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How to decorate your new home
Buyers can now add furniture to the decor of their new home by opening up an online furniture shop.
“It’s a real convenience to shop for furniture online.
You can browse the catalogue, search for furniture and then pick out the pieces that suit you,” furniture shop manager Alisa Bek said.
Ms Bek says her shop was able to sell more than 70,000 pieces of furniture in just four months because of the ease of the online buying process.
It is not the first time furniture shops have offered a service to customers, but Ms Bek is not sure if the new trend is sustainable.
She said furniture shop owners were getting a lot of referrals from customers wanting to have a look at their own furnishings.
There are already online furniture shops offering the same service, including Etsy and Etsy UK, she said.
The move is expected to be a hit with the public, with many people already using the internet to shop and book furniture.
The online furniture retailers are expected to take over the furniture shopping industry, with the industry expected to grow by more than 20 per cent in the next three years.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the average house price in Australia has grown by 13.5 per cent since 2010, with prices for homes valued at more than $300,000 rising by more the last five years.


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The UK is expected to see the volume of deals grow in 2018, despite an anticipated fall in performance.
The forecast came as HVS said that this year would “truly sift the good from the average, particularly in cities with an increasing supply of hotels, such as London”.
Julian Troup, head of hotels agency, Colliers International, said that the company was “looking forward to an improving level of hotel transactional activity in 2018”.
He added that the broker had seen “increasing demand for UK provincial hotels, particularly for global branded stock. We are seeing an emerging trend of increased demand for quality provincial hotel opportunities from a diverse buyer set, including international investors, who have been attracted by weaker sterling; and from private buyers, attracted to the benefits of a lifestyle opportunity, to corporate investors attracted to favourable returns and real estate alternatives. Since the beginning of 2016, over 20% of UK hotel sales completed by Colliers were to international buyers.”
Troup told us that, despite performance fears “there is still considerable demand from both domestic and overseas buyers, as hotels continue to be an attractive and popular investment opportunity.”
Colliers International was echoed by fellow broker Fleurets which expects UK hotel transactions to top GBP5bn in 2017, some 30% ahead of last year, commenting that: “Whilst many challenges are standing on the doorstep, current conditions are encouraging strong purchaser demand and driving a broad spectrum of activity, for the time being at least”.
The opinion came as HVS warned that the new year was likely to be a challenging one for the UK’s hotel operators. Despite little or no occupancy growth, yields were likely to increase slightly with ADR and rooms revenue per available room revpar rising by an anticipated 5% in London and 3% in the regions.
Russell Kett, chairman, HVS London, warned that the combination of wages going up, staff shortages, increasing food and utility costs, and the impact of higher property taxes and business rates as well as a strong pipeline of new hotels would put pressure on UK hotels operating margins over the next 12 months.
Kett said that he believed that leisure travel for the year ahead would remain strong in the UK, particularly while the pound was relatively weak, although corporate business looked set to be squeezed as companies sought to contain costs. Likewise domestic consumer spending could remain somewhat dampened as confidence is still shaken by the UK’s impending exit from the EU. The threat of security concerns in key cities also remained in the background, but had yet to have a material effect on hotel demand.
While there was a deceleration in UK GDP growth, there would still be growth and the overall outlook for travel into the UK remained positive, said Kett. Hoteliers must focus on service, quality, outperforming their competition and encouraging direct bookings rather than becoming a slave to costly online travel agents.
He added that next year would truly sift the good from the average, particularly in cities with an increasing supply of hotels, such as London. Operators need to maximise revenue from every bit of space and keep a tight control on overheads, said Kett. The message to tourists must be that the UK was still very much open for business.
Fleurets was also cautious, commenting: “More so than for London hotels, provincial hotels are closely aligned to the state of the UK and local economies, such businesses having a greater reliance on domestic demand, particularly from the corporate segments, including meetings and conferences.
“As a result of the uncertainty around Brexit and the slowing UK economy, alongside concerns over inflation and rising interest rates, there is growing pressure on the consumer’s wallet, which in turn has, and will, subdue hotel spending. That said, the negative effects have, to date, seemingly been outweighed by the number of visitors making the most of the weak pound.”
One provincial hotel changing hands was the The Park Inn in Thurrock, due to rebrand as the Stifford Hall Hotel. Owner C1 Capital has leased the 97 room property to Bespoke Hotels, who will manage the rebrand, as well as operate the property.
Kett also predicted that 2018 would bring further consolidation across Europe’s hotel sector, as hotels become an increasingly attractive trading asset amongst institutional investors.
Recent takeovers by Marriott and Accor have intensified the appetites of global investors to see the macro financial benefits of such consolidations potentially bringing together the likes of IHG or Hyatt with other hotel groups, he said. Both could be the target of others or they could be the acquirers, he concluded.
HA Perspective [by Katherine Doggrell]: As the brokers were making their happy faces about the year ahead (although one told us that they could only be relatively sure about the next six months, enough to keep them buoyant nonetheless) the numbers were starting to give a little pause. Concerns about costs have been bubbling for the last few months, with high street restaurant chains first to report the pain, squeaking like canaries down the mines.
The new concern comes via the latest figures from the British Hospitality Association’s Travel Monitor, which reported a decline in visitor numbers to the UK for the month of September. Visitor numbers fell by 1% year-on-year, in contrast to increases of 6% and 5% seen in July and August, and to the 9% growth seen in the first half of the 2017. Of those, September saw an 8% drop in visitors from the US – attributed to last year’s terror attacks – and an 18% fall in business travellers.
This was on top of last year’s forecast from PwC that the positive effects of the weak pound would start to wear off. Looking to 2018, JLL also commented that the UK economy may reduce business visits and dampen domestic spending, resulting in muted revpar growth. In London, the addition of 7,800 new hotel rooms poses pressure on hotel performance, but it was hoped that the increase in tourism activity will counterbalance this.
If not, hotels must look to the domestic consumer to raise spirits, but a dry January could turn into a parched 2018.

domain: news


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Though both companies follow a policy of regional pricing, the MRP in Delhi has been fixed at Rs 10, up about 11 per cent from Rs 9 earlier. While Pepsi effected the increase last month, Coke did the same earlier this month. Traditionally, both of them do not increase prices together and one usually follows the other in effecting changes in the pricing.
The increase in prices comes at a time when both players have been struggling to maintain the pressure on their bottomlines because of high excise and sales tax structures. The soft drink majors have been increasing prices of their products in regular intervals. While the current increase comes after the one in March 1999, the one before that was during October 1997.
According to industry watchers, the increase is largely a result of lack of relief on the excise front, with duties at 40 per cent being the worlds highest. Also, freight and input costs have increased substantially, they said and added that to remain competitive they had to increase prices.
Prices of soft drinks have almost doubled over the last five years. Being a price-sensitive product, these increases have not been taken very well by consumers and growth has slowed down from 25 per cent during 1998 to 5 per cent during 1999 and about 11 per cent during year 2000.
A study by NCAER had revealed that a significant 65 per cent of consumption of soft drinks is by the middle class and an additional 25 per cent by the lower income group.
The Rs 5,500-crore soft drink sector employs a staggering 1.25 lakh people and is one of the single largest contributors of foreign direct investment estimated at $1 billion. Together, the two companies are said to have accumulated losses in excess of Rs 500 crore because of high duty structures.


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Alternatives Emerge as Blockchain Gaming Industry Tries to Avert Steam Ban
The Enjin (ENJ) platform, advocacy groups the Blockchain Game Alliance and Fight for the Future, along with a group of 26 blockchain game businesses have called on US game developer Valve Corporation to scrap their ban on Web 3.0 technologies such as blockchain games and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Steam platform. Meanwhile, other platforms are using the ban to lure blockchain game developers.
In an open letter addressed to Valve, the signatories cautioned that the company’s move could hamper the development of numerous innovations that could rejuvenate the gaming industry.
“Blockchain games are pioneering a number of new concepts that will invigorate the gaming industry for players and publishers alike. To cut-off this burgeoning sector at such a crucial stage of development is to ignore the remarkable progress we have achieved this year, while creating unfair access to market for incumbents,” Sebastien Borget, President of the Blockchain Game Alliance, was quoted as saying in the letter.
Chris LoVerme, CEO of SpacePirate Games, added that the “future of gaming is decentralized player-owned assets, where gamers are valued for their time and efforts spent in-game. Whether that’s an NFT or another asset class, change is happening.”
The move has triggered a string of negative reactions from gamers and blockchain industry observers.
For some online gaming platforms, Valve’s move generated new expansion opportunities, as shown by the example of the blockchain-based Ultra which welcomed the first-person adventure game Age of Rust after Steam “closed a portal” on it.
“Ultra has a great platform full of opportunities & universal shift for games looking for presence & an alternative to Steam,” SpacePirate Games said.
Steam attracts a sizeable share of the world’s online gaming community. As of pixel time (UTC 07:40), the platform was used by a maximum of 24.3m logged in gamers within the preceding 48-hour period, according to data from Steam.
– Play-to-Earn Gaming is Booming: From Axies to Lightnite, Here’s What’s Out There
– Games Are Propelling Growth in the Dapps Sphere as DeFi, NFT Lose Pace
– Crypto-Gaming Is Exploding Into the Playful Future
– Blockchain Gaming ‘May be Key to Mass Adoption’, Outpacing DeFi, NFTs


