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“One’s survival depends on its ability to stay awake, adjust to new ideas, remain vigilant and face the challenge of change” – Martin Luther King Jr
Driven by petro-dollars, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have witnessed significant economic growth and development over the last 6 decades. However, since the correction in crude oil prices from 2015 onwards, the oil rich GCC states have struggled to maintain the same rate of economic growth and some economies have been adversely impacted. Consequently, the regional governments have an increased focus on economic diversification to reduce oil dependency.
Over the last few years, the technology sector across the GCC states has gradually evolved from a market dominated by reseller and system integration service providers, to an ecosystem nurturing and developing products and services offering artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, blockchain, 3D printing etc.
Based on an article published by Atlantic Council, the GCC countries have an internet penetration rate exceeding 70% compared to the global average of ~50%. In a recent study conducted by AT Kearney in 2019, the GCC e-commerce market was estimated to reach USD20 billion by end of 2020. With the increasing number of online shoppers, the GCC e-commerce market is set to witness significant growth.
The acquisition of e-commerce platform Souq.com (USD580 million) by Amazon and ride share application Careem (USD3.1 billion) by Uber has established Gulf states as emerging hubs for digital innovation and development. Further, Amazon Web Services has chosen Bahrain as the hub to host its first data centre in the Middle East, which is expected to result in creating thousands of jobs.
Start-ups/ young growth companies are an integral part of the tech sector, driving innovation, disruptive technology and off late have been gaining momentum in GCC. 2019 was an encouraging year for the tech startups, with a record USD704 million in investments across 564 deals (Source: Dtec Ventures – GCC start-up ecosystem) across the GCC states and wider MENA region. Further according to MENA Research Partners, during the last 10 years, Gulf based fintechs have received USD150 million in private fundings, which is expected to reach USD2 billion in the coming decade. The leading startups in the GCC that were able to raise funds include Sarwa (Fintech, UAE, USD8 Million, Series A), Saee (Logistics Tech, KSA, USD2.4 million, Series A), Lorryz (Logistics Tech, UAE, USD1.4 million, Seed round) to name a few.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic which started in December 2019 has had a severe economic and structural impact globally. The World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020, declared it as a pandemic. Governments across the GCC states have been prompt in announcing stimulus and relief packages, with the UAE being amongst the first GCC countries to announce a package amounting to USD34.3 billion (Source: Arab News), which aims to offer relief to businesses particularly SMEs and real estate sector from loan repayments.
Whilst the pandemic is expected to take a toll on the global economy, one sector that is expected to emerge stronger from the crisis is the technology sector. According to the recent edition of The Economist. work is being conducted from home across the major economies, while school and university students are having virtual classes. Given the challenges posed by the pandemic, most businesses were forced to digitally transform in a brief time to ensure continuity.
Demand for online services including online shopping, VoIP, and instant messaging has increased significantly worldwide. E-commerce platforms are experiencing significant increase in users, particularly the ones dealing with daily essentials, utilities, etc. Given the ongoing lockdown, remote working and online schooling is expected to be the new norm probably over the next few months, which has resulted in telecom regulators in the GCC easing restrictions for various VoIP applications. If experts are to be believed, the cost savings due to these temporary measures may also lead businesses to adopt these behavioural shifts as permanent changes.
Encountering the unprecedented challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic first hand, organisations across the GCC are expected to adopt digital transformation in more aggressive manner. With the objective to optimise cost, drive efficiency and increase enhance customer experience, organisations are expected to adopt disruptive technologies such as AI, robotic process automation, big data analytics etc. AI powered algorithms are being successfully used by Dubai Police to demarcate vehicles employed by vital sectors from that of individuals in breach of the lockdown. Similarly, AI based virtual hospitals and telemedicine services are already being used in KSA and UAE to improve the accessibility and quality of care among patients and healthcare providers.
Public Cloud Services is another segment which is expected to witness a big uptake, given that most of the online services are now cloud based. Cloud based solutions would also help small businesses to optimise their IT expenditure, while simultaneously offering agility, speed and scale. With the increased adoption of technology, investments in cybersecurity would further increase, as data security and malware threats continues to remain one of the biggest challenges for the industry as a whole.
With the current downturn, the investments in new tech start-ups may witness a temporary slump for the year 2020, as investors reserve cash and are on the lookout for quality deals. However, the tech incubators across the GCC and government backed funds are expected to support the technology and innovation ecosystem in the region and keep the momentum going in the start-up arena.
Further, as global interest rates are likely to remain low for some time to come, this would translate to more cash and investment in equities in the future. On return to normalcy, GCC governments would focus efforts on economic diversification with increased vigour, and the tech sector is expected to be at the forefront of this change. Hence, for potential investors which are GCC centric, the technology sector would offer viable/ attractive investment opportunities going forward in the short to medium term.
PKF UAE has a team of highly experienced professionals who have several years of expertise in evaluating investments in tech ventures. Experienced feasibility study consultants can undertake market and financial feasibility studies for new projects. PKF’s valuation team can also assist with business valuation for tech companies. We would be happy to discuss any of your requirements. Please feel free to get in touch with us on firstname.lastname@example.org.


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New York Fashion Week has just begun, and the shows have already gotten off to an exciting start. Even though most of the buzz about fashion week has been directed to the more publicized shows, like Yeezy’s recent model fiasco or Alexander Wang’s collaboration with Adidas, other designers have been stealing the show as well. Read on ahead to see which notable designers on the up-and-coming that are showing at New York Fashion Week.
1. Victor Barragán
Victor Barragán got his big break as a designer when his t-shirt of Leonardo DiCaprio crying with MS folders coming out of his eyes become an instant hit. While even the idea of the t-shirt might be a little weird to some, his “tumblr aesthetic” perfectly embodies the ideals of the millennial generation. His brand, Ytinifnininfinity, shows at NYFW with a strong focus on internet culture, specifically Instagram.
2. Karolina Bernaciak
This new designers is the creative genius behind the brand “God Save Queens”, a lingerie company already being worn by celebrities like Kylie Jenner. Based in Poland, the brand is known for its raw sex appeal and urban charm that appeals to young trendsetters. Their products bring an air of luxury to the market, with all designs hand-finished by the perfectionist of a designer.
3. Natalia Maczek
Misbhv, the brainchild of Natalia Maczek, is a streetwear brand that takes its name from the word “misbehave”. It is known for its trademark mix of eclectric graphics and luxurious fabrics that often have a boyish feel to them. Prior to fashion week, the brand found its celebrity already on the rise, after Rihanna decided to don one of their jackets for a concert. Its brand-new collection is sure to catch the eye of fashion bloggers and trendsetters, especially with streetwear being the easiest trend to rock this year.
4. Lisa N. Hoang
Unlike the rest of the designers at Fashion Week, Lisa N. Hoang has not had years to craft her experience, or a degree from FIT or Parsons. In fact, the young designer is still in college at NC State, where she is earning her fashion design degree from the College of Textiles. That doesn’t mean the designer doesn’t have experience in the industry– she’s interned at Marchesa and shown her own collection at Charleston Fashion Week. Be on the lookout for her signature combination of couture and technology in her new collection dubbed “Debutante”.
5. Joris Suk and Tessa de Boer
These two are the designers behind the brand “Maison the Faux” which claims to be a reaction to the current commercialization of the fashion industry. All the items from the brand have a self-mocking tone, and it’s almost impossible not to smile with the brand’s bold prints and over-the-top madness that pokes fun at fashion today.
By Divya Ramaswamy
cover image credit

