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The iPhone 15 may have just been launched, but the tech world is already buzzing with speculations about its successor, the iPhone 16 Pro. From under-display Face ID sensors to a potentially portless design, Apple fans have a lot to look forward to. Let’s dive into the swirling vortex of rumors and leaks to glimpse what the future holds for Apple’s iconic smartphone.
A New Face ID Experience
According to a leaker with a track record of accuracy, the iPhone 16 Pro might feature Face ID technology that’s integrated directly under the screen. This significant leap in design could allow Apple to reduce the size of the “Dynamic Island,” the pill-shaped hole that currently houses various sensors at the top of the screen.
The smaller Dynamic Island could be an interim step toward achieving an all-screen iPhone, a design that Apple has been reportedly working on for years. While previous rumors suggested that the iPhone 16 might be the first to feature an all-screen design, new leaks indicate this may not be the case.
Dynamic Island: More Than Just Looks
While the idea of an all-screen iPhone excites many, the Dynamic Island serves a functional purpose by hosting the multitasking features that users have come to love. The leaker suggests that the iPhone 16 Pro will not only retain but enhance the Dynamic Island. With Face ID moving under the screen, the new Dynamic Island could be up to 50% smaller than its predecessor while displaying more information.
The Portless Controversy
Leaks hint that Apple is considering two prototypes for the iPhone 16 Pro—one with a USB-C connector and the other completely portless. While the leaker believes that the iPhone 16 is unlikely to lose its ports altogether, the very possibility is sparking debates among tech enthusiasts.
Impressive Specs on the Horizon
The iPhone 16 Pro is expected to come with a minimum storage capacity of 256GB, scaling up to a whopping 2TB of built-in flash memory. In terms of performance, the device’s processor will reportedly focus more on energy efficiency and battery life, aligning with the future directions of iOS 17 and iOS 18.
The next-gen iPhone is rumored to feature a 48-megapixel primary sensor capable of 8K video recording, raising the stakes in the smartphone camera game.
While it’s too early to say for sure, the leaker suggests that Apple might maintain the current iPhone 15 Pro pricing tiers for the iPhone 16 Pro. However, the iPhone 15 Pro itself is expected to be more expensive than its predecessors, setting a new pricing trend.
The Long Road Ahead
With over 18 months left before the iPhone 16 Pro’s expected launch, it’s important to take these rumors with a grain of salt. Apple has plenty of time to revise its plans, and the final product could look very different from what’s being speculated now.
The Final Byte
As the iPhone 15 makes its way into users’ hands, the iPhone 16 Pro is already shaping up to be a device that could redefine our expectations of what a smartphone can be. Only time will tell whether these early rumors will materialize into the groundbreaking features we’re all hoping for. Stay tuned for more updates as we inch closer to another Apple revelation.


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Best Buy's (NYSE:BBY) stock has come close to doubling in price since hitting lows this time last year, and it is a top performer in a retail industry beset with headwinds. For Best Buy, selling technology while stuck in old fashioned brick-and-mortar has been criticized, including by me, but the company's recent performance is proving analysts wrong.
Traditional retail out-of-favor
The company's performance as of late flies in the face of the retail sales numbers put out each month by the U.S. Census Bureau. Monthly retail sales at electronics and appliance stores have been in steady decline for quite some time now.
|Electronics and appliance stores sales growth (YOY)||0.5%||(1.4%)||(4.4%)||(3.0%)|
After a slew of store closures and bankruptcies, the declining national chains may be to blame for the ugly looking industry sales figures -- Best Buy hasn't exactly done anything to bring up the industry average, either.
That's what makes the recent stock performance so confounding. But sometimes, simply surviving is good enough, as even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut.
Best Buy bucks the trend
In the most recent quarter, revenue rose a mere 1% year over year. That's not much, but the company has been working to cut overhead costs. As a result, even the slightest bump in revenue would end up having an outsized effect on the bottom line. Earnings per share from continuing operations, which backs out one-time items, increased 40%.
Also a big improvement were comparable-store sales, which were up 1.4% stateside and 4% internationally. The domestic figure was especially helped with the online division, which grew 22.5%. Across the company, comps increased 1.6%.
|Comparable-store sales growth (YOY)||0.5%||0.5%||0.3%||1.6%|
Management sees the trend continuing into the next quarter, with comparable sales up 1.5% to 2.5%. Back in March, management also said it would repurchase $3 billion worth of shares over the next two years.
What it means for investors
Best Buy isn't out of the woods yet, though. The company needs to prove it can sustain top-line sales growth if it wants to keep this party going. Online sales have been doing their part, but the traditional stores continue to lag behind. A few new initiatives were announced, like a smart-home service with partner Vivint, and the pilot In-Home Advisor program to help families implement new tech in their home is slated to go nationwide by the end of the year. We'll have to wait to see if that translates into new business.
It's also worth noting that the cost of goods sold increased 3.3% this last quarter, which helped the top line grow but otherwise ate into profits as the figure outpaced overall revenue growth of 1%. That's another unsustainable trend if the current stock price run is to advance further. Ultimately, this game is all about profits.
After the joyous response to first-quarter results, I'm taking a wait-and-see approach to Best Buy. The tech retailer is showing signs of life, and a few competitors going away is an added bonus. But buying now feels like it would be chasing after an improving business that Wall Street has already baked into share prices.

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This central bank initiative could be good fortune for domains.
Red packets are meant to bring good fortune, which happened on December 11 when 100,000 digital red packets each containing 200 yuan (about $30) were distributed to Suzhou residents in a lucky draw.
It was a pilot test for rolling out Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP). DCEP represents a new form of currency (digital yuan) and a new form of payment (via digital wallet storing digital yuan). The official launch date has not been announced.
Digital yuan will be issued by China’s central bank as a legal tender and each digital yuan is equivalent to one physical yuan. To handle the money, you need to download an authorized wallet app to your mobile phone. Salary will be deposited to your digital wallet and you can pay for purchases at any digital or physical store.
DCEP is a game-changer in that buying and selling can be done directly without any third-party payment provider. Payment for purchases can be as simple as having the buyer’s phone touching the seller’s phone — and it works even without the internet. Of course, DCEP will be equally powerful in the digital world. The result will be a great increase in new businesses.
After DCEP is launched, I think the Chinese government will then globalize digital yuan through the One Belt One Road initiative, RCEP regional economy agreement, and other economic partnerships. This move will also see more and more Chinese companies going global.
The implication is that long term demand for domains will increase, and there will be more interest in domains suitable for global operation, such as English-based domains, pronounceable Pinyin domains, short acronym domains, and meaningful numeric domains. For details, please read “A small history lesson and its implication on domain investment“.


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Another city centre store has closed its doors for good.
The Body Shop on Stonegate is the latest one to go.
A sign in the window says: “Shutting up shop: Heads up that, as of 27th July, this store will be closing.
“It’s not you, it’s us.”
The shop in the Coppergate Centre will remain open. The sign directs shoppers there, “or you can search our full range online from the comfort of your sofa”.
The closure comes just weeks after the branch reopened to customers after lockdown.
We reported earlier this month that at least 17 city centre businesses had closed their doors for good since lockdown.
That was the equivalent of one business closing every 37 hours.


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Both Target and Best Buy have announced plans to make Juneteenth a company-wide holiday, an idea that Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) wants to institute on the federal level.
“One of the most defining days in our nation’s history was when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, finally freeing all slaves in Confederate territory. But slaves in Texas wouldn’t learn this life-altering news for two and a half years,” Cornyn said during a Senate floor speech Thursday.
“It took two and a half years for the slaves in the south to learn that they were free. And that day came on a day we now celebrate as Juneteenth,” he explained. “As we do every year, tomorrow Texans will celebrate Juneteenth and the 155th anniversary of the end of slavery in our state. It’s an opportunity to reflect on our history, the mistakes we have made, but yet how far we’ve come in the fight for equality, and a reminder of just how far we still have to go.”
Cornyn said he will soon introduce a bipartisan bill to declare Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Target and Best Buy, both headquartered in Minnesota, said in statements released this week that they will make Juneteenth a company holiday. According to Target’s press release, all stores and distribution centers will remain open, but hourly team members who work on June 19 will be paid time-and-a-half. All eligible Target employees have the option of taking the day off with full pay.
“We recognize that the racial trauma the country is experiencing now is not new, but throughout recent weeks there has been a sense that this time is, and has to be, different,” said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target.
“Juneteenth takes on additional significance in this moment. Moving now to recognize it on an annual basis – as a day to celebrate, further educate ourselves or connect with our communities – is one more important action Target can take as a company to help the country live up to the ideal of moving forward in a new way,” he continued.
Best Buy said it will give all employees a paid volunteer day for Juneteenth this year and will make it a formal, paid holiday starting next year.
“We made the decision to begin this next year only because June 19 is just a few days away, and we wanted to give as much flexibility as possible to accommodate individual schedules,” the company said. “We are proud to honor Juneteenth and the centuries of struggle, pain, redemption and celebration it represents.”
U.S. Bank also announced that it will close its offices and branches at 1 p.m. Friday in recognition of Juneteenth.
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Icon Health & Fitness, a Logan, Utah-based provider of connected fitness equipment and software, received a $200m growth investment.
The round was led by L Catterton, joined by existing investor Pamplona Capital Management.
The company intends to use the funds to further accelerate its growth strategy of delivering its expansive range of interactive fitness products connected by iFit, the company’s patented content technology and media platform. With approximately 700,000 paid subscribers, iFit is used at home, at the gym and on-the-go across Icon’s diverse range of products and partnerships.
Led by Scott Watterson, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Icon creates connected fitness experiences across multiple brands, multiple product categories and all consumer fitness segments. The company owns established fitness brands NordicTrack®, ProForm® and Freemotion®, which offer connected fitness membership services powered by iFit, the live and on-demand streaming fitness and wellness media platform.
ICON and iFit currently hold more than 330 technology patents, with 80 pending, and its products are present in 116 countries. iFit workouts are streamed in English, Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese, with more languages planned for 2021.
The company has revenue exceeding $1 billion in the last 12 months (ending September 30, 2020).