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LAST UPDATED : Sep 12, 2018, 05:26 PM IST
- Expect electric vehicle sales at 74,000 units this fiscal: SMEV
Electric vehicle sales in India in the ongoing fiscal are likely to be around 74,000 units as confusion over FAME II scheme is affecting growth, according to a senior official of industry body SMEV. In 2017-2018, as per Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) data, EV sales stood at around 56,000 units as against about 25,000 units in 2016-17.
- 5 electric scooters that run 70km in Rs 10
Two of the major concerns of the people opting for electric vehicles were the range anxiety and a very low top speed. But now, with the advancement of electric vehicle technology manufacturers are offering a better range and top speed (over 45kmph) for their electric scooters. Along with it they are also offering at least 2-3 years of warranty on the battery.
- Scooter companies ride high on hope and hype
Segway-Ninebot Group, a Beijing-based manufacturer of electric scooters, rolled into Los Angeles this week hoping to bolster its position as the main supplier for a new wave of well-funded scooter-rental startups and offer a peek at new battery-powered transit products.
- Ather 340 vs Honda Activa 5G DLX: A theoretical cost analysis
The total running cost for the Activa for three years -- including the scooter cost -- comes to be Rs 1,30,113 while it stands at Rs 1,30,803 for the Ather 340. It can be inferred that there’s hardly any difference between the amount spent after three years of the ownership.
- Ather electric scooter to get key components from Sanmina
Smart electric two-wheeler start-up, Ather Energy, has announced that it has signed an agreement with Sanmina Corporation for manufacturing of key components, including charging system, battery management systems and dashboard for its upcoming electic scooter.
- At Rs 59,889, Okinawa launches fastest electric scooter 'Praise' in India
Okinawa on Tuesday launched a new electric scooter in India, the Praise, at Rs 59,889 (ex-showroom, Delhi). This is the second electric scooter launched by the company after the Ridge and the new scooter claims a top speed of 75kmph, which makes it fastest in the electric two-wheeler segment of the country. Moreover, the Okinawa Praise offers the best-in-class range of 170-200km on a single charge.
- Lime to launch dock-free electric scooters in Paris
California-based bicycle sharing service Lime said it will launch a fleet of dock-free electric scooters in Paris starting June 22. The dockless bike-sharing schemes allow riders who sign up on their smartphones to rent bikes using an app that helps them locate cycles left by previous users.
- 2018 Aprilia SR 150 scooter launched, prices start at Rs 70,031
The Aprilia SR 150 facelift gets new colours – blue and grey -- along with revised graphics. The added features include LCD screen in the instrument cluster and adjustable suspension. It also gets a USB charging port and connectivity feature as optional extras.
- India-based Artem aims to make world’s safest electric scooter
Mumbai-based electric vehicle start-up Artem Energy Future Pvt Ltd has announced that it is developing the world’s safest electric scooter, christened the M9. The company says that it will provide this scooter with unprecedented ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems), seen only in high-end cars.


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New Delhi: Companies have time till September 30 to clear unsold pre-GST goods as the government on Tuesday allowed a revised MRP to be displayed along with printed sale price to reflect the changes post the new tax regime kicking-in.
Also, food and consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan warned of legal action against manufacturers for not printing the revised MRP post-GST.
The old MRP will have to be necessarily displayed on the unsold inventories and the new rates can be reflected by way of stickers or through online printing alongside, consumer affairs secretary Avinash Srivastava told reporters here.
On items where the price has to be increased for unsold stocks, the manufacturer or packer or importer will have to give at least two advertisements in two or more newspapers informing people about the change.
“The Central government hereby permits the manufacturer or packer or importer of pre-packaged commodities to declare the changed retail sale price (MRP) for three months from July 1-September 30. Declaration of the changed MRP shall be made by way of stamping or putting sticker or online printing,” a government notification said.
The difference between the retail sale price originally printed on the package and the revised price “shall not, in any case, be higher than the extent of increase in tax” or in the case of imposition of fresh tax on account of the implementation of the GST, it said.
“The original MRP shall continue to be displayed and the revised price shall not overwrite on it,” the notification said....


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Advertising media giant GroupM has released its "This Year Next Year Interaction" report, highlighting the industry-wide trend of programmatic — or automated ad transactions — that is currently unfolding.
The report highlights challenges that programmatic advertising faces, specifically with respect to ad viewability and ad avoidance issues. Developing solutions to tackle these challenges will ensure that ads perform better in the marketplace, but arriving to this stage will be a complicated and resource-intensive process.
As a result, the price of programmatic advertising will likely increase in the short-term, as described by GroupM's futures director Adam Smith.
The cost of executing programmatic is in large part driven by the following factors:
- The increase in demand for programmatic transactions. The rising price of programmatic is partly a result of its own success. The results from GroupM's survey estimate programmatic ad penetration at 37% globally, up from 21% in 2014. The increase in demand for programmatic will result in a price increase, unless this demand is simultaneously offset by a surge in ad inventory supply. Absent this surge in supply, however, the entrance of more bidders into the programmatic marketplace is expected to drive prices.
- The promise of higher quality ad content and supply. Quality content is costly to both produce and ensure, and in programmatic the quality variable plays out along two dimensions. First, is the production quality of the ad content — or an ad's value as a creative asset. And second, is ensuring that the ad is effectively delivered to its intended audience — or the integrity of the ad supply. Offering higher-quality ads through programmatic means that bidders are competing over more valuable content, which drives up the price of programmatic transactions.
- Developing the capital that enables programmatic. The research and development costs that go into building both the technological and human capital that undergirds programmatic also exert upward pressure on the price of automated ad transactions. Expenses that go toward funding engineers, traders, and data-management platforms will continue to rise as the programmatic industry develops from a nascent to a more advanced stage.
The costs of programmatic should continue to rise in the near term as the industry continues to develop. However, pricing can be expected to taper when the technology underlying programmatic matures, the demand for programmatic ad placement plateaus, and the programmatic industry as a whole reaches a steady state.
The embrace of programmatic ad-buying tools is fueling a dramatic uptick in the share of digital ads sold through programmatic platforms, particularly those focused on real-time bidding or RTB.
Total US programmatic ad revenue will top nearly $15 billion this year, according to BI Intelligence estimates. RTB, particularly mobile and video RTB, are spearheading growth.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
- Advertisers and publishers are rapidly adopting programmatic ad-buying and selling tools. More than four-fifths of agencies and brands already purchase display ads programmatically, while an even greater proportion of publishers are pursuing programmatic channels as part of their sales strategies, according to surveys and our own conversations with industry participants.
- Spending on programmatic advertising is growing quickly, at ~20% annually.
- Real-time bidding is growing even faster than programmatic overall, at a five-year CAGR of 24%. RTB revenue will top over $26 billion by year-end 2020, up from $8.7 billion this year. Mobile RTB and video RTB are growing even faster, at roughly 2X the rate of programmatic overall. (The report has the full growth breakdowns.)
- Media-agency programmatic "trading desks" are being decentralized as programmatic expertise begins to permeate the agency and brand ecosystem. This may speed growth in programmatic spending among agency clients.
- The ballyhooed fusion of native and programmatic advertising may be one step closer, thanks in part to OpenRTB 2.3, a new specification from the IAB that makes automated trading of native advertisements technically feasible. Such efforts could bring scale to native advertising and help unlock brand spend.
- Pricing is following two divergent trends: for premium- and guaranteed placements they are on the upswing, while prices continue to plummet for miscellaneous inventory.
In full, the report:
- Forecasts programmatic and RTB spending by format through 2020.
- Looks at the latest programmatic adoption trends among both publishers and advertisers.
- Explores the emerging trend of "decentralizing" agency-trading desks and native programmatic.
- Outlines the latest news and trends affecting top programmatic-focused companies.
- Analyzes how programmatic and programmatic-premium is impacting digital ad prices.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
- Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
- Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you've given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of programmatic advertising.


