Those who have bought the Chaos Legion card pack during the pre-sale have been airdropped rare cards alongside the new release, with each pack consisting of five cards with at least one rare card.
Gated behind a voucher system, the initial presale allowed users to trade in one voucher along with 4000 credits worth $4 per pack. Vouchers can be purchased through Hive or obtained through staking SPS which are being airdropped daily and will be continuously used for future sales.
After the opening of the general sale, a new card has been revealed and airdropped to purchasers for every one million card pack sold. At the time of writing, at least six new cards have been airdropped to users as more than six million card packs have been sold. This allows users to continue participating in airdrops until the card packs sell out.
With its increasing popularity, Splinterlands is aiming to increase its number of active users and website traffic past the previously baselined 10 million weekly sessions.
Stay up to date:


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Time magazine officially released their list for 2014’s 25 Most Influential Teens, but there are a few fans slamming some of the names that were acknowledged.
Listed alongside first daughters Sasha and Malia Obama and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai, are reality stars Kendall and Kylie Jenner. According to Time:
“Together, the ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ co-stars hosted red-carpet events, released clothing and nail polish lines and even published a dystopian young-adult novel this past summer (though yes, they had some help). But they’ve had solo success too — Kendall with modeling (she’s walked the runway for designers like Marc Jacobs) and Kylie with pseudo-entrepreneurship (she’s launching a line of hair extensions and hopes to get into acting). Next up: a multimillion-dollar mobile game?”
Unfortunately, mag got slammed with angry tweets, wondering how the sisters made the list.
“If I live in a world where Time names Kendall & Kylie Jenner as the most influential ppl of 2014 I don’t want to be a part of it any longer,” one comment read.
“Really the Jenner’s? What a joke. DISGRACE,” another tweet read.
“F*ck you and your lame list, who came up with this sh*t??”
Sound off: What do you think? Do Kylie and Kendall deserve to be on the list?


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Many people are busy predicting "the death of publishing" with the rise of e-books. And even if we're far from the end of print, the pressures to rethink how textbooks are published and sold have put the online textbook rental company Chegg in a good position.
According to BoomTown, Chegg has secured another funding round -- $75 million from Asia-based Ace Limited. This brings the amount raised by the company to almost $220 million.
That much funding means that investors predict huge returns from Chegg, which has become the leading player in the $10 billion college textbook market. But it's a fiercely competitive market. Chegg currently serves around 7000 schools.
While renting a textbook is a great option in lieu of actually purchasing one, I do wonder if renting a print book will be the winning idea, so to speak, in the college textbook market, or if it'll be the move towards free and open content that can be distributed electronically. I'd invest -- philosophically, at least, as I'm a few bucks sort of $75 mil -- in the latter.


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- August 2, 2022
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Uncategorized
Shares of Zomato soared over 18 per cent in Tuesday’s trade after the online food delivery platform said its consolidated net loss narrowed in the June quarter. The stock climbed 18.44 per cent to Rs 54.90 on the BSE. This was the biggest gain for the stock in a year.
Zomato’s consolidated net loss for the quarter almost halved to Rs 186 crore due to higher income. The company had reported a net loss of Rs 360.7 crore in the year-ago quarter.
“If you see all the new age tech companies that have come all of them have the same issue which is the path to profitability is not clear, now suddenly they are talking about profitability. I am happy that they are talking. I would want to see some proof of that and happy to miss the first leg. We can always jump in in the second leg,” Sridhar Sivaram, Enam Holdings said in an ET NOW interview.
Following Zomato’s results, Kotak Institutional Equities has lowered its FY2023-25 loss estimates. The brokerage sees the fair value of the stock at Rs 80 now against Rs 79.


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Five of the Most Popular Cannabis Stocks to Watch in 2019
PALM BEACH, Florida, May 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- It's become tough to ignore the cannabis story. Over the last year, Canada approved its recreational use. More U.S. states are legalizing. Corporate America is using CBD and hemp oil in everything from lotions and pain balm to beverages. President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law. Congress has even submitted a cannabis bill that could legalize cannabis at the federal level. Even better, according to Arcview Market Researcher and BDS Analytics, global spending on cannabis is expected to rocket 38% this year to $16.9 billion up from $12.2 billion in 2018. Along the way, it's creating sizable sales opportunity for several companies, including The Yield Growth Corp. (CSE:BOSS) (OTC:BOSQF), Aleafia Health Inc. (TSX-V:ALEF) (OTC:ALEAF), The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TSX:TGOD) (OTC:TGODF), Canopy Rivers Inc. (TSX-V:RIV)( OTC:CNPOF), and Charlotte's Web Holdings Inc. (CSE:CWEB) (OTC:CWBHF).
The Yield Growth Corp.(CSE:BOSS)(OTCQB:BOSQF) BREAKING NEWS: The Yield Growth Corp. just announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Wright & Well, has developed a dedicated line of CBD products which are set to be manufactured in California this summer. The collection contains less than 0.3% THC, in compliance with the US Farm Bill for legal sale across the United States. The new Wright & Well CBD line includes CBD Full Spectrum Tinctures, Body Balm, Body Gel and Body Oil. Yield Growth approaches product development with uncompromising quality. The unique formulations of the balm, gel and oils are founded on Ayurvedic wellness principals, and include as a key ingredient Cannabis Sativa Root Extract, made using Yield Growth subsidiary Urban Juve's patent pending extraction technology.
The CBD products will be manufactured at an FDA registered laboratory and manufacturing facility in California which follows cGMP guidelines. Yield Growth is currently building a CBD product-specific B2C e-commerce website to take consumer orders, and a B2B portal to process retail orders as well. These orders will be routed through Yield Growth's existing enterprise resource planning system, which will then generate shipping orders to a fulfillment center in California. This development will be built using the underlying architecture of the recently launched fully functional e-commerce platform www.urbanjuve.com.