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How Thailand is Trailblazing the Blockchain Application in Tax Management
Last month, Thailand’s Revenue Department took a bold step to include blockchain technology in its tax management strategy. By integrating the distributed ledger technology (DLT) ingrained in blockchain, the financial arm of the Thai government is hoping to better account for tax payments and refunds, while using machine learning to detect tax fraud. The government has not set timelines on when this initiative will be launched, but it remains a top priority.
This is not the first initiative to utilize blockchain outside of its original focus which has been safeguarding digital coins. A report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this past October showed that despite the financial crash predictions made due to the exponential growth of digital coins, more than 64 blockchain use cases exist across sectors including supply chain management, climate control and forestry management.
Elsewhere in Thailand, The Ministry of Commerce announced it would employ the DLT system into its finance, copyright, and agricultural activities. In June of this year, the government, which has shown an outlandish interest in blockchain technology from the beginning, legalized seven of the top digital coins on the market.
These include bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, and litecoin. They have also given the green light for exchanges to operate legally in the country. Cryptocurrency use is quickly going mainstream in the Thai kingdom as the government relaxes regulations. By 2019, the government plans to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The bank, in conjunction with eight other commercial banks, is currently working to develop a prototype that will facilitate smoother transfers of domestic funds.
Thailand was among the first countries to utilize blockchain in its voting process by instituting an e-voting system. This was done at Raspberry Pi-enabled voting stations where voters submitted identification information then cast ballots via a mobile voting app. All the information that was collected, including vote tallies, was stored on Zcoin blockchain, a decentralized storage system.
This latest plan to implement blockchain technology for tax purposes is aimed at tracking payments already made and by whom, as well as speeding up tax refund processes. The machine learning aspect becomes significant in determining those individuals and companies evading taxes, and will allow greater transparency.
The Thai kingdom has been aggressive in its use of both cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Other countries like China, are ramping up efforts to integrate blockchain into their technology base, with plans to improve finance, industry, and commerce.
India, on the other hand, has no plans to legitimize cryptocurrencies any time soon. This might likely perpetuate illegal activities and tax evasion. It is not yet determined if other countries will follow Thailand’s example.
What many countries are doing is taking a back seat and letting others serve as guinea pigs. If Thailand is successful in its utilization of blockchain technology to manage taxes, there is no doubt other progressive governments with less regulatory burdens will follow suit.
Disclaimer: David Drake is on the advisory board for most of the firms mentioned or quoted in this article.
Our company will go the extra mile to analyze the particular project in detail and offer a business solution that will meet your requirements.


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ZURICH, Sept. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Amcor (NYSE: AMCR, ASX:AMC), a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions will present at the Morgan Stanley 11th Annual Laguna Conference on Wednesday September 13, 2023.
Amcor’s CEO Ron Delia is scheduled to present in a fireside chat at 2.00pm Pacific time. To listen to the presentation via live webcast please click here.
A replay of the presentation will be available after the presentation ends at www.amcor.com/investors under ‘presentations’.
For further information please contact:
Vice President Investor Relations
Amcor is a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions across a variety of materials for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal-care, and other products. Amcor works with leading companies around the world to protect their products and the people who rely on them, differentiate brands, and improve supply chains through a range of flexible and rigid packaging, specialty cartons, closures, and services. The company is focused on making packaging that is increasingly lighter weight, recyclable and reusable, and made using an increasing amount of recycled content. In fiscal year 2023, 41,000 Amcor people generated $14.7 billion in annual sales from operations that span 218 locations in 41 countries. NYSE: AMCR; ASX: AMC


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Local businesses take COVID-19 precautions to keep shoppers safe on Black Friday
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Black Friday is fast approaching, and local businesses in Wichita are preparing for what would be their busiest day to look much different due to COVID-19.
“It became clear early in the summer our holiday season would be a lot different this year,” Lucinda’s owner Valerie Reimers said.
The store is taking several precautions to keep shoppers safe.
“In the past we’ve done specials where the best deals are in the first two hours of the day,” she said. “This year we are doing the same discount throughout the whole day to encourage people to not come at the same time.”
The store will have a capacity of 15 shoppers at a time. Reimers said she expects these changes to result in fewer sales.
“We’re prepared to do less but how much less, I don’t know.”
Dead Center Vintage, a vintage store on Douglas, canceled all of its in-person sales and events for Black Friday weekend.
“We canceled all of our events because we want to limit the spread of COVID-19,” Dead Center Vintage Co-owner Kenzie Borland said. “We know those events bring out big crowds and we want to limit that.”
As a first-year business, Borland said it was a difficult decision to make.
“We have never gotten to have Black Friday or Small Business Saturday as a first-year business so we’re going to lose a lot of income,” she said. “Ultimately, we want to protect the community first.”
Both stores encourage customers to shop online on Black Friday, and hope the community considers shopping local during the holidays.
“Small businesses have been struggling all year,” Borland said. “Right now during the holiday season, I think it will impact small businesses the most. If you can, shop small. It’s good to invest in your local community if you have the means to do so.”
Copyright 2020 KWCH. All rights reserved.


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Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, chaired remotely the meeting of the Ministerial Economic Committee devoted to following up on the financing card project.
The meeting was attended by the ministers Zeina Aker, Raoul Nehme, Ramzi Moucharafieh, Imad Hoballah, and Ghada Shreim, Head of the Parliamentary Economic Committee, Representative Farid Bustani, Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers Judge Mahmoud Makiya, advisors to the Prime Minister, Khodr Taleb and Hussein Kaafani.
After the meeting, Moucharafieh said: “The ministerial committee tasked with setting the standards and elaborating a mechanism for applying the electronic financing card held its meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, remotely.”
He added that the meeting discussed the final version of the card and made some amendments in light of the observations made by the committee members of the Committee.
Moucharafieh said that the committee will set the mechanism into effect as soon as possible. “We are optimistic that we will be able to finalize this task quickly, especially in light of the exacerbation of economic and social crises in Lebanon.”


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Browse through our collection of news, perspectives and webinars to gain a deeper understanding of the KTN culture and sector intelligence
Producing the food of the future with help from the Internet of Agri-Things
A KTN workshop brought together Agri-Tech and IoT businesses to explore opportunities for innovation in food production.
Transforming veterinary practice in the food chain
RAFT Solutions Ltd are taking innovative research into agricultural practice with the support of KTN and Innovate UK.
BEIS further clarifies Horizon 2020 underwrite for UK participants
The UK Government is committed to supporting research and innovation.
Identifying opportunities for the chemical-using industries within composite materials
KTN and the CGP have published a new report on accelerating innovations for chemistry in composites.
New SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) competition to find innovative new products & services for mental health
NHS England have announced a new Small Business Research Initiative) competition to find innovative new products and services for mental health.
East Midlands Innovation - Leicester Innovation Week
Ambitious, growth-oriented businesses invited to innovation workshops focussing on Textiles, Food & Drink and Logistics.
Wanted: Knowledge Transfer Manager - Synthetic Biology
KTN are looking for an enthusiastic individual with current and relevant knowledge and experience in synthetic biology principles and technologies.
Webinar: Local Growth and Innovation on October 26th
Join the Smart Specialisation Hub for a webinar on October 26th (1-2pm) on the changing innovation landscape in England.
KTN welcomes government push to encourage greater knowledge exchange
Innovation is a skill not an act of genius
The University of Buckingham is launching an MSc in Structured Innovation.


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SWITZERLAND – Syngenta has entered a binding agreement to acquire Nidera Seeds for an undisclosed sum in an announcement by the Swiss agri-business giant and Chinese grains trader China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO)
The Chinese-state owned food processing holdings company COFCO International is the country’s largest food processor, manufacturer and trader, which focuses on corn, sunflowers, sorghum, soybeans and wheat.
According to the company, Nidera BV is a Dutch subsidiary which was originally acquired when COFCO bought 51% of the shares in 2014.
Three years on, COFCO has agreed to sell the business to Syngenta for an undisclosed amount as terms of the binding agreement have not been revealed.
As part of a comprehensive expansion of its international grains trading business, COFCO completed a full takeover of Nidera this year.
According to Reuters, Nidera has been experiencing losses and accounting issues which led the company to begin looking at ways to divest parts of the business.
“This agreement is an important step in our strategy to focus on our major businesses,” said Johnny Chi, Chief Executive Officer of COFCO International.
“Syngenta is well placed to provide Nidera Seeds a strong platform for further long-term growth, creating the best value for its customers, farmers and employees.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to clearance by the relevant merger-control authorities and regulatory clearances.
The global seeds business is also going through a serious shake-up with fellow Chinese-state owned corporation ChemChina (China National Chemical Corporation) going through a US$43 billion takeover of Syngenta earlier this year.