domain: news


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Latest Panasonic Broadcast Equipment at BVE 2012
The AG-AF101 4/3 HD camcorder is the world’s first professional HD camera recorder to come equipped with a four-thirds MOS image sensor and is the first model in the Panasonic AVCCAM series to offer the possibility of exchangeable lenses. Optimised for high-definition video recording, the large image sensor on the AF101 enables professional users to achieve cinema-like wide-angle footage with shallow depth of field.
Also on show at the Panasonic stand will be the highly anticipated and now BBC HD approved P2 format AG-HPX250EJ, the first 10 bit hand-held model to feature the AVC-Intra 100 codec. With progressive-compatible ULT (Ultra Luminance Technology), 1/3-type 2.2-megapixel 3MOS sensor and 22x zoom lens with wide coverage from wide-angle to telephoto the HPX250 looks set to be one of the stars of the show. Additionally Panasonic will demonstrate its AG-AC130EJ and AG-AC160EJ AVCCAM camcorders. Both the AC130 and 160 cameras feature a 22x zoom, dual SD cards for relay or simultaneous recording and exceptional low light recording capabilities and deliver the quality and flexibility professional video makers demand.
On the booth cameras will feed the brand new professional plasma monitors from Panasonic including the highly specified and competitively priced BT-300 series. Both the 42” and 50” screens are graded for use in film and TV in 2D and stereoscopic production environments.
“BVE will provide the platform for us to show off our latest kit and will include demonstrations of the Panasonic broadcast technology that is being used in the London 2012 Olympic Games, such as DVCPROHD, the official recording format for London 2012.” commented UK Marketing Executive, Becky Green.
In addition to everything Panasonic will be doing on it’s stand, official Panasonic distributor, Holdan, will demonstrate on their stand some of the very latest Panasonic products launched at IBC 2011 and shown at BVE North including the recently announced HDC-Z10000, the world's first integrated twin-lens 2D/3D camcorder compatible with the AVCHD 3D / Progressive standard. The new camcorder provides broadcast image quality for 2D and 3D filming, manual control for professional use, auto stereoscopic 3D LCD display and uncompromising audio quality. Featuring Panasonic’s unique double 3MOS sensor system for recording Full-HD 2D and 3D images, HDC-Z10000 delivers an effective pixel count of 6.57 megapixels for superb colour and detail reproduction. The two large-diameter F1.5 lenses independently mounted on the left and right are treated with Nano Surface Coating, for the first time on a camcorder, significantly reducing ghosting and flare to produce crisp, clear image rendering.


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|Planned networking services for the PlayStation 3 video game console are a key part of Sony’s new drive for innovation, CEO Stringer said today.|
Sony CEO Howard Stringer said at a news conference Tuesday that he he was “happy” with Sony’s sales results on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which officially kicks off the holiday shopping season. Stringer said also that sales of the PlayStation 3 videogame console is picking up. The PS3, which debuted a year ago, has been slow to take off because of its high price and a lack of good games. But Sony introduced a more affordable model in October for $399 – or $100 less than the previous starting price. (Other strong Sony products include the CyberShot camera, Mr. Stringer said.)
Mr. Stringer said Sony has been selling over 200,000 PS3 units a week in the U.S. since Black Friday, which was on Nov. 23. He said the PS3 is doing similarly well in Europe. In Japan, which is a smaller market, it is selling 40,000 to 50,000 PS3 consoles a week.
The news comes as game rival Nintendo is struggling to keep up with demand for its top-selling Wii platform. Just today, U.K. retailer Game Group said it expects demand for the Nintendo Wii platform to outstrip supply during the key Christmas period. Also, while the Wii craze has died down a bit in Japan, it may be reignited by the release of the Wii Fit, which lets users play exercise games by standing on a board that can sense shifts in weight.
Readers: You have any game plans this holiday season? Is the Wii just a fad? Post your comments below.


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Google and HTC are said to be working on a new Nexus tablet. The alleged tablet has seen its fair share of rumors and leaks in the past few days, with some hinting at its launch later this month.
Recently, the alleged Nexus 9 passed through the FCC, which is required before the device could hit retail. The tablet with model number 0P82100, believed to be the upcoming Nexus 9, passed through the FCC for certification.
The FCC documents doesn’t reveal a lot of information, but it do list the device as a tablet from the Taiwanese OEM. It’s been a while since HTC launched a tablet, but this could be the return of the company in the competitive tablet market. Furthermore, the listing doesn’t reveal much about the internals of the tablet, except that it will feature Bluetooth, NFC, and 802.11ac, as well as 16 and 32GB of storage on board.
Previous rumors suggest that HTC Nexus 9 will come with an 8.9-inch display sporting a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels, with a 64-bit Tegra K1 processor — actually, Nvidia also leaked the tablet once during a lawsuit against Qualcomm and Samsung. As far as the operating system is concerned, it is expected to come with Android L out of the box.
There’s no word about the exact launch date, but rumors suggest we may get to see the tablet in the coming weeks, possibly by the end of this month, alongside the Motorola Nexus 6.
Source: FCC, Android Central
Note: The image you see above is the Google Nexus 7
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Nigeria closes borders in effort to stem rice smuggling
Nigeria now produces more than 4.8 million tons of rice, an increase of 60 percent since 2013, most of the production coming from President Muhammadu Buhari's northern political stronghold.
There is a strong political incentive behind the Nigerian leader's decision to pursue this crackdown against rice smuggling, according to Nigerian economist Adedayo Ademuwagun.
According to the Lagos-based political risk consultant, Buhari is unfortunately "implementing the policy at an extreme level".
"Local rice production is still not enough for Nigeria's 190 million inhabitants, who spend about a tenth of their food budget on the staple," argues Ademuwagun.
The economist's argument is buttressed by skyrocketing prices.
A 50kg bag of rice which used to cost 9,000 naira or 22 euros, has jumped to 22,000 naira (50 euros), higher than Nigeria's minimum monthly wage of 18,000 naira (45 euros).
These prices are according to Todowede Baba Oja, director of the popular Badagry market on the Nigeria-Benin border.
Prior to this month's border closure, some 3,000 sacks of imported rice were being smuggled into Nigeria every day by motorbike riders, he says.
Indications now are that the supply gap created by the border closure has instead created the perfect conditions for a flourishing imported rice black market.
“They go after smugglers who can give them bribes,” says Albert Setonji, a tour operator in Badagry.
“People are smuggling ammunition under the guise of rice and turkey.
“They just collect money thinking it is rice or regular businesses,” Setonji said.
The comptroller general of Nigeria's Customs Service has vowed to keep the borders closed until Nigeria's neighbours comply with legislation on imported goods.
But according to Adedayo Ademuwagun, the “rice policy” which is driving the closure is all about politics.
“It is compensation for rice farmers who voted for President Muhammadu Buhari when he was running for re-election in 2019,” insists the political risk consultant based in Lagos.