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Bad teeth and type 2 diabetes are just two of the problems China’s fat children develop, tells Paul French in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Paul French is the co-author of the bestseller Fat China: How Expanding Waistlines are Changing a Nation.
Category Archives: middle class
Luxury bag producer Louis Vuitton has scored a major deal by cooperating with the Beijing National Museum, says retail analyst Shaun Rein in News Channel Asia. Linking to its own historical roots works very well in China.
What are the fundamental differences between Chinese and Western consumers, wonders Shanghai-based advertising expert Tom Doctoroff in a wide-ranging interview with ChinaSmack.
Celebrity author Helen Wang taps into the excitement of Western companies to enter the China market. The paper JingDaily asks her wide ranging questions on her book on China’s middle class, The Chinese Dream. Focus on health care and education, she advises foreign companies.
Helen Wang Increased domestic consumption and sustainable growth are key in the country’s new five-year plan. But can it deliver on two critical issues, beating inflation and affordable housing, author…
Helen Wang by Fantake via Flickr Helen Wang, author of The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World’s Largest Middle Class and What It Means to You, will address on…


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Retail specialists have warned that recent career losses will be the “tip of the iceberg” devoid of even further aid from the Treasury, as new figures expose about 850 careers have been misplaced from the sector every doing the job working day considering that the start out of the year.
New analysis from the Centre for Retail Study (CRR) reveals 27,096 work opportunities have been get rid of and 1,023 stores have been earmarked for closure so considerably in 2021.
The investigation, which covers insolvencies by retailers with 10 or additional stores, highlights the turmoil on the significant street, which has observed the recent collapses of Debenhams and Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Team.
Professor Joshua Bamfield of the CRR warned “these losses will be the idea of the iceberg” devoid of an extension of the latest small business charges getaway and moratorium on evictions by landlords.
At the onset of the pandemic, the Govt released a crack on company charges for retail, hospitality and leisure corporations right up until the close of the present economic calendar year, March 31.
Gallery: How Canada’s COVID-19 stimulus compares to other international locations (Lovemoney)
Retail bosses have termed on the Chancellor to prolong the aid in the March 3 Price range, but also to entire a significant overhaul of the present small business premiums procedure.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Community Federal government issued its newest statistical guidance on Wednesday, forecasting that councils in England will obtain £24.8 billion for the up coming 12 months – with no provision for an extension of the prices getaway in its forecast.
It has been claimed that the Governing administration is even now contemplating an extension to the hire getaway, but Prof Bamfield warned “this will simply just kick the can down the road” as he named for greater support.
“Government loans enabling merchants to change unpaid rents amassed in the course of the crisis into preset-expression repayable financial loans could be the remedy as element of a wider basket of help,” he explained.
On Tuesday, the Scottish Government extended its company costs holiday getaway for the subsequent financial yr, raising pressure on the Chancellor even more.
Robert Hayton, United kingdom president of home tax at genuine estate adviser Altus Group, mentioned: “Lockdown limitations and transforming purchaser patterns imply our superior streets are significantly from able of bearing the load ideal now, but the extension have to be discerning and specific to prevent repeating the blunders of the earlier.”


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Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will hit UK shelves on March 23rd next year in the UK and Europe.
The game will be released initially on Xbox 360 and PS3 with a PC version to follow. It’s a team-based third-person shooter Resident Evil game for home consoles.
Publisher Capcom also revealed the release date for its upcoming action title Asura’s Wrath which is due on February 24th 2012 in Europe. Another game, Dragon’s Dogma, will arrive in early 2012.
Joining these upcoming releases is Capcom’s 3DS survival horror game Resident Evil: Revelations which arrives on January 27th next year.
All four games were available to play at Capcom’s Autumn Gamers Days in London and San Francisco last week.


