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Tokyo (AP) – Eastern supplies dropped Monday adhering to a sale recently on Wall surface Road, with financiers avoiding the effect on local economic climates from rising cost of living, the battle in Ukraine and also COVID-19 secure China.
Indices dropped in Japan, South Korea and also Australia. Profession is shut for vacations in China and also numerous various other local markets.
A record revealing that epidemic locks have actually harmed manufacturing facility procedures in China, the primary local motorist for development, was a brand-new resource of problem.
The Regular Monthly Acquiring Supervisors’ Index, released by the National Bureau of Stats of China, went down to 47.4 in April, below 49.5 in Progress a 100-point range. Numbers listed below 50 reveal a task tightening.
COVID-19 break outs have actually impacted China’s plant procedures and also market need, bureau statistician Zhao Chinga stated.
Some manufacturing facilities have actually decreased or quit manufacturing, with interruptions in logistics in addition to in supply or in resources and also parts.
Locals of Shanghai, China’s most heavily populated city, invested weeks in April under closure. The resources, Beijing, started mass screening of numerous homeowners today.
In Japan, a collection of legal holidays today referred to as Golden Week permits individuals to take place getaway, also in the “workaholic” society in business. The masses collecting at hotels are increasing worries that corona instances might intensify once again, leading to a revival of constraints on dining establishment opening hrs and also various other organization tasks.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.6% today at 26,685.18. Australia’s S & P/ ASX 200 was down 1.7% to 7,306.50. Kospi from South Korea dropped 0.6% to 2,678.05. Profession is enclosed China on Labor Day, National Day, and also various other local markets.
In Ukraine, the discharge of private citizens from a besieged steel plant in Mariupol started. Ukrainian Head of state Volodymyr Zlansky stated greater than 100 residents, mainly females and also youngsters, were anticipated to get here in Ukraine-controlled Zaporizhia on Monday.
On Friday, sharp innovation supply losses pressed the S&P 500 down 3.6% to 4,131.93, while the Nasdaq dropped 4% to 12,334.64, finishing April with a 13.3% decrease in its greatest regular monthly loss considering that 2008.
The Dow was down 2.8% to 32,977.21 and also smaller sized business were having a tough day. Russell 2000 dropped 2.8% to 1,864.10.
Capitalists took a look at the economic arise from big innovation business, commercial business and also stores and also some frustrating outcomes or projection from Apple, Google’s moms and dad firm and also Amazon.com aided sustain sales recently.
Retail huge Amazon.com tape-recorded its initial loss considering that 2015, when the decrease went down greater than $ 200 billion from its market price.
The NASDAQ index, which is greatly heavy with innovation supplies, shed 21.2% this year.
Investors are expecting the United States Federal Book’s following actions to eliminate rising cost of living. The Fed is anticipated to introduce an additional round of price walkings today. This implies greater credit report prices each time when rising cost of living worries are high up on financiers ‘and also customers’ minds.
The costs of every little thing, from food to gas, have actually increased as the economic situation recoups from the torment and also there has actually been a big detach in between greater need and also delaying supply. Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine just included in the worries of rising cost of living.
In power trading, united state petroleum shed 92 cents to $ 103.77 a barrel in ecommerce on the New York Supply Exchange. It went down 67 cents to $ 104.69 a barrel on Friday.
Brent crude, the worldwide requirement, dropped $ 1.06 to $ 106.08 a barrel.
In money trading, the United States buck climbed to 130.24 Japanese yen from 129.83 yen. The euro climbed $ 1.0525, below $ 1.0546.


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Retail sales in the key jewellery markets of China and Hong Kong registered strong growth from January to November last year compared to the same period in 2017, according to latest government data.
China’s sales of gold, silver and jewellery were up 8.1 percent while sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts in Hong Kong rose 16.1 percent during the period in review.
In November alone, China registered a 5.6 percent year-on-year growth in jewellery retail sales while Hong Kong reported a 3.9 decline in November jewellery sales. Hong Kong’s October sales increased by 3.2 percent.
According to the Hong Kong government, overall retail sales decelerated to a modest growth in November after gaining traction in October. A moderate growth in retail sales in recent months also reflected “more cautious consumption sentiment in the face of various external uncertainties such as the US-China trade war and volatilities in the global financial markets,” the government said.

domain: news


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Satya Nadella news
In line with its CEO Satya Nadella's vision to use technology to promote inclusiveness, Microsoft India on Friday organised its 11th annual diversity and inclusion conference at its Hyderabad campus here.
Driven by consistent growth in its Office and Cloud solutions, Microsoft has posted revenue of $26.8 billion and net income of $7.4 billion in its third quarter that ended on March 31.
For the second year running, the Microsoft CEO has made it to the top of the list.
The reshaping of business is Microsoft's way of being in sync with changes happening in the tech world.
Myerson has been at Microsoft for more than two decades, and has been responsible for supervising many of the company's best known products.
The venture arm allows Microsoft to get a “signal into the startup community” and also put the software behemoth back into the conversation with the venture capital firms to understand emerging technology developments.
The next big thing is Microsoft 365 - an intelligent solution including Office 365, Windows 10 and enterprise mobility and security that the company has recent
“It is incredible to see the advancements taking place in India and how technology helps across the public and private sectors is one of India’s most pressing challenges,” Nadella said.
Riding on its growing Cloud business especially Azure offerings, Microsoft has reported a revenue of $28.9 billion for the fourth quarter that ended December 31.
Microsoft leveraged its global intellectual property through inputs from China, US, Europe, Israel then Asia and India to build Kaizala.
The Windows 10 operating system (OS) is now running on 600 million monthly active devices, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced at the company's annual shareholders meeting.
The state government will be spending Rs 10 crore-Rs 15 crore for the programme, some estimates said.
The retail software products business grew 33% to Rs 5,542.7 crore.Revenue from services grew Rs 406 crore, a 29% growth while search online-advertising revenues declined 52% to Rs 32 crore, from Rs 66 crore.
The ultimate computing experience will be one that blends the real and virtual world.
Nadella, who arrived here late last night, left for New Delhi this afternoon after his interaction which took place earlier in the day.
Billions of searches over time have given Microsoft a massive repository of everyday questions people ask about their health, the weather, store hours or directions.
However, the Windows operating system will only help with bug fixes and security updates for existing users.


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Professional-clothing shop is focus of open house
The Bottom Line
Other Business Features
Local Stories from ThisWeek
- Council divided on requests to amend gun-discharge zones
- County may renovate health department office space
- OWU students hit by police cruisers in separate incidents
- Evers: Corporate park has $90M in new investments
New Directions Career Center plans an open house from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 28 at 199 E. Rich St. to mark the launch of B’s Boutique, which offers professional attire to the center’s career-development clients.
The boutique was named for the late Bernice Malquist, the center said. It was made possible by a donation through the Stewart and Bernice Malquist Fund at the Columbus Foundation.
For more information on donating new or gently used professional clothing or volunteering at the boutique, call 614-849-0028.


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A couple of weeks ago, we noted that Tucson economic developers were sending a 21-foot cactus to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to get his attention as the company looks for a second headquarters location.
So we asked you: What should Detroit send?
Below you'll find a selection of the best answers we got from you.
Bushels of fresh Michigan apples for the Amazon employee lunchroom would be a wonderful gift from the city of Detroit. — Walter Peregon II
Although we don't have a cactus to send; we should send an oversized gift basket of all Detroit-made Products (Better Made, Faygo, Valentine Vodka, Detroit Hustles Harder Apparel, etc.). This demonstrates how we take pride in our hometown and how we welcome them to the neighborhood. — Dawn Davis
I think the best deal-making gift from Detroit to Jeff Bezos would be an iPhone preloaded with 10 or 20 phone numbers of the people he would most want to speak with, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, Sandy Baruah, Doug Rothwell, Jeff Mason, Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Police Chief James Craig, Dan Gilbert, Tom Gores, Chris Ilitch, Gerard Anderson and other key players who need to be at the table. — Mark Beyer
Send him The Fist. — John Gulesarian
If you have to send a gift to get noticed you're not on the list. He's looking for a city with presence already. What should we do? This month pass state legislation to create mass transit, a state entity to link the city and suburbs by rail with funding to run a pilot from Ann Arbor to Detroit and turning over the outer lanes and traffic light control of Detroit's arteries to DDOT. If we send them an instant fix to our only real obstacle then we send them a signal, this isn't your father's Detroit, it's your grandfather's, where stuff gets done. — E.M. Parmelee