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Developed by Three Fields Entertainment and published by Three Fields Entertainment on 13 Jul 18
Developed by Three Fields Entertainment and published by Three Fields Entertainment Limited on 10 Oct 17
I'm joined by both Rich an Jack to look back on a busy week of new games, Xbox news and a very special reveal of how TrueAchievements and TrueTrophies have a presence in GAME stores in the UK.
Posted 4 months ago by Dave Horobin, 21 comments
July is traditionally a slow month for new releases, and though that's still generally true, the games that did come out this past month were very generous. Take a look at our biggest list of easy achievement games yet.
Posted 4 months ago by Mark Delaney, 45 comments
Crash mode may have been pioneered by Burnout, but Danger Zone is bringing it back. It’s simple, but there’s a certain joy to creating catastrophic wrecks that other games simply can’t match.
Posted 5 months ago by Kevin Tavore, 21 comments
Microsoft has updated the Xbox One X enhanced games list this morning, with a number of new additions and changes to existing games.
Posted 5 months ago by Dave Horobin, 5 comments
We have just picked up the achievement list for Danger Zone 2. There are 13 achievements worth a total of 1,000 Gamerscore, none of which are secret
Posted 5 months ago by Rich Stone, 4 comments
Last week, I happily said that things were calming down and we were about to enter a quieter summer period. Let's forget I ever said that. This week there are a massive 19 new titles coming to Xbox One.
Posted 5 months ago by Rebecca Smith, 19 comments
Discounts on Rocket League, Slime Rancher, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings, FIFA 18, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 and more
Posted 5 months ago by Rich Stone, 70 comments
After announcing not one, but two Burnout-inspired games last week, Three Fields Entertainment has now released a trailer for one of them, providing a look at Danger Zone 2 before its launch in a couple of weeks.
Posted 5 months ago by Andy Mills, 7 comments
We're definitely back to usual service. This weekend brought along seven new announcements for the Xbox One, covering a variety of genres.
Posted 6 months ago by Rebecca Smith, 5 comments
Welcome to episode 103 of the TrueAchievements podcast, where Rich, Jack and I discuss all of this week's hottest news, take a look at what we've been playing and answer your listener questions.
Posted 11 months ago by Dave Horobin, 22 comments
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Daimler Lifts Guidance After 1st-Quarter Profit Doubles
Daimler AG (DAI.XE) on Wednesday raised its full-year earnings outlook after net profit doubled in the first quarter.
The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars now expects earnings before interest and tax and revenue to increase significantly this year, after it had earlier predicted a slight EBIT increase.
Net profit jumped to 2.71 billion euros ($2.96 billion) in the January-to-March period from EUR1.35 billion a year earlier. Revenue grew 11% to EUR38.8 billion. Earnings per share of EUR2.53 beat the consensus estimate of EUR2.22.
The Mercedes-Benz cars business achieved particularly strong earnings growth, helped by increased unit sales of the new E-Class and sports utility vehicles. The trucks division was helped by the sale of real estate in Japan. Exchange-rate effects had a positive impact on operating profit at all divisions, said Daimler.
Daimler had pre-released earnings before interest and taxes already earlier this month.
Write to Friedrich Geiger at email@example.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 26, 2017 02:09 ET (06:09 GMT)


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Shareholders at Welspun India were in for a shock on Monday, August 22: Within minutes of the market opening, the company’s stock fell 20 percent on news that US-based retailer Target Corp had terminated its business with the company. The story was repeated over the next two days, with the stock declining a further 20 percent each day.
Target had, on August 19, issued a statement informing buyers of a full refund on its Fieldcrest label of Egyptian cotton 500-thread count sheets. After an extensive investigation, the company had discovered that Welspun Global Brands had substituted Egyptian cotton with the non-Egyptian variety. The sheets in question were manufactured between August 2014 and July 2016.
In a conference call with investors, Welspun unequivocally took the blame. “So there has been, let’s say, a failure on our part, so without any ambiguity the fault is on our side,” said Rajesh Mandawewala, managing director, Welspun India. Although he did not explicitly say so, he suggested that the problem was due to inadequate systems and processes. Within days, EY was appointed to review Welspun’s processes.
Indian textile companies—such as Welspun, Indo Count, Trident, Himatsingka Seide, and Alok Industries—have carved out a 47 percent market share in the bed linen segment in the US market, following the abolition of international textile quotas in 2005. Since the crisis, the only statement Welspun has made is to say that it intends to continue serving Target (which accounted for about 10 percent of its business), even as Target looks for alternate suppliers.
While it is too early to gauge the final impact of this setback, market watchers expect the company to come out of this with most of its business intact. Edelweiss retained its ‘buy’ rating on the stock and said it does not expect the current imbroglio to impact Welspun’s other key customers. Edelweiss did, however, scale down the company’s profit growth by 11 percent. Welspun’s declared aim of becoming a zero-debt-$2 billion company by 2020 is also likely to get delayed.
Although Welspun hasn’t lost any more clients, the damage to its reputation and stock price will take much longer to recover from.
In the fortnight since the news broke, Welspun’s stock price has recovered from the low of Rs 46.75 (on August 30) to Rs 58.90 (as on September 7) on the BSE. However, it is still 40 percent below what it traded at before Target’s announcement.
The news also comes at an inopportune time for the home textile business in India, where rising cotton prices have resulted in lower margins.
(This story appears in the 30 September, 2016 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)


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It appears there is no respite anywhere in the crypto realm in the face of Monday’s extraordinary market sell-off. Based on data from NFT Price Floor, the floor prices for Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks, two of the most popular nonfungible token, or NFT, collections on the market, have fallen to 74 ETH ($92,223) and 48 ETH ($69,473), respectively.
In comparison, pieces in the BAYC collection had an all-time high floor price of 153.70 ETH, while the same metric amounted to 123 ETH for CryptoPunks. The data aggregator tracks 380 collections with a total market cap of $5.58 billion at the time of publication.
The sell-off among NFTs was partly exacerbated by a warning just a day prior, where Gordon Goner, co-founder of Yuga Labs — the firm owning both BAYC and CryptoPunks collections — issued a warning regarding an “imminent” attack on social media accounts operating under the firm’s umbrella.
The incoming attack allegedly has the support of an insider from Twitter who would help bypass the security of the accounts. Yuga Labs’ social accounts had been compromised three times already this year, some of which involved sophisticated phishing attacks that drained millions of dollars worth of users’ NFTs.
Meanwhile, according to DappRadar, the number of users on OpenSea.io, the largest NFT marketplace by volume, has fallen 14% in the past month. Simultaneously, monthly trading volume fell 65% to $500 million. Interestingly, the number of transactions increased month over month by 6.4%, possibly due to the sheer number of users seeking to sell their NFT collections at a better price.