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As we look towards COP28 in Dubai, a question arises – how can brands in a market still catching up with sustainability efforts authentically commit to becoming greener?
The call from Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General of COP28, is clear: “Come with solutions and real actions”.
In a world where climate change is a looming threat to existence, this challenge extends to brands and agencies as well. Here’s how they can rise to this occasion.
Brands need to understand that sustainable practices are now an expectation, not an exception, especially among younger generations. As the market focuses on Gen Z, a consumer group with high awareness of sustainability, showcasing values related to the environment becomes essential.
Interestingly, a significant portion of Gen Z is willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, debunking the myth that sustainable branding is prohibitively expensive. Brands need to reflect on their purpose and the circularity of their products, making strides to eliminate waste.
Transparency is a fundamental step in proving a brand’s dedication to the environment. Brands that have successfully integrated environmental consciousness into their foundation, like Siemens, not only achieve their climate targets but often exceed them.
Showcasing an understanding of one’s supply chain, similar to Adidas, which openly shares its supplier list, signifies genuine commitment. Communicating these efforts in the form of powerful storytelling is key to resonating with all stakeholder levels.
One brand that stands out in its sustainability efforts is Reflo, a sports brand, which goes beyond minimizing environmental impact to actively contributing to environmental regeneration. Reflo uses 50 per cent less energy, 70 per cent fewer carbon emissions, 20 per cent less water, and excludes oil in its production processes.
Brands also have the unique opportunity to empower audiences to be part of the solution. By showcasing how audiences can utilize products and services to lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle, brands foster a relationship of co-creation.
An inspiring example comes from Pinterest’s original content series ‘Inspire a Better Future’, which educates on various sustainability aspects, empowering audiences to make more environmentally conscious decisions.
An all-in approach
Collaboration, even amongst competitors, is essential in driving broader sustainable change. This was exemplified by Kering’s launch of ‘The Fashion Pact’, and with climate, biodiversity, and ocean targets. This pact, which includes over 200 companies, highlights that brands can set aside competition to innovate and champion shared environmental goals.
Engaging the youth is another pathway to achieving sustainability goals. PepsiCo’s Arab Youth Hackathon, which enables young individuals to create climate solutions, serves as a compelling example. Young people, highly motivated to act pro-environmentally, have the power to reshape the climate narrative and deliver upon UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Embracing the circular economy is another vital step for brands. Incorporating circular economy principles into operations promotes sustainability, helps address unique environmental challenges, and maximizes resource use.
Brands can look to leaders in the space, like Mashreq, for a roadmap on how to transition towards greater sustainability. Mashreq’s dedication to digital innovation has been a key driving force in its sustainable strategic development. For instance, the bank’s launch of Neo NXT in 2022 aimed to enhance financial literacy amongst young individuals, embodying social responsibility within a digital solution.
Authentic green commitments must go beyond mere marketing ploys, requiring daily operational commitment to sustainability. It’s time for brands to offer real solutions and actions, and playing their part in building a sustainable future for all.
If they fail to embrace the moment, they risk being left behind in an increasingly green-conscious world.


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February, 8, 2018
Consul General & Trade Commissioner for New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Ralph Hays along with a team from Mumbai paid a courtesy call on the CEO of the Chamber and the Ex-Co of SLANZBC.
The visit was mainly focused on a forthcoming New Zealand trade delegation that is to visit Sri Lanka this year. Mr. Hays and his team expressed that Sri Lankan enterprise is being viewed as an attraction and a compelling investment opportunity, particularly in augmenting the global supply chain. Following the Sri Lanka – Singapore FTA, enthusiasm for opportunities to invest in the Sri Lankan Market has sparked amongst New Zealand companies in Singapore, and even across India and the Middle East.
The trade mission is set to take place in April and will provide Sri Lankan businesses the opportunity to participate in B2B meetings and forge business partnerships with New Zealand delegates. Currently 15 New Zealand companies have signed up for the trade mission with keen prospects of entering the Sri Lankan market. Amongst the products that delegates seek to promote in Sri Lanka are Information Technology, infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, and food and beverage.
With more delegates expected to come aboard the trade mission, the promotion of more products is anticipated. This being the 3rd consecutive Trade Delegation from New Zealand speaks of its market success. For further enquiries email firstname.lastname@example.org


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On December 13, 2010, the Senate passed Bill C-36, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA). The legislation significantly increases risk and liability for many consumer goods, business and importers in Canada. It also empowers the government to take dramatic corrective actions when concerns about a product’s safety arise.
Kevin Carmichael: Mairead Lavery wants to help more businesses gain the confidence to export their products — and to more places
Canada and Mexico will reciprocate by removing the retaliatory tariffs they imposed on U.S. imports — including punitive levies on American agricultural products
Competition is so intense grocers talk about losing to a rival's promotion as if they were being murdered — it's called 'being taken out' or 'getting clipped'
A shareholder fight over the 407 underscores the contention by some investors and analysts that SNC-Lavalin did not obtain a high premium for the toll road


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Animal rights activists and poultry farmers are often at odds. But, increasingly, the two camps are starting to work together. In the video below, which was released today as part of Compassion in World Farming (CWF)’s Better Chicken Campaign, Leah Garces, the U.S. director of the UK-based organization, gets invited to tour the farm of Craig Watts, a contract poultry producer for Perdue.
What Garces finds there probably won’t surprise most of her audience. The chickens in Watts’ system are unhealthy, crowded, and panting to hold up their over-grown bodies. Or, as Nicholas Kristof puts it in his column about the campaign: “Torture a single chicken and you risk arrest. Abuse hundreds of thousands of chickens for their entire lives? That’s agribusiness.”
But here’s the part that might surprise some consumers: According to CWF, the chickens in the video are the same ones Perdue was selling with the label “humanely raised” until a pair of class-action lawsuits required the company to remove the label in October. The chickens are also labeled “natural,” a term some 60 percent of people look for when shopping for food, according to a recent study by Consumer Reports.
Contract poultry growers for Tyson and Perdue don’t, as a rule, speak to the media. So when they do, it’s a sure sign that they’re prepared to get out of the business. And, much like farmer Carole Morison in the much-watched Food, Inc. scene, Watts tells Garces that he’s ready to get out of the business. “This stuff is not as advertised,” he says. “The consumer is being hoodwinked, the farmer is being jerked around.”
CWF’s campaign is targeting six of the biggest food retailers in the nation–Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Publix, and Trader Joe’s–asking them to source from farms that use trusted third-party humane certification systems, such as Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Humane or Global Animal Partnership. If retailers get on board, it could also mean better livelihood for farmers, who contend with a “tournament system” under large farms that often results in bankruptcy. As Christopher Leonard described it, in a recent interview with Civil Eats:
“You get a pool of farmers, half of whom will always do well, half will always get punished. So, even if they all do a great job, half of them will get money taken out of their pocket by the other half. It’s a way that companies like Tyson can divide and conquer rural communities. It systematically depresses farmers’ paychecks and keeps them very volatile.”