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Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., Jan. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sensegen, a pioneer in biotech-enabled fragrance solutions, announced a strategic collaboration with Takasago, a global leader in the flavor and fragrance industry. This creative and technical partnership marks a significant leap forward in fragrance creation powered by biotechnology innovation.
“The collaboration with Takasago stands as a shining example of creative synergy through biotechnology, a dynamic partnership poised to reenergize the field of fragrance ingredients,” said V.P. of Fragrance, Angélique Burke, at Sensegen. “At Sensegen, we believe in the transformative power of collaboration, and this venture with Takasago signifies our commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation and crafting a vibrant, eco-responsible future for olfactory experiences.”
“We are pleased about the dynamic collaboration with Sensegen, as it marks a pivotal moment in the fragrance industry,” said Takasago’s Global Fragrance Division President, Paul Ireland. “Takasago’s rich fragrance expertise, combined with Sensegen’s innovative biotech solutions, heralds a new era for perfumery.”
Sensegen and Takasago are joining forces to yield a fusion of creativity and technical prowess, promising to redefine the landscape of olfactory experiences.
Sensegen has achieved a significant milestone by leading the way in biotech fragrance ingredient development, notably as the pioneering creator of a class of natural musk raw materials. This groundbreaking accomplishment underscores the importance of prioritizing musk in pursuing sustainable and innovative fragrance solutions.
The impetus behind crafting these sought-after scents was a commitment to expanding options in perfumery, moving beyond synthetic petroleum-based fragrances and traditional extracts.
Beyond Ingredients: A Multi-tiered Approach
Sensegen is a full-fledged fragrance house that goes beyond supplying specialty ingredients. The mission is to strive to replace fossil-fueled synthetics and resource-depleting ingredients. There is an increasing global market for natural fragrance, with an estimation at $3.3 billion in the year 2022, and is projected to reach a revised size of $8.5 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 12.7% over the period 2022-2030, according to the Global Natural Fragrance Industry report by Reportlinker.com.
The collaboration showcases Sensegen’s multidimensional capabilities, contributing novel materials and know-how in creating biotech-enabled fragrances. It is a testament to Sensegen’s commitment to work toward a better and clean future with a robust Intellectual Property (I.P.) position. This solid foundation positions Sensegen as a biosolutions fragrance leader in shaping the future of sustainable and inventive fragrance solutions.
Competitive Price and Scale
Coupled with innovation, it also provides cost-effective, scalable solutions to brands seeking a more natural profile and market share opportunities. For example, in the cleaning industry, the global natural household cleaners market size was valued at USD 5,237 million in 2022, and it is anticipated to reach USD 12,886 Million by 2030 at a CAGR of 11.9%, according to Straights Research. Products that fall under the category of “natural household cleaners” are those that do not include any synthetic chemicals. It does not contain any artificial components in any form. Sensegen’s dedication to making eco-friendly options economically viable underscores a mission to democratize sustainable fragrances, enabling a broader reach for businesses committed to environmental responsibility.
R&D and Commercialization Capabilities
The use of biotechnological processes allows for innovation and novelty in fragrance creation. Manufacturers can explore a broader range of biomolecular compounds, leading to the development of unique and distinctive scents that set products apart in the market.
Sensegen’s prowess extends beyond research and development (R&D) to effectively commercialize biotech-enabled fragrance solutions—the seamless integration of R&D excellence with commercial viability positions Sensegen as a competitive fragrance house.
Ireland added, “This collaboration will yield positive outcomes for the fragrance industry and offers transformative possibilities for brands exploring alternatives to virgin fossil-based ingredients. It’s an exciting journey, and we’re contributing our expertise to shape the olfactory landscape for many important industries.”
Consumer Trend for Naturalness
As consumers become more environmentally conscious, brands incorporating fragrance biomolecules can benefit from a positive perception associated with sustainability and responsible sourcing. In a 2023 market report, 44% of consumers globally agree to actively look for sustainability claims on multiple forms of detergent products/brands. This can contribute to brand loyalty and attract environmentally conscious consumers.
Sensegen will present at the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) Annual Meeting and Industry Convention, Jan 29-31, where Burke will speak on “Biotechnology has the potential to enhance fragrance creation and accelerate the promise of moving beyond fossil fuel-based synthetic materials.” Wed. Jan. 31 at 10 am. The presentation will be at the Innovation Showcase 2. The cleaning industry is intensifying its focus on making industry norms, prioritizing eco-friendly materials, reducing harmful chemicals, and adopting biodegradable solutions, reusable cloths, and energy efficiency.
Sensegen® is at the forefront of fragrance innovation, pushing the boundaries of biotech-enabled solutions to create sustainable and captivating olfactory experiences. For more information, visit sensegen.com.
As a division of Blue California Ingredients, our innovative taste, smell, and beauty creative center is dedicated to delivering plant-based, natural, and sustainable solutions. Sensegen’s creators collaborate with advanced bio-techniques and team up to provide unique consumer-validated formulations.
- Sensegen has achieved a significant milestone by leading the way in biotech fragrance ingredient development.
- The use of biotechnological processes allows for innovation and novelty in fragrance creation.
Ana Capretz, Head of Public Relations and Communications Sensegen +1.949.635.1991 firstname.lastname@example.org
GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9022066


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THE BANK of England has expressed concerns about the boom in consumer credit by increasing capital that banks must set aside for losses.
The central bank’s financial stability report showed consumer credit – credit cards, personal loans and motor finance, grew by 10.3 per cent in the 12 months to April 2017, described as “markedly faster than nominal household income growth”.
The report warned that while loss rates on consumer credit were currently low, banks had used lower risk criteria to calculate the capital buffer they needed to set aside for these types of loans.
“The current environment is also likely to have improved the credit scores of borrowers,” it said.
“Other things equal, these developments mean lenders have less capacity to absorb losses, either with income or capital buffers.
“The short maturity of consumer credit means that the credit quality of the stock of lending can deteriorate quickly. Lenders expect to continue to grow their portfolios this year, at the same time as real household income growth is expected to remain particularly weak.”
The Bank’s financial policy committee has raised the counter-cyclical capital buffer rate from zero to 0.5 per cent, which must be complied with from June 2018. Stress tests on consumer lending are also to be brought forward.
“Consumer credit has increased rapidly,” Governor Mark Carney said.
“Lending conditions in the mortgage market are becoming easier and lenders may be placing undue weight on the recent performance of loans in benign conditions.
“There are also potential risks to financial stability associated with the range of possible outcomes and a number of paths to them under Brexit.
“In addition the inconsistency between the valuation of some assets, such as commercial real estate and corporate bonds, and the risks implied by very low long-term interest rates make those assets vulnerable to a re-pricing whether through an increase in long-term interest rates, adjustments to growth expectations, or both.”
But Angus Dent, chief executive of peer-to-peer lender ArchOver, suggested the Bank was sending out mixed messages.
“On the one hand, the governor says that rates should not rise in the short-term and the Bank is continuing with economic stimulus to support growth,” he said.
“On the other hand, the Bank is nuancing this with higher lender criteria.
“Tightening consumer lending will always have an adverse effect on business and British plc won’t be reassured by any of the measures in today’s report.
“It’s an obvious thing to say but consumers buy what business makes. If they buy less then business will suffer. Hearing that customers won’t be able to buy so easily on credit, increases uncertainty and will delay investment decisions and refinancing agreements even further.
“This reflects the wider problem that Britain is facing – there is a lack of consistency plaguing businesses that is driving more uncertainty. And uncertainty ultimately leads to a decrease in investment at a time when we need to be focused on fostering the health of Britain’s businesses.”


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Etisalat defence to protect businesses from cyber attacks
Etisalat has launched a security solution to prevent cyber attacks through Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) management.
The service will be offered to its business, government and hosted data center customers, the company said.
The security solutions being offered as part of the service include a cloud based security service (whereby DDoS attack identification and mitigation occurs proactively within Etisalat’s IP backbone before it reaches the customer’s network), and the hybrid DDoS protection approach, which combines the advantages of cloud based and network perimeter base solutions for the customer’s equipment and offers the best protection from DDoS threats.
The perimeter-based protection solution will be deployed with a CPE at the customer site to protect both the services offered by the organisation and the digital infrastructure – such as load-balancers and firewalls which can be targeted by state-exhaustion DDoS attacks.
Speaking on the urgent need of such a service, Abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice-President for Information and Communication Technology, Etisalat, said: "Non-availability or downtime of internet services can create a huge impact financially on customers’ businesses and damage the brand image of a company.
Denial of Services is real and a growing threat to business globally.
"Etisalat has strategically aimed to provide its business customers with the security they need from outside threats through Distributed Denial of Service management.
“Our advanced solutions will ensure business continuity and productivity through quick responses to DDoS attacks.
“This will enable business customers to focus on their main business, shielded from day-to-day infrastructure concerns and risks."
Subscribers can choose a monthly subscription or can subscribe on a per incident basis to the DDoS management solution that best suits their needs.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.


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Spending on gadgets in a number of categories increased significantly in May and June of 2000, according to the NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index.
“Father’s Day and college graduations sent online sales of small appliances, toys/video games, sporting goods, and tools and hardware through the roof,” said David Cooperstein, research director at Forrester. “Overall spending in these four categories alone increased by 51 percent in June.”
Total spending increased from $3.4 billion in May to more than $4 billion in June, with the average spent per consumer rising from $249 to $288.
|May/June 2000 NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index|
|Health and Beauty||$123,527||$134,219||0.92|
|Tools and Hardware||$63,027||$44,029||1.43|
|Number of Shoppers||13,937||13,540||1.03|
|Average Spent per Consumer||$288.20||$249.29||1.16|
About the index:
The NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index measures, on a monthly basis, the growth and seasonality of online shopping based on data collected from online shoppers. The Index is based on 5,000 responses to an online panel fielded by Greenfield Online during the first 10 business days of each month. The monthly panel is weighted to Forrester Research’s Benchmark Panel, which surveyed nearly 90,000 US and Canadian members of a consumer mail panel developed by NPD Group. Data was weighed to represent the North American population demographically.
Programmatic is taking over the digital advertising world, and at an even faster rate than expected, according to eMarketer, which raised its forecast for programmatic ad spending in the U.S. on the back of growth in mobile and video programmatic buys.
A new study underlines the massive influence that Amazon exerts over the ecommerce market, with the site being the first port of call ... read more
Election 2016 is already like no presidential race before it, and one of the most striking aspects of this year’s race is the disparity ... read more
Nurcin Erdogan Loeffler, head of strategy and innovation, Vizeum China, outlines the seven ways businesses can future proof their digital strategies.