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Revenue will support the state road repair, transportation sustainability efforts
The state of Colorado is imposing a 27-cent fee on deliveries to help fund sustainable transportation and road maintenance.
The law, which took effect on July 1, assesses a fee on motor vehicle deliveries with at least one item subject to state sales or use tax. Eligible deliveries include any taxable goods shipped, delivered or otherwise transported by motor vehicle to a purchaser.
Companies from FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service to food delivery will be charged the new fee, and customers are likely to see it reflected on their bills.
The fees are projected to generate about $75.9 million of revenue in their first year, according the Colorado Legislative Staff Council.
Durango Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jack Llewellyn said the fees will mostly affect large businesses, but many smaller businesses are not aware of the new fee.
A chamber survey found that many Durango businesses did not know about the additional charge.
“There’s probably about 120 respondents roughly in the survey, I want to say like around 67% of our members did not know about it,” Llewellyn said. “So a lot of small businesses are very unaware that it’s supposed to be added on.”
Llewellyn said the fee mostly provides revenue to repair road wear and tear. He said as vehicles become more fuel efficient and the popularity of electric vehicles rises, the state loses revenue generated by the gas tax, which can also be used for road maintenance.
“You’re losing that revenue, where the gas tax is generated,” he said. “And so they’re trying to figure out how they can make some revenue for the wear and tear.”
The Colorado Department of Revenue website says “retailers with an active sales tax account, a retailer license, and any sales tax liability reported after January 1, 2021, will be automatically registered for a retail delivery fee account by July 1, 2022.”
The department also says retailers cannot opt out of automatic registration. The retail delivery fee will be paid and reported on a new return form, DR 1786. Delivery fees will also be implemented for third-party delivery services, such as DoorDash and Grubhub.
Durango Business Improvement District board chairwoman and co-owner of Zia Taqueria Carly Van Hof Thomson said she hasn’t seen a huge impact from the delivery fees but will know more near the end of the month when she reports the added fees to the Department of Revenue. She said Zia will only have to pay this fee when it caters because it does not offer delivery service.
“It seems like for me, it’s just a lot of extra time and energy for what I think is going to be a very low impact at 27 cents per delivery,” she said.
She said the price of gas is more likely to affect her business than the delivery fee. She also has not received complaints from customers about the newly added fee but feels tracking delivery fees is an annoyance for businesses.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of pressures on our costs. Twenty-seven cents per delivery is probably the least of my worries in terms of the pressure that’s associated with inflation right now,” Van Hof Thomson said.
Fees are distributed to the Highway User Trust Fund, the Multimodal Options Fund and cash funds for each of the four enterprises created in the bill. The four enterprises include air quality, community access, clean fleets and clean transit.


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Have you guys heard of Android One? If you have not, go read about it here. Android One is a new series created by Google to include devices that will be similar to the Nexus devices but they will be way cheaper and of high quality. Google revealed the Android One project back in June saying, “the goal of the programme is to reach the next five billion users who don’t currently have a Smartphones.”
Since then, Google has been rather quiet about Android One. We are now getting information that the first Android One will be unveiled next month starting with India. This first Smartphone could be launched as early as next week according to the Economic Times.
It has also been revealed that the first Android One device will (with no surprise) have dual SIM capabilities, a 5MP back camera and a 1700 mAh battery. Under the hood, this Smartphone will have a quad-core processor and 1 GB or RAM. These are not bad for a device that is all about keeping the costs down.
The screen will be atleast 4 inches and the device will run Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box. Micromax, Karbonn and Spice are the three Indian manufacturers that are ready to launch their Android One devices but it is still not clear which one will go first.
The price for most of the Android One Smartphones will be anything between $115 and $165 (Kshs. 10,200-Kshs. 15,000).
Source [Economic Times]


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May 21, 2013, 5:22 pm CDT
The credit card breach at Schnuck Markets Inc. could cost the company $80 million in Illinois alone, according to court documents.
In a May 17 filing,…
May 21, 2013, 5:10 pm CDT
A flip flop store that started in Boston and expanded in warm-weather climates is now headed to St. Louis. Just in time for summer.
Flip Flop Shops is…
May 21, 2013, 2:44 pm CDT
Here’s some good news on the restaurant front: Panera Bread Co. is growing its corporate presence in St. Louis, with an expansion at the company’s…
May 20, 2013, 2:33 pm CDT
Developers of the Railway Exchange building in downtown St. Louis, which houses Macy’s, got approval for more than $27 million in public subsidies to…
May 20, 2013, 11:39 am CDT
Citing low customer activity, Macy’s is closing its downtown St. Louis department store, the company announced Monday.
First opened in 1924, Macy’s…
May 20, 2013, 7:01 am CDT
A much-debated bill to regulate the distribution of alcohol in Missouri didn't make it to a vote before the legislative session ended on Friday.
May 20, 2013, 6:18 am CDT
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is investigating whether Schnucks officials did all they were required by law to do in handling the security breach…
May 20, 2013, 5:56 am CDT
McCraith Beverages, a beer and wine distributor in New York, is suing Anheuser-Busch for assigning new beers to a rival distributor.
In the lawsuit, McCraith…
May 17, 2013, 11:20 am CDT
Post Holdings’ $158 million deal to buy several units of Hearthside Food Solutions last week brought together familiar faces from the bygone days of…
May 17, 2013, 10:51 am CDT
Anheuser-Busch plans to buy wholesale distributor C&G Distributing Co. for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced Friday.
Lima, Ohio-based C&G…
May 17, 2013, 6:50 am CDT
The Missouri House on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would bar welfare recipients from spending their cash benefits at liquor stores, casinos…
May 16, 2013, 3:47 pm CDT
Editor’s Note: Social Madness Spotlight entries are provided by company officials.
Social media stats
Facebook: 836,500 fans
Twitter: 19,245 followers
May 15, 2013, 6:47 am CDT
The Illinois Senate passed a bill Tuesday that will require Anheuser-Busch to sell its stake in distributor Chicago's City Beverage.
The brewery and Illinois…
May 14, 2013, 5:33 pm CDT
Brown Shoe Company Inc. has sold the Avia and Nevados lines it bought two years ago to Galaxy Brand Holdings Inc. for $74 million and will use the proceeds…
May 14, 2013, 2:06 pm CDT
Kellwood Co. is one step closer to filing for an initial public offering for Vince, its high-end sportswear line, Reuters is reporting.
We brought you…