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For FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) and UPS Inc. (NYSE:UPS), the demand iron has rarely been hotter. So it makes perfect sense to strike their shippers as often as possible.
With holiday demand, especially from e-commerce, expected to surge by as much as 50% over the 2019 peak, the companies are hitting their largest customers with big-time surcharges that take effect in November. But the purple and brown hammers aren’t stopping there. According to Rob Martinez, founder and co-CEO of parcel consultancy Shipware LLC, UPS is using fourth-quarter volumes as negotiating leverage even over moderate-volume shippers that are mostly being spared the pain of the surcharges.
Martinez said UPS’ negotiating message is a straightforward one: “‘Sign the proposed UPS pricing agreement NOW (his caps for emphasis) or get left out in the cold.’”
Martinez added, though, that FedEx and UPS continue to be responsive to pricing requests from smaller shippers, customers coveted by both carriers because they are stickier than big shippers and typically lack the huge volumes to demand deep discounts.
As evidence of mounting negotiating pressure as Atlanta-based UPS gets closer to peak, several contract proposals that have been “lingering on the table a little too long” have since swung from huge savings to huge increases in just a few short weeks, Martinez said.
For example, a shipper that two months ago was offered a contract that would save it $8 million a year is now facing a revised version that includes an 18% rate increase, Martinez said, citing a conversation regarding the customer of a rival consultant. What’s more, UPS would handle only a percentage of the customer’s volume, he said. A UPS spokesman declined comment, saying the company doesn’t publicly discuss customer relationships.
Some FedEx shippers, meanwhile, could begin experiencing higher costs as early as Thursday. In response to shippers whose business and volumes with Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx took hits over the past six to seven months due to the coronavirus pandemic, FedEx “froze” their discounts within their pre-COVID-19 revenue bands. This mitigated the risk of shippers losing their discounts even though their traffic with the carrier declined. However, Martinez said he was told by a rival consultant that FedEx will “unfreeze” those accounts starting in October. This would “re-level” underperforming shippers into lower revenue tiers, which would translate into lower discounts, he said.
FedEx, which did not respond to a request for comment on the issue as the story was being written, on Thursday denied that it was planning to unfreeze shipper discounts.
The carriers have justified the rate increases and ancillary actions as necessary responses to unprecedented demand that will crest, at least in the near term, during the fourth quarter. There is little doubt that FedEx and UPS will absorb higher costs to service peak season 2020 traffic. But the carriers also see a golden opportunity to finally make hay after spending several years and billions of dollars to build out infrastructures to cost-effectively manage the avalanche of lower-yielding business-to-consumer (B2C) traffic. Business-to-business (B2B) volumes are generally more profitable because they involve more pickup and delivered parcels per stop than B2C.
“The pendulum has definitely swung” in favor of the carriers, said Todd Fowler, transport analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets.
FedEx has already succeeded at bending the B2C cost curve, but unfavorable mix has held it back, said Benjamin Hartford, transport analyst at investment firm Baird. The surcharges and other bottom-line boosting steps will accelerate FedEx’s B2C profit prospects, Hartford said.
No room at the inn
For shippers and retailers that count on peak season to make their year profit-wise, these are dangerous times. Many turn to IT-centric logistics specialists like Hickory, North Carolina-based Transportation Insight LLC (TI) to uncover ways to skirt, or at least minimize, the impact of the surcharges and other levies while meeting their service commitments. But this year is unlike any other, said John Richardson, TI’s vice president of supply chain consulting. Based on conversations with TI clients that are shippers and retailers, Richardson said there’s already palpable worry about late deliveries, insufficient warehouse capacity or a combination of both. Consumers, in turn, should expect a level of service that “will be less than advertised,” Richardson said in a phone interview.
Perhaps anticipating these issues, FedEx on Nov. 2 will shift a percentage of deliveries to allow for an extra day of transit and still appear ‘on time’, Martinez said, citing discussions with one of his clients, a FedEx shipper. Martinez said the client told him that FedEx is tired of third-party auditors publishing in-transit comparisons showing FedEx underperforming UPS during the holidays, even though UPS relaxes its time-in-transit guarantees every holiday. In response, FedEx decided to take a page out of UPS’ playbook this season, the Shipware client was told.
As a result, some FedEx two-day delivery nodes would be changed to reflect “on time” delivery within 3 days, changes the company was allowed to make, Martinez said “FedEx’s point is that UPS doesn’t perform better during the holidays than FedEx, but rather that UPS simply moves the bogey,” he added.
Shippers scrambling for alternatives are finding few at this point in time. Regional parcel carriers OnTrac, LSO and LaserShip have stopped accepting new business for peak because their networks are filled to the brim. Austin, Texas-based LSO’s CEO, Richard Metzler, whose parcel unit covers all of Texas and Oklahoma, said the company is already closing in on as much first-quarter 2021 business as it can handle. Phoenix-based OnTrac, with an eight-state West Coast network that includes California, Arizona and Colorado, has turned its prospecting efforts to the first quarter, said Mark Magill, vice president of business development. Vienna, Virginia-based LaserShip serves 21 East Coast and Midwest states, and the District of Columbia.
Less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers may be a safety valve for parcel shippers of big and bulky traffic that are being hit with massive add-on fees by FedEx and UPS to handle the outsized stuff. However, LTL networks are already very tight, and LTL carriers are not structured to cost-effectively manage residential deliveries, said Richardson of TI. Many LTL carriers don’t want to accept those shipments, he said.
The one exception may be FedEx Freight, FedEx’s LTL unit, which has a separate home-delivery business for large-format shipments. In the first three and a half months of FedEx’s 2021 fiscal year, which began June 1, FedEx Freight delivered more than 750,000 non-conveyable shipments for FedEx Ground. Before May, the Freight unit had never delivered a Ground package.
The third big parcel player, Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), also faces its fair share of challenges. It expects to handle historic peak volumes, and it will come on the heels of the company’s Prime Day two-day online extravaganza, which was postponed from July and kicks off Oct. 13. One saving grace of the Amazon event is that it may convince holiday shoppers to order earlier, thus spreading out deliveries and taking pressure off the carrier networks, said Richardson of TI.
That may not be enough. Dean Macuiba, managing partner, North America, for consultancy Last Mile Experts, said he recently buttonholed an Amazon driver in a densely populated residential and commercial section of Buffalo, New York, where he lives. The delivery person said she was already making between 150 and 225 stops a day with peak still a month or so off. When Maciuba asked her how she would be able to handle peak volumes, the delivery person replied, “I won’t be here.”
(Note: An updated version includes FedEx’s comments.)


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Target delivered better-than-expected earnings during the critical holiday sales period as the retailer’s in-house brands and easy delivery options drew its strongest traffic and same-store sales growth in more than a decade. The company’s adjusted earnings per share hit a new record and its digital sales surged more than 25 percent for the fifth year in a row, even as its net income slid 26.5 percent.
New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in December amid declining demand for machinery and primary metals, pointing to a further slowdown in business spending on equipment that could crimp economic growth.
Lyft now expects to be valued at between $20 billion and $25 billion in its IPO, the sources said, adding that the roadshow is expected to last for about two weeks. The sources cautioned that the plans were still subject to change and market conditions.
The talks are aimed at “achieving needed structural changes in China that affect trade between the United States and China. The two sides will also discuss China’s pledge to purchase a substantial amount of goods and services from the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
HSBC Holdings turned in a disappointing annual profit as higher costs and a stocks rout chipped away at its trading businesses, while warning that an economic slowdown in China and Britain would throw up further hurdles this year.
Uber is aiming for an IPO that could value it at as much as $120 billion. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi has worked to shore up the company’s balance sheet by selling unprofitable units and completing fundraising including investments from SoftBank Group Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. , and a large debt sale.
Farmers are waiting for more clarity on trade deals before buying equipment. The company said Friday that initial orders of tractors, combine harvesters and other equipment were weak, contributing to the lower-than-expected quarterly profits.
The music-streaming company, which is already the second-largest podcasting platform, said it would buy podcast publisher Anchor in a move to increase its presence in other forms of audio. It also said it is buying podcast producer Gimlet Media.
While January is typically a slower month for new-vehicle sales, analysts say the rising stock levels are becoming problematic because car companies will start this year with more unsold inventory than they had three years ago when U.S. auto sales peaked at 17.55 million for the year.
“The hypothetical scenario features the largest unemployment rate change to date,” said Randal Quarles, the Fed’s vice chairman for supervision, in a written statement. “We are confident this scenario will effectively test the resiliency of the nation’s largest banks.”
In a statement published Monday, 11 of the 14 members of the Lima Group called for a “peaceful transition through political and diplomatic means without the use of force.”
The group also underscored the need for an urgent delivery of humanitarian aid and insisted international governments “take measures to prevent the Maduro regime … from doing business in oil, gold and other assets.”
Alphabet Inc., parent company of the Internet search giant, reported mostly strong fourth-quarter results Monday afternoon. Revenue grew 22% year over year to $39.3 billion, beating Wall Street’s forecasts. That was driven by yet another quarter of 20% growth for the company’s colossal advertising business, which now generates more than $116 billion in revenue annually.
On Monday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil giant in an attempt to prevent the proceeds of crude sales to the U.S. from reaching the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Hershey said it expects sales to increase by 1% to 3% this year, with earnings per share rising by 5% to 7%—in line with analyst estimates, according to FactSet.
Several utilities urged customers to cut back on power and gas use on Thursday during the brutal freeze blanketing the eastern half of the country after U.S. homes and businesses used record amounts of natural gas for heating on Wednesday
“The case for raising rates has weakened somewhat,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference after the central bank’s latest policy meeting
Alibaba’s fiscal third quarter revenue was 117.28 billion yuan ($17.5 billion), compared with 83.03 billion yuan the same period a year before, the company reported Wednesday. Its quarterly net income increased 37% to 33.05 billion yuan, above the 21.430 billion yuan that analysts had expected.
Venezuela has been trying for years to increase its gold reserves by encouraging mining, putting the military in charge of vast territories that yield the precious metal.
With strongman President Nicolas Maduro losing control of the country’s already-scant finances and reserves thanks to U.S. sanctions, who can put his hands on the nation’s estimated 200 tons of gold at home and abroad has become a key question.
In order to buy stocks, you need the assistance of a stockbroker who is licensed to purchase securities on your behalf. However, before you make a decision on a broker, you need to figure out what type of stockbroker is right for you.
Caterpillar said that lower demand in China is leading to declining sales in Asia and that the company expects the overall market for excavators in China to be largely flat this year.
The federal government shutdown cost the economy $11 billion, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Although most of the damage to the economy will be reversed as the government re-opens and workers return to their jobs, the CBO estimated $3 billion in economic activity is permanently lost.
Stocks around the world are rallying at the fastest pace in months, the latest sign that the fears investors grappled with late last year have largely subsided. But worries remain that markets still aren’t on solid ground.
Google is the latest tech firm to explore using AI in health care. Amazon.com Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. sell software that mines patients’ records, and IBM developed AI that detects melanoma on images of skin.
Europe has become a key battleground for Huawei, the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications equipment. The region is the company’s second-largest market after China, largely because of lucrative partnerships with carriers that, in addition to Vodafone, include BT Group, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica.
The online retail giant is asking consumer-goods companies to create brands exclusively for Amazon after finding that developing them on its own is too costly and time-consuming, according to people familiar with the strategy.
In a statement, Facebook said it wanted to “build the best messaging experiences we can; and people want messaging to be fast, simple, reliable and private.” It added: “We’re working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks.”
“2019 is likely a transformational year for Disney. Stepping back from the complexity, it will exit the year in a different place than it begins. Significant investments in content, theme parks, and M&A weigh on near-term earnings, but should set up the business for long-term growth,” Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne wrote Thursday.
“Investors who were already excited about the U.S. chip sector’s earnings the day before got even more reassured after they saw how their stocks moved,” said Shogo Maekawa, a global market strategist at JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Asset Management.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the search engine became unavailable and whether the Chinese government had blocked it. The Cybersecurity Administration of China didn’t respond to a request for comment. The service interruption comes at a sensitive time for U.S. companies operating in China, as trade disputes between the two countries simmer.
P&G said it expects organic sales growth for the full year of between 2% and 4%, an improvement on its prior projection of 2% to 3%.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company is “always working to develop new, innovative ways to support the small and medium businesses who sell on Amazon, including testing shipping programs that help these businesses get packages to their customers quickly and reliably.”
The stock lost about 30 percent in the six months that followed its Hong Kong debut, the city’s worst-performing initial public offering with a value of at least $3 billion.
Existing home sales, which make up about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, plunged 10.3 percent from a year ago. For all of 2018, sales fell 3.1 percent to 5.34 million units, the weakest since 2015.