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While analysts are speculating excitedly about how Apple is going to do with the huge amount of unused funds , the company has already invested a tremendous amount of one of the largest companies of the world – ourselves. Over the last quarter alone California-based company has spent $ 16 billion on the purchase of 36 million of its own shares at an average price of $ 444 apiece.
Such calculations analyst shared the Fortune Philip Elmer-DeWitt, who reports that the company held a so-called “accelerated share repurchase program.” A large proportion of these shares – about 22 million – has been returned to the company’s third fiscal quarter of this year, and the rest will return to Apple in the fourth.
You will surely ask: why the company had to invest so much money in their own paper? After all, for the $ 16 billion it is Apple could buy Nokia, BlackBerry , and many who have. Of course, it has an explanation.
First of all, buying its own shares, Apple reduces the number of securities available in the market. And according to the laws of economy, the smaller the product, the higher the price. Therefore, this step is very shrewd in terms of ensuring sustainable growth of capitalization.
Secondly, the share buyback means that Apple believes in himself. If the company does not believe in what the paper will be more expensive, it would soon become rid of them than to increase their stakes. Nothing charges optimism traders on the exchanges than “patriotic” actions of representatives of listed companies.
There is no doubt that such measures are of a good life. Still unlikely Apple would buy back its own shares, if the curve of their rate crept up, not down . So it turns out that the largest acquisition that Apple has made in its history, was herself.
According to the materials CultOfMac.com
Read another very interesting article about alternative energy of the Sun, water and air.


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CANADA – As grocery prices continue to climb, all eyes are on the CEOs of Canada’s grocery stores – but they say high food prices are not their fault.
Several executives testified in Parliament on Wednesday that they are not price-gouging, and denied that they have reaped the rewards of inflation. Those involved included Loblaws president Galen Weston Jr., Metro CEO Eric La Flèche, and Michael Medline, the CEO of Empire Foods. Empire Foods is the parent company of several supermarket chains, including Sobeys, FreshCo, Farm Boy, and Foodland.
“We are not profiting from inflation, it doesn’t matter how many times you say it… it is simply not true,” Medline told the committee.
“Grocery store profits are not the reason for food inflation,” Weston Jr. said.
“Our revenue has gone up, our expenses have gone up, our margins have not gone up, they’ve actually been stable for a long time and food margins have actually declined,” said La Flèche.
However, some chains, like Loblaws, have seen their profits increase. Yet, CEO Galen Weston Jr. says it’s not due to groceries but other products like clothes.
Canadians React to Supermarket CEOs’ Testimony
Across Canada, people are reacting to the executives denying the blame for rising food costs.
“The highlight so far is how quickly the other two Grocery CEOs wanted to make sure Canadians understand it wasn’t them #cdnpoli caught up in Galen Weston Jr.’s Bread Price-Fixing scandal,” tweeted one person.
While others are fixated on Weston.
“But he totally understands how Canadians are struggling with food costs. Like the way a billionaire raised in a family of billionaires would understand,” jested one Canadian.
“I don’t think it should ever be okay — that in Canada, Loblaws earned $520 million in Q4 profits while Canadians turned to food banks in record numbers,” federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh tweeted Wednesday.
“Literally just spent almost $100 for less than 10-15 grocery items at Nofrills!! This inflation is ANNOYING and ridiculous!!! This money would have gone a long wayyyyy!! But noooooooooooooooo, these grocery stores don’t want to see us eat healthy for a good price!!!!! Unico Oil was $4.99 is now $12.99, butter that cost 5.99 is now $10.29, freaking flower that cost $8.99 is now $19.99!” said one woman, adding that she finds it’s getting cheaper to purchase premade goods than to buy the ingredients to make them yourself.
While some people are blaming the government for the rising cost of food.
“It’s so funny when I see the people who caused the problem (politicians) blaming people profiting from the problem they caused lol (grocers). Everyone in that room needs personal accountability,” said one person on Instagram.
“Theatrics. They’re all in sleeping in the same bed – the government and the CEOs of these corporations. We’re taxed until we’re blue in the face and these CEOs ram us even further with their prices/greed,” said another, adding that they don’t believe anything will come of the hearings.
In response to the rising cost of food and Wednesday’s testimonies, some people are taking the opportunity to encourage their neighbours to shop local.
The supermarket executives were summoned by the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food, as part of an investigation into food prices in Canada. This comes as many Canadians continue to struggle to make ends meet during an ongoing cost-of-living crisis.


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Removing the charger and EarPods from the iPhone box allowed 70% more devices to fit on a pallet
More boxes on a pallet would allow Apple to ship more phones to users at one time. As a result, using smaller boxes would allow Apple to reduce annual carbon emissions by 2 million metric tons, the company said. That is equivalent to taking 500,000 cars off the road.
Apple saved plenty of money by removing accessories from the iPhone box
But not everyone believes that Apple made this move, which was copied by most major phone manufacturers including Samsung and Google, to help the environment. While many will agree that Apple is removing the charger from iPhone boxes for a “green” reason, the “green” they are thinking about is the color of money.
If a consumer just wanted to replace the EarPods, that could be arranged for an additional $ 19. So even if an Apple customer just wanted to add a charging brick and the wired EarPods with his new iPhone, that would cost him an additional $ 38. When you consider the millions of iPhone units Apple sells each year, this certainly runs into plenty of money flowing into Apple’s coffers.
Reducing the size of the box and allowing 70% more devices on each pallet should help Apple reduce its shipping costs by 40% which in turn should allow the company to reduce the price of the phone to consumers. Some analysts have computed that Apple is saving the equivalent of $ 35 on each iPhone it sells. Yet, there has been no cost reduction from the firm.
Since it announced that it was removing the charger and EarPods from the iPhone box, Apple is believed to have shipped 190 million iPhone units. Totaling up the amount of money that Apple has saved from this cost-cutting move and adding the amount of money it saved on shipping comes to the £ 5 billion (or $ 6.5 billion) that the Daily Mail computed. In other words, had Apple passed every penny of savings to its customers, the public could be $ 6.5 billion richer.
And we’re not even including the $ 293.4 million bucks that the Daily Mail says that Apple customers spent on accessories since the company got stingy about what it puts in the box along with the iPhone.
So let’s look at it this way. Apple saved money on shipping and by not having to purchase the charging brick and EarPods that used to go in the box. The public not only did not save any money, but it also had to shell out to replace the accessories they wanted that they no longer received for “free.”
This $ 6.5 billion goes straight to the bottom line increasing Apple’s profits and pushing up the price of Apple’s stock. In turn, executives like Tim Cook benefit to the tune of millions of dollars while the public pays to replace the missing accessories. Nice work if you can get it.


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Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is creating a dedicated sales team for each of its major brands as it continues to see 30% year-on-year growth.
Up until now the sales team has been dual branded but from April 1 Royal Caribbean International will have its own team while Celebrity Cruise and Azamara Cruises will also have a separate team.
The new dedicated sales team of eight people will initially be focused on working with specialist cruise agencies, while five national account managers will continue to deal with larger agencies across the country.
As a result of the change in business, the sales team will grow by 30% through the recruitment of eight additional people across all teams.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line UK and Ireland managing director Jo Rzymowska said: “Over the last two years it has been no secret that Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has been aggressively growing its market presence and sales performance. In early 2006 we doubled our sales team in the UK and Ireland and have made ongoing improvements to how we support our travel partners. We kick-off 2008 with a hugely positive development, increasing and redefining our teams so that they are dedicated to a brand or specific channel.”
Rzymowska also confirmed the company will be recruiting a sales director to oversee the whole sales team.
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Wolff Olins listed number 15 on Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2024
Wolff Olins has been listed at number 15 on Ad Age’s Best Places to Work 2024 in the US.
The power of weird
Global CEO Sairah Ashman explores how deviating from the norm and standing out from the pack through weirdness can be a powerful business tool, for Forbes.
Generation AI: a muse to amplify creativity
Global CEO Sairah Ashman explores the positive impact of AI on creative industries.
2024 predictions and how to navigate change
Senior leaders from Wolff Olins share some advice on how to prepare for the expected – and the unexpected – in 2024.
How to make Unilever great again: a memo to incoming CEO Hein Schumacher
As new Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher takes up the reins, our Global CEO Sairah Ashman sets outthe areas that he should focus on.
Wolff Olins designs new global brand identity for Johnson & Johnson consumer health division
Wolff Olins, the global branding consultancy, has designed the new brand identity for Kenvue, the planned new consumer health company, anticipated to launch in 2023.
LG’s rebrand looks to “bring a smile” to the world of tech
Life’s Good. We are proud to have partnered with LG Electronics on the global activation of its refreshed brand identity!
New York Botanical Garden hires Wolff Olins for major brand refresh
We’re thrilled to announce that we are partnering with New York Botanical Garden to overhaul their brand identity ahead of a new era for the institution.
Utopia or dystopia? It’s up to us to teach AI to reflect the best of humanity
In Global CEO Sairah Ashman’s latest Forbes article, she explores how brands can have a positive impact through tech in what we teach AI, the choices we make and the things we create.
Dyslexia, creativity and me
Our Global Executive Creative Director, Emma Barratt, unpicks her experience of working with dyslexia, shares her tips for how workplaces can better support staff with neurodiversity and explains how dyslexia has become her unique superpower.
We've hired transformation specialist Julia Race to strengthen global culture offer
We’re thrilled to be welcoming Julia Race, (CPC) to our New York team for the newly created position of Senior Director of Culture.
Inside Wolff Olins new branding
Here, Wayne Deakin, global creative principal at Wolff Olins, explains how they addressed the challenge


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By KWANCHAI RUNGFAPAISARN
“In 2017, we plan to expand our exports into China as well as the AEC (Asean Economic Community) market,” CEO Charoen Rujirasopon said yesterday.
“Besides, the company is now working on establishing a fish ball factory in Myanmar in a joint venture with a local partner,” he said, adding that the plant will be located in Yangon and expected to be operational in the second quarter of next year.
The company will own 49 per cent of the JV. It is now drafting the memorandum of understanding for the project.
Mahachai has produced fish balls in Thailand for more than 40 years, but about 80 per cent of its sales are from exports to markets including Europe and Australia, which were opened at the beginning of this year. The company’s Thai factory, located in the Mahachai port area of Samut Sakhon, is now running at only 70 per cent of full capacity due to a shortage of raw materials.
“Our Myanmar partner has got the licence to catch fish in Myanmar’s territorial waters,” he said.
Nowadays, the market was highly competitive since there are many people in the same business in almost every province. “However, we will keep our strength as the supplier of high quality products at reasonable prices.
“Also, all of our business partners hold great confidence in us along with the high level of customer loyalty towards our brand. These are the reasons why we have been the leader in Thailand with a 80-per-cent market share in the modern trade channel,” he said.
Mahachai posted Bt865 million in sales last year and targets about Bt1 billion this year. It expects to grow its sales by 13-15 per cent next year.
“A part of our growth next year will be driven by the launch of fish skin snacks, the company’s latest product line, which is forecast to generate about 10 per cent of our total revenue in 2017,” he said.
The company always runs its business by applying the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sufficiency economy philosophy.
“With the King’s philosophy, we will not over-expand the business if it exceeds our ability since it’s not a sustainable way of growing a business and can lead to the business’ collapse in the end.”