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updated 05:05 pm EDT, Wed June 6, 2007
ZFS in Leopard
At a Sun Microsystems media event today, company CEO Jonathan Schwartz publicly stated that the default filesystem for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) will be ZFS, replacing the current HFS+ Extended filesystem. ZFS is a filesystem developed by Sun that is 128-bit, meaning it offers 16 billion billion times the capacity of 32- or 64-bit systems -- virtually unlimited by today's standards. ZFS also offers increased performance because it is transactional object model rather than more traditional I/O mechanisms.
Another purported benefit of ZFS is the elimination of various administration and maintenance routines required by other filesystems. For instance, the fsck command never has to be run, even if the system is shut down in an unclean fashion -- the creators claim that ZFS has never lost data integrity or leaked a single block after thousands of forced violent crashes.
According to Schwartz, Apple will announce that it is adopting ZFS during next week's WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) in San Francisco.


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There’s a new ticket broker in town: Costco. So far though, Ticketmaster doesn’t have to look over its shoulder.
The discount company has set aside a small section of its Web site to sell tickets to a few events – namely a smattering of Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers basketball games and performances of “Sweeney Todd” at New York City’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
The ducats are going cheap, too. A Sonics versus Dallas Mavericks ticket that would normally cost $78 is being sold at Costco.com for $44 plus a $4 service fee, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
“Normally, we do not do a discount of that magnitude to the general public,” Sonics sales and marketing VP Brian Byrnes told the paper. “This is a trial for the month of January, and the discount is exclusive to Costco.”
Byrnes is looking for a 5 percent to 8 percent increase in attendance, considering the Sonics draw about 16,000 people to an average game at the 17,000-capacity
Costco CEO Jim Sinegal worked out the Sonics deal with longtime friend and business partner Howard Schultz, who owns the team, according to the Post-Intelligencer. Ticketmaster sells Sonics tickets and Sinegal was skeptical about expanding into a market that holds so many exclusive agreements between venues and ticketing companies.
“Networking and relationships only go so far in business. If it’s not profitable, it will fall apart,” he told the paper.
But stranger things have happened.
“If you had asked me a few years ago if we would be selling movie tickets in our warehouses, I would have said you are nuts,” Sinegal said. “And now we are.”
He added that if the ticket experiment is successful, Costco could expand into the music market.


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Middle East and North Africa
Our locally-expert teams are dedicated to helping businesses grow across the MENA region.
Rising to real-time
With a geography straddling the East and West, the Middle East and Gulf regions have built strong links into both emerging and developed economies. Experiencing the benefits of a wide mix of global best practice, the region has become an interesting space for innovation in the advancement of domestic and regional payment systems.
Immediacy, security and resilience have driven evolution within the international payments ecosystem. Not surprising, then, how real-time (instant fulfilment) payment schemes have evolved across the globe – from the Americas, United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Real-time payment systems, though, are not new – Japan introduced the first of its kind in 1973 – but the global acceleration towards instant payment delivery has truly taken hold in the last 15 years.
The Middle East has been no exception on that journey, with the recent implementation of the Immediate Payment System in the UAE and Saudi Arabia – as part of the nations’ broader strategy to drive digital adoption and enhance existing payments infrastructures.
Corporate Treasury and Finance professionals in the region have outlined the need for improvements to payment systems – including greater predictability, integrated connectivity and standardisation – so treasury objectives of visibility, control, automation and optimisation can continue to be developed and enhanced.
As an industry of networks, the evolution of payment systems requires a great degree of collaboration across the public and private sectors, supervisory authorities, commercial banks and other market participants. Within the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries and the wider Middle East there has been significant collaboration between Central Banks and supranational entities (such as the Arab Monetary Fund) to lay the foundation for the implementation of regional payment systems aimed at further integrating the GCC and intra-regional Arab economies.
Such is the importance assigned to payment systems, that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made improvements in cross-border payments a priority of its G20 presidency. Accordingly, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) has created a roadmap for improving cross-border payments, which received G20 endorsement in November 2020.
The Leaders’ Declaration of the G20 Riyad Summit asked the FSB, in coordination with other international organisations and standard-setting bodies, to monitor the progress, review the roadmap and report annually on its objective to enhance cross-border payments by ensuring inclusivity, transparency and efficiency. This roadmap focuses on areas such as public-private partnerships, co-ordination across different supervisory bodies, payments infrastructure and data quality, which all form an integral part of the rails that make up payments architecture.
While the evolution in payment systems continues at pace across the globe, core objectives are becoming evident: to interconnect countries and regions, to adopt best practices, to set standards and to meet consumer expectations. The Middle East regions are no exception, with a focus on real-time capability, resilience and standardisation driving advancements in their payment landscape.
Managing Director, Global Head of Cash Management Sales at Barclays
Currently, payment systems in the GCC and Middle East are fragmented and lack standardisation. Bilaterally agreed correspondent banking frameworks provide the legacy rails upon which a significantly high volume and value of payment flows rely – for example, within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries alone, annual payment flows are in excess of USD 2 trillion made via approximately 2.3 million transactions^.
This has necessitated financial regulators, supervisory bodies and regional supranational entities to formulate the design and lead the roadmap for the delivery of pan-regional payment systems to streamline intra-regional payment flows.
Led by the six Central Banks of the GCC (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar)
What will it do? This system will provide an overarching regional payment system connecting together the individual domestic RTGS payment systems of each of the six GCC countries. This would enable an efficient delivery of intra-GCC payments in the fiat currencies of the six countries. For example, a Saudi Riyal payment originated in the UAE and destined for a beneficiary in Saudi Arabia would transpire over the domestic UAE and Saudi Arabian payment systems, rather than rely on bilateral correspondent banking frameworks.
What are the benefits? The GCC RTGS would create standardisation, drive efficiency, bring predictability and reduce costs, as erstwhile cross-border payments would be delivered using domestic payment system architecture. This would bring the experience of a pan-regional cross-border payment closer to that of a domestic payment.
Led by the Arab Monetary Fund
What will it do? The system aims to create a central routing agent to provide a standardised payment experience across the Arab countries. With a common set of operating rules and a standardised SWIFT platform, BUNA would bring together the markets of the GCC, Middle East and North Africa for all intra-regional payments, covering not just the fiat currencies of the Arab countries but also key principally-traded currencies such as the United States Dollar and Euro.
What are the benefits? Already ‘live’ with the United Arab Emirates Dirhams, Egyptian Pound and Saudi Arabian Riyal, BUNA is looking to augment currencies, countries and commercial bank participation over the near-to-medium term with the aim of providing efficiency and standardisation to intra-regional cross-border payments. In the near future, BUNA aims to further enhance the platform by introducing instant and real-time delivery of pan regional cross-border payments and provide the rails to support other financial market infrastructures.
These pan-regional payment systems provide an opportunity for corporate treasurers to optimise regional treasury centre models by concentrating receivables and payables across the geographies. Regional payment ecosystems can also help further evolve regional liquidity management practices through cross-border cash concentration, pooling and overlay solutions as corporate treasurers begin to consider their wider cash management structures in the region.
Global initiatives, such as SWIFT gpi, that bring transparency, visibility and predictability to cross-border payments would further improve payment user experience as regulators in the region look to embed UETR (Unique End-to-end Transaction Reference) within domestic payment systems, allowing an end-to-end tracking of overseas-originated payments that settle over the domestic payment schemes.
While improving cross-border payments remains a priority, there is continued focus to enhance domestic payment ecosystems. The UAE Central Bank, for instance, has laid out a medium term plan outlining the National Payments Systems Strategy that not only aims to introduce new payment features but also to enhance the existing payments architecture and ensure infrastructure is future-proof as the payments evolution continues.
This shift towards digitisation of a traditionally paper-reliant payments market has already begun. In the UAE, cheque truncation (using image-based cheque clearing), Direct Debit, Wages Protection payroll system, 24x7 Immediate Payment System and Payment Gateway tools for online merchants (allowing e-commerce payments via bank accounts) are now fully established as core payment systems. An expanding FinTech ecosystem, traditional banks’ digital focus and an evolving market infrastructure for domestic and pan-regional payments will significantly transform the payments ecosystem within the region.
Specifically, a rising FinTech environment, both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (supported by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and the Abu Dhabi Global Markets), has witnessed a surge in both home grown local companies as well as established internationally recognised payment service providers. Regulatory sandboxes and close proximity to the region’s sovereign wealth funds (as a source of capital to fuel growth) have further helped promote a thriving FinTech ecosystem with increasing digital payment solutions available for corporates and individuals.
In addition, there has been increased focus around regulations for cross-border payments, stored-value facilities, management and preservation of data, cybersecurity and resilience. While regulated financial institutions have embedded the digital agenda and have a statutory obligation to ensure adequate controls, safety in money transmission and compliance to international and local standards, corporate treasurers too have been adopting best practices towards the implementation of technology platforms such as ERP and TMS systems, automation of bank account connectivity, data management and reconciliation.
The evolution of payments ecosystem has also provided corporate treasuries a platform for enhancing accounts payables and receivables, regional liquidity management and bank account administration by bringing standardisation, predictability and automation to cash management practices.
Despite the challenges of Covid-19, focus on transforming payments infrastructure remain a key priority for the region as new regional schemes emerge and existing payment rails are enhanced. This provides a great opportunity for Corporate Treasurers in the region to further explore optimisation of their domestic and regional cash management practises.
Head of Cash Management Middle East at Barclays
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Herbalife Ltd. shares were down 4.6 percent on Monday after a newspaper reported that the seller of weight loss products faces a law enforcement probe.
The New York Post report, which sent the shares down as much as 12 percent, stems from documents the paper obtained from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The documents, which have also been seen by Reuters, stem from a complaint to the agency from a person in Durango, Iowa.
According to the complaint, one of 188 the FTC sent to the Post after a Freedom of Information request, the person believes Herbalife should provide a refund of hundreds of dollars in payments.
The complaint contained a note urging investigators to contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center before proceeding in order to "prevent interference with pending law enforcement action."
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center.
Herbalife said that for a direct selling company of its size it has had relatively few complaints to the FTC, the U.S. government's consumer watchdog. A source close to the company said Herbalife is not aware of any FTC investigation.
The FTC declined to comment on the investigation detailed in the documents.
Herbalife has been in the spotlight since December when activist hedge fund manager William Ackman revealed a short position in the stock and called the business "a pyramid scheme."
Herbalife shares were down $1.60, or 4.6 percent, at $33.47 on the New York Stock Exchange.
© 2016 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.