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Amid the global disruptions caused by the spread of the new coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, Sony claims that the planned launch of the PlayStation 5 later this year remains on track.
In a statement on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s operations, Sony said that it expects “no material impact” for its gaming and network services segment for the current fiscal year.
Sony reported various shutdowns for its offices and manufacturing plants across the world. The company also said that its business has been affected by travel restrictions, which has prevented engineers from Japan moving to other countries to help with new product launches and provide instructions on manufacturing processes.
With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic not yet in sight, it remains to be seen if shutdowns and restrictions mandated by national governments will indeed have no effect on the PlayStation 5’s launch. While it may be true that the console will still be released on schedule, production shutdowns may result in a lower number of units available upon launch, leading to supply shortages while manufacturing capacities recover and work to catch up to the demand.
Sony, however, flagged possible delays in the production schedules for games being developed by first-party studios and partner studios, particularly in the United States and Europe. There have been no definite delays announced so far though, with The Last of Us Part 2 still expected to roll out in May and Ghost of Tsushima in June.
Sony has not yet revealed a specific release date for the PlayStation 5, but it has confirmed that the console will launch in time for the 2020 holiday season to go head-to-head with the Xbox Series X.
PlayStation 5 lead system architect Mark Cerny recently discussed the console’s architecture in a presentation, which included details regarding its solid-state drive, processing power, and graphics processing unit. Cerny also talked about the
- Over 100 PlayStation VR2 games are in development, Sony says
- Here’s what E3 2023 could look like without Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft
- MLB The Show 23 returns to Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch this March
- This console generation isn’t about games or hardware. It’s about services
- PS5 themes: Can you customize your homescreen?


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Venezuela’s Hotels are asking tourists to bring their own toilet paper — because they don’t have any and can’t get any
Venezuela’s product shortages have become so severe that some hotels in that country are asking guests to bring their own toilet paper and soap, a local tourism industry spokesman said on Wednesday.
In Merida, a state in western Venezuelan that’s known for its stunning mountain landscapes, small hotels are struggling to stock their rooms with basic supplies, especially as the busy Semana Santa or Holy Week holiday gets underway.
“It’s an extreme situation,” says Xinia Camacho, owner of a 20-room boutique hotel in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada national park. “For over a year we haven’t had toilet paper, soap, any kind of milk, coffee or sugar. So we have to tell our guests to come prepared.”
Perhaps soon the demand for toilet paper will taper off since it’s equally hard to get any food to eat:
Hey Millennialls! You’ve been telling pollsters you prefer socialism to capitalism. Are you nuts? If you could institute socialism in the Sahara there would soon be a shortage of sand.
John Hinderaker: No form of socialism has ever worked at any time or in any place. Socialism is, always has been and always will be a disaster. People like Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and their voters need a remedial course in history. Or maybe they should just read a newspaper now and then.


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E-waste, or waste electrical and electronic equipment, includes items with a plug, battery or cord that are no longer working or wanted.
Overall, $10 million in funding has now been allocated to projects which support e-waste collection and processing, with $6.5 million awarded as part of an initial round of e-waste grants.
E-waste Infrastructure Grants are available for projects which either:
- support facilities to collect, manage and store e-waste, before reuse or onward reprocessing; or
- focus on reprocessing and recycling, including assisting businesses to purchase and install relevant equipment.
Grants are open to businesses, local governments, regional councils and registered charities. Applications close on Friday, 29 March 2024, and can be made via dwer-env.smartygrants.com.au
WA's e-waste ban will be introduced later this year, and includes most electronic consumer goods, such as large household appliances, mobile phones, televisions, and computers.
Read the full media statement.


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YAKIMA, WA- Washington state's minimum wage increased to $13.50 an hour on January 1st.
Yakima business owner's recognize this can be beneficial to employee's but it may take some adjusting for local businesses.
"You want a livable wage, a living wage and at the same time you don't want prices going through the roof. So to find that happy balance is difficult," said Mark Shervey, Owner, MAK Daddy Coffee Roasters.
The balance of keeping businesses striving while increasing workers pay is something many Yakima businesses are dealing with this new year.
For Los Hernández Tamales this is not the first increase in wages they have seen in their 29 years in business.
Owner, Los Hernández Tamales, Felipe Hernández said "we've gone through this before, we will go through it again let's just be positive about it and work with it. And strive to be the best that we are."
For some new businesses in town like Buzzin' Bees Coffee working through the increase mean's a lot less employees and more work being done by the owner to save money.
"It's been a little hard because since we opened the shop it's been a little slow, it's still not like busy," said Gabriela Herrera, Buzzin' Bees Coffee.
Mark Shervey says it's not just the employer's that feel the effect of the increase.
Shervey said "it's not just the labor costs that were experiencing that are going up but all of our vendors where we source all of our products and services from are also getting hit by the same wage increase so their prices go up as well."
Hernández says with the increase "we have to do our part as employers, as business people and the employees will do their we will have to ask them do their part also."