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As part of a much wider internal shake-up of its marketing department, Vodafone has launched a strategic review of its mobile advertising business.
The unit has attracted the attention of the company's new CMO, Wendy Becker, following increased competition from the likes of Google's mobile advertising specialist business AdMob, and will face stiff competition from Apple's recently launched mobile ad network, iAd.
While some observers have speculated that the mobile ad unit could be closed, no decision has yet been made prior to a report from the review strategy team as to how the unit should be positioned for the future.
This move comes as Vodafone undertakes a corporate review of its group marketing team following the sudden departure of global brand director David Wheldon and global director of customer insight Andy Moore.
The company has placed its entire group marketing personnel in ‘consultation' in a bid to restructure its global marketing arm. Staff at Vodafone's HQ were informed of the review before Easter, and the company has admitted that redundancies are inevitable.
Separately, the company has confirmed it is set to launch an app store for Android handsets, similar to the Android Market, in eight European countries. The new service, which will be part of Vodafone's 360 platform, will be managed by Arvato Mobile in Germany.
Arvato is reported to be in talks with developers that have already launched successful free apps on the Android Market. Ad-funded apps are also allowed, but Vodafone is said not to be happy about launching adult content at the moment. Vodafone's App Shop will be pre-installed on operator-branded Android phones from June onward.
Mobile advertising: Europe remains behind the curve
Apple set to unveil mobile advertising platform
Vodafone CEO touts openness, warns of Google's dominance
Mobile advertising still eludes developers


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One of the draws of SEMA is that you know you are going to see some cool custom cars and in our opinion, one of the best custom vettes on display at this year’s show was Rod Saboury’s 1963 Split Window Corvette he calls “Black Widow”. If Rod’s name rings a bell, it’s because Saboury was also the man behind the World’s fastest street Legal 1963 Corvette drag car which we featured just last month.
As the Chevrolet Corvette enters the last year of the C6 generation, it’s surprising to see that the popular sports car – which has earned kudos for its quality for years – has suddenly landed on the listing for Least Reliable listing in the latest Consumer Reports Annual Auto Survey.
Our research on the Web couldn’t turn up the reason for this sudden poor rating, but at least the Corvette can take solace in the fact that muscle cars in general appear to have had a rough year.
Our friends at ProTeam Corvette Sales will be hosting an all-day Corvette seminar and judging school on Saturday November 10th. The event is sponsored by the Michigan and Heart of Ohio chapters of the National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS), although NCRS membership isn’t required to attend the event. The cost is just $10 at the door which includes breakfast and lunch. Enthusiasts under 35 years of age get in free.
Chevrolet’s Spark has ignited a lot of interest so far among American buyers.
Now GM India is trying to see if it can light up a similar explosion of sales for the new creation from Chevy with heavy promotion of the car in all parts of that country.
One reason for the intense interest in the Spark is its silky smooth 4-cylinder motor that delivers 38 miles to the gallon on the road, 32 MPG in the city. GM India is even offering a LPG version of the motor.
Despite being in the twilight of its final year of production, 2013 Corvettes continue to be sold by Chevrolet dealers in strong numbers. In the latest sales report from General Motors, 1,167 Corvettes were sold in the month October. This was a 23.4% increase from the 946 Corvettes that sold in October 2011 and for the 2012 Calendar year, Corvette sales are up a 4.6% with 11,737 Corvettes built between January-October 2012 vs 11,216 Corvettes during the same period in 2011.
John Fitch passed away last week at the age of 95. While for Corvette fans his legacy will be linked to racing the American sports car during its infancy, he has accomplished so much more in his lifetime. Filmmaker Michael Brown, who worked with John Fitch during the filming of the documentary The Quest, has put together a video tribute featuring John in his own words.
Now through November 8th, Corvette America is offering FREE SHIPPING on purchases of $99 or more. *Free Shipping offer applies to Continental US Ground Freight only. Some oversized and specially packaged items are not included in this offer.
If you need new seat covers for your Corvette, you can save an additional 11% off any 1959-2004 Seat Cover Set. Use the promo code “NEWSEATS” when checking out. View the Seat Cover sets. This offer may be used with the Free Shipping Offer above.
Start shopping now for Corvette parts, interiors and wheels at www.CorvetteAmerica.com.
Not many people have seen a 1963 Corvette Grand Sport in action, but the Simeone Automotive Museum in Philadelphia is offering enthusiasts just such a rare opportunity later this month.
During a weekend full of exciting activities on November 16 and 17, the Simeone Museum will take its 1963 #002 Grand Sport onto its back lot and demonstrate it for the public.
The demonstration will be the culmination of a special Corvette Racing Legends event set that weekend at the museum.
When you think about Corvettes, going muddin’ is usually not the first thing that pops into your mind.
But a couple of guys named Dan Linden and Tom Hahn are quickly putting a halt to that kind of thinking.
They’ve constructed the Mud Slinger, a 4×4 atop a gigantic set of tires and sporting the look of a 1963 Corvette Split Window Coupe.


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Time to introduce official EV driving tests
EV experts call for DVSA to reform the driving test requirements
Motoring experts have launched a new campaign for the DVSA to adapt driving lessons to suit electric vehicles (EVs).
It comes as UK learners are being urged to take their driving lessons in EVs with the ban on petrol/diesel engined cars face the exit in 2030.
Demand for EVs is only going to increase and experts are encouraging learners to start the switch to electric now.
Electric vehicle experts at LeaseElectricCar.co.uk want more driving tests to be carried out in EVs. It comes as an increase in EV sales sweeps the country and all drivers are being urged by government to turn to zero emissions.
The sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK will be banned in just seven years time. ,With huge in vestment in charging infrastructures and increasing numbers of secondhand EVs becoming available, new drivers need to get onboard.
On the up
As sales increase rapidly, it won’t be long before we see EV’s dominating UK roads. Electric vehicle registrations between December 2019 and December 2020 increased by over 300%, and this is only expected to rise.
Slowly decreasing the amount of learners practising in petrol and diesel vehicles needs to begin matching the increase in EV sales.
The government continues to invest in infrastructure. This includes their commitment to implement 300,000 new charge points across the country, backed by £1.6 billion. Alongside this, private companies are also investing heavily making it easier to own and run an EV.
Manual auto conundrum
However, some say that taking a test in an EV may be a barrier to learner drivers – it means they will only be able to drive automatic cars.
But with EVs becoming much more mainstream, motoring experts believe worries over auto only licences should diminish.
It is also true that the access to instructors with electric vehicles is limited at present. However, the mainstream national schools are now delivering EV lessons, and this come on the heals of a number of leading independent driving schools who have taken up the electric baton.
Relying on public charging points and battery range on EVs is a worry for instructors. However, as range and the number of charging stations has increased, it means these worries are disappearing. In fact, many instructors are finding that overnight charging is often adequate for a days teaching. Otherwise, a quick boost over lunch is certainly enough for a positive day’s work.
Time for change
LeaseElectricCar.co.uk believe learning to drive in an electric car will change the game for many pupils. It’s especially true for those who find it difficult to manage the clutch on tricky hill starts, or struggling when changing gears.
But the way the current driving test is sat by pupils will soon have to be updated to suit electric car learners.
As electric cars have one driving pedal, pupils might be asked to demonstrate accelerating and braking with single pedal driving.
The driving test may also incorporate knowledge of charging. Importantly, they will need to know how often the car should be plugged in as well as showing an understanding of economically using the battery power and anticipating battery usage.
Another point on a reformed driving test could include learner’s understanding of how far EV’s can travel without charge. Planning journeys to know where the car can be charged is an essential skill.
EV drivers must also have a greater awareness of pedestrians as many more vulnerable road users. They will be listening out to the louder petrol and diesel cars, but EVs are almost silent. Learners will need to show greater awareness and anticipation of these potential hazards.
The future is here
Tim Alcock at LeaseElectricCar.co.uk said: “The current generation of learner drivers across the UK are the ones who will be seeing the increase of EV sales become more rapid when the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars comes in.” Alcock adds that “it makes sense for a greater number of learner drivers to start using EVs”.
“The practical driving test will one day soon have to be reformed to suit more pupils who are learning in electric vehicles. The DVLA will need to assess learner drivers’ understanding of things like economic use of battery power and charging techniques, as well as demonstrating braking and accelerating with a single driving pedal.
“But as the country approaches these future milestones and commitments to zero emission vehicles, learner drivers should increasingly be offered the opportunity to drive electric vehicles.”
Find out more about the campaign to get more EV driving tests here.