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Oppo, Realme & OnePlus are the very popular smartphone brands and subsidiaries of BBK Electronics and the smartphone brands enjoys a major share in the market. It is worth mentioning that the companies are popular for the first ones in the market as well and now we got a new piece of information that suggests the faster charging solution is all set to standardize. So without making any further delay let’s dive into the article to check out the newly surfaced information about the popular smartphone brands.
According to the latest information of popular Chinese smartphone brands – Oppo, Realme & OnePlus is all set to bring 100W fast charging solution as standard for their upcoming flagship smartphone series. That means the flagship smartphones which Oppo, Realme & OnePlus will announce in 2022 will have a 100W fast charging solution and it is also reported that the smartphone brands will offer big batteries as well.
We don’t have any other information about the information at this moment of time but we are looking forward for more information about the battery department of the upcoming flagship Smartphones of the brands in the coming months and we recommend you to stay tuned with us for more interesting information from the technological world at your fingertips.
Read interesting news, reviews as well as tips & tricks on TechnoBugg website, and stay updated with the latest happenings of the tech world on the go with Technobugg App. Also follow on Google News and join our Telegram channel for the latest updates.


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Looking for someone to gift you something this XMAS? Then you are in luck because TECNO Santa is already here. Christmas comes early this year!
Well, TECNO Mobile seems to want to get Nigerians in the mood for Christmas with their “Wish Come True Gratitude XMAS” giveaway.
TECNO Mobile is one of the hottest phone brands, which was established in 2006. The mobile company has gained presence across the world, mainly in Africa with its largest market in African being Nigeria.
The mobile company recognises that the Christmas season is one that families share together, creating memories and forming stronger bonds. They decided to use the season to show appreciation to both existing and new customers in Nigeria.
TECNO Mobile posted on their twitter handle about a giveaway, which they called “Wish Come True Gratitude XMAS”. The giveaway is aimed at putting some smiles on the faces of Nigerian families. Winners will be announced weekly during the giveaway period that runs from the 4th to 20th December 2019 – just in time for families to get their Christmas wishes fulfilled for the celebration.
The tweet reads:
“This season of giving and family moments, TECNO will put a smile on your face by making your family wishes come to pass.”
TECNO Mobile Nigeria also tweeted an instruction on how to participate to stand a chance of winning.
How to win TECNO Camon 12 in the TECNO Wish Come True Giveaway
- Submit your wish on the pinned post on TECHNO Mobile page, @TECNOMobileNG on Facebook
- State your wish and why you should be a winner
- Post a picture of your family.
- Post using #TECNOGratitudeXmas.
Also, you get to nominate a family you think deserves a special gift from TECNO.
Already, some Nigerians are getting their groove on and making wishes
As stated above, every week, a wish will be selected and rewarded. From now till 20th December 2019. Who knows, you might just be the lucky one of the lucky ones to win a special gift for your family or for someone you nominated from the TECNO Santa.
As simple as that! What more could you ask for this Christmas?
Meanwhile, TECNO has announced the first batch of selected winners, which they published on their Facebook. Three winners were the lucky ones whose Christmas wishes have come true via TECNO Santa.
The winners include a lady who wished for a new television set so that her kids can watch cartoon and educational programmes. Another winner nominated a family whose father/husband is bedridden after being involved in an accident that affected his spinal cord, the person who nominated the family wants them to be given a bag of rice. The third winner says his Christmas wish was for his family to be happy.
Congratulations to all the winners.
Are you thinking of participating in the TECNO MAKE Wish Come True giveaway? Or perhaps there are other Christmas wishes that you would like to share with us? Tell us in the comment section.


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For quite some time now, there have been speculations that Source 2, Valve’s new game engine, is coming to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
According to a claim raised on Chinese social media Weibo, Source 2 is coming to CS: GO as early as May 18th.
Valve is huge and holds a special place in the heart of gamers. Valve owns Steam, the most popular gaming platform in the world, and it is additionally the developer of big names like Dota, Half-Life, and Counter-Strike.
All three games that were mentioned have millions of players worldwide.
The Counter-Strike series has been around since 1999. Although the game has stayed mostly the same, there have been changes in both appearance and dynamics. The most recent Counter-Strike game is Global Offensive, and it was released in 2012.
Whenever Valve makes a big change to a game, it usually has something to do with the game engine. For example, the Source 2 engine was announced in 2015. It was used in Dota 2 and changed its name to Dota 2 Reborn. It was a huge overhaul of the whole game system.
The company used the new engine on other games, such as Half-Life: Alyx and Dota Underlords.
When it comes to Counter-Strike Global Offensive, it’s their currently most successful game, and without a doubt, more people will want to try out the game.
The CS: GO community is a huge one, one of the biggest in the world. It’s one of the biggest esports titles, and it’s bringing in huge viewership numbers.
Apart from viewing tournaments online, gamers like to bet on https://csgoeasybets.com/ as it makes them more engaged in the competitions, and they feel like they support their favorite teams like that.
Of course, there is a huge chance to win some serious money if the team you support wins the whole tournament.
Information Coming From China
Counter-Strike Global Offensive players have been asking for Source 2 to be added to the game for years, and it seems to be finally happening. Valve didn’t show their hands in this poker game, and we have no idea how CS: GO will look with the new engine. Some creative fans are making their own photos of how the game should or might look.
According to the Chinese social media Weibo, Valve has added Source 2 to CS: GO, and the update is scheduled to happen on May 18th.
A high representative of the company also said: “Source 2 will be coming to CS: GO shortly.”
That has made the fans very excited, and everyone is impatiently waiting to see it finally.
Of course, without an official statement from Valve, it will be impossible to put to rest doubts of Source 2 arriving to CS: GO soon.
The COVID-19 situation is breaking concurrent player records on games these days, but the quarantines will end one day, and people will stop playing.
Something new needs to be added to CS: GO to keep the game fresh and alive, and the Source 2 engine might be the answer to that problem.


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Last Earth Day, Greenbean Recycle announced the launch of a new recycling machine at Brandeis, after seeing successful usage at both Tufts and MIT. Harvard and Northeastern soon followed in sustainable suit and today, one Earth Day later, three more schools joined the ranks: Bentley, Wellesley and Merrimack.
Since August 2011, Greenbean has helped recycle more than 172,000 bottles and cans. Through their reverse vending machines, Greenbean has gamified sustainability by tying real-time analytics and social media to the process.
After setting up a profile on Greenbean’s website, users can feed empty containers into a campus’ Greenbean machine and get bottle and can deposits refunded directly into their PayPal account, put on their student ID card or donated to a charity of their choice, all without a paper receipt or cash register.
Users can gain instant access to how many containers they have diverted from landfills and kilowatts of energy they’ve saved through the Greenbean website. To register, they can simply punch their phone number and email in on the machine’s touch screen, or sign in with Facebook.
As of today, nearly 32,000 pounds have been diverted from the landfill and more than 29,000 kilowatts of energy have been saved.
Although currently focused on college campuses, Greenbean CEO and Founder Shanker Sahai hints in a press release that the company has “begun to explore partnerships with hospitality services, as well as retail outlets in the Greater Boston area.”
For a closer look at Greenbean, check out the mini-documentary below.


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Dec. 24, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) - Mailing a letter is about to get a little more expensive.
Postal regulators on Tuesday approved a price hike of 3 cents for a first-class stamp, bringing the charge to 49 cents a letter.
The independent Postal Regulatory Commission said the change was justified by severe mail volume decreases since 2008.
The new price is effective Jan. 26 and will last no more than two years, allowing the Postal Service to recoup $2.8 billion in losses.
Regulators rejected a request to make the price hike permanent.
Bulk mail, periodicals and package service rates rise 6 percent.
The mail industry opposes the price increases. It says charities using mass mailings and bookstores competing with Amazon will suffer.
The Postal Service says it lost $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Redi Tlhabi, master of ceremonies for the event, along with thought leaders, corporates, start-ups and innovators from across South Africa will lead the summit by addressing the safety challenges South African’s face in their homes and on the streets.
Topics to be addressed will bring the most pressing issues facing the country to the fore, including safety for women, personal safety and commuter safety. This summit, with its innovative speakers and panelists, will contribute to the much-needed safety conversation while equipping guests with the thinking and knowledge needed to use current and new technology to help create a safer future for all South Africans.
“Safety for all users is a key priority for Uber, and we’re constantly exploring and building new products to enhance the safety of riders and drivers using the Uber app. Through the Summit, we are looking to ignite conversations and debate with like-minded individuals in order to identify future actions that can be developed into solutions to advance personal safety in South African cities,” explains Nduduzo Nyanda, Country Manager for Uber.
The Summit aims to create a collaborative discussion, whereby solutions can be conceptualised and developed across the country. Networking opportunities will allow participants to connect with like-minded leaders in the industry. A student component has also been brought into this event, as Uber will be hosting a Hackathon in Johannesburg on August 3 and 4 2019, which aims to engage students in Gauteng in developing digital solutions to safety issues which affect communities across South Africa. Winners of the Hackathon will present their technology solution to enhance personal safety at the Tech for Safety Summit.
Some of the speakers who will take the stage at this year’s summit include:
Ms. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Minister of Communications and Digital Technology
Sachin Kansal, Senior Director of Product Management at Uber
Tumi Sole, Founder of Country Duty
More speakers will be announced in due course. The Tech for Safety Summit will offer the highest quality conference experience with combined networking opportunities, for all students, corporates, technology leaders, start-ups and many more.
*Due to the limited availability of seats, early registration is strongly recommended to ensure access to the event. Send your full name, designation, company, email address and contact number to [email protected] DM