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The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism released its annual State of The News Media report today, and because FishbowlNY loves you, we sifted through the data on magazines.
Among the six magazines considered in the newsweekly category – Time, Newsweek, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Week, and The Economist – the niche titles did the best. The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Week and The Economist all saw circulation and ad pages increase. The Atlantic had the best year among those four, achieving a 24 percent increase in ad pages from 2009 to 2010.
That’s the good, now here’s the bad: Unsurprisingly, Newsweek had a horrible year, as its circulation fell by 31 percent, and ad pages plummeted by about 20 percent. Time didn’t do nearly as bad, but still lost one percent of its circulation and 3 percent of ad page sales.
As you can see, newsweekly magazines that appeal to a mass audience are going to have a tough time staying competitive, while ones that appeal to a small, loyal consumer base will thrive. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the numbers – much like Shakira’s hips – don’t lie.
Thank you for putting up with a Shakira reference.


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ABC Reserve has announced its latest innovation – ABC Reserve in a 330ml Tall Can. This sleek new offering addresses the evolving needs of consumers by serving the same exceptional taste in one of Cambodia’s fastest growing beer formats this year.
ABC Reserve is ABC’s first innovation brewed exclusively for Cambodian consumers for a non-stout choice, a unique blend of premium barley malt and a hint of whisky. Since its launch in October 2022, ABC Reserve has recruited a new generation of ABC lovers who are seeking exciting taste experiences.
“The Tall Can is both functional and stylish, reflecting the modern and innovative spirit of ABC Reserve and its consumers. It is also an ode to our ‘Be Exceptional’ mantra as personified in our iconic lion, with a sleek new premium look to elevate the ABC charisma to new heights,” Loic De Laubriere, Marketing Director of Heineken Cambodia, said.
“This new format will make our beer more accessible to more consumers who want something different and bold, in line with their desire to stay ahead of the game, look good, and feel great.”
The Tall Can format serves the same secret recipe in signature rose gold that has made ABC Reserve a favorite among Cambodian beer enthusiasts and new generation aspirers.
The beer is brewed using the highest quality ingredients crafted by ANC’s brew master, resulting in a full-flavored taste with spicy notes, a smooth feel, smoky aroma, and a mild warming finish perfect for serving over ice.
ABC Reserve in Tall Can is now available in all major supermarkets, hypermarkets, drink shops, convenience stores, and bars and restaurants across Cambodia.
Heineken Cambodia is one of the Kingdom’s leading brewers, established in the country in 1994. The company boasts a portfolio of high-quality local and international brands, including Heineken, Tiger, ABC, Anchor and Gold Crown.
It employs 700 people and supports 120,000 indirect jobs across its value chain. Committed to the sustainable development of Cambodia, Heineken Cambodia aims to “Brew a Better Cambodia’’ with a focus on the environment, social sustainability and responsible consumption on a path to a net zero, and a fairer and healthier world.