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In a press release last week, Socrata, world leader in cloud solutions for open data and data-driven governments, announced that it will be teaming up with Yelp to present consumers with transparent and understandable restaurant inspection data from government databases.
Socrata pointed out that through the agreed terms, Yelp will become part of their Open Data Network™. Through this network, Yelp will be tied in with government customers from around the world to source these sought after rating and, further, pass them along to consumers everywhere.
The purpose of this partnership is to allow unparalleled restaurant inspection information to be distributed and to help improve health conditions throughout communities, globally.
In light of this new partnership, Yelp is quite excited. "We're thrilled to be working with Socrata and its network of partners to make this valuable information more accessible to the millions of people that turn to Yelp every month. This was a joint effort as part of Yelp's Local Inspector Value Entry Specification (LIVES) open data standard, which enables local municipalities to accurately upload restaurant health inspection scores for display on Yelp business pages," stated Yelp CEO and Co-Founder, Jeremy Stoppelman.
According to Socrata, gathering restaurant inspection information from government databases can be somewhat of a daunting task. Socrata aims to reduce this through their Open Data Portal™ solution, which give guidance to their government customers on how to connect this restaurant inspection data to Yelp.
The press release explains, "The strategic partnership between Socrata and Yelp, as well as their new solution, is a first in that it helps governments unlock this data while normalizing and presenting it to everyday consumers in a way that is easy to understand and in a context with which they are familiar."
No date has been given as to when to expect the restaurant inspection data to roll-out and become available publicly.


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Looking for the latest news on cryptocurrency and the Federal Reserve? You’ve come to the right place! Crypto Fed News is your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about what’s going on with digital currency and the world’s most powerful central bank.
Checkout this video:
Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual tokens that use cryptography to secure their transactions and to control the creation of new units. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized, meaning they are not subject to government or financial institution control. Bitcoin, the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, was created in 2009.
Cryptocurrencies are often traded on decentralized exchanges and can also be used to purchase goods and services. Bitcoin, for example, can be used to purchase items fromover 100,000 merchants on its network.
The price of a cryptocurrency is volatile and can fluctuate widely. This is due in part to their decentralized nature and the fact that there is no central authority controlling their value.
Crypto Fed News is your one stop shop for all things related to cryptocurrencies. We provide breaking news, analysis, and pricing information for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies.
What is Crypto Fed News?
Crypto Fed News is a website dedicated to delivering the latest news and information on the cryptocurrency market. The website offers a wide range of articles on topics such as Bitcoin , Ethereum, Litecoin, and other altcoins. In addition to news articles, Crypto Fed News also provides in-depth guides, analysis, and reviews of various cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets.
How Can You Use Crypto Fed News?
Crypto Fed News is a website that will help you stay up to date on all the latest news in the cryptocurrency world. You can use Crypto Fed News to:
-Learn about new ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings)
-Get the latest news on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies
-Find out which exchanges are listing new coins and tokens
– Stay up to date on Blockchain technology news
Whether you’re a seasoned crypto trader or just getting started, Crypto Fed News is a valuable resource for staying informed about all the latest developments in thecryptocurrency world.
What Are The Benefits of Using Crypto Fed News?
Crypto Fed News is a website that covers the latest news and developments in the world of cryptocurrencies. The site offers a variety of features that make it an valuable resource for those interested in digital currencies.
One of the most useful features of Crypto Fed News is the ability to filter content by topic. This makes it easy to find information on specific aspects of the industry, such as regulation, technology, or adoption. The site also offers a variety of language options, making it accessible to a global audience.
In addition to news articles, Crypto Fed News also provides analysis and opinion pieces from a variety of experts in the field. These perspectives can be helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of complex topics. The site also offers a directory of businesses that accept cryptocurrencies, making it easier for users to spending their digital assets.
Overall, Crypto Fed News is a comprehensive resource that can be used by anyone with an interest in cryptocurrencies. The site’s wide range of features make it an excellent starting point for those looking to learn more about this rapidly growing industry.
How to Get Started With Crypto Fed News
Crypto Fed News is a website that covers everything related to the world of cryptocurrencies. From the latest news, to interviews with industry experts, to guides on how to get started in the world of crypto, Crypto Fed News has it all.
If you’re new to the world of cryptocurrencies, then Crypto Fed News is a great place to start. Here you’ll find everything you need to know to get started, including:
-The basics of how cryptocurrency works
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-And much more!
So what are you waiting for? Head over to Crypto Fed News and start learning about the exciting world of cryptocurrencies today!
In conclusion, the Crypto Fed News is a great resource for those who want to stay up-to-date on all the latest news in the world of cryptocurrency. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, this site has something for everyone. Be sure to bookmark it and check back often!


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Thursday, March 22, 2012
Huntington Beach: Outlaw retail sale of pets
March 21, 2012 | 3:56 p.m.
"The City Council voted Monday to draft an ordinance that would eliminate the commercial sale or resale of dogs and cats.
Councilman Joe Carchio, who introduced the item, asked the council to consider the ban to keep up with the city's reputation of being animal-friendly. The city has a dog beach and dog parks.
Carchio showed a video to illustrate the deplorable conditions of dogs in puppy mills, where some retail stores obtain the animals to sell."
Dog Owners of the Golden State "DOGS" PO Box 1033 Chino CA 91710 w...


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Growing up in rural Vermont, Matt Conn felt like an outcast. "It was really tough growing up as both geek and gay," he says.
The post Building a Gaming Con for an Ostracized LGBT Community appeared first on WIRED.
How much do you love the members of Japan's pop idol group AKB48? Enough to shoot them?
The post Sailor Zombie Lets You Shoot Undead Japanese Pop Stars appeared first on WIRED.
This is the right exit at the right time. We have reached peak Minecraft.
The post Selling Out Was the Best Thing Minecraft’s Creator Could’ve Done appeared first on WIRED.
Markus "Notch" Persson has a message for Minecraft fans. "It's not about the money. It's about my sanity."
The post Minecraft Creator Explains Controversial $2.5 Billion Sale to Microsoft appeared first on WIRED.
Your motor cortex strapped to a railcar hurtling down the tracks toward a barrier like Kevin Bacon in She's Having a Baby.
The post Velocity 2X: Easy to Tiptoe Through, Insanely Hard to Master appeared first on WIRED.
The word is that Microsoft may acquire Minecraft, the wildly popular game that lets you create your own virtual worlds, and Brent Smithurst isn't very happy about it.
The post Minecraft Fans Spooked by Talk of Microsoft Acquisition appeared first on WIRED.
SEATTLE -- The father of Final Fantasy has blown a lot of cash on free-to-play mobile games.
The post Final Fantasy’s Creator Is Jumping on the Free-to-Play Bandwagon appeared first on WIRED.
Infamous: First Light delivers where it matters, when you're tapping buttons and swiveling thumbsticks, but reduces its lead to a generic victim whose murderous motives and emotional journey never quite add up.
The post Infamous: First Light Has Lightning-Fast Gameplay and a Lifeless Story appeared first on WIRED.
Project Orion mods SimCity so you can make your virtual municipalities much larger. But it also introduces a lot of bugs and performance issues.
The post SimCity Mod Makes Towns Bigger, But Sadly Proves EA Right appeared first on WIRED.
Between PAX and the latest Samsung press conference, there's even more excitement bubbling up about VR. On this week's episode of the Game|Life podcast we take a look at some of the more enticing new developments.
Oculus VR gaming is coming to consumers this year, sort of. Here's what you'll be playing if you decide to adopt early.
The post Here Are the Games You’ll Be Playing on Samsung’s New VR Helmet appeared first on WIRED.
The Magic Circle is born from Jordan Thomas' experiences in blockbuster hell. You're stuck inside a triple-A vaporware project that's been in development forever and is probably never going to get finished.
The post BioShock Game Developer Mocks His Industry in The Magic Circle appeared first on WIRED.
Let's take a moment and listen to this song about Dig Dug, as sung by Chubby Checker.
The post Listen to Chubby Checker Sing About Dig Dug on a Lost Demo Tape appeared first on WIRED.
You've always wanted to defuse a bomb in real life. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes gives you that chance.
The post Defuse a Bomb With Friends in This Brilliant Oculus Game appeared first on WIRED.
Did Nintendo announce that, or was it a leak? Rumors become facts on this week's Game|Life podcast.
The post Game|Life Podcast: Nintendo Announcements, Nintendo Leaks appeared first on WIRED.
The New Nintendo 3DS, out October 11 in Japan, will have more processing power and more buttons, just the thing for the hardcore gamers Nintendo is now pursuing with gusto.
The post With New 3DS Model, Nintendo Continues to Woo Hardcore Gamers appeared first on WIRED.


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From the Indianapolis Business Journal:
Global manufacturer Covidien LP announced plans Tuesday to consolidate its U.S. operations for servicing medical-device products at its Plainfield facility, hiring up to 112 more workers by the end of 2015.
The firm currently employs about 50 in its technical service center at 2824 Airwest Blvd. It intends to renovate and equip the 70,000-square-foot facility as it hires workers and relocates similar operations from Boulder, Colo., according to company spokesman John Jordan.
Jordan declined to provide an estimate of Covidien’s investment in the project or the average wage for new workers. Hiring already has begun, he said Tuesday.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered the company up to $1.12 million in conditional tax credits based on its job-creation plans. The credits are performance-based, meaning the company cannot claim them until it hires workers.