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AI algorithms are biased against skin with yellow hues
Google, Meta, and others test their algorithms for bias using standardized skin tone scales. Sony says those tools ignore the yellow and red hues at work in human skin color.
AFTER EVIDENCE SURFACED in 2018 that leading face-analysis algorithms were less accurate for people with darker skin, companies including Google and Meta adopted measures of skin tone to test the effectiveness of their AI software. New research from Sony suggests that those tests are blind to a crucial aspect of the diversity of human skin color.
By expressing skin tone using only a sliding scale from lightest to darkest or white to black, today’s common measures ignore the contribution of yellow and red hues to the range of human skin, according to Sony researchers. They found that generative AI systems, image-cropping algorithms, and photo analysis tools all struggle with yellower skin in particular. The same weakness could apply to a variety of technologies whose accuracy is proven to be affected by skin color, such as AI software for face recognition, body tracking, and deepfake detection, or gadgets like heart rate monitors and motion detectors.
“If products are just being evaluated in this very one-dimensional way, there’s plenty of biases that will go undetected and unmitigated,” says Alice Xiang, lead research scientist and global head of AI Ethics at Sony. “Our hope is that the work that we’re doing here can help replace some of the existing skin tone scales that really just focus on light versus dark.”
But not everyone is so sure that existing options are insufficient for grading AI systems. Ellis Monk, a Harvard University sociologist, says a palette of 10 skin tones offering light to dark options that he introduced alongside Google last year isn’t unidimensional. “I must admit being a bit puzzled by the claim that prior research in this area ignored undertones and hue,” says Monk, whose Monk Skin Tone scale Google makes available for others to use. “Research was dedicated to deciding which undertones to prioritize along the scale and at which points.” He chose the 10 skin tones on his scale based on his own studies of colorism and after consulting with other experts and people from underrepresented communities.
X. Eyeé, CEO of AI ethics consultancy Malo Santo and who previously founded Google’s skin tone research team, says the Monk scale was never intended as a final solution and calls Sony’s work important progress. But Eyeé also cautions that camera positioning affects the CIELAB color values in an image, one of several issues that make the standard a potentially unreliable reference point. “Before we turn on skin hue measurement in real-world AI algorithms—like camera filters and video conferencing—more work to ensure consistent measurement is needed,” Eyeé says.
The sparring over scales is more than academic. Finding appropriate measures of “fairness,” as AI researchers call it, is a major priority for the tech industry as lawmakers, including in the European Union and US, debate requiring companies to audit their AI systems and call out risks and flaws. Unsound evaluation methods could erode some of the practical benefits of regulations, the Sony researchers say.
On skin color, Xiang says the efforts to develop additional and improved measures will be unending. “We need to keep on trying to make progress,” she says. Monk says different measures could prove useful depending on the situation. “I’m very glad that there’s growing interest in this area after a long period of neglect,” he says. Google spokesperson Brian Gabriel says the company welcomes the new research and is reviewing it.


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Five Las Vegas used car salesmen who on a whim invested $50 in California’s Lotto 6/49 game won the $7.3-million jackpot in last Saturday’s drawing and will buy--you guessed it--new cars.
“Everybody’s out picking out their dream car,” Ted Dourbet, owner of Car Sultan Auto Sales, said Thursday afternoon.
Officials at California Lottery headquarters in Sacramento confirmed that the salesmen were the winners of the March 18 jackpot.
Dourbet, 35, said he and his four salesmen were returning from an auto auction in Anaheim when they bought the winning ticket in Victorville, Calif. He identified the four salesmen as Lance Hoffman, Ken Kirby, Chester Williams and Phil Phillips.


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Email in 2017: Dying platform or still a worthy investment?
Despite the rise of productivity tools such as Slack and Workplace, contributor Len Shneyder believes recent deals and funding events show that email is an increasingly important channel and will continue to grow.
Email has proven to be a solid investment; over the past few years, it’s seen over $365 million in investment across a broad range of email-centric companies. In 2016, we saw a flurry of funding events, exits, consolidation and divestments.
This series of events begs the question: Which way are the winds blowing for companies in the digital communications space? The “marketing clouds” appear to be getting bigger, but that hasn’t stopped the industry from growing new, highly specialized point solutions that address new channels, consumer behaviors and the swelling treasure trove of data available to marketers today.,
In 2015, SparkPost (then Message Systems) raised $21 million. Just recently, the company announced a $10 million round of funding.
Another high-profile funding event involved Iterable, a multi-channel marketing front end. Iterable raised $23 million in a series B funding round in December, demonstrating that there’s still space and interest from investors in the idea of marketing front ends and campaign management solutions.
The Iterable platform is a reimagining of the campaign management applications of old, but in a more efficient SaaS format. It addresses the multi-channel buying behavior of today’s hyper-connected consumer through multiple message delivery options, including email, SMS, push and social, while providing a CRM and workflows to achieve a universal view of the customer.
Funding events like Iterable further prove that customer-centric marketing applications are very much in vogue with investors and customers alike because no one has achieved a monopoly in the marketplace. My own company, SendGrid, announced a $33 million D round of funding to drive growth and the expansion of our Marketing front end.
In 2013, Marketo raised $80 million in an IPO. In March of 2016, Marketo was taken off the market through a private equity acquisition. Just recently, another private equity firm announced a large acquisition of Marketo stock, proving that all aspects of the digital communications world, even those that have been traded publicly and privately, from ESPs (email service providers) to sales and marketing automation, are still highly prized commodities.
Companies and investors alike see email as a fundamental and increasingly important channel. The technology and marketing channel boasts an incredibly high ROI (somewhere in the neighborhood of $31 for every $1 of investment, according to the Direct Marketing Association).
Despite productivity tools such as Slack, HipChat and Workplace, email’s year-over-year growth is unmatched, and ironically, all of these productivity tools rely on email as the basic way to establish user identity, login and notifications.
Commerce of any sort relies on email as a system of record. Sure, Slack may disrupt the business world down the road. And Workplace by Facebook will tap the collective familiarity of a generation that grew up on it. But email is at the very core of all of our online commerce.
According to a Harris Interactive and Listrak survey, more than a quarter (27 percent) reported that they were “extremely or very willing” to receive additional promotional emails each week from select retailers if they were personalized based on past shopping habits, with more than eight in 10 (82 percent) at least somewhat willing to do so.
Back in 2004, Experian announced its acquisition of CheetahMail, an email service provider. It was viewed as a pretty bold move back then. By some accounts, Experian might have been the first marketing cloud provider. Its in-house data, combined with an email execution and delivery platform, made for a potent mix of services.
In November 2016, Experian announced that it would be selling off its email and cross-channel marketing division, effectively CheetahMail. Although there have been sell-offs of marketing applications, such as the recent divestment by Teradata of their marketing applications business unit (formerly Aprimo), this doesn’t seem as active as the buyer frenzy that has surrounded email over the last six or so years.
What we can imply is that private equity firms such as Marlin are bullish on email and marketing, given they now own both BlueHornet and Aprimo in their portfolio. What are investors and observers left to think? Well, as in baseball, anything can happen in the marketing world — and it often does.
In November, Oracle announced its acquisition of Dyn, a DNS (Domain Name System) services and DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) mitigation platform that also has a transactional email platform. This marks the third email platform to find its way into the Oracle marketing cloud. Oracle first acquired Eloqua, and then Responsys.
As a “marketing cloud” provider, Oracle has something of a complete-looking picture: Eloqua’s sales and marketing automation platform is complemented by Responsys’ retail-oriented platform and rounded out by the PushIO acquisition, giving the cloud a native mobile push component.
The newly acquired Dyn platform imbues Oracle with an API-driven infrastructure to power transactional email (their own or others). This configuration is replicated across the industry by the likes of IBM, Salesforce and Adobe, all of which push their own variation of the suite — a one-stop marketing shop that can transform the art of marketing into the science of engagement because they cover every consumer touch point.
The marketing mix is becoming more complex
As email approaches a near-real-time marketing channel, companies have to evolve how they think of the medium and refine their approach to it. Take, for instance, companies like eBay and Etsy that use purely home-grown campaign management and segmentation tools. These highly complex, data-driven use cases could never be serviced through a marketing cloud or a suite of “one size fits all” tools.
On the one hand, neither company is a traditional retailer with an SKU system and regular, recurring stock. They are based on unique catalogs that constantly roll over and expire. Treating consumers as largely featureless segments just based on one or two demographic criteria would stifle growth and shrink revenue.
The complexity of ecommerce and other internet-born services companies has helped buoy point solutions or platforms that can address massively scaled problems without attempting to regulate or integrate every point along the way. Take, for instance, email analytics company Email Co-Pilot, recently acquired by Return Path, that focused on the blowback and dynamics of messaging at scale. And scale, mind you, is on everyone’s mind.
Email is a highly instrumented channel that provides massive analytics capabilities. Combining the data that arises through the course of normal email operations with other repositories means that even before messaging is deployed, scaling problems around analysis, segmentation and targeting have to be solved before tackling the initial problem of deployment at scale.
Digital messaging in 2017 and beyond
According to the Chief Martech Infographic, the martech/ad tech space is composed of 3,874 companies; from 2015 to 2016, the year-over-year growth rate of new businesses in these verticals has been 87 percent! As large as the marketing clouds have grown, new point solutions are driving massive excitement from investors and companies alike.
The inbox should be treated with the careful application of email authentication. Companies like Valimail have proven that scaling email security has a place in this world through a $12 million funding round in 2016. Given the rise of phishing attacks in 2016, using email in a secure way will separate mature from immature solution providers, given not only the investment in the channel, but its reach and ultimate ROI.
In 2016, Gmail introduced an icon for users to differentiate between encrypted and non-encrypted email directly into the email client. There’s no question security will be top of mind in 2017.
What’s important to recognize here is how pervasive email is. Simply put, email will grow, and it will grow quite a bit. The number of companies solving messaging problems will also grow, and they’ll all be engaged in creating a more secure and real-time inbox along the way to ensure that the channel thrives.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