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Classified Ventures LLC, the Chicago-based company that owns Cars.com and Apartments.com, is considering a possible sale of the apartments classified listings business.
Classified Ventures, which is itself owned by five newspapers companies, said in a statement that it hired the investment banking company Moelis & Co. LLC to “help explore strategic alternatives” for the Apartments.com unit, which includes the web sites RentalHomes.com and ApartmentHomeLiving.com.
The company's board expects to review its options over the next few months, but noted the caveat that it hasn't definitively decided to do a transaction. The company's cars.com unit won't be impacted by the process, the company said.
The Classified Ventures businesses have attracted acquisition interest in the past and the company's individual newspaper owners have grappled with how such a transaction might be handled. Such classified listings have largely migrated online and away from the newspapers' print products.
The move by Classified Ventures follows a spurt of merger and acquisition activity in the industry. The real estate web site company Zillow Inc. last month announced it would purchase EasyStreet, the New York City real estate web site company for $50 million in cash. Another industry player, Trulia Inc., said in May that it would buy industry software company Market Leader for $355 million. A spokeswoman for Zillow declined to comment on any possible interest in Apartments.com.
The major private investment firm TPG Capital, a unit of Tarrant Capital IP LLC, also in May said it would pay $525 million for Primedia Inc., which publishes ApartmentGuide and owns the ApartmentGuide.com website.
A spokeswoman for Classified Ventures declined to comment beyond the statement.
The media companies that own Classified Ventures include A. H. Belo Corp.; Gannett Co. Inc.; McClatchy Co.; Tribune Co. and Washington Post Co.


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The luxury goods company Richemont Group has experienced an exponential increase in sales for their December quarter. The organisation has seen a total increase in sales of 24 percent, for a cumulative reporting of €3.915 billion or $6.594 billion NZD over the period.
Within 2018 the Richemont Group acquired Yoox-Net-A-Porter in May and Watchfinder in June, two substantial online distributors who have strong standings in their respective marketplaces. This development has been credited for much of the company’s financial success in the last quarter.
The company has seen success across a majority of their regions, with the exception of the Middle East and Africa, whose sales slipped by 3 percent. Some of their most impressive sales increases came from Europe which was up 35 percent, Asia Pacific which increased by 17 percent and the Americas which increased by an astonishing 41 percent.
A majority of the group’s regions saw improvements outside of the online development, although to a less dramatic degree, which speaks to their overall marketplace presence and favour with consumers. Of the organisations extensive range of brands, the one which saw the most impressive growth during this productive period was Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, whose sales increased by 8 percent.


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Officials of Publix did not respond to requests for comment.
The company has 1,358 stores, mostly in the Southeast, as well as 10 distribution centers and 10 manufacturing or bakery centers, including one in Atlanta and one in Dacula. The company has roughly 250,000 employees.
Among the plaintiffs is Jessica Schafer of Cumming, who has worked for Publix since 2005. A second Georgia plaintiff is Caitlin Throckmorton of Douglasville, who worked for the chain in 2022 and 2023.
The suit was originally filed in October with just a few plaintiffs, all assistant managers. It was refiled last week after at least 18 other employees, including department managers, asked to join the suit, attorneys said.
While having the title of manager, those employees are all paid by the hour, said attorneys for the plaintiffs.
Lawyers said in a statement that the practice of requiring unpaid work is a violation of the 85-year-old federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
“It’s unacceptable to force hourly workers to work outside of their shifts and to not pay workers for their time,” said the statement by attorneys for Morgan & Morgan and the Shavitz Law Group.
The attorneys said they estimate that Publix owes the employees, “tens of millions, if not more.”
However, that kind of demand is common in the American workplace, the lawyers said, now that mobile phones make most people accessible at all hours, whether they are at work or not. They cite a study by the Economic Policy Institute estimating that the nation’s workers each year are owed up to $50 billion in unpaid wages for work.
“Companies expect employees to be in constant communication but fail to track this time worked,” the lawyers’ statement said.
The lawsuit alleges that the practice took place in a number of states, including Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Publix employees are not unionized. Most grocery and large retail chain employees are not members of any union, although full-time Kroger employees are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers.


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Our 2023 Events Calendar is now live!
We’ll be exhibiting at a series of events across the UK this year, giving you the chance to meet the team at a location near you.
We’re also excited to announce the return of the Brotherwood WAV Show, our own 2-day event at the amazing Haynes Motor Museum in Sparkford, Somerset. The Brotherwood WAV Show will include a host of fantastic benefits for guests including free access to Haynes Motor Museum, WAV Test Drives and the opportunity to book a free Vehicle Health Check for your Brotherwood WAV.
Our Event Calendar includes some fantastic show from Kidz to Adultz Exhibitions and The Motability Scheme. We’ll be adding more shows as dates are announced so keep an eye on our website for a show near you!


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Verizon Called and They Want Your Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Back
Phone service provider Verizon is irritated. They want people to return their Samsung Galaxy Note 7. It's been recalled and poses a safety risk. Yet people still haven't returned their phones!
Fortune reports that Verizon released a special update that supposedly kills the phone. It prevents the phone from recharging. You'd think that would be enough for folks to return it. Nope. But that's okay because Verizon has a few more strategies up their sleeve.
Since the phone poses a safety risk, Verizon is programming the phones to default to a Verizon representative if anyone makes an outgoing call. And if that doesn't force people to pony up, the carrier might start charging for holding onto the phone. There's an incentive to return it though - $100 credit to the customers account.


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Light up a scholarship recipient's life
JANESVILLE—Putting up Christmas decorations puts you in that festive, holiday spirit.
Taking them down isn't nearly as much fun.
Regardless of the drudgery, Christmas is over. It's time to put away those holiday decorations.
To make room, you might need to get rid of those mounds of tangled strings of holiday lights that just don't work anymore.
But don't just throw them away. Instead, take them to one of several collection bins at more than a half-dozen businesses throughout Rock County to benefit the Anna Schenker Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Dave and Carole Schenker established the fund in 2007 in memory of their 17-year-old daughter, who died in a 2006 traffic crash.
Since then they've awarded five $1,000 scholarships, Dave said.
"She loved Christmas and the thought of paying it forward," he said of Anna, who had just finished her first semester at UW-Rock County before her accident.
Recycling the lights also helps the environment by getting rid of them in a safe, green, charitable way, Dave said.
Each year, new collection sites have been added and more lights are collected.
"We take in over 3,000 pound of lights each year," he said.
Dave then sorts through the lights, removing hooks, garland and anything else before taking them to a recycling center. Profits go directly into the scholarship fund to honor Anna and show her commitment to education.
The program also accepts cords cut from appliances such as hair dryers, coffee makers and extension cords, plus copper tubing from propane tanks or heavy copper wire from people who take out their hot tubs, Dave said. Even aluminum cans are accepted.
Dave makes weekly pickups between Thanksgiving and the end of January. At other times of the year, people drop items off at the Schenker house or call the family for pickup, he said.
"It just keeps growing," Dave said.
For that, the Schenker family is grateful.
According to Dave, the goal is to have a perpetual scholarship in Anna's memory through the UW-Rock County Foundation, which supports more than 25 scholarships each year for students who attend the college.
The scholarship program, Dave said, offers encouragement and financial assistance for promising students such as Anna.