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The Coinkite Ruby SDK by Coinkite allows API interaction, providing installation with Api Key and Api Secret. For additional error handling, API calling, and SSL monitoring, visit https://rubygems.org/gems/coinkite
Mastercard has launched a new platform for developers that features 25 commerce APIs providing a wide range of capabilities across payments, data services, and security. Some of these APIs are experimental and can be used to test new cutting-edge technologies and applications.
Eleven APIs have been added to the ProgrammableWeb directory in categories including Messaging, Insurance, and Supply Chain. Featured today is the Aidlab API for interacting with health and fitness biosensors, and Tyntec cloud communication APIs. Here's a rundown of the latest additions.


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When the Audi e-tron quattro arrives in 2018, its battery cost for the all-electric SUV may cost as little as €100 per kilowatt-hour. That’s according to Dr. Peter Martens, who was named the company’s head of research and development last month. Speaking to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, Martens was asked why Audi decided to make its first electric car a relatively large sport utility vehicle.
“We opted for a top-down strategy, because most buyers will be found there today in this segment. Currently, a kilowatt hour costs about 100 euros, depending on the model.” That certainly makes sense, given that such vehicles are the most popular vehicle style in most major markets around the world today. “Only when we come well below that price, will E-mobility in volume segments be interesting,” Martens added.
Last week, Audi announced that it will put its e-tron quattro Sportback (someone at Audi really needs to take a class in capitalization) into production in 2019. The Sportback is a sleeker, more stylish version of the SUV specifically aimed for folks who want little to no utility included in their sport utility vehicles.
It is a continuation of a new fad in the automobile industry to build large vehicles that can carry a basketball team inside — together with a whole lot of basketballs — but look like swoopy coupes instead of a boxy box on wheels.
Both cars will be nearly identical under the skin and both will have a 95 kWh battery. If Martens is correct, that battery should cost Audi about $10,000 per vehicle. Martens told AMUS that Audi expects to make a profit on the new cars but not as much as it does on its traditional offerings.
Bear in mind that the cost of battery cells is one thing. Putting them together into a battery pack with sophisticated cooling and battery management systems in place can raise the total cost considerably.
Despite the happy talk from Martens, workers at the company are less than thrilled with senior management at Audi. A report by German newspaper Bild am Sonntag last week claims an internal memo is being circulated that is sharply critical of CEO Rupert Stadler. In it, Stadler and the board are slammed for not adequately preparing the company for the future, citing “disastrous” indecision at key junctures in the recent past.
Elon Musk has been begging mainstream manufacturers to make “compelling” electric cars for years. Beginning in 2018, several companies, including Audi, will start marketing the cars they think will meet Musk’s challenge. “We’ll see,” said the Zen master.
Source: Inside EVs


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What you need to know
- During today's surprise Nintendo Direct mini, Nintendo shared news for an Animal Crossing: New Horizons update.
- This update is bringing Bunny Day on April 1.
- Players will be able to find eggs hidden around the island and craft egg-themed items.
- The event will run through April 12.
Nintendo surprised us all by suddenly dropping a Nintendo Direct mini earlier today. As part of this quick showcase of stuff coming to the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo shared an update on Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Bunny Day is coming and it will bring eggs hidden all over the islands for players to find. After finding the eggs, players can craft unique, egg-themed decorations.
Bunny Day runs from April 1 through April 12 and this is the only time in 2020 that the event will be available. If you miss it, you'll need to wait until next year to build all of these egg-themed items, so get ready for a big egg hunt! There's also another update coming later in April, which will bring in some stuff for Earth Day.
If you haven't tried out Animal Crossing: New Horizons yet, Sara Gitkos, one of our content editors at iMore, wrote in her review that "Animal Crossing: New Horizons manages to not only live up to the hype, but it surpasses all expectations. It's a fun, simple game with a whole lot to do. Plus, since we've got plenty of time to do it, now is the perfect time for an easy-going game like this to hit the shelves. It's a build-your-own experience game where you can shape your island and play however you like."
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.


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GM Seeks to Reverse India Decline With Chevrolet ModelsAnurag Kotoky and Vrishti Beniwal
General Motors Co. is banking on a line of new locally produced Chevrolet models to arrest a decline in its sales in India.
The company will invest $1 billion in Chevrolet in India and roll out 10 new models in the next five years, GM said in a statement. Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday she sees “much more” growth in India for GM, and the total car market may grow to about 8 million units by 2025.
The investments are being announced at a time when demand for passenger vehicles in India is waning, with deliveries declining in June for the first time in eight months. Vikram Kirloskar, president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, said this month that there is lot of excess capacity in factories.
GM, which was among the first foreign carmakers to enter India two decades back, has failed to capitalize on its early entry and lost market share in recent years to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and Hyundai Motor Co.
The world’s third-biggest automaker’s share of passenger vehicles sold in India slid to 2 percent in the 12 months ended March, from 3.2 percent a year earlier, according to the association’s data. That was a fifth straight annual drop in market share.
GM said it’s going to close one of its two factories in Asia’s third-biggest auto market. The factory at Halol, located in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, will be closed in the second half of next year. The capacity at its second factory, located at Talegaon in the western state of Maharashtra, will be increased to 220,000 units.
The company earlier this month appointed Kaher Kazem, managing director of GM Uzbekistan, as the chief operating officer for its operations in South Asian nation. It also hired Hardeep Singh Brar from Volkswagen AG to lead sales.
GM, which was ranked No. 8 among carmakers for local sales and No. 11 for exports, said in February that it would export 19,000 cars to 40 countries in 2015. In the year ended March, it shipped 2,011 cars from India, according to data from the automakers association.
Barra, who met with Modi earlier Wednesday, said she’s confident that Chevrolet will be sustainably profitable in India. The brand will target to export 40,000 units from the country by next year.
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Experts with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and researchers who study the hospitality industry say it’s too early to tell if there will be any long-term implications on visitation from Great Britain as a result of the Brexit vote.
Subscribe to Economy RSS feed
The Southern Nevada economy will get a job boost with the opening of the Faraday Future $1 billion auto plant at the Apex Industrial Park in North LasVegas. The Chinese-backed Faraday will employ 4,500 people and about 3,000 construction jobs will be created and 9,500 indirect jobs.
The Southern Nevada economy will strengthen the rest of the year and into 2017 and even surpass the national economy, which continues to be a concern and poses a risk, according to a report released Thursday by a UNLV economics professor.
Investors questioned a plan by Silicon Valley heavyweight Elon Musk for his electric car company Tesla Motors to buy his rooftop solar company SolarCity for up to $2.8 billion, sending Tesla’s shares down more than 10 percent on concerns the two would not fit together and a deal would distract Tesla from making cars.
Ten years old. Two foreclosures. Vacant. The two-story home at 5450 Nickel Creek Trail near Sam Boyd stadium is in many ways reflective of Las Vegas’ housing boom and bust.
It’s a troublesome story playing out across America in the 10 years since the housing bubble burst: Homeowners are thriving while renters are struggling.
Are we back? A principal at Applied Analysis asked — and answered — his own question Thursday on the status of Nevada’s economy at an event sponsored by the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.
Nevada’s unemployment rate ticked up in May to a seasonally adjusted 6.1 percent when payrolls dropped by 3,800 from April, marking the largest monthly jobs decline since September 2010.
Tesla Motors Inc. has agreed to revise its customer repair agreements to allow owners to report potential safety issues to U.S. auto safety regulators, a government spokesman said on Friday
The Habit Burger Grill, an Irvine, California-based restaurant company, has opened its second Las Vegas location, at 4830 Blue Diamond Road.
Cushman & Wakefield on Friday announced the sale of four grocery-anchored, neighborhood shopping centers totaling 336,096 square feet in Henderson and North Las Vegas.
NAI Vegas, a real estate brokerage in Las Vegas, recently closed its latest sale in an all-cash transaction.
Union workers at a Northern Nevada cement plant have rejected a contract proposal from the company, a union representative said Friday.
Nevada is gradually regaining lost ground in private sector job growth.
Negotiating pay isn’t always a strong point for women, yet that skill has a big impact on a woman’s career. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center report, American women make approximately 84 percent of what their male counterparts earn.
Nevada has regained nearly all of the 175,000 jobs lost during the Great Recession and should fully recover later this year, a state economist told the Economic Forum on Thursday.
U.S. hiring slowed to a near-standstill in May, sowing doubts about the economy’s health and complicating the Federal Reserve’s efforts to raise interest rates.
U.S. businesses added 173,000 jobs last month, lifted by strong gains in services industries, according to a private survey.
Sales of cars, trucks and SUVs fell 6 percent last month, to 1.54 million, according to AutoData Corp. It was the biggest monthly drop in nearly six years. The decline was unusual for May, a month when Americans typically buy cars ahead of summer road trips.
Tesla’s gigafactory under construction east of Reno will be put on display July 29 for some of the electric-car company’s customers.
University of Phoenix plans to open a first-of-its-kind innovation center at the Bank of America Plaza building at 300 S. Fourth St. in downtown Las Vegas.
Meadows Bank has announced it has obtained approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Nevada Financial Institutions Division to open its second branch in Reno.
The U.S. economy is showing signs of more life after a less-than-stellar start to the year.
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Microsoft doubled down on Surface tablets last September, introducing two second-gen devices with new accessories to match. Has the new gear proved more profitable than the old? Unfortunately for Microsoft, it hasn't.
SEC filings dug up by PC World reveal that Microsoft lost money on Surface sales during its last fiscal quarter. From October through December, Surface sales totaled $893 million. However, the cost of those sales—including manufacturing, distribution, and marketing—amounted to $932 million. Translation: a net loss of $39 million.
This isn't the first time Microsoft has lost money on Surface sales. Last July, the company wrote off a $900-million charge related to "Surface RT inventory adjustments." A couple of weeks later, we learned that, up until that point, the Surface and Surface RT had only generated revenue of $853 million put together.
I suppose that, at this stage, Microsoft might be eager to grab extra tablet market share at the expense of profits. It's not like the company as a whole is anywhere close to the red. Still, considering Apple's gross margin lately, those Surface losses have gotta sting.
|Aerocool starts Project 7 with a flurry of case and cooling gear||5|
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Today Status Pro revealed that they are partnering with NFL MVP and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for an upcoming “suite of VR products” and a VR game.
Reportedly, Status Pro is working on a series of first-person virtual reality experiences that will collectively be known as “The Lamar Jackson Experience” and are designed to provide a first-hand perspective of what it’s like to compete in the NFL. This includes an “at-home” VR game, arcade games, and live activations.
Utilizing game tracking data, the experiences will recreate real-life game scenarios as a glimpse of what it’s like to lace up as the NFL MVP. Details are scarce on what that means exactly, but based on the brief teaser video above and promo image, it looks like some sort of QB simulation that will have players simulating throwing motions and play-calling on the field. Notably, it looks like you’ll actually suit up as a Baltimore Raven, meaning this is likely an official NFL product of some kind that’s not tied to the Madden series. In the promo image we can also see Jackson wearing an Oculus Quest using two Touch controllers.
Status Pro is, according to their own press release, “a sports technology company that combines data with augmented and virtual reality to provide a suite of training and gaming products that revolutionize the way coaches, players, and fans experience their favorite sport.” Here’s more information about the company on their official website.
What do you think about this idea? Let us know down in the comments below! While waiting for more details you can check out 2MD VR Football to scratch that VR football itch.