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Much of Qualcomm's high-profile efforts these days are devoted to producing mobile chipset for the phones that will connect to 5G networks being built out by global carriers. But 4G, also known as LTE, isn't going away anytime soon — in some parts of the world, it will remain the fastest way to connect. And so Qualcomm is still producing chipsets that deliver a lot of the features found on its other processors, only without 5G connectivity.
To that end, the chip maker has unveiled a trio of new mobile processors that should bolster the performance of phones that aren't built to work with 5G networks. The Snapdragon 720G, Snapdragon 662 and Snapdragon 460 promise to bring a new artificial intelligence engine, support for improved camera features, faster performance and support for Wi-Fi 6 connectivity to midrange and budget phones coming out this year.
This is bigger news in other parts of the world, where LTE will continue to be how people connect with cellular networks for some time. (There's a reason Qualcomm announced these new chipsets at a Jan. 21 event in India.) But Qualcomm executives told us the mobile processors announced today could also find their way into U.S.-bound phones, so if you tend to shop for lower-priced smartphones instead of high-priced flagship handsets, it's worth knowing what the Snapdragon 720G, 662 and 460 are expected to deliver.
With all three processing platforms, Qualcomm says it focused on connectivity, artificial intelligence and entertainment. If you followed last month's unveiling of the Snapdragon 865 for 5G-ready flagship phones, you'll recognize many of those same guiding principles. All three chipsets work with Wi-Fi 6, the wireless networking standard that promises faster speeds as well as more efficient handling of multiple devices clamoring for bandwidth. Each system-on-chip features a Hexagon digital signal processor — the first time that's been included with one of the chip maker's 4 series chipsets for budget phones — which should mean better AI-powered experiences across a range of phones.
Here's a closer look at what each new Snapdragon processor promises:
Snapdragon 720G: Like the Snapdragon 765G introduced in December, the Snapdragon 720G is geared toward gaming. (Unlike the 765G, though, there's no integrated 5G modem on this system-on-chip.) That means Snapdragon Elite Gaming hardware and software optimizations normally found on higher-end phones will be a part of Snapdragon 720G-powered handsets.
Other features in the Snapdragon 720G include Qualcomm's 5th generation AI Engine, the ability to capture 4K video or 192-megapixel photos with the chipset's Spectra 350L ISP and a Snapdragon X15 LTE modem that supports download speeds of up to 800 Mbps. The chip's Kryo 465 CPU promises a 60% performance boost over Qualcomm's previous generation while the Adreno 618 GPU touts a 75% performance improvement — again, a nice boost for gaming-focused handsets.
Snapdragon 662: Phones running on the Snapdragon 662 platform will be able to support camera arrays with three lenses, thanks to the Spectra 340T, which is also supports the HEIF file format. (You'll be able to store photos at half the file size as before.) You'll also get a 3rd generation AI engine and an X11 modem capable of 390 Mbps download speeds.
Snapdragon 460: As with the Snapdragon 662, the Snapdragon 460 will be able to support triple camera setups, thanks to a Spectra 340 ISP. And this will be the first Series-4 chipset to feature a Hexagon DSP, adding the 3rd-gen Qualcomm AI engine.
The story here, though, sounds like it will be performance boosts. The Kryo 240 CPU should get a 70% performance boost over the pervious generation while the Adreno 610 GPU is aiming for a 60% improvement in graphics performance.
Snapdragon 720G, 626 and 460: When they're coming
Qualcomm says that the Snapdragon 720G is already available and will show up in phones during the first three months of 2020. Expect phones featuring the Snapdragon 662 and 460 to appear by the end of the year.
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Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.


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Despite a recent facelift, Walker’s Court is still home to some of the last of Soho’s establishments from the years of neon lights. The Tattoo sign still shines above the door of Diamond Jacks, which has been offering body art since 1985; it was founded by Dennis Cockell who still works with the current ownerContinue reading “Inked in Soho: Diamond Jack’s Tattoo Parlour”
COVER STORY: NEW SILVER GENERATION… It was earlier this year that I met up with model and fashion icon, Antony Fitzgerald for an al fresco lunch in Soho. We discussed our mutual passions for promoting diversity, yet challenging tokenism. I offered Antony free rein to be creative director and guest editor of our first fashion feature… here’sContinue reading “My Soho Times Autumn 2021”
The final step of England’s roadmap out of lockdown is in sight – 19th July! With Soho being the hub of London’s LGBTQ+ scene once offering a diversity of nightlife entertainment, Tim Baros questions the disappearance of some of Soho’s most infamous and discreet gay and lesbian venues… “where have all of Soho’s LGBT barsContinue reading “Where Have All of Soho’s LGBT Bars & Clubs Gone?”
Pride Month started on a colourful note with the newly opened Co-op returning to Berwick Street after six years. The prelaunch event offered a sneak peek inside the store and its many amenities.
There’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel now that lockdown restrictions have eased! To celebrate being able to eat out with friends again, we invited vegan model, actress and skater @estellethegazelle to try the Crispy Shallot Burger; a bespoke vegan patty created in collaboration with Chef Neil Rankin, topped with smoky cheddar, beer-marinated crispyContinue reading “Shake up post-lockdown with Shake Shack’s Crispy Shallot Burger – all 100% vegan!”
Welcome back to all the businesses, and visitors into Soho!
We’re well on the way to restaurants re-opening, but we know not everyone will be ready to be out in the streets to dine. Which is why we love the Restaurant Kits concept – DIY kits from your favourite restaurants delivered straight to your door, nationwide!
You’ve survived a long harsh winter – now it’s time to celebrate the warmer months ahead! We’ve discovered the quickest route to the tropical rays of Hawaii… through Aloha65 spirit drink infused with fresh pineapple, lemon, ginger, scotch bonnet chillies and carefully selected herbs and spices!
The Soho Girl gives a sneak peak inside the My Soho Times spring issue… our biggest issue yet! #TheTakeawayIssue
Flash back to our autumn issue when Jason Gale, founder of the London Lifestyle Awards®, wrote about the amazing ‘bouncebackability’ of Soho’s hospitality businesses… Little did we know the we’d be back in another lockdown (or two) before long. Let’s hope the roadmap is the light at the end the tunnel, finally.


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Earlier this month, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released its annual Department of Labor disclosures showing a discouraging trend for the union: While it continued to throw money at its multi-million dollar campaign to organize fast food restaurants, membership isn’t increasing notably.
The union will continue to throw good money after bad with another series of demonstrations today, and this time the target has a name. The Associated Press reports that the SEIU’s latest protests will directly target McDonald’s, which is conveniently the company currently under attack from the NLRB. The SEIU’s organizing director explains the game to the AP:
Scott Courtney, national organizing director for the SEIU, said he thinks it’s possible that McDonald’s might consider recognition of a workers organization in the next couple of years, which could prompt Burger King and Wendy’s to do the same with their workers.
Allow us to translate: The SEIU is ramping up a substantial corporate campaign into which the union has already invested up to $80 million over the past four years, with a stated goal to get franchising companies to concede to unionization of the franchisees’ employees by card check.
The potential payoffs are substantial: Manhattan Institute researcher Diana Furchtgott-Roth estimated that unionizing half of McDonald’s employees could fetch the SEIU $100 million in dues and initiation fees each year. Fast food joints have notoriously high turnover, and each new fry cook could net a local SEIU between $25-$200 in initiation fees alone, before even assessing one pay period’s normal dues (using 1199/SEIU and SEIU 32’s reported initiation fee rates from their Department of Labor disclosures).
For now, the campaign enriches campaign consultants like Berlin Rosen that organize the demonstrations. But SEIU has a long-term goal of getting its hands on the paychecks of fast food workers. Fortunately for those employees, the effort doesn’t appear to be working.


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It looks like Lenovo is bringing the faux carbon-fiber styling of its laptops to a Motorola handset.
The Nothing Phone 1 is heading to the US, although not yet to the entire public. Founder Carl Pei tweeted this morning that the US will be part of a “testing program” for Nothing OS 1.5 Beta, the handset maker’s custom Android 13 software.It’s Pei’s second pu…
Gone are the days when you need to plug your phone into your Chromebook to transfer files. Now, you can just use Phone Hub to do that and so much more.


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Competition Bureau invites feedback on big data white paper
September 18, 2017 – OTTAWA, ON – Competition Bureau
As part of its commitment to engage with Canadians on emerging issues, the Competition Bureau has published a white paper on big data for public consultation.
Recent global developments in technology have allowed firms to harness data in ways that drive innovation and quality improvements across a range of industries. At the same time, the use of big data by firms may raise challenges related to competition law enforcement.
Through this white paper, the Bureau aims to spark a discussion with interested parties on how these challenges can be addressed to support innovation and competition in the marketplace.
The Bureau continues to be vigilant regarding new competition issues in the digital economy. The Bureau’s experience in recent and ongoing cases, including investigations into Google’s online search as well as the Toronto Real Estate Board’s restrictions on its member agents’ access to important data, has informed the white paper.
Interested parties are invited to provide their views on the white paper no later than November 17, 2017 by completing the online form, or by sending them to the coordinates below:
Competition Promotion Branch
50 Victoria Street
Responses will be posted on the Bureau’s website, unless it is specifically requested that they be kept confidential.
The Bureau plans to release a concise summary of insights informed by these public comments in the near future.
- Competition Bureau completes extensive investigation of Google
- Bureau welcomes Tribunal order addressing anti-competitive Toronto real estate practices
- 2017‑2018 Annual Plan: Competition is key—Creating the conditions for innovation
- The Competition Bureau — "Enhancing Transparency"
- Public Consultations
For media enquiries, please contact:
For general enquiries, please contact:
Toll free: 1-800-348-5358
TTY (hearing impaired): 1-866-694-8389
The Competition Bureau, as an independent law enforcement agency, ensures that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace.
- Date modified:


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Archos TV: everything you hoped the Apple TV would be
by Brad Linder, posted Jun 14th 2007 6:56PM
Archos is branching out from its portable media player roots. While the company unveiled an update to its line of portable media player/recorders, the big news as far as we're concerned is that Archos is getting into the set top box game with the Archos TV Plus.
Here's what we know about the Archos TV Plus so far:
- Includes hard drives ranging from 80Gb to 250GB
- Includes UB 2.0, WiFi, and Ethernet connections
- HDMI and RGB inputs and outputs
- Functions as a standalone PVR
And of course, you can synchronize the Archos TV Plus with Archos portable media players. It looks like the Archos TV Plus will be available for €220 - €300, or $300 to $400 U.S.