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Northern Tasmania's best loved alfresco festival is ripe for growth and the Tasmanian Government is backing it to go to the next level.
We are providing $80,000 each year for the next three years so organisers can implement a new tourism strategy to build the festival's profile and attract more interstate visitors to the event.
The three-day food and wine extravaganza already attracts 25,000 people each year and delivers significant flow-on benefits to the Northern Tasmanian economy.
Through its new tourism strategy, kick-started with a grant from Events Tasmania, organisers are aiming to increase the event's profile and appeal to bring in even more interstate visitors.
Last year around 15 per cent of patrons came from interstate.
Supporting Festivale is part of our plan to grow tourism and the visitor economy in the North which supports local businesses and creates jobs.
Over 30 years Festivale has grown to be one of Tasmania's great summer events, a fine food and beverage experience with an estimated economic impact of more than $5 million.
Our support will ensure organisers are well placed to take Festivale to the next level, and attract more visitors to Tasmania.
Festivale is held at Launceston City Park and runs from 10-12 February.


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On July 22, 2009, Microsoft launched Windows 7, and after nearly 10 years, the company announced that it would discontinue OS technical support and support within 365 days. Interestingly, or perhaps not so much, there are still millions of computers running on the system.
With this type of appeal, companies always try to promote a lazy user who has been too loyal to the operating system for too long. The news does not mean that you cannot continue to use it, although you will not receive any security updates or free support during the exact year.
Windows 7 was a great success for Microsoft. After the controversy with Vista, the operating system it managed was a breath of fresh air. Then came Windows 8 and Windows 10, which, although it was a big improvement, brought the new Microsoft update model and integrated ads to many users of the last operating system.
Thus, many continue to use Windows 7, or just a few days ago Windows 10 exceeded the number of users. In fact, Windows 7 currently has around 42.8% of Windows computers installed.
By the way, after the announced date, Microsoft has announced that it will provide security updates (for an unspecified price) for up to three years, increasing the price each year until final support in 2022 is considered dead. [The Next Web]


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YouTube is now Google’s biggest progress motor, and may be worth $200 billion on its own.
Analysts picture Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL,NASDAQ:GOOG) inventory in terms of the company’s Google search engine.
But its greatest growth engine is actually YouTube, the video clip program of its.
From its many recent quarterly report, available Oct. twenty nine, Alphabet noted five dolars billion found ad earnings for YouTube, up thirty one % originating from the first year prior.
But that’s not everything.
Its “Google, other” class includes membership profits for ads-free designs, in addition to a “skinny bundle” cable program called YouTube premium. The earnings is actually included with hardware earnings, the Pixel Phone of its in addition to Google Home speakers. Which totals another $5.5 billion, up thirty seven % originating from a year ago.
YouTube has become about twenty % of Google’s small business, and it is developing three times quicker compared to the majority of the organization.
In principle, YouTube is easy money on the side. The traffic is actually plugged straight into Google’s networking of cloud details centers, of what there’s 24, on each continent besides Africa. (Africa is serviced by way of a partner network.) Most YouTube revenue originates from the advertisement network made for the search engine.
But it’s not that simple. YouTube is under constant pressure beyond what it makes it possible for on and just what it captures down. Initiatives to curb misinformation are assaulted of both the left as well as the right.
YouTube genres as “with me” videos, are actually huge businesses in their own right. YouTube makers symbolize a huge labor power. Different YouTube features are big news and stand for prospective anti trust trouble. YouTube’s headquarters found in San Bruno, California has more than 1,000 employees.
Google purchased YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion, when it was nothing but a start-up. When founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen had kept the inventory, it would now be truly worth aproximatelly $10.5 billion.
Despite this, YouTube may be the largest deal within the history of press.
Given the government’s antitrust fit from it, centered on advertising & the various search engines, Google has a fantastic incentive to purchase remunerated inside other ways for YouTube.
In addition to assessment going shopping inside YouTube videos, Google is trying to build subscription revenue. The simple option is usually to get cash for switching from the advertisements. YouTube has twenty huge number of “premium” members, along with YouTube Music subscribers. At twelve dolars monthly the premium users will be really worth almost three dolars billion a year.
Including larger bucks might originated from YouTube Premium, a sixty five dolars each month bundle of cable channels with two huge number of drivers at the end of September. That is aproximatelly $1.6 billion. (Full disclosure: we reduce our $150-per-month cable program previous month and switched over to YouTube Premium.) Over 6.5 million individuals trim cable service in the previous year. That’s a huge chance industry, in addition to an expanding it.
In this case, too, choices on what to include within the bundle make a big impact to other businesses. Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ:SBGI) taken in a $4.2 billion loss inside the previous quarter after YouTube Premium and Walt Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) Hulu fallen the regional athletics stations of theirs, majority of that are branded as Fox Sports.
The Important thing on GOOG Stock If you are buying GOOG stock for growth, you are purchasing YouTube.
YouTube could be the dominant participant within video that is no cost . Countless millennials obtain all their TV via YouTube. Most people do not purchase ads or perhaps YouTube Premium.
With innovative formats, along with fresh means to earn money just like going shopping, YouTube has both equally a near-monopoly within the space of its and a lengthy “runway” of growth in front of it.
Perhaps splitting Google’s networking of cloud details facilities as well as advertising networking by YouTube probably won’t influence it. The system can potentially simply lease the expertise.
YouTube might be the biggest danger cable faces because it is absolutely free. GOOG inventory is currently estimated for nearly seven moments sales. With YouTube generating almost $6 billion a quarter of profits, and also rising faster than the key system, it’s possibly worthy of $200 billion. Maybe more.