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Global payments platform Visa has announced plans to invest in generative artificial intelligence in addition to its crypto products.
At the lecture, Banga claimed that the volatile nature of digital currencies goes against what a legal exchange should be, saying:
“I think cryptocurrency is junk. The idea of an anonymized currency produced by people who have to mine it, the value of which can fluctuate wildly – that to me is not the way that any medium of exchange deserves to be considered as a medium of exchange”.
Referring to the fact that Bitcoin was used in the indictment of twelve intelligence officers in Russia in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, Banga lashed at cryptocurrency because of its ‘anonymous’ nature. He likened to a snake, saying:
“Why civil society would like to put a snake in its backyard and think that somehow the snake will only bite my neighbor, I don’t get it”.
Banga’s strong approach against cryptocurrency comes as a surprise considering the dealings that MasterCard has with blockchain technology and the most recent patent which was awarded which will see cryptocurrencies linked with fiat accounts.
This is not the first blockchain patent which Banga’s company explored, and previously MasterCard detailed the interest it had in leveraging blockchain technology for uses such as “disclosure [related] to the storage and verification and identity and credential data” with special use of distributed storage “for protection of identity and credential data and the verification thereof.”
At the time, this in itself comes as a shock considering the fact that MasterCard had gone on record to state that it would potentially support using cryptocurrencies but only if the digital currencies were backed by the state – in order words it would not support a decentralized digital currency. Although sort of sentiment seems closer to Banga’s accusations that digital currencies are “junk”, it still doesn’t align with the company’s interest in exploring the use of digital currencies.


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Port of Cork expects to avoid the worst of the predicted Christmas supply chaos
The Port is making provision for factors that may negatively impact on trade volumes in some of its activities, such as shortages of electrical components, surging energy prices and the cost of critical raw materials
However a spokesperson for the Port told the Irish Examiner that they don’t face any capacity constraints in the immediate term, as they look to open their new state-of-the-art container terminal which will double their cargo capacity.
The Port has also increased their connectivity significantly with additional direct freight routes into central Europe,
This has helped Irish exporters and importers to bypass the delays at channel ports previously reached through England or Scotland.


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Feb. 27, 2013
Arriving on schedule at the New Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito's Tababela parish are two Johnny Rockets restaurants, dovetailing with the official unveiling of the new airport and representing the company's first foray into Ecuador, according to a company press release.
The landside and airside Johnny Rockets restaurants are both located in the passenger terminal. The 1,952-square-foot landside restaurant seats 70 guests and is in the flight check-in area. The 495-square-foot airside food court location seats 260 guests in the common dining area and is accessed after going through the security checkpoint. Each location offers the chain's standard Modern Americana décor and traditional menu of Hamburgers, American Fries, creamy Shakes and classic Sandwiches associated with the iconic brand since 1986, said Franchisee Rafael Aguirre, who owns both new restaurants.
Aguirre opened his first Johnny Rockets at Cancun International Airport in May 2007, followed by two additional Cancun Airport locations in December 2010 and December 2011. Also in his hangar are restaurants at Toluca Airport (April 2009) and Guadalajara Airport (September 2011).
"When we first entered South America with our first restaurant in Santiago, Chile, in July 2010, we recognized the potential for our all-American brand in this diverse, vibrant and rapidly growing economic area," said Steve Devine, president of Johnny Rockets International. "We're delighted that Raphael has brought our unique dining experience to Ecuador, and look forward to future South American expansion in Brazil, Colombia and Peru."
Read more about franchising.


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Originally scheduled to be announced at an ASICS Innovation Summit in Tokyo this winter, ASICS took its shoe innovation into Virtual Reality, for ASICS’s first product preview in VR. Media, athletes and shoppers can experience the three new shoes up close and personal in the virtual innovation lab of the ASICS Institute of Sport Science. The Institute is the home of ASICS innovation in Kobe, Japan.
The three new shoes – Metaracer, an advanced racing shoe for long distances; Metarise, a volleyball shoe; and the spikeless Metasprint track shoe for elite sprinters – are designed to help athletes perform and protect them at the same time.
The three new shoes were unveiled in the Sunrise Red color scheme, which is a symbol of athletes’ hope, passion and dedication and celebrates the city of Tokyo, site of the since-postponed 2020 Olympics.
“We believe that now, more than ever, it’s important to remember the positive impact of sport for individuals and society: exercise uplifts people, so they achieve a sound mind through a sound body. And what better way to showcase ASICS innovation than taking people to a virtual innovation lab that brings our technology to life,” says Yasuhito Hirota, president COO of ASICS.
A review of the three new shoes:
- Metaracer: The Metaracer is ASICS’s most advanced long-distance racing shoe yet, designed to help performance athletes reach their peak. It combines its Guidesole technology with a carbon plate to give runners more stability. The shoe has an improved toe-spring shape that reduces the load on the calf muscle by up to 20 percent for energy efficiency.
- Metarise: The Metarise Indoor shoe features a curved heel design that supports smooth transition and lift off for the attack. Research at the ASICS Institute of Sport Science has shown that the Metarise gives players an extra three percent lift.
- Metasprint: The track shoe replaced spikes with a honeycomb carbon fiber outsole that optimizes and enhances traction and delivers explosive speed. With no spikes inhibiting the stride, athletes will transfer additional power with every step.


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Nestle Granted Relief as India Court Overturns Noodle RecallAdi Narayan and Anoop Agrawal
An Indian court granted relief to Nestle SA in a case that has pitted the nation’s food regulator against the Swiss giant over the quality of its iconic Maggi noodles. Shares of the company’s local unit rallied.
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May 11, 2009
Spur from stockpile clearance seen muted
May 11, 2009
By Eric Onstad and Helen Massy-Beresford
LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - Stockpiles of cars, mobile phones and beauty products that piled up during the global downturn are being whittled away but restocking will do little to boost growth as cautious firms adjust to lower inventories.
Global inventory data this week and recent comments by company officials show that a trend by firms to use up stocks instead of churning out new orders is coming to an end.
Low inventories could spark some growth as companies cautiously begin to replenish stocks, but this will be muted while sustained healthy demand is probably distant.
"It's too early to be talking about broad-based production volume uplift because of restocking," said David Arnold, analyst at Credit Suisse, referring to the hard-hit auto sector.
In cosmetics, the pace of destocking was slowing in North America and Europe, but this did not mean that sales were expected to rebound, Chief Executive William Lauder of Estee Lauder told a results briefing on Monday 11 May.
"We've probably we've got another 12 months to go," Lauder said.
"Certainly right now I think what you're seeing is both the consumer as well as retailer with whom we trade are adjusting to a level."
Recent data has indicated that the worst of slashing inventories to cope with weak growth is probably over.
A world index complied by Markit Economics showed raw material inventories at manufacturers ticked higher in April after touching a record low the previous month.
A ratio -- used as a leading indicator -- of stocks levels to new orders is pointing to more rises in manufacturing output after the output figure for April reached a seven-month high.
"What we've been seeing recently at the global level and for most of our national surveys is that this inventory ratio has been improving," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit, adding that the global ratio reached a 17-month high in April.
"We're still talking rates of contraction which have been almost unprecedented, so we're still at a low point, but we might be past the worst."
Heavyweights ranging from mobile phone giant Nokia to confectionery group Cadbury have said recently that destocking is over or will soon come to an end.
"We saw a lot of destocking happening in Q1... I think the destocking impact has, in most markets, now reached the bottom," Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said.
Cadbury reported last week underlying sales growth of 2 percent for its first-quarter, but this would have been 4 percent but for the effect of destocking.
This occurred mainly in the United States and Canada and three-quarters of the effect there was due to one distributor cutting its stock levels to 17 days from 30 days to reduce its working capital ahead of its own year-end on January 31.
U.S. household product group Procter & Gamble Co said last week that destocking was expected to continue in the second quarter.
"It's the distributors that are under real cash and bank line pressure... the easiest way for them to improve in the short term is to pull down their inventories," Chief Executive A.G. Lafley said.
LOWER AUTO INVENTORIES
In the auto sector, firms made drastic production cuts late last year to battle a costly build-up of stocks of vehicles.
Daimler said on Thursday 7 May its inventory of unsold Mercedes-Benz cars dropped to the lowest level for the month of April in seven years.
France's Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen both achieved their year-end targets of cutting stocks of unsold vehicles to the same levels they held at the end of 2007 and since then, they have both gone further.
Other sectors are also likely to adjust to lower inventory levels so restocking effects are likely to be modest for now.
"The natural level of inventory holdings will more than likely be reassessed and be lower than it was before," said Dobson. "We may not see a full inventory building process going on until we actually start seeing output and new orders show proper recovery or gains."
German firms still see their inventories as too high, so a boost was not expected from stock building, an economist at a think tank said on Wednesday 6 May.
Many firms are wary after they were forced to take huge writedowns last year as the value of inventories fell.
A report by Moody's Investors Service estimated that 20 companies with the largest inventories were forced to write down 10.6 billion euros (9.5 billion pounds) last year when the value of those stocks slid.
While more such writedowns could be seen this year, oil and chemical firms might post inventory gains rather than losses as prices recover, it added.
(Additional reporting by David Jones; Editing by David Cowell)
© Thomson Reuters 2023 All rights reserved.