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Saber Interactive, the development studio behind NBA Playgrounds and NBA2K Playgrounds 2, has been acquired by the parent company of THQ Nordic.
Embracer Group announced the acquisition on Wednesday in a deal worth $525 million. The deal will see $150-million paid up front with the other $375-million being paid out over a three-year period.
The company is expected to remain an autonomous studio, but will become the fifth subsidiary of Embracer Group.
Saber Interactive was founded in 2001, and is known for games like Quake Champions, World War Z, and the Nintendo Switch port of The Witcher 3. The NBA Playgrounds franchise was the company’s first foray into the sports market, and it has been met with middle-of-the-pack reviews.
As far the future of the series, the NBA Playgrounds franchise was acquired by 2K back in 2018. With that transition, it had been expected that any future releases in the series would be developed in-house under the 2K Sports license.
SGO has reached out to both 2K and Saber Interactive regarding the future of the NBA Playgrounds franchise, and will update the story should more information be provided.
Want exclusive videos, shows, and news you won’t find anywhere else? Sign up for SGO Insider today!


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– 30 OPPO N3 — OPPO’s latest N-series flagship, up for grabs
– Contest is active for three weeks starting January 28th
NewZNew (Chandigarh) : OPPO India, a leading global technology brand with presence in North America, Europe and Asia, today, announced the launch of “It’s Your Turn” global mobile photography contest, inviting consumers worldwide to share their stories with photographs. As many as 30 OPPO N3 will be given away as prizes. OPPO N3, the world’s first smartphone with a motorized rotating camera has received much attention since its global launch and will be available in India market soon.
The three-week contest starting January 28, 2015 will center on three themes – “Selfie Showdown”, “Our World”, and “Inspiring Moments”. The contest is open to all and the participants can take part by visiting the contest’s official page: http://global.oppo.com/ItsYourTurn/. Each week centers on a theme. The contestant needs to visit the page and upload a selfie with details and submit the entry. Post that the contestant can also post the entry by clicking on any of the social media links given on the page to promote his entry among friends and contacts. The winners will be decided by a jury and the Facebook accounts of OPPO’s global and country sites will share photos uploaded by participants on a regular basis. Each winner will have an all-new OPPO N3 as the prize. You can visit the OPPO India Facebook and twitter pages at the following links:
As the flagship of the OPPO N series, the OPPO N3 sports a unique motorized rotating camera which brings novel and interesting photography experiences. While delivering pictures up to 64 megapixels through OPPO’s market leading Pure Image processing technology – the PI 2.0+, the N3 is equipped with customized versatile camera software which enables the user to reach desired functions quickly and combine them easily to create one-of-a-kind pictures. In addition, the N3 features an innovative hollow underside housing the Skyline notification light 2.0 which oscillates when messages and notifications are received.
About OPPO Mobiles
OPPO is a globally registered technology brand with a long history of serving customers in North America, Europe and Asia. We seek to fuse technology and affection in all of our products, and since entering the mobile market in 2008, we have been restless in our pursuit of the latest technology, the highest quality and the most user-friendly products.
For more information, please visit http://www.oppomobile.in/