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At the end of October Microsoft launched a long-awaited Remote Desktop client that extends the functionality for desktops and applications running on Windows and Windows Server allowing access from Android and iOS mobile devices. An app for the Windows phone is forthcoming.
Previously remote access on Android and iOS devices was only available through 3rd party vendors such as 2X Client, and you could only access remote desktops. With the new app users can also access stand alone remote apps.
DataCenterDirect Software as a Service (SaaS) and Desktop as a Service (DaaS) solutions can be deployed across Android and iOS devices using the new app as seen below with the COATSsql human resources application developed by our partners at COATS Staffing Software.
Screenshots on Samsung Galaxy SIII
Official Microsoft Q&A
Microsoft Remote Desktop’ app running on Galaxy S3 Android phone
Microsoft to launch new remote desktop apps for iOS, Android
Microsoft launches official Remote Desktop app for Apple’s iOS


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Indiva Limited (TSXV:NDVA) (OTCQX:NDVAF), the leading Canadian producer of cannabis edibles and other cannabis products, has announced its financial and operating results for Q4 and fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, with record revenue for the period.
Gross revenue for the year ended 2020 was $16.2 million CAD versus $1.1 million CAD for the year ended December 2019, representing a 1,372% year-over-year increase.
“2020 was a transformational year for Indiva, seeing our net revenue increase 15-fold versus the prior year as a result of receiving our edibles sales licence in January 2020, and subsequently beginning sales nationally of Bhang® Chocolate and Wana™ Sour Gummies in February 2020 and September 2020, respectively. In that short time, Indiva has become the edibles category leader in Canada. Growth in the fourth quarter specifically was driven by new SKUs, including the introduction of four additional Wana Sour Gummies flavours across Canada,” said Niel Marotta, President and Chief Executive Officer of Indiva.
“Since the end of the year, Indiva has introduced further new Wana gummie products, including three Wana Quick flavours, bringing our gummie SKU count to 10 unique SKUs in total. Data indicates that Indiva continues to hold leading market share in the edibles category, and Indiva’s edible category market share continued to improve through the end of March 2021. We are also very pleased to have closed a $22 million CAD strategic investment by Sundial Growers Inc. subsequent to year-end. This cash influx significantly strengthens Indiva’s balance sheet and provides the capital required to scale our output, and maintain our sales momentum. Looking ahead to 2021, as the economy and stores reopen, we expect continued robust growth in the Canadian cannabis sector, with above average growth expected for the edibles category. Indiva looks forward to continuing to bring best-in-class products to of-age cannabis consumers in Canada.”


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OH NO! Four-year-old boy caught "combing" his hair with... electric razor
SASKATCHEWAN, Canada -- Chanda Campbell heard giggling coming from the bathroom -- and knew her four-year-old boy, Emmett was inside. But she could not have expected to see what she did when she opened the door.
Emmett was gripping his dad's electric razor -- and with a big smile on his face, was "combing" his hair. Just watch.
He was almost completely bald by the time his mother found him. Campbell told CBC news, “It’s only hair it will grow back,” she added. “Little cold for no hair but by the time I got in the bathroom there was no turning back.”


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Apple iPhone saves the life of a Manchester bombing victim
This is the iPhone that saved the life of Lisa Bridgett, who was hit by shrapnel from a bomb that went off at the end of an Ariana Grande concert last week in Manchester
The modern smartphone is an amazing piece of technology. Not only does it make and take phone calls, allow users to access all of the news of the day, and help you stay connected to friends and family, it can also save lives. Besides being able to connect to 911 quickly and give an emergency dispatcher your exact location, there is at least one other way that a handset can save you from death.
As we've detailed a few times before, a smartphone has saved a life by acting as a protective shield, stopping or deflecting a bullet. Just this past week, an Apple iPhone gave up its life to save its owner, Lisa Bridgett, from severe injury or death. Ms. Bridget was a victim of a suicide bomber who set off a blast at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena. Bridgett was in the middle of a conversation on her iPhone when the bomb went off. A piece of shrapnel in the form of a metal nut was blasted through her middle finger, proceeded to hit her handset, traveled on to create a pathway through her cheek and was finally stopped by her nose.
As painful and serious as that all sounds, it could have been worse. Lisa's husband credits the iPhone for deflecting the path of the shrapnel and slowing it down. The bombing ended up killing 22 and injuring 64 people. Among the 22 deceased was the bomber. Police have arrested eight people believed to have been involved in the bombing.


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Those of you with your fingers on the sustainability pulse will already be familiar with B Corp. But as more and more businesses sign up – as consumers become increasingly demanding of the environmental credentials of their supply chain – B Corp looks set to become the ‘Soil Association’ equivalent of British industry in the 21st Century.
The ‘fair trade’ badge of its generation
Over the years we have gotten use to badges on our food. From ‘Fair Trade’ to ‘Free Range’ the power of consumer choice has pushed even the biggest global fast food retailers to re-evaluate their food production techniques. What is new about B Corp is the fact that for the first time this type of certification is starting to gain traction amongst global businesses.
B Corp’s stated aim is to challenge businesses to be, not just the best in their field from a profitability perspective, but to achieve this whilst helping to solve the social and environmental problems caused by modern living.
Whether that is an industrial manufacturer going green or a business that helps its local community to develop skills – the B Corp badge seeks to identify and champion the change-makers in each sector.
And whereas many food suppliers would once have scoffed at such talk in their own industry, few now dismiss the powerful impact that consumer preference has had thanks to organisation such as Fair Trade and the Soil Association.
The message to British Businesses? Ignore the winds of change at your peril.
We are already seeing property and infrastructure companies reacting to this new shift in consumer behaviour. A sharp rise in demand for sustainable housing across Europe and the US is very likely to be behind this.
The faces behind the sustainability badge
Cited as a ‘Trust Brand’ for corporations, some of the famous business leaders B Corp includes Sir Richard Branson, Julie Hill and Mary Robinson, Ireland’s first female President.
“Our vision of the future is a world in which the purpose of business is to become a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit. Our mission is to help develop a ‘Plan B’ that puts people and planet alongside profit.”
Does this really matter to British Business?
There’s no doubt that UK manufacturing and heavy industry are recognising the emerging importance of how sustainability credentials impact on their brand. Previously we may have heard CEO’s complain that the extra burden of cost associated with being a sustainable business, but not anymore.
With successful manufacturers’ like Apple aiming for carbon neutral production plants, anyone who isn’t on board risks sounding out-of-touch and stuck in the past to investors and shareholders alike.
To find out more about B Corp you can watch their video here or visit them at their website.
If you are interested in driving sustainability changes in your organisation and would like to find out more about how Ecotile can help you achieve your goals – get in touch with us today.
CEO and founder James Gedye has established Ecotile as the leading provider of interlocking floor tiles to the UK and around the world. Founded in 1996 from his bedroom turned office, James has built Ecotile into a multi-million-pound business, with sustainability still at the heart of his vision.
Based in Luton, Bedfordshire, Ecotile remains a privately owned UK manufacturing company, precision engineering all products in a purpose-built ISO accredited factory.
Leading the company to 2 prestigious Queens Awards in 2017 for Enterprise for Innovation and International Trade, these accolades underline James’ desire to create the highest quality products and fly the flag for British manufacturing. Working directly with leading businesses for over 25 years, James’ Ecotile brand has become synonymous with trust.
Used by 1000s of leading businesses, trusted by the MoD and specified by contractors, Ecotile floor tiles can be found across the world.
Connect or follow James on LinkedIn…


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New payment options introduced at several car parks in and around Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth to address rise in demand for cashless parking
The council have installed new terminals at 19 locations across the district
A rise in demand for cashless parking has led to the introduction of new payment options at several car parks across the Warwick district.
Warwick District Council have installed new terminals at 19 locations in Kenilworth, Leamington and Warwick will all accept card and contactless payments as well as Apple and Android Pay.
Cllr Alan Rhead, Warwick District Council’s portfolio holder for climate change, said: “We are delighted to offer customers these alternatives when paying to park in our off street and multi-storey facilities.
"It is convenient, as people don’t need to carry cash and it also ensures the welfare of our residents, visitors, commuters and employees, because they don’t have to handle coins and notes and limits personal contact with the machines.
"Users can also extend their stay remotely from their phones.”
In October 2020, the council renewed its contract with the national cashless parking provider RingGo, with the aim of encouraging car park users to pay for their parking securely and touch free from their smartphones.
With the reduction of the surcharge to 10p per session this has led to a significant rise in customers regularly using this payment method.
For more information about parking in the Warwick district go to: https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/parkingHere are the 19 locations with the new payment terminals:
~ Adelaide Bridge
~ Vittle Drive car park
~ Court street car park
~ Rosefield Street
~ Chandos Street
~ Bedford street car park
These are in addition to the machines already available at St Peters multi storey, Station Approach, Station Approach Lower Road and Bath Place in Leamington.
~ Abbey End
~ Square West
~ Abbey Fields car park
~ New street
~ West Gate
~ Myton Fields car park
~ Hampton Road car park
~ St Nicholas car park
~ West Rock car park
~ Castle Lane car park
~ Bread and Meat Close
~ Priory Road car park
~ The Butts Car park


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The Packaging Decree sets the target at 65 per cent by 2020, which will require additional action, not to mention the 75-per cent goal that the European Commission is planning to set for 2030.
The material-specific targets, except that for wooden packaging waste, were reached in 2015. The recycling rate target for wooden packaging waste is difficult for Finland. There is much virgin timber available in Finland, and it is difficult to find viable recycling methods for wooden packaging waste, especially when the trend is to substantially increase the use of renewable energy. Using wood waste in energy generation is a natural method but does not help the efforts to reach the recycling target.
The target of 75 per cent sketched by the European Commission would be a huge challenge in terms of arranging the recycling procedures. Wooden packaging, in particular, constitutes such a large proportion of the total packaging that it would be impossible to reach the overall target without a considerable increase in the recycling rate of wooden packaging waste. Even if 100 per cent of the other packaging materials were recycled, the recycling level for wooden packaging waste would need to increase to 20 per cent. This would mean recycling 45,000 tonnes of wooden packaging waste instead of the current level of 28,000 tonnes. In practical terms, achieving this goal would require an even more significant increase. The Commission has proposed a recycling rate for wooden packaging waste alone of 75 per cent, which would mean increasing the amount of recycled material to approximately 170,000 tonnes per year, which would involve an enormous change to the current situation.
The statutory recycling requirements, bans on the disposal of waste in landfills and various taxes are the main means to control waste management activities and related business operations. Policies of this type usually translate into higher costs for those who pay for the activities, while they generate business that would not exist otherwise. It is vital for the environment – that means all of us – that these activities are controlled, but the lack of knowledge is a problem. For example, no one seems to have research data about the ideal level, from the environmental perspective, of the recycling rate of wooden packaging waste in Finland, which is covered in forest. The only thing we can be sure of is that the requirements for high recycling rates will increase the costs payable by those who are responsible for recycling.