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Here's a new shot of our popular Facebook Table Tents! The ORIGINAL "FollowMeSticker" brand! Features custom username (in this case, USTA) and custom generated trackable QR code. Made from sturdy plastic and sticker inserts!
Success in small business never comes just by wishing for it. But thanks to the new "Small Business, Big Wishes" campaign from Intuit's Love Our Local Business project, numerous small business owners will have their wishes granted in time for the new year


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With Passkey in iCloud Keychain, the iPhone maker advocates passwordless authentication with Microsoft and Google.
it’s part of the storyOur full coverage of the latest news from Apple HQ.
Apple has started testing Passkey, a new authentication technology it says is as easy to use as a password but is much more secure. Part of iCloud Keychain, a trial version of the technology will come with iPhone, iPad and Mac later this year.
To set up an account on a website or app using a passkey, you first choose a username for the new account, then use FaceID or Touch ID to confirm that it’s actually you who’s using the device. are using. You never choose a password. Your device handles the creation and storage of the passkey, which iCloud Keychain synchronizes across all your Apple devices.
To use the passkey for subsequent authentication, you’ll be prompted to confirm your username and verify yourself with FaceID or Touch ID. Developers will need to update their login processes to support Passkey, but this is an adaptation of existing WebAuthn technology.
“Since it’s just one tap to sign in, it’s easier, faster, and more secure than almost all common forms of authentication today,” Apple authentication experience engineer Garrett Davidson said Wednesday at the company’s annual conference..
The latest example of the growing interest in passkeys isIt’s designed to be more secure than the list of passwords you tap on the side of your monitor. Traditional password security suffers from shortcomings, primarily our inability to create and remember unique ones. So Apple is working with Microsoft, Google and other companies to come up with alternatives.
Moving beyond passwords is a significant effort, given how ubiquitous they are and how difficult it is for businesses and consumers to adopt the changes. However, in an age when our accounts are at risk from cyberattacks and phishing scams, this is important.
“The most common security vulnerability today is still bad passwords,” Jane Fitzpatrick, senior vice president of core systems at Google, said at the Google I/O developer conference in May. “Finally,“
Has over 200 million account holders. By comparison, the security site Have I Been Pwned has matched more than 613 million stolen passwords. The site’s operator, Troy Hunt, is an advisor to Microsoft and began linking passwords discovered by the FBI in May.
The technology behind Apple’s passkeys is built on WebAuthn technology that originated from the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance, a consortium that is overhauling authentication with hardware security keys. Apple’s approach includes a fundamental part of WebAuthn, a combination of public and private encryption keys already built deep into communications security and many other established processes.
The technology only works with Apple devices, but Apple recognizes that passkey’s success requires availability on Windows computers and Android smartphones as well. To this end, Apple is talking to industry partners in FIDO and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) about the technology.
stop phishing attacks
Phishing is a problem that FIDO, WebAuthn, and Apple’s passkeys are designed to fix. The login technology is tied to a specific app or website, so it doesn’t work if someone tries to fool you into signing in on a fake.
Such an approach means that the servers that handle logon no longer need to be filled with a treasure trove of secret logon information that entices hackers. “Servers are a less valuable target because there are no authentication secrets for an attacker to steal,” Apple’s Davidson said.
Hardware security keys also block phishing, but come with a number of drawbacks, for example the need to carry them around at all times and the difficulty of recovering account logon privileges if the fob is lost.
Passkeys get around both problems, Apple says. Everyone already carries their phone, face and fingers. Accounts can be recovered through Apple’s iCloud Keychain if a user’s devices are lost, damaged or stolen. It’s not yet clear how that aspect of the passkey will work beyond Apple devices. (Apple encrypts iCloud Keychain data, and re-creating it without a device may require a previously used password.)
Apple does not view Passkey as a form of two-factor authentication, a robust login security approach that typically combines passwords with other authentication steps such as a biometric scan. But the company believes that the passkeys are strong enough to obviate the need for two-factor authentication.
Apple is making a preview version of Passkey available in future developer builds of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. It is disabled by default while Apple and external developers test the technology.


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In Tough Financial Times, It's Good to Know Someone Is Making a Buck
Overdraft-Fee Revenue Up 35 Percent, Study Says Bank Customers Paid $23.7 Billion In Charges in 2008
By Nancy Trejos Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The revenue that banks and credit unions generate by letting customers overspend their accounts, then charging them a fee, increased 35 percent in two years, the Center for Responsible Lending reports in a study released Tuesday.
Culling figures gathered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the consumer advocacy group found that customers paid $23.7 billion in overdraft fees in 2008, up $6.2 billion from two years before.
In the past 12 months, an estimated 51 million Americans spent more than they had in their checking accounts, triggering either an overdraft or a non-sufficient-funds fee, the study found.
--read entire article-- _________________________________________
Well, that's a hunk of change, no doubt about it. 51 million of us. That's a hell of a profit base, $450 or so on average across almost 14% of the pop…


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Every year at Cannes, stars take a break from fêting films to get serious (well, and keep partying) at the Cinema Against Aids Gala to benefit amfAR. Featuring a curated runway show by ex Vogue EIC Carine Roitfeld, the show is a celebration of fashion and luxury, that provides a pretty big pay-out to the cause.
It’s no wonder that known philanthropists like Leonardo DiCaprio and Sharon Stone were in attendance this year. But aside from the one fan who reportedly paid over $1.5 million for the chance to fly to space with Leo, the crowd was there to see all manner of gilded get-ups tromp the runway.
The Ultimate Gold Collection Fashion Show was live streamed exclusively on LoveGold.com yesterday, but if you missed it, see the it in all its bedazzled glory below. Karlie Kloss high-fived her way down the runway in Pucci, and other catwalkers like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Alessandra Ambrosio and Roitfeld’s daughter, Julia Restoin Roitfeld were among the lucky ladies who wore hand-selected sparkling garb by some of the biggest names in the game.
We don’t want to play favorites, but we keep coming back to the male model in a midriff top by Thom Browne. See the whole runway in the gallery below, and let us know which look you love the most.
Next, see the all-black show Roitfeld put on last year.
this is some kind of spaceship or something.


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Check out the latest news from GoShift including the official launch of the online service and being finalists in the AGLIM awards for innovation.


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The network provider for Apple’s wildly popular smartphone has struggled at points to deal with usage overload, notably at this year’s South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. While that may be bad news for the provider and its customers, it’s a business booster for a company like CommScope.
AT&Tneeds to build out its wireless infrastructure to meet the demand from iPhone users, especially with the newest iteration, the 3G S, now on the market. Cramer thinks that CommScope, thanks to its acquisition of Andrew, will get the call. But his CTV endorsement is much bigger than just a play on AT&T.
Regular Mad Money viewers know how bullish Cramer has been on the China’s expected $40 billion wireless stimulus, much of which will go toward infrastructure. Well, CommScope should benefit from that rollout, as well as one in India. Management said at its last investor presentation that the first quarter alone saw 45 million new Indian customers come on board, and they expect 100 million by year’s end. Plus, there’s the US broadband build-out, from which CommScope, along with Cisco Systems and Ciena, should see increased business as well.
Admittedly, Cramer urged a recent caller to go with Ciena or Cisco over CommScope, thinking that either of the first two were better investments on US infrastructure spending. But that was before he knew about the acquisition of Andrew, supplier for sophisticated networks, in late 2007. The move made CTV a major player in the continuing worldwide adoption of and growing access to the Internet.


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How Hybrid Cars Qualify for Auto Insurance Discounts
Insurance carriers and the IRS offer incentives to buy and drive a hybrid
DENVER, September 1, 2008 — Although the sales of hybrid cars has continued to rise steadily over the past few years, this summer’s $4 a gallon gas prices and expectation of $6 a gallon has increased the popularity of alternative fuel vehicles. In addition to saving money on gas, the added benefit to owning a hybrid car is saving on your auto insurance.
Hybrid Car Owners Save Money
A number of auto insurance carriers are offering up to a 10% discount on hybrid car insurance premiums, which puts more money in your pocket every year, whether you own or lease your more fuel-efficient vehicle.
What people may not know is that the government also wants to increase hybrid car sales. The IRS has been offering tax credits to hybrid car owners that range from a few hundred dollars to over two thousand dollars, depending on the make and model.
Although some hybrid tax credits are being reduced on certain foreign made hybrid cars, as more American made models are introduced into the market, the IRS has responded with new tax credits for the Mercury Mariner 4WD Hybrid, GMC Sierra hybrid trucks and Chevrolet Silverado hybrids, along with the Ford Escape Hybrid 2WD and 4WD models, the Saturn Vue Green Line and the Aura Hybrid.
Progress in Hybrid Cars Brings Down Price
Evolution in hybrid technologies has not only increased efficiency, its helping to reduce production costs, making the hybrid cars more affordable. For example, Honda announced that the hybrid powertrain in their new Honda Civic Hybrid 2009 will cost half of the original model, which will bring down the MSRP as they go after the Toyota Prius marketshare.
As more auto makers introduce new hybrid models, competition will increase and car buyers will have more options for retaining their current lifestyle while driving a more fuel-efficient vehicle.
See how much you could save today on your car insurance. Get your free auto insurance quotes today!