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Want to strike a blow at the nation's overgrown financial sector - the folks who helped create the problem known as "too big to fail," fed the last decade's devastating housing bubble, and by 2006 were booking $3 or $4 out of every $10 in corporate profits?
You could head to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, or to Center City for the Philadelphia version. There are a lot of people to be angry at, and as others have noted, at least these demonstrators are aiming at some of the right targets: the financial institutions that brought the country to the brink of a new depression, and the hapless regulators and lawmakers of both parties who made it all possible by blind faith in self-correcting markets.
But here's something else you can do - especially if your anger was stoked by the news that Bank of America and other big banks are raising debit fees: You can vote with your wallet by switching to a smaller bank or credit union, or even to a larger bank that offers a better deal.
True, you won't be directly addressing larger issues such as joblessness or growing disparities in wealth. But you'll be helping indirectly - using free-market tools to counteract the free market's excesses - and meanwhile keeping more of your own cash.
Today I'll tell you about that opportunity at one such institution, six-year-old Valley Green Bank in Northwest Philadelphia. But there are others in the region and elsewhere that are also trying to return banking to its roots and away from its reliance on often-hidden fees.
Bank of America essentially blames its new $5-a-month debit-card fee on Congress and the Federal Reserve.
Last year's Dodd-Frank financial reforms required the Fed to limit the transaction fees banks can charge merchants for debit purchases to an amount "reasonable and proportional to the costs incurred by issuers" - a level the Fed ultimately decided was about half what the issuers were charging.
As of Oct. 1, large banks are governed by a formula the Fed says will generate an average of 24 cents per transaction, down from an average of 44 cents - a change likely to cost Bank of America, which processed 5.7 billion debit transactions in 2009, more than $1 billion a year.
In other words, Bank of America can't take as big a cut on your debit-card purchases by charging merchants what it did before. So it wants to make up the loss by charging you, its customer, instead.
It's important to recognize that the problem didn't begin with the "Durbin amendment," as the fee limits are known. It's rooted in banking's evolution since the 1980s, a period when regulatory oversight waned while technological and business innovation waxed.
Those trends are linked, of course - looser rules give innovators more latitude, and that's typically a good thing. But in the wake of the financial collapse, some lawmakers rightly thought it was time to reestablish a better balance.
Why did this market need closer oversight? Thanks to technology and growing dominance by Visa and MasterCard, the banks and network owners now essentially run a parallel, private monetary system. And dominating the system has enabled them to impose a tax.
If you write a $100 check to your neighborhood store, the store puts $100 into its account. But if you pay by Visa Check Card, the store has been paying about $1 or $2 to the bank. The charges vary, and seem similar to credit-card fees, but they aren't for credit risks - you're paying with funds from your own account. That's why merchant groups, which said consumers were ultimately paying the excess costs, finally won Congress' attention.
Debit fees were a good enough deal for banks that some lured customers with rewards programs. And they were a good enough deal that the Fed initially proposed limiting fees to about 12 cents per transaction, before the banks squawked and got the new caps doubled.
Above all, they fit perfectly into the bigger-is-better model of banking - the one that got us all into trouble.
What attracts consumers to the largest banks? Ironically, a key lure is averting fees - especially those imposed for using a competitor's ATM, and the surcharges the competing bank tacks on. They can easily cost $3 or $4 per transaction, costs you can avoid by using one of Bank of America's 18,000 ATMs.
In the last few years, some banks have countered that edge with a simple tactic: rebating a customer's costs for using an out-of-network ATM. That's part of what Valley Green Bank does to compete - depending on the account, customers get four or six free withdrawals a month at outside ATMs, and deposits elsewhere are always free.
But Jay R. Goldstein, Valley Green's CEO, says the bank's key insight is that traditional approaches are still viable when combined with creative use of technology.
For instance, Valley Green only has two ATMs. But commercial customers don't need to go anywhere at all to deposit checks - the bank provides them with scanners to convert checks to electronic form.
Before opening, Goldstein shopped competitors' offerings - and learned what not to do. "In some cases, there may have been 10 different options with different components and fee structures. My head was spinning," he says. "We wanted simplicity, and we felt that if you were a good customer, your checking account should be free."
Goldstein worries about the unintended consequences of new bank rules - a fair point as we struggle today with the unanticipated consequences of past action and inaction. And he feels for squeezed competitors scrambling to replace fees lost because of rules that don't directly affect smaller banks. But he says Valley Green won't suffer deeply even if its fees decline.
"Fee income represents less than 1 percent of our overall income," Goldstein says. "We believe that if we provide good, effective service, we'll make a fair interest rate on our loans and pay a fair rate on our deposits. And we'll make our profit on the difference."
It sounds so retro in 2011. But it's a back-to-the-future that I'd bet many consumers would embrace.


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The baking industry’s embrace of automation kicked into high gear in the second half of 2020 and has accelerated into 2022. The increased interest was driven at first by a need to meet unprecedented demand for baked goods on supermarket shelves. More recently, increased automation is badly needed by bakers struggling to find enough workers to run their production lines.
Sosland Publishing Co.’s 2022 State of the Industrial Baking Industry study, conducted by Cypress Research, found that 53% of respondents who represent baking companies of all sizes experienced a lack of sufficient workforce to meet production demands. The tight labor situation has negatively affected business in many ways: 49% of respondents reported a negative impact to the timeliness of production, 34% noted they were unable to take on new business, and 58% reported that existing employees have had to work significantly more hours to meet demand.
Supply chain disruptions are also putting immense pressure on bakeries. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they’ve experienced delays in receiving key inputs to the production process, while 53% reported transportation or logistics issues. When asked if supply chain bottlenecks have negatively impacted the production outlook, 82% of respondents said yes. Zeroing in on responses from baking companies generating at least $500 million in annual sales, that percentage rose to 87%.
These challenges come against a backdrop of operating rates (or capacity utilization) that remain high: Overall, survey respondents estimated their operating rates to be at 78.3%. For companies with $500 million or more in annual sales, that estimate jumped to 89.9%. Baking companies are trying to produce an increasing amount of baked goods against a climate of a labor shortage and persistent supply chain challenges.
What I took away from the study, though, was the incredible resiliency the baking industry has shown. Despite 79% of baking companies reporting overall costs to be up and the supply chain and labor disruptions, company and industry outlook is strong. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said their company outlook is either somewhat positive or very positive in 2022. That remains strong at 90% when looking ahead to 2023. When asked about the US commercial baking industry, 92% of baker respondents said they are somewhat or very positive about 2023. Even with the uncertainty facing the global market, 79% of survey respondents have a positive outlook on the global commercial baking industry for 2023.
This optimism is likely spurred by solutions in play to these issues, and hope is on the horizon. When it comes to supply chain, nearly a third of survey respondents expect the disruptions to subside in the first half of 2023. To address employment gaps and other issues, US baking companies have largely turned to advancements in technology. Sixty-one percent of survey respondents reported that increasing automation was their plan to address the skills shortage they felt. This response was second only to increasing wages.
Despite the headwinds, the sun is shining on the baking industry.