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Fatigue ends shopping boom
CONSUMERS are suffering from shopping fatigue, new figures show, indicating the retail boom has come to an abrupt halt. Visitor numbers to 50 of Britain's biggest shopping centres last week were 3.7% lower than the week before and 9.4% lower than the same week a year ago, according to shopping monitoring company FootFall.
Today's figures extend the steady decline since Christmas. FootFall marketing manager David Smyth said: 'This puts an end to the retail boom recorded over the Christmas period. If this trend continues, the retail industry could face a bleak February.'
Evidence that consumers are tightening their belts will shorten the odds on further interest rate cuts. The Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted unanimously to keep interest rates at 4% this month and left the prospect of further reductions in the balance.
The minutes of the meeting held on 9 and 10 January, revealed the nine-strong committee felt there may be a case for lower rates if consumer spending slows before the global economy recovers. But members also argued that the cost of borrowing may have to rise if consumer spending fails to slow fast enough.
'On balance, there was a reasonable prospect that consumption would slow naturally at broadly the same time that the world economy recovered,' the minutes said.
Meanwhile, balance of payments figures showed a sharp deterioration in Britain's trade position in November as exports faltered and buoyant consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas sucked in foreign goods.
The trade in goods deficit ballooned to £2.8bn from £2.4bn the previous month. More-up-to-date figures for trade with non-European countries revealed a deficit of £2.4bn in December against November's £2bn.
Economists warned that the current account deficit will widen as long as High Street activity remains resilient and the global economy weak. 'At the moment this is not a problem,' said HSBC's John Butler. 'However, further out this could put increasing strain on sterling.'
Sterling was a quarter of a cent weaker at $1.4270.
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A concession agreement between Dubai Port World and Rwanda signed last week will see Kigali becoming a regional inland port as well as provide opportunities for youth in the East African country.
According to Francois Kanimba, Minister of Trade and Industry, the logistics platform comes at an opportune time, streamlining increasing traffic from regional and international players.
This will help “trucks bringing cargo to Rwanda, to offload the containers as they arrive and load empty containers and go back where they come from,” said Kanimba.
“This facility will significantly increase the turnaround of trucks which do international transport services and then increase the efficiency, reduce the cost.”
Another benefit of this deal is that it includes the warehouse industry, so this gives importers a space where they can store the raw materials or finished products to make selling more efficient.
“These kinds of services in the past have been expressed as missing in our economy by a number of industries,” said Kanimba.
Other services include a “big” parking yard because in the past few years Rwanda has been suffering from lack of such logistic services.
The minister explains that this parking lot will be located out of the main business centre of the city to minimise congestion from the trucks.
“We have booked around 30 hectares there, but the 30 hectares will not be developed at the same time,” said Kanimba.
For the initial phase they will only use 13 hectares of the space and the second phase is planned for about five years from now.
“We will negotiate the condition to use the second part of the land but the land is already booked – we have the money in our current budget.”
Suhail Al Banna, DP World Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Middle East and Africa believes this agreement will also benefit the youth of Rwanda.
“We are bringing the expertise and the knowledge of logistics – our main focus is to develop the Rwandan youth in the logistic area.”
He hopes the youth get the opportunity to be taken to Dubai and other branches of their country to learn hands-on knowledge about logistics, containers and warehousing.
“Our activities will not be limited to the logistic part in Rwanda – it will be more as an enabler for the Rwandan businessman to do business with the world,” said Al Banna.


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SentinelOne shares surge on strong quarterly results and upbeat forecast
Shares in SentinelOne Inc. jumped more than 17% in after-hours trading today after the cybersecurity company delivered beats in earnings and revenue in its fiscal third quarter and forecast a better-than-expected outlook for its fourth quarter.
For the quarter that ended on Oct. 31, SentinelOne reported an adjusted loss per share of three cents, down from a loss of 16 cents per share in the same quarter of last year, on revenue of $164.2 million, up 42% year-over-year. Both were solid beats, as analysts had expected a loss per share of eight cents on revenue of $156.09 million.
SentinelOne’s stronger-than-expected figures were driven by customer growth. The company had more than 11,500 customers as of the end of the quarter, up from 9,250 as of the end of October last year, and new customers with annual recurring revenue of more than $100,000 grew 33% over the same period. Annual recurring revenue overall rose 43%, to $663.9 million, and SentinelOne is keeping its customers, with a dollar-based net retention revenue rate of over 115%.
The company’s adjusted operating margin also saw significant improvement in the quarter, coming in at negative 11% versus negative 43% a year prior. SentinelOne had $1.1 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments on hand as of the end of October.
Recent business highlights include SentinelOne announcing a new partnership with Snyk Ltd. on Nov. 9 that integrates SentinelOne’s cloud workload protection platform, Singularity Cloud Workload Security, with the Snyk Developer Security Platform.
The integration will correlate cloud runtime threat detections identified by SentinelOne with vulnerabilities found by Snyk in container images. That’s intended to enable application security and developer teams to collaborate and address the root causes of these issues more effectively.
“Our third-quarter performance exceeded our top- and bottom-line expectations, delivering industry-leading growth and margin improvement,” Chief Executive Tomer Weingarten said in the company’s earnings release.
There was more manna for investors in the outlook, with SentinelOne forecasting $169 million in revenue in its fiscal 2024 fourth quarter and $616 million for the full fiscal year. Both were solidly ahead of analysts’ consensus estimates of $166.5 million and $605.66 million.
The company does face some challenges, however, according to Jordan Berger, an analyst at the research firm Third Bridge.
“Underlying SentinelOne’s growth deceleration in FY2023, there remains a greater question surrounding sales challenges the company is facing in the wake of macroeconomic factors and an increasingly competitive market for endpoint protection and cloud security solutions,” he told SiliconANGLE. “We hear from experts that while SentinelOne’s core XDR product remains highly competitive, the company’s intention to expand into adjacent and equally competitive cybersecurity markets is challenging. Net revenue retention in Q3 FY24 was sequentially stable at 115%, but its decline from recent levels of over 130% indicates that the company’s platform story still needs time to gain traction.”
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At ISSCC last week, Intel shed more light on its 15-core Xeon E7 v2 processor. Today, the Xeon E7 v2 lineup made its official debut. Intel says we can already look forward to more than 40 systems from 21 different vendors.
The Xeon E7 v2 family supplants the Xeon E7 series, which was based on 32-nm Westmere-EX silicon and featured up to 10 cores. Xeon E7 v2 chips have up to 15 cores and can populate 32-socket servers. According to Intel, they deliver up to twice the performance, three times the memory capacity, and four times the I/O bandwidth, not to mention support for Intel's Data Protection Technology.
The full lineup of Xeon E7 v2 chips can be perused here in the official product brief. 15-core variants with the largest thermal envelope (155W) run at 2.8GHz with 37.5MB of cache and 8 GT/s QuickPath connectivity. The lowest-power models in the list have 105W TDPs and run at 2.3GHz with 24MB of cache and 7.2 GT/s of QuickPath bandwidth. There was also talk of 40W, 1.4GHz models at ISSCC last week, but I don't see those in the list. Perhaps they're coming later, or maybe I'm just not looking in the right place.
In any case, Intel says the Xeon E7 v2 series is fit for a "variety of industries from retail and healthcare to banking and transportation." The lineup's improvements over the previous generation can "help businesses that run mission critical applications including business support systems (BSS), customer relationship management (CRM), and ERP to operate more efficiently, at lower cost and with faster response times," the company claims.
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Animation film Hanuman was a story on a historical event; and was one of those films which set a precedent for the Indian animated feature market in 2005.
Moving forward Percept Picture Company will extend Hanuman through a series of animation films. Our second film in the series is Hanuman Returns which is all about an entertainment experience hence the marriage with an apt platform like Xbox Live.
“We are excited to showcase the hugely anticipated Hanuman Returns on the Xbox Live service – a next generation platform for complete connected entertainment with an existing community of millions of users worldwide” says MD Percept Holdings Mr. Shailendra Singh The announcement was made by Robbie Bach, Global President of Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division (E&D) in the presence of Shailendra Singh, Jt MD Percept Holdings, P Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman of Microsoft India, Alan Bowman, General Manager of Microsoft E&D Asia Pacific & Greater China Region and Mohit Anand, Country Manager of Microsoft E&D in India.
Speaking at the occasion, Robbie Bach heralded the arrival of Xbox LIVE, “We have just celebrated the first anniversary of Xbox 360 in the country this year and it is with a celebratory spirit that we offer our Indian consumers even more entertainment options on Xbox 360. This is not only a firm reiteration of our commitment to the Indian market but also an exciting foray into connecting our Indian consumers to a world of 7 million Xbox LIVE members around the world.”