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The Grammy Awards airing this Sunday night on CBS (Jan. 31) plans to tap into 3D technology to highlight a tribute segment to one of its biggest stars who died since the last Grammy ceremonies a year ago, Michael Jackson.
CBS is teaming exclusively with Target outlets nationwide as the retailer plans to provide several million free 3D glasses that will be required for viewers to see the segment in 3D. Target has been offering the glasses all this week, and will continue to distribute them at their stores (while supplies last) up until the time of the Sunday broadcast (8 p.m. EST).
CBS said the Jackson tribute is being produced as a sort of "3D mini-movie" that will feature primarily video for the previous Jackson hit single "Earth Song" — composed by Jackson with a strong environmental theme originally to serve as the centerpiece for his "This Is It" tour. Jackson died of cardiac arrest June 25 in Los Angeles during final rehearsals for the world tour. (Much of the rehearsal footage was released in a recent motion picture, although the Grammy people said the "Earth Song" video portion has never been screened in public until now.)
Taking part in the 3D Jackson tribute will be past Grammy winners Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood, Usher, and the voice of Jackson himself.
Grammy officials said Sunday's broadcast will mark the first time a major awards show has aired any segments in 3D, although the music show is not unaccustomed to technical innovation. The 2003 Grammys telecast marked the first time an awards show was aired in HD and 5.1 surround sound.
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An innovative antimicrobial cleaning system developed by Panaz, a leading manufacturer of technical antimicrobial fabrics, is at the heart of a new cleaning regimen adopted by the UK’s largest hotel chain to minimise the risk of surfaces spreading Co
Independently proven effective against 99.99 per cent of enveloped viruses, bacterial and fungal microbes including coronavirus, MRSA, norovirus and E.coli, Shieldplus by Panaz is helping to regain trust among patrons and staff across the healthcare, hospitality, workspace, cruise and education sectors.
The underlying technology, used successfully for over 15 years in the healthcare industry, has been further developed and bottled for use as a multi-surface spray, Shieldplus Protect, and as a laundry additive, Shieldplus Laundry.
Beyond the antimicrobial protection, Shieldplus is helping facilities to save money on excessive cleaning during the pandemic.
Unlike standard antimicrobial cleaners, which evaporate after application, Shieldplus Protect forms a chemical bond with the surface, allowing it to remain 99.99 per cent effective for up to 90 days.
Shieldplus Laundry meanwhile offers protection to clothing and bedding for up to 14 wash cycles.
“Shieldplus was originally developed as a key weapon in the fight against hospital acquired infections and has been used extensively in hospitals throughout the world. We quickly realised its potential benefit in helping to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Panaz chief executive Tony Attard.
“Unlike silver-ion or other heavy metal technologies based on poison, Shieldplus is non-toxic and does not leach into the environment,” he added.
Since launch, the innovative new technology has been successfully used in a range of settings including major international hotel groups, education facilities, theatres and local authorities who have been able to save considerable time and money on their new Covid-era cleaning regimes without compromising on protection.
The product is available in a range of formats and sizes, including 750ml trigger spray bottles and 5L bulk cans.


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On March 10 Mayor Eric Adams set forth a bold new vision for the city's economic recovery. Six months later the city's small-business ecosystem is evolving with lightning speed. New shops and restaurants emerge every day in the place of vacant spaces, tourists are returning at prepandemic levels, and nightlife is popping.
This is not an accident. The city, with unprecedented interagency coordination, is mobilizing to forge a full and inclusive economic recovery centered on the growth of our small businesses. For example, the city already identified 118 regulations to reform that unduly burden small businesses. This effort alone will put millions of dollars back into the hands of small businesses each year. And that's just the start.
At the city Department of Small Business Services, we launched the NYC Business Express Services Team— a program that provides small-business owners with one-on-one assistance with navigating the web of city regulatory agencies that are similarly updating their processes to put small businesses first.


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By MICHAEL VIRTANEN Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) вЂ” an company that is online losing Montel Williams as the celebrity pitchman in nyc while agreeing to quit producing leads within the state for pay day loans with rates of interest often topping 1,000 %, regulators stated Tuesday.
A study discovered Las Vegas-based Selling supply LLC, conducting business as MoneyMutual, advertised unlawful loans online to New York residents, therefore the business will probably pay $2.1 million in charges, the Department of Financial Services said.
Williams, a previous marine whom hosted вЂњThe Montel Williams ShowвЂќ for longer than ten years, finalized a permission purchase saying heвЂ™ll stop endorsing MoneyMutual loans in ny, it stated.
Insight by Kodak Alaris: professionals offer understanding of exactly just just how states plus the IT industry are working with genuine ID in this executive briefing that is exclusive.
вЂњUsing Mr. WilliamsвЂ™s reputation being a trusted celebrity endorser, MoneyMutual advertised loans to struggling customers with sky-high interest prices вЂ” often more than 1,300 percent вЂ” that trapped New Yorkers in destructive rounds of financial obligation,вЂќ department Superintendent Ben Lawsky stated in a declaration. вЂњThe business made unique efforts to focus on the greater than 55 per cent of the clients who had been вЂrepeat customersвЂ™ вЂ” including so-called вЂGoldвЂ™ clients who took away a fresh loan to settle a past loan.вЂќ
A quick payday loan is a short-term advance against a borrowerвЂ™s paycheck and often has a interest rate that is high.
New YorkвЂ™s interest restriction is 16 per cent.
The permission order, also finalized Monday by attempting to sell supply CEO Glenn McKay, stated the organization acknowledged on its internet site that the conventional percentage that is annual for a 14-day loan is вЂњsomewhere between 261 % and 1,304 per cent.вЂќ


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SEATTLE — Amazon has eclipsed Walmart to come to be the world’s premier retail vendor outdoors China, in accordance to company and business details, a milestone in the change from brick-and-mortar to on line buying that has improved how people today invest in almost everything from Teddy Grahams to teddy bears.
Propelled in section by surging desire during the pandemic, people today put in extra than $610 billion on Amazon over the 12 months ending in June, according to Wall Street estimates compiled by the money analysis firm FactSet. Walmart on Tuesday posted sales of $566 billion for the 12 months ending in July.
Alibaba, the huge on the net Chinese retailer, is the world’s top rated seller. Neither Amazon nor Walmart is a dominant player in China.
In racing previous Walmart, Amazon has dethroned just one of the most thriving — and feared — firms of modern decades. Walmart perfected a thriving massive-box product of retailing that squeezed every single attainable penny out of its expenditures, which drove down charges and vanquished competition.
But even with all of that effectiveness and power, the quest to dominate today’s retail environment is currently being gained on the web. And no firm has taken improved edge of that than Amazon. Certainly, the company’s shipping and delivery (many items land on doorsteps in a day or two) and extensive range initial drew prospects to on the internet searching, and it has stored them shopping for much more there at any time due to the fact. It has also produced Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder, one of the richest folks in the world.
“It is a historic moment,” reported Juozas Kaziukenas, founder of the Marketplace Pulse, a investigation firm. “Walmart has been all over for so lengthy, and now Amazon comes about with a various model and replaces them as a No. 1.”
Wall Avenue firms had been expecting this retail baton to alter palms in the coming years. But the pandemic accelerated the timeline, as people today stuck at residence relied on deliveries. Walmart’s product sales rose sharply all through the pandemic, but it has not matched Amazon, which has added hundreds of new warehouses and hired about 500,000 employees considering that the begin of final year.
Walmart’s income grew $24 billion in the final year, the firm said Tuesday. In the course of around the identical interval, the whole worth of all the things men and women acquired on Amazon rose by almost $200 billion, analysts estimate.
Even though the figures are calculated otherwise, analysts on a regular basis use them as a rough comparison. Understanding the complete value of Walmart’s product sales is straightforward, due to the fact they practically all occur from its own stock and are disclosed publicly every quarter. But analysts should determine an estimate of the benefit of Amazon’s all round profits for the reason that most of what individuals get on its site are items owned and listed by outdoors merchants. The company publicly reviews only the fees it usually takes from people transactions.
With Amazon’s achievement has come larger scrutiny. And the firm has started to get numerous of the exact grievances — in excess of its procedure of personnel and influence on community and national economies — that Walmart confronted for the duration of its most important periods of expansion extra than a decade back.
“The Big Negative Wolf is Amazon now,” mentioned Barbara Kahn, a professor of advertising at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton University of Business enterprise who has composed various publications on retailing.
Amazon and Walmart declined to comment.
Around the last century, pretty number of firms could stake a declare to world’s biggest retailer. The grocery chain A.&P. was this sort of a force that antitrust authorities pursued it in the 1940s. Sears overtook A.&P. as the largest retailer in the early 1960s by focusing on middle-course purchasers in the suburbs and growing the department store design.
Then arrived Walmart.
In 1962, Sam Walton founded the retailer in compact-town Arkansas. Mr. Walton experienced “a legitimate enthusiasm — some would say obsession — to win,” he wrote in his autobiography, and he offered a massive wide range of products at lower prices, such as ultimately contemporary food stuff. But his genuine innovation was constructing a vast logistics community that operated with these precision and effectiveness that it crushed many opponents that couldn’t contend.
By the 1990s, Walmart experienced surpassed Sears. And then it stored developing, opening thousands of retailers and obtaining other shops across the earth.
Just as Mr. Walton started Walmart as Sears was ascendant, Mr. Bezos started Amazon in the early 1990s as Walmart was king.
Expert Hariharan, who labored on Amazon’s retail organization, mentioned Amazon experienced eclipsed Walmart by playing a diverse activity. Walmart has hardened its lock on bodily merchants and the grocery small business. But shopping online is escalating much quicker than in physical shops, even as it accounts for only about a seventh of U.S. retail revenue. Amazon captures 41 cents of every dollar used on the net in the United States, although Walmart requires just 7 cents, according to eMarketer.
“They have their very own turfs that they are the kings of,” claimed Mr. Hariharan, who still left Amazon and eventually started CommerceIQ, which advises makes like Colgate and Kimberly-Clark on e-commerce.
Amazon has ascended in aspect for the reason that it opened its site to permit third-get together sellers checklist their merchandise alongside things that Amazon buys and resells itself. This marketplace considerably enhanced the assortment of out there goods. Almost two million sellers offer you items on Amazon, and they account for 56 per cent of the merchandise sold.
The marketplace will make it harder to ascertain Amazon’s genuine impact in the retail market. The business captures and experiences only the costs it expenses sellers to record, ship and market their goods, not the complete revenue that flows through its company. The design is additional worthwhile, but makes significantly less earnings.
“It will make Amazon surface scaled-down,” Mr. Kaziukenas said. “They are obfuscating their reality.”
That has led analysts at expenditure banking companies like J.P. Morgan, BMO Money Markets and Cowen to estimate what is known as the “gross items price,” calculating how much consumers purchase on Amazon, regardless of whether or not it arrives from Amazon’s inventory or from a seller’s. The analysts make the estimates based mostly on details the enterprise releases, these kinds of as profits it collects from sellers and the marketplace’s share of whole models sold, and their personal investigation. FactSet compiles and averages the estimates.
In the previous 12 months, Amazon noted complete retail revenue of $390 billion. But overall products revenue, including 3rd-celebration transactions, was approximately 60 p.c greater, in accordance to the analysts’ estimates.
Amazon has not on a regular basis disclosed its gross merchandise worth, but in 2019, struggling with antitrust force, Mr. Bezos shared the evaluate — then $277 billion — for the 1st time as a way to show that the third-party sellers have been rising more rapidly than Amazon’s direct retail business enterprise. “Third-social gathering sellers are kicking our first-get together butt,” he wrote.
When Mr. Bezos testified in Congress previous summer season, he pointed to Walmart’s dimensions as proof of a aggressive retail industry. “We contend in opposition to huge, set up gamers, like Target, Costco, Kroger and, of class, Walmart,” he explained, “a organization a lot more than twice Amazon’s size” — presumably referring to Walmart’s profits.
Walmart is continue to the most significant private employer in the United States, with 1.6 million personnel. And it sells a lot more in the United States than Amazon, while J.P. Morgan estimates that Amazon will surpass Walmart in the United States upcoming year.
All through the pandemic, Walmart honed its means to use its retailers as mini-distribution centers, exactly where shoppers drive to retrieve their invest in “curbside,” a considerably much less expensive way to satisfy on the web orders than supply. On Tuesday, Walmart claimed it expected to generate $75 billion in total on the internet sales this 12 months. The enterprise has been increasing its exertion to create its personal market, but the huge majority of its online income however appear from its own stock, Mr. Kaziukenas mentioned.
Edward Yruma, a retail analyst and taking care of director at KeyBanc Cash Marketplaces, stated Amazon had only started to appear to grips with the fact of its sizing.
“Walmart is big, and they know it,” he said. Amazon has very long performed the role of the upstart, even as it became huge. Just this summertime, when it currently used about 1.3 million people today, it extra a new management basic principle that acknowledged the responsibility of its scale.
“We started out in a garage,” the new principle starts off, “but we’re not there anymore.”