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HARRISBURG, Pa. – The new Destination Dairy Northeast Hall will be unveiled during the 2020 Pennsylvania Farm Show Jan. 4-11 in Harrisburg.
Destination Dairy will feature the Calving Corner as the cornerstone exhibit, giving visitors the opportunity to witness the dairy birthing process. Also included will be interactive, family-friendly learning stations, including activities centered around dairy nutrition, animal care, shopping locally, and more.
The Destination Dairy exhibit hall will highlight several of the state’s dairy farm families and share the impact Pennsylvania dairy is making on local communities and the state’s economy. Cows representing four farms within one hour of Harrisburg will calve on site during the entire length of the Farm Show.
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Bad News For Folks Anticipating For Fortnite Mobile on Android
While the big talk these past few days has been aboutÂ Epic Games’ decision to not list Fortnite on the Google Play Store, we feel the more important news is whether and when will your Android device be able to run the game as well as the (potentially) gross misconduct and mistreatment of the mobile gaming scene by Epic Games and Samsung.
Word has it that the gameâ€™s launch was delayed because Samsung and Epic Games plans to launch the battle royale game at theÂ Samsung Galaxy Note 9 unveilingÂ on August 9th. How true is this? We sincerely hope it’s just a rumour but since the folks at XDA are reporting on it, we tend to take this news seriously.
In hindsight, we doubt Google would have allowed this Samsung-exclusive treatment if the game is downloadable via Google Play so say all you want, Epic Games. We know what you’re onto.
To add salt to injury, all rumours point towards Fortnite Mobile on Android launching as a Samsung Galaxy Note 9Â exclusiveÂ for at least thirty days, and worse, a Samsung Galaxy exclusive forÂ up to an additional three months.
This exclusive deal will see Samsung Galaxy owners getÂ a huge leg-up over everyone else and as for Samsung, a monopoly of the Fortnite Mobile scene over every other Android hardware makers.
And as planned, once this period is over, Epic Games will allow supported devices toÂ download and install the game from their website.Â
OK, enough talk about that. Before we go to the nitty-gritty of things, here is the initial list of supported Android mobile phones for Fortnite Mobile on Android released not long ago.
The list above is based on data from Epic Games’ own website but the good folks at XDA went a step further andÂ have found the minimum requirements that an Android device must meet to play Fortnite Mobile on Android. So if your phone is not on that list, you can cross-check your device’s spec sheet against the minimum requirements required to run Fortnite Mobile on Android here:
Seems that the game prioritizes GPU power over the CPU. Based on these GPU requirements, most older, unlisted devices like theÂ Google Pixel,Â OnePlus 3,Â OnePlus 3T, and equivalent devices should be able to run Fortnite Mobile as well.
Considering the likes of Google Pixel and OnePlus 3 are over two years old, any high to mid-ranged phones released in 2017 should be adequate to run Fortnite Mobile on Android.


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Rober was able to catch - and surprise - several crooks.
The former NASA engineer-turned-YouTube star has received plaudits online after designing a booby trap to avenge all those who've fallen victim to a new wave of neighborhood crime: doorstep delivery theft. When he brought the video to the police, they said it wasn't worth their time to investigate it, so he chose to take matters into his own hands.
A custom circuit circuit board will check the Global Positioning System location of the package when it's moved from the porch.
He equipped it with four phones pointed at exactly the right angle to get the person, no matter where they stood near the package.
The fake package contains a custom-print circuit board with a built-in accelerometer.
He's spent six months crafting a beautifully over-engineered revenge package that looks like an Apple product.
He made the decoy box appear to be an Apple HomePod but it was sent from Kevin McCallister from "Home Alone" (and even includes the address of the home that was used for the exteriors), The recipients were the Wet Bandits themselves Harry and Marv - Kevin's enemies.
The device goes off as soon as the package is opened, spraying a colossal amount of glitter everywhere. Oh, and it included multiple phones that would record the thieves reactions and upload it to the internet.
Viral: The video has more than 6 million views.
"The moral of the story is just don't take other peoples" stuff, Rober said in the video.


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The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, has revealed that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has no immediate plans to raise the price of petrol at the pump, despite the ongoing fuel shortage that has forced Nigerians to pay prices above the N165 approved retail price.
Making this disclosure in a statement seen by Newsbreak Nigeria on Thursday, NMDPRA advised Nigerians to avoid panic buying, assuring the populace that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited had imported PMS with the current stock level that will be sufficient for 34 days.”The authority wishes to inform the general public that the Federal Government has no intention of increasing the price of PMS during this period,” the statement read.
” the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days,” it added.
The authority’s remarks come amid rumours of plans by the federal government to increase the pump price of fuel as the nation’s ongoing fuel shortage stretched further on Wednesday.
In some filling stations in Abuja, the cost of the product increased to as much as N285 per litre.
According to oil marketers, the cost of fuel on the black market in Lagos had increased to roughly N450/litre, while it was sold for more money in certain other states.
The regulatory authority further warned marketers against hoarding and diversion of the product warning that it will continue to monitor the supply and distribution of fuel nationwide.