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Strengthening Economy to Boost Global Advertising Growth to 2015
ZenithOptimedia predicts global advertising expenditure will grow by 3.9% in 2013, reaching US$518 billion by the end of the year. As has been the case since the start of the economic downturn in 2007, this growth will be led by Rising Markets, which we forecast to grow by 8.2% on average in 2013, while the Mature Markets grow by just 1.8%, weighed down by the eurozone crisis. Over the next two years, we expect growth to pick up in both Rising and Mature Markets, reaching 9.4% and 3.5% respectively in 2015.
(ZenithOtimedia defines Mature Markets as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, and Rising Makets as everywhere else. Fast-Track Asia includes China, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam)
The firm said that "the consensus among economic forecasters is that the global economy will gradually build up speed over the next three years. The eurozone should start to pull out of recession towards the end of this year, which will help stimulate world trade. We expect the global ad market to strengthen in step with the economy, although ad expenditure growth will remain behind GDP growth for the rest of our forecast period. Our forecasts for 2014 and 2015 are unchanged at 5.0% and 5.6% respectively".
Internet advertising driving growth Internet advertising is supplying most of the growth in expenditure by medium, driven by technical innovations, such as better measurement of exposure to advertising, greater localization, and integration with mobile devices. We forecast internet advertising to grow by 14.4% in 2013, while traditional media will grow by 1.6%.
Display is the fastest growing medium within internet advertising, with annual growth of 20%. This is being driven by the rapid rise of online video and social media advertising, each of which is growing at about 30% per year. Continued innovation among the search engines - including richer product information and images within ads - is seeing a healthy rise in paid search. We predict paid search to grow by 13% a year to 2015. …


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The new cut-down 40GB version of the PlayStation 3 has the more efficient 65nm version of the Cell processor. That's according to Gamesindustry.biz which spotted the revelation on a German computing website.
The big advantage of this is the reduction in power the massive PS3 will suck from the National Grid. It thankfully also means a reduction in noise levels - useful for all the hundreds of Blu-ray movies you probably won't be watching on it.
A cooler, quieter PS3
The Computerbase.de website cites a 135W rating for the 65nm Cell chip, reduced from 200W as well as a halving of noise levels. Nice work if true, although the PS3 isn't the noisiest console on the block. That honour continues to go to Microsoft's Xbox 360, which can hum louder than a fridge.
The site is also reporting that, due to the change in processor, the console has a smaller heat pipe arrangement and modified motherboard. IBM currently makes the Cell processor and Sony has said that it plans to make further improvements by moving to a 45nm process in late 2008/early 2009.
The £299 40GB PS3 has already stormed the charts in the UK, while it is due for a North American release on Friday.


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Following B&C Engineering Ltd’s recent appointment as the main dealer for commercial vehicle manufacturer Isuzu Truck UK on the Isle of Man, two Manx companies have chosen to specify Isuzu for the first time when purchasing their latest new trucks.
A1 Cabin & Toilet Hire at Glen Vine near Douglas and SCE Ltd in Port Erin both acknowledge that their choice of Isuzu for their new vehicles was strongly influenced by the fact that Isuzu has a Manx based full sales, service and parts dealership on the island.
According to Ian Henderson from A1 Cabin & Toilet Hire: “This is the first time that we’ve bought a new truck, normally we would buy second hand, and it’s also the first time we’ve specified an Isuzu. The two main deciding factors were the three-year standard unlimited mileage warranty that you get with all new Isuzu trucks and the fact that they there is a local main dealer on the island.”
A1 Cabin and Toilet Hire purchased a new Isuzu 62.150 6.2t rigid truck and this is being used to deliver mobile toilets to various sites on the Isle of Man. It has been fitted with a 14 ft Alloy Bodies dropside body with a 500kg capacity taillift to facilitate the loading and unloading of the toilets. The vehicle can deliver up to 2 mobile toilets at once but also has a pump and effluent tank fitted to the deck of the body for the pumped removal of effluent from mobile toilets out on location.
The new Isuzu covers approximately 1000 miles per month and Henderson anticipates keeping the vehicle for a five-year working life.
Steve Craine from Plant Hire and Groundworks company SCE Ltd said: “We too have bought Isuzu for the first time and not only is it a high specification vehicle but the fact it has a local Manx dealer offering full service and parts support over vehicle life gives me complete peace of mind.”


text: UK advertisers are set to spend more online by 2009 leaving TV trailing in overall media spend – This forecast was made by Group M, a subsidiary of WPP. Sweden is expected to experience that phenomenon THIS year. UK internet advertising revenues are expected to swell by more than 30% to £3.4bn this year. TV advertising, on the other hand, is expected to grow by less than 1% to £3.56bn in 2008. And by 2009, after Sweden, the UK is likely to become the world’s first major economy to witness the ascent of the internet past one of its biggest rival mediums in the advertising arena.When it comes to local markets, pure play internet companies for the first time will control a larger share of the local online ad market than national newspaper sites. This according to a Borrell Associates report cited in the Wall Street Journal. Internet firms had 43.7% of the $8.5 billion local online ad market in 2007, compared to 33.4% for newspaper companies. This all qualifies my point of the past two years in this blog; that changes are happening faster than we think. It is nice to finally see the larger holding companies recognize the fact – an acknowledgment which is sure to contribute to Moore’s law and continue to escalate the pace of change. And don’t think that the UK & Sweden will not hold up to a US comparison. Granted, their viewing populations are smaller, as is their media inventory. But the digital media convergence, now global, effects us all and successful transformation no longer needs a passport. Another point to all of this is our focus on Digital Media as an important component of the marketing mix. Digital Media is NOT a component, and in the near future we will not need to make this distinction. Why?…because it will ALL be Digital Media, so lets stop talking about it as if it where an alternative media strategy. 2008 will prove to be a faster ride than 2007, so strap on your seat belts.


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Apple’s major supplier, Foxconn, has been forced to suspend operations in Shenzhen, China, following a city-wide lockdown that sees nonessential businesses shut, public transportation halted, and residents shut down. They are advised not to step out of their homes only for essential activities.
As Nikkei Asia reports,
Shenzhen is home to major tech companies such as Huawei, Oppo and TCL, and is one of the largest manufacturing hubs for Taiwan’s Foxconn, which supplies customers from Apple to Google to Amazon. The semi-lockdown comes as global supply chains still grapple with ongoing chip shortages as well as disruptions from the war in Ukraine.
Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, said in a statement on Monday that it would suspend production at its Longhua and Guanlan factories in Shenzhen until further notice from the local government. This has activated plans to use facilities in other cities to support production.
It’s not entirely clear what devices Foxconn manufactures for Apple at its two Shenzhen plants, but Foxconn is the largest maker of the iPhone. The new lockdown adds tension to an already crippled global supply chain that is affecting Apple’s business.
Apple said the chip shortage cost it $6 billion in the last quarter of 2021, with bullish thoughts on the impact of the reduction in the coming quarters. Apple plans to launch several new products around the world next week, including the all-new Mac Studio, Studio Display, the new iPhone SE, iPad Air, and new colors for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion on this topic, the discussion thread is in our . is located in political news Forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.


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The annual reshuffle at LG Electronics is raising speculation that the company may overhaul its smartphone business strategy.
LG Electronics appointed on Nov. 28 Kwon Bong-seok, head of the Home Electronics Business Division, to double as head of the Mobile Communications Business Division.
Kwon is credited with revitalizing the company's TV business by simplifying its complex TV lineup. Industry analysts are wondering whether Kwon would use the same strategy for the struggling smartphone business.
Since December 2014, Kwon has pursued a premium strategy for the company's TV business by drastically simplifying its TV lineup, which consisted of various 30- to 60-inch models. This change paid off. The TV business segment exceeded 8% in operating margin last year and is expected to reach 10% this year.
The challenge Kwon faces is how to deal with LG’s complex smartphone lineups. The company has five smartphone lineups. They are two premium series -- the V series and the G series -- and three budget series -- the Q series, the K series, and the X series. While this complex lineups allow the company to target consumers of diverse classes, it makes it difficult for consumers to understand the status of each series.
Some experts say that it is time for LG to think about a brand integration strategy. Samsung Electronics uses the single Galaxy brand for its smartphones. Recently, the company also changed the Gear Smart Watch to the Galaxy Watch to enhance the brand power of Galaxy.