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Double Fine has delivered another seasonal update for Psychonauts 2, a game that began pre-production sometime during the Coolidge Administration. Enjoy below the studio's unflinching Spring 2021 progress report, complete with voyeuristic peeks at the team's Zoom meetings, tantalizing new gameplay footage, and an exciting glimpse at the music recording sessions featuring not only Peter McConnell, but his brothers-in-arms Michael Land and Clint Bajakian.
Oh, and Tim draws parallels between the sequel and Monkey Island 2, showing that he still knows how to push Mojo's buttons.
Beyond that, Psychonauts 2 has also landed the cover story of the latest issue of Game Informer. Digital and...linear?...versions of the magazine can be purchased right here. And do check out this accompanying video showing off one of Raz's new Psi-powers:
The Game Informer preview is apparently the vanguard of an outright assault of incoming Psychonauts 2 coverage, so keep an eye out for that. Amdist it all will be a developer playthrough of the original Psychonauts - now available on Xbox Game Pass - streaming via the Double Fine Twitch channel over the next several Fridays.
And is there even time to mention the open pre-orders for Double Fine's 20th anniversary art book, or the Amnesia Fortnight movie, the trailer for which is below?
Probably not. I mean, I have to stop somewhere.
Update from Thrik: No, it doesn’t stop there! Double Fine has released a video about the game’s accessibility features, which seem to be very extensive — for my part, more so than I’ve ever seen in a game.


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Microsoft has finally announced its plans to end the Windows 10 free upgrade option by December 31, 2017.
Since the launch of the Microsoft HoloLens three years ago, the product has gained the approval of developers and commercial customers alike. The HoloLens is now on the shelves of 29 new European markets, making it available in a total of 39 countries.
Microsoft has recently shifted the company’s attention away from developing and selling hardware; instead, the technology giant is focusing on evolving their services and software to better serve their customers.
As part of the global launching of Microsoft 365 Business, the product has now arrived on the shores of Australia and New Zealand.
Microsoft has announced plans to replace Skype for Business with Microsoft Teams as its key workplace collaboration platform.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the Microsoft Ignite Conference 2017 at the end of September was when Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella stated the big words ‘quantum computing’.
As part of the series of announcements at the Microsoft Ignite Conference 2017, Microsoft rolled out a single and affordable package to better serve its education customers.
A new suite of Microsoft 365, known as Microsoft 365 F1, has recently been launched at Ignite 2017, the annual Microsoft conference for IT professionals and software developers. During the event in Orlando, significant announcements of new technology were made, including the introduction of new software bundles for the Microsoft 365 suite.
For those who don't know, Microsoft Ignite is the Disney World of IT networking conferences, which is why Orlando was the perfect host for this year's event. Ignite was especially exciting for us at WM reply; not only did we have one of our senior Technical Consultants, James Mace, in attendance, but we also had our Change and Engagement pioneer, Baxter Willis, give a talk at the event with one of our biggest advocates, Ruth Kirkup of Diageo.
Microsoft has announced it is releasing a brand new toolbar app designed for the Mac operating system, and which can be plugged directly into Office 365 – with the name of this application being ‘My Workspace’.
Microsoft has announced the strategic link-up it has established with fellow software provider Adobe will be expanding, with the aim of driving collaborative working and e-signatures among cloud-based work groups.
Microsoft has announced the release of a new batch of Office 365 updates and the software giant’s focus this time around is on adding features designed to help organisations with team-working and collaboration.
A revamp of the sign-in portal for Office 365 Microsoft has been rolling out to customers over a period of weeks has created unexpected issues, with some people unable to access it.
Microsoft has confirmed the new feature called Communication Site it launched for SharePoint will be getting support for each of the mobile apps, alongside some enhancements to its list capability.
The preview version of the new product Microsoft 365 Business has now been made available to customers on a widespread basis, with the tech giant having launched it on the scheduled date of August 2.
As in previous months, Microsoft launched a series of updates for its popular Office 365 suite that were staggered throughout the month of July.
Microsoft India has announced the official launch of a brand new app for the enterprise market that has been built to help its clients increase their productivity.
The results that Microsoft announced for the most recent financial quarter show that the software company has taken a major step forward when it comes to its cloud services, as the sales of the Office 365 suite have now eclipsed licenses for its on-premise services for the first ever time.
Having announced back during the spring of this year that it was intending to prevent people creating fresh SharePoint Admin Centre and Exchange Admin Centre searches that are specific to workloads, Microsoft has now undergone a change of heart.
A free giveaway has become something of a tradition for Microsoft, but the tech giant has truly surpassed itself this year by making a larger collection of key materials available for free download than at any time in the past.
Microsoft has announced that it will be releasing a brand new product targeted at enterprise customers of all different sizes, and that brings together the different capabilities of its Windows 10 and Office 365 solutions – as well as offering a number of new ones for business management and security.


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In the heat of the NBA Finals, game developer 2K Sports announced the cover athlete of their upcoming NBA 2K10 basketball title.
This is the game series’ 10th anniversary, and the company has revealed recently that they will be released a bundled special edition version of the game, dubbed their “Anniversary Edition,” which is full of goodies.
According to GameInformer.com, The Anniversary Edition is limited to just 30,000 copies, each “individually numbered for authenticity.” Ten of these copies will include a fine-art print of Kobe Bryant, autographed by the 2009 NBA Finals MVP.
Here’s the rundown of what each bundle will include:
- NBA 2K10 game locker, to store your game library in
- 3″ Kobe Bryant figurine designed by McFarlane Toys
- 16″ x 36″ Kobe Bryant poster
- Commemorative NBA 2K 10th Anniversary DVD, taking a look at 10 years of NBA 2K games
- Access to the Gold Room, the NBA 2K10 VIP online lobby
A little explanation about the Gold Room. It’s an exclusive online lobby where celebrities and other VIP members go when they want to play NBA 2K10, in order to be shielded from the usual online gaming drama. But if you are the usual online gaming drama, an Anniversary Edition pre-order will get you in.
NBA 2K10 is slated to hit all major consoles this fall.