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BMW SA has, for the fourth consecutive year, finished first in the Motor Dealer Satisfaction Index, as rated by the National Automobile Dealers Association.
BMW South Africa has, for the fourth consecutive year, finished first in the Motor Dealer Satisfaction Index (DSI), as rated by the National Automobile Dealers Association (Nada).
According to Deloitte & Touche, Land Rover took the runner-up spot and Kia Motors was third. In addition, the survey found that Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa was rated the most improved.
Ian Robertson, the managing director of BMW SA, received the winner’s award on behalf of the company at a special ceremony hosted by Nada in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
“The result again affirms BMW’s commitment to excellence across all business spheres. In particular, it highlights our single-minded focus on improving the level of service we provide to our dealers,” Robertson said.
This year 18 manufacturers and importers participated in the event. The list of participants included Audi, BMW, Daewoo, Daihatsu, DaimlerChrysler, Delta, Fiat/Alfa Romeo, Ford/Mazda, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
“The survey is held in great esteem by the franchisors,” said Gary McCraw, director of Nada, “and is used to establish benchmarks for the industry.”
The prime aim of the study “was to measure the impact and effectiveness of manufacturers and importers in a number of critical areas, with specific focus on customer satisfaction”, a spokesman for Nada said. In determining the overall winner, a total of 632 interviews were conducted with dealers throughout the country.
The survey questionnaire, which was jointly developed by Deloitte & Touche and NADA management personnel, covers every possible aspect of the dealer industry. Examples are relationships with the franchisor, customer satisfaction issues, products, distribution and supply, parts and accessories, warranty and goodwill claims, training, marketing financial claims.
In assessing BMW SA’s performance, the survey revealed that the company had “again performed exceptionally well, showing increases in ratings in most of the measured criteria – as a result it is placed well ahead of other manufacturers/importers”.
The NADA awards, held for the first time this year and based on the outcome of the survey, will be announced at an official media event.
“This further attests to the growing importance of the survey and the value attributed to it by the automotive industry,” said Duane Newman, Deloitte & Touche’s automotive industry spokesman.
“It is interesting to note that the performance of new, previously unmeasured participants is remarkably good,” added McCraw. “It would appear to show that these players have had the opportunity to learn from the mistakes and successes of others and have been able to start by implementing good business practices.”
Overall, McCraw commented that average performance has improved significantly, with the gap between top and bottom performers closing.
“There has been notable improvement in the parts sector,” he said, “since this is one of the most effective methods of improving dealers’ profitability.”
The Financial Services sector is also seeing the introduction of some innovative and attractive new options which should give stimulus to change or upgrade existing and more conventional packages.
“What has emerged clearly from the survey is the importance of communication between franchisor and dealer,” McCraw added, “that it must be consistent, open, worthy of confidence and liberal with facts, both positive and negative.”


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"We work closely with our presenters and speakers and we would never present a session that would take people down a path where people could void a warranty," said Macworld VP Paul Kent.
That's not to say that a rogue session or two may still take place in the hallway somewhere or outside the two Moscone conference centers that the Macworld show will take over starting January 14. But, Kent says the conference will primarily focus on how end users can get the most out of their Macintosh first, iPhone second. Developers are expected to hear more about iPhone's Safari development environment and the Resource Center, but Macworld is primarily a consumer show.
Despite its Macintosh ties, Macworld has seen a great deal of buzz around iPod in the last few years. That wave may shift to the iPhone as the shows progress.
"We do have some classes for iPhone users such as our iPhone Supersession, presented by Ben Long and Christopher Breen," he said. "There will also be some iPhone products available on the show floor as well as vendors with their tips and tricks."
So besides the iPhone, what will be the hot topic in San Francisco in 2008? Apple's secrets aside, it might just be the buzzword of 2007: virtualization.
"What started out as a topic of interest last year has become more important this year," noted Kent. With versions coming from VMware, Parallels, and even Apple's Boot Camp, Mac users -- especially small to medium-sized businesses -- are taking advantage.
The 2008 Macworld will also be significant in that it is larger than previous years. More than 50,000 attendees and 400 exhibitors expected to fill up two of the three Moscone conference center complexes in San Francisco. Kent says the show will again connect Apple fans in sections such as the Users Conference, MacIT conference, Market Symposiums, Hands On MacLabs, and PowerTools.
Still, the biggest draw will be the keynote. Steve Jobs and Co. are sure to make a splash, what with Mac OS X Leopard as well as new versions of iLife, iWork, Pro Apps, Creative Suite, Filemaker and forthcoming Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac.
So, that is about it for the iPhone.. that is unless Apple is preparing a slew of smartphone announcements -- which is expected to happen. When asked about his predictions, Kent laughed and said all the time and effort that Mac rumor sites spend in trying to predict that "One More Thing...," is certainly embedded in the Macworld culture.


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EA Sports and Liverpool football club have announced a three-year partnership for the latter to become an official FIFA 14 club partner for the beginning of the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League season.
The EA Sports FIFA Twitter account broke the news to all of their followers just over an hour ago. You can view the full tweet below:
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) August 1, 2013
This deal means that fans can now go to the home ground of Anfield and play the upcoming game throughout the season on selected matches. They’ll also be in with a chance of winning various prizes through the Goal of the Month competition.
Numerous 360 degree 3D digital head scans have been taken of the LFC superstars and just some of the names include Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Steven Gerrard, and Philippe Coutinho.
Hardcore fans will also be able to download a LFC front cover for free and get exclusive content like behind-the-scenes images, match simulations and wallpapers. Just yesterday, FC Barcelona became official partners and now Liverpool are the second club to get on board.
A new trailer showcasing the 3D head scans can also be viewed below:
The best footie title on the planet will be arriving on Sept 24th in North America and Sept 27th in the rest of the world for the PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U. The next-gen versions will be out later this year too.
About The Author
Stephen is the proud owner of a popular gaming news website GLN, where he provides the latest updates on everything gaming-related. With a passion for video games that dates back to his childhood, Stephen is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and expertise with fellow gamers around the world.