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Berkshire Business Outlook: Short-term rentals test towns
Battle lines are being drawn in several South Berkshire towns between inn owners who say they're losing business to short-term vacation rentals on Airbnb and other online sites and homeowners seeking extra income to meet housing expenses.
With no proposals yet from state lawmakers grappling with potential taxation and regulation of Airbnb and its competitors, Lenox voters may face a potential zoning reboot at a town meeting later this year.
It's a high-stakes issue in the town which has nearly 1,000 of the county's 4,000 lodging rooms. The 11.7 percent tax on room rentals shared by the state and town accounts for nearly $2 million toward the municipal budget's bottom line, which helps to keep property taxes increases manageable.
Last summer, as many as 300 rooms were available in Lenox on Airbnb and other sites. Stockbridge and Richmond also had ample listings.
The Lenox Planning Board has held multiple public forums to discuss possible guidelines for house rentals of less than 30 days, that are not covered in the town's zoning bylaws. Traditional, long-term summer rentals (a month or more) are legal and are not targeted for review.
Concerned innkeepers have complained that they've lost lucrative bookings. In one case, a $25,000 rental of a 28-room inn for Columbus Day weekend fell through as vacationers gravitate toward house rentals.
The lodging proprietors point to declining year-round occupancy rates well below 50 percent. They list the financial burdens of health and safety inspection fees, sprinkler-system upgrades, higher commercial property taxation, maintenance expenses and other "costs of doing business."
Some inns are even listing rooms on Airbnb and VRBO, among others, to keep pace with shifting preferences by travelers who prefer a "home away from home" experience.
Some entrepreneurs are buying up some of the few moderately-priced houses in Lenox and adjoining towns to operate them commercially as short-term rental properties.
But residents active on the short-term rental online market are equally impassioned about their need to help cover homeowner costs so that they can keep living in Lenox, Stockbridge and Richmond. Several have cited examples of elderly family members that passed away and left their houses to siblings or offspring who can only maintain the properties by seeking short-term vacation rentals.
With another busy tourism season just two months away, the Lenox planners are still trying to come up with recommendations for a zoning formula to protect the hospitality industry as well as homeowners. Any change would require two-thirds approval from town voters.
In the Richmond and Stockbridge town halls, those discussions are just beginning.
So far, there's general agreement that online short-term rentals are here to stay. The issue looms even larger year by year. But a compromise fair to all sides remains elusive, unless and until the state legislature comes up with guideposts that local communities can adapt to meet the concerns of residents and hospitality business owners.
Clarence Fanto can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Global E-commerce giant Amazon has already announced that they are going to invest $2 billion dollars in India. Amazon has said it will build a 1.6 million square feet center in Hyderabad which will become the biggest facility outside of its corporate headquarters in seattle.
The Hyderabad facility is expected to come up on 10 acres at Gachibowli which will house 12,500 employees and be ready by 2018. Right now Amazon has got an office in Madhapur and is currently applying for statutory permissions for fire and environmental clearances to begin work on the project.
John Schoettler, Director (Global-Real estate and facilities) of Amazon, who led a delegation which met Telangana IT minister KTR confirmed the details. It is however not clear whether the existing office will be moved to the new upcoming facility.


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Mastercard, the world’s second-largest card network, has announced that soon all banks and merchants that are a part of the Mastercard network will be able to integrate crypto into their products and services.
Here is a look at what this means exactly, and why it matters.
What Crypto Services Could Be Offered?
Mastercard is teaming up with Bakkt, who will be facilitating the background infrastructure of the partnership, in order to offer a variety of crypto services to its customers. These services will include:
- Crypto Wallet Integration: Buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin and other crypto assets
- Crypto Payments: Spend the USD value of your crypto
- Crypto Rewards: Earn crypto rewards with your Mastercard credit or debit card in lieu of travel rewards
- Rewards Exchange: Convert your airline miles, hotel points, etc., into crypto for programs that have opted in to such swaps
Earning crypto rewards from your Mastercards and the ability to exchange your current balance of travel points are perhaps the 2 most interesting aspects for points and miles travelers. After all, those who use travel rewards credit cards are accustomed to those points and miles being devalued seemingly year after year, as companies nerf sweet spots in award charts or move towards fully dynamic pricing.
Given that, the ability to exchange rewards that depreciate for crypto assets, many of which have been the best-performing assets over the last 5 to 10 years, will be intriguing to many.
Hot Tip: Currently, there are quite a few credit cards that already allow you to earn crypto rewards. Check out some of our favorites!
Why This Matters
This move is, without a doubt, a huge vote of confidence from Mastercard on the impact that crypto can have on our legacy financial institutions. Why is that? Well, for starters, the Mastercard network is massive, with over 20,000 financial institutions globally and over 2.8 million Mastercards (credit and debit) in circulation.
The card network can reduce latency and increase the onboarding of more businesses and customers into the crypto-economy without any additional effort from either.
For example, consider a popular franchise like McDonald’s. The infrastructure being built by Bakkt and Mastercard would allow any franchise to use the same point-of-sale (POS) system they’re currently using to begin accepting crypto payments. From the customer side, you’ll easily be able to use the Mastercard (credit or debit) that you’re already using to pay for your order with crypto.
Additionally, from a rewards perspective, McDonald’s could allow customers to earn crypto rewards instead of its own MyMcDonald’s Rewards points, and customers could choose to exchange their balance of MyMcDonald’s Rewards points for crypto instead of food items.
Now take that example and apply it to every other business worldwide that is plugged into the Mastercard network, and consider the implications that could have on both payments and rewards programs going forward.
This is certainly huge news that could have wide-ranging effects on the worlds of payment technology and loyalty rewards moving forward. The fact that one of the world’s largest payment processors is embracing crypto is one more massive notch in its belt of legitimacy. By making efforts to lower the barrier of entry, Mastercard and Bakkt are positioning themselves to be at the forefront of the future of these industries.
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Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Santa Monica To Get Silicon Valley Coffee Chain Philz Coffee
In another sign that Southern California--and particularly, Santa Monica--is gaining further credibility as a recognized technology center: Philz Coffee, a coffee chain which is synonymous with being at the tech epicenters of Silicon Valley and San Francisco, is getting set to open up a new location in Santa Monica.
According to representatives of the venture-backed coffee chain--which has set up a temporary outpost at the Oasis Conference at the Fairmont Miramar this week--it is planning its first expansion beyond the Bay Area into Santa Monica with a new store in Santa Monica, where it hopes to hook the local technology set--and keep the many, visiting venture capitalists, private equity investors, and executives it has hooked in Silicon Valley happy while down here visiting local technology startups. Philz Coffee is backed by Summit Partners, and is notable for having a dedicated location at Facebook's headquarters.
Philz's locations are pretty much a marker for where the hot technology companies are in the Bay Area: the company has locations across San Francisco; Palo Alto; downtown San Jose; Cupertino; as well as outposts in Berkeley and Sausalito.


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Colin Barnett, Western Australia Premier and Tourism Minister, announced that gambling on cruise ships is to be permitted for intra-State voyages and those within 12 nautical miles of WA coastline.
Today, Barnett gave the opening address at 2016 WA Tourism Conference in Perth. He said that until now cruise ship gaming rooms were forced to close traveling between WA ports or when they were within twelve nautical miles of the coast.
58 cruise ships docked at Fremantle in 2015-2016, carrying around 152,000 passengers and crew. Lifting WA's gaming restrictions will make the State more attractive destination for cruise lines, generating over AUD 275 million for the local economy.


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Snapchat is trialling a new feature that will enable its users to send location-based stickers.
The picture messaging service is offering some members the opportunity to send exclusive stickers based on their geographic location, the Daily Mail reports.
For instance, users in New York's financial district have been granted access to a filter showering them with dollar bills, while others have unlocked special stickers at US airports.
The news follows reports that Snapchat has been working with brands to incorporate their logos into the messaging service, a move that would open up a revenue stream for the app.
Snapchat launched its biggest updates to date in May, introducing an instant messenger and video calls to the service.
The platform has more than 40 million users worldwide.


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The pace of Czech inflation slowed in February to an annual 1.8 percent, down from January’s 2.2 percent, according to the Czech Statistical Office. That is the lowest annual rate of inflation since November 2016.
Among the main factors depressing higher inflation were a slowdown in prices of many food items and drinks. Phone services also became cheaper. Some of the biggest price rises over the month were for utilities and rents of flats and other accommodation.
The Czech central bank has a target inflation rate of 2.0 percent.


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Cement makers Lafarge and Holcim have announced plans to merge in a deal creating a business with combined sales of around £26 billion.
LafargeHolcim is set to be the world's leading player in cement, concrete and aggregates once the tie-up is completed in the first half of next year.
France's Lafarge, which entered the UK market in 1987 before acquiring Redland in 1997 and Blue Circle in 2001, recently merged its UK operations with those of Anglo American to create LafargeTarmac, a business employing 5,500 staff at 300 sites. Holcim owns Aggregate Industries in the UK.
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With the deal set to receive close scrutiny from regulators, the companies plan to offload assets generating between 10% and 15% of their global earnings. No country will account for more than 10% of combined revenues.
The tie-up has been presented as a merger of equals, with the new board featuring equal numbers of Lafarge and Holcim directors.
France's Lafarge employs 64,000 people and generated sales of 15.2 billion euros (£12.6 billion) in 2013, while Zurich-based Holcim achieved sales of 19.7 billion Swiss francs (£13.3 billion).