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Ross: Are we going back to the old light bulbs?
CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Bernie Sanders this question during Wednesday night’s climate change town hall: “Just today, the Trump administration announced plans to overturn requirements on energy saving light bulbs. Would you reinstate those requirements?”
Sanders responded with a firm “Duh!”
I felt a momentary panic. Because I love the light bulb standards. Yes, I admit, I had my doubts at first. In fact when the rule kicked in back in 2011 and we had to buy those curly fluorescent light bulbs, there was a rebellion in Congress. Rep Mike Burgess of Texas said the curly bulbs made his face look all pasty.
“We don’t look as good as we do under an incandescent bulb,” he said.
But then – a miracle! LED light bulbs appeared.
LEDs last 50 times as long, and use so little electricity you don’t have to turn them off. And now, thanks to LEDs, my kitchen is like high noon in summer, and the master bath feels like the transfiguration — I have to wear sunglasses to shave.
So I looked up this regulation that Trump is repealing, and it turns out it applies to work lights, oven bulbs, and those old three-way lamps.
No problem. My year-round sunshine is safe.
In fact, even if the president did repeal the whole rule, it wouldn’t matter. Because who’s going to buy a power-sucking bulb you have to keep replacing, when you can buy a miniature supernova that can blind intruders, and that you can pass on to your grandchildren?


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Now that a panel of experts has made its recommendations on how to fix the Maritime lobster industry, it’s up to the stakeholders to end years of mistrust and make it work.
Unfortunately, if recent history is any indication it’s going to be hard sell.
The three-member Maritime Lobster Panel released its report on Thursday, making 33 recommendations it believes are essential to the survival of a billion-dollar industry that reached a crisis point last spring when numerous fishermen took their boats off the waters in protest of record low prices.
In making their recommendations, the panel said they see an industry that’s struggling instead of co-operating, fishing for quantity instead of value, fighting over pennies while losing dollars and asking (or expecting) others to fix their problems.
The fact is, if the Maritime lobster industry is to survive, everyone needs to be singing from the same song sheet. Fishermen, buyers and processors need to think of the big picture instead of sniping at each other and blaming the other side for its troubles.
Many Maritimers don’t know what’s involved in the bringing their favourite crustacean to their plate. Fact is most don’t really care as long as the price is affordable and the product is accessible.
Members of the panel feel their recommendations are common sense that if followed will give the industry a fighting chance to survive.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand how the dairy industry has taken advantage of marketing to maintain its market share while developing new markets for its products. There’s little doubt that a one cent per pound levy is going to be opposed by both sides of the question, but it’s something that should be widely accepted if it leads to more customers and, in turn, better prices.
As much as the panel’s suggestions are just that – a signpost toward the future – a buy-in is needed from everyone and along with buying into what’s being recommended is the notion that the lobster fishery is now a partnership of those who harvest the lobster, those who buy it, those who process and even though who buy it off the store shelves.
At the end of the day, this may the industry’s last opportunity to get it right because a repeat of last spring’s performance is something that will not be well received by those who at the end of the day pay the bills – the consumer.


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Resident Evil 4 just won’t die. The beloved action horror Capcom classic has either been ported or remastered to nearly every console since debuting on the GameCube in 2005, and now Capcom is reportedly procuring a reimagining of the title. According to a report by Video Games Chronical, a remake of Resident Evil 4 is slated for a 2022 release and is being helmed by Japanese studio M-Two which has been developing the game since 2018. M-Two is run by former PlatinumGames head Tatsuya Minami and consists of many former developers from PlatinumGames and Capcom. The news follows the success of 2019’s terrific Resident Evil 2 Remake and the recently released Resident Evil 3.
I personally view the remake as a blessing. While Resident Evil 4 is one of the greatest games of its genre and era, the title’s controls haven’t aged all that well and would benefit from the remake treatment. Fingers crossed that we’ll see more information about the Resident Evil 4 remake soon.


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Ahead of the big iOS 7 release, Apple today slapped a “refined user interface” on its iOS online shopping app which enables customers to order products from their iDevices, set up appointments at the Apple Retail Store, and more.
The official Apple Store iOS app is “optimized for iOS 7 with a refined user interface,” according to the Cupertino giant.
“When you’re on the go, the Apple Store app is the best way to research, personalize, and buy products from Apple,” says the company.
Furthermore, you can use this handy tool to make Genius Bar and workshop reservations, and you can even order your next iPhone from it.
Although it’s now compatible with iOS 7, the Apple Store app still only calls for iOS 6.0 and works with pretty much all iDevices currently used in the wild. Download Apple Store app for iOS (Free)


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'Taobao village' rides on Yiwu's success
Five years ago, Qingyanliu was an unknown village of about 1,000 farmers in a suburb of Yiwu, Zhejiang . Today it has become an important business area of the city with a population of 8,000 and more than 1,800 thriving online businesses.
Five-storey farmers' houses with similar designs stand as if in a queue along Qingyan Street, the main street of the village, where large trucks pass through once in a while.
Bruce Huang is one of the online 'shopkeepers' in this neighbourhood. Like many other businesspeople, he rents an apartment and a cellar to operate a shop at taobao.com, China's biggest consumer-to-consumer e-commerce site.
The apartment is used as an office, where two young employees help him with the business every day, and the cellar is used for stockpiling goods, which he buys from Yiwu's international commodity market.
Huang said homeowners in the neighbourhood, now dubbed the taobao village since it was rebuilt by the government in 2005 and attracted many online businessmen with its cheap rent, lived a much better life than many in huge cities.
'Now that they don't have farmland to work on, many followed the trend and started their own shops and some lazier ones can simply live on the rental income,' he said.
'Since 1999, Yiwu, then a small town, has been rebuilding surrounding villages to expand its urban area.'
The project is now in full swing as the city has become a commodity-trading hub in eastern China. Qingyanliu is one of the dozens of villages that have been made part of the city.
The fastest urbanisation in the world has been taking place on the mainland. According to a report on urban development by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 620 million people, or 46.6 per cent of the total population, now live in urban areas.
Only 36.2 per cent lived in cities in 2000, meaning the urban population has grown by an average of one percentage point a year.
The academy expects urbanisation to reach 52 per cent by 2015.
However, academics said improving the quality of urbanisation should be a priority in the next five years.
Yuan Chongfa, a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission's urban research centre, also noted that 'disputes over land ownership due to two different systems of ownership in rural and urban China have been a major problem during this process'.


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What you need to know
- Google admitted the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 are on their way this fall.
- Because of 5G's limited rollout, the phones will only be available in nine countries.
- The Pixel 4a is essentially the Google flagship in four countries, including India, Spain, Italy and Singapore.
Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) will only be available in the following countries: United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia.
That's the fine print you see on select teaser pages of the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 shared with some press earlier today. While the Pixel 4a is available in 13 countries, four of those countries — India, Spain, Italy, and Singapore — will reportedly not be getting Google's 5G lineup this year. That leaves the Pixel 4a as essentially the flagship phone in those markets, a bizarre and limiting choice for many consumers who just want a Google phone.
The Pixel 4 series was also limited in its availability, largely because the phones' Soli radar needed local government approval in each market. That won't be the case for either the Pixel 4a 5G or Pixel 5, as neither device reportedly has the motion-tracking technology included, so the limited availability is likely tethered to the maturity of a market's 5G networks.
If you're interested in buying the Pixel 4a right now, we have a list of the best Pixel 4a deals you can find.
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Black & Decker's newest stick vacs promise lots of suction and long lasting power.
Black Hat 2014
The Black & Decker Lithium Vacuum is mediocre and tedious to use. It needs to be better than that to be worth its $300 price point.
Netflix adds 58 titles, including the new season of "Orange Is The New Black," while dropping 55. Amazon Prime picks up 26 new titles including one of the worst movies ever made, "Troll 2."
It looks like an upright while maneuvering like a stick, but middling performance and tedious maintenance keep this vac grounded.
Standing like an upright and moving like a stick, Black & Decker's new vac comes with plenty of versatility.
The third season of "Orange Is The New Black" is one of the many new options you'll have on Netflix in June. Meanwhile, Amazon adds some world-class movies and one horrible one.
The two companies are both looking to slice off a bigger chunk of the workplace. Will business users bite?
Oppo's gorgeous new, beautifully crafted headphones are best in their price class, says the Audiophiliac.
It takes a mighty wind to keep stars from forming. Researchers have found one in a galaxy far, far away -- and NASA made a short movie about it.
Verizon is dubbing the day before Thanksgiving "Connection Day" and has a slate of gifts prepared for all wireless consumers -- not just Verizon customers.