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‘The Batman’ images reveal best look yet at Paul Dano’s Riddler
The marketing campaign for The Batman is just beginning to spark into life, with the majority of the focus falling on either Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne or Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle.
While that’s completely understandable when it’s the dynamic between the Dark Knight and Catwoman that looks to anchor the narrative and provide the emotional core, we can’t forget about the villain that’s been painted in the majority of promo materials as the movie’s big bad.
That would be Paul Dano’s Riddler, with the actor’s spin on the comic book favorite about as far away from Jim Carrey’s scenery-devouring turn in Batman Forever as you could possible hope to imagine. A more sinister, terrifying and altogether unhinged antagonist, the always-reliable Dano could realistically end up walking away with the entire film.
The latest issue of Empire magazine has the deepest dive into The Batman we’ve seen yet, and some brand new images showcasing the Riddler have surfaced online, which you can check out below.
Expect hi-res versions of these snaps to arrive online imminently, and with The Batman less than twelve weeks away from coming to theaters, we shouldn’t be too far away from a brand new full-length trailer, either.


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New York-based designer Michael Bastian recently talked to Fashion Week Daily about his decision not to show during the upcoming spring/summer 2015 edition of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York, more widely known as New York Fashion Week. Over the last couple of seasons, many labels have moved from showing during New York Fashion Week, instead joining their international colleagues for fashion week in Milan, Paris and most recently London.
While labels such as Giorgio Armani, Prada and Saint Laurent showed spring collections last month, brands gearing up for New York Fashion Week have to wait until September. Bastian explains, “September for men’s just doesn’t really work. I know everyone is trying hard to figure this out, but for now July is when we’re still selling the collection. It made no sense to show in September. Men’s buyers are in town for Project [tradeshow]; Michael Kors and Rag & Bone have started doing things in July. At some point we’re going to figure it out in New York, but until then it made sense to try do something in July.” It also doesn’t help that fashion moves at an accelerated pace. By the time New York Fashion Week rolls around in September, fashion editors are already shooting spring samples from collections that have shown. As a label, it’s hard to tap into the general narrative when the start of your new chapter is delayed.
Taking the scheduling dilemma into account, another issue faces New York Fashion Week. Who is showing? It’s no surprise that fashion week, no matter the locale is carried by its dominant labels. Milan has brands such as Giorgio Armani and Prada. Paris includes Saint Laurent, Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Even, new kid on the block London Collections: Men fares well with Burberry Prorsum and Alexander McQueen. What used to be the highlights of New York Fashion Week, have departed. DKNY recently showed in London. Y-3 left New York for Paris, following 3.1 Phillip Lim and Thom Browne. Add to the list, Rag & Bone, who recently unveiled portraits instead of a show, Tommy Hilfiger, who officially bowed out, Michael Kors, whose man serves best as an accessory when fashion week comes around and you’re left with a bleak looking schedule, often filled with labels that are buzzworthy, but not established or the renegade labels that unofficially show. This all leaves one to ponder, what does the future of menswear in New York look like?


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SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Bell could face more than $2 million in fines levied by state regulators who appear likely to punish the company for tricking customers into signing up for unwanted telephone service options.
California Public Utilities Commissioner Josiah Neeper said Pac Bell scared customers into dropping the “complete blocking” option by telling them they might experience difficulties completing calls.
When customers choose the “complete blocking” option, their numbers do not appear on Caller ID boxes, making the devices a tough sell for Pac Bell.
Neeper, who previously said no fine was needed, now recommends Pac Bell pay a $2.4 million fine.
Neeper’s about-face came as a surprise to the company.
“This entire case is a sad commentary on the regulatory system, as there were virtually no facts on customer complaints to support the proceeding,” said Pac Bell spokesman Bill Blase.
Commissioner Richard Bilas has begun drafting a separate proposal to fine Pac Bell for a different amount, a sign that a majority of the five CPUC commissioners would endorse such a penalty on the company.


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NYX Cosmetics named Laura Sanchez the Beauty Vlogger of the Year at the 5th Annual NYX FACE Awards Live Event, held Aug. 20 at The Novo by Microsoft in Los Angeles.
This year’s edition of the NYX FACE Awards began this spring with a series of themed video make-up challenges (including Anime, Fairy Tale and Optical Illusion) for beauty vloggers to meet; viewers chose their favorite entries. Over nearly five months, thousands of award entries from 16 different countries were whittled down to a final 30, 20, 12 and then six before the live event. Sanchez competed live against Brianna Fox, Alexa Poletti, Kristi (RawBeautyKristi), Haley Wight (CosmoByHaley) and Fernanda Machado (Pompberry).
Contestants—working from the theme “Emotions”—collaborated with Vice Media at the event to produce a video featuring beauty looks they had created. The unveiling of each video onstage drew cheers from adoring fans. All the contestants wowed the crowd with their colorful designs and skilled artistry, but with her mesmerizing final work and catalog of looks she created throughout the competition, Sanchez ultimately secured the title: a $50,000 prize and a years’ supply of NYX Cosmetics products.
Contestants made it clear that self-confidence was an important part of their make-up work. Kristi of the channel RawBeautyKristi drove that point home when she spoke about beauty faux pas on the NYX pink carpet. The 28-year-old finalist said, “There are so many restrictions saying, ‘You can’t do this or you can’t do that,’ but you know what, who cares? If it makes you feel beautiful, remember it washes off at the end of the day and even if it’s not considered the ‘correct’ way, it’s fine.”
Kandee Johnson, a make-up artist to the stars and famous YouTube vlogger herself, hosted the live event bringing her charming and hilarious personality out to play. “I think so many people whether it’s YouTubers or in real life are afraid to do things because of other people’s opinions but don’t think about that,” Johnson encouraged the crowd. “Are you going to sit in your house and do nothing or are you going to go out and make something. There’s always going to be someone like, ‘I don’t like that…I hate your voice’ but don’t listen to that. Just block and delete, block and delete.”
Megan McIntyre, beauty director of Refinery29, served as a judge for the show alongside Nylon Editor in Chief Melissa Giannini, YouTube sensation Ingrid Nilsen and Oscar-winning make-up artist Ve Neill.
McIntyre praised the thousands who entered for putting their insecurities, talents and personalities on the line during this competition. She referred to the beauty vlogger phenomenon as a movement within the beauty industry: “Make-up is no longer to fix a flaw or to hide something, make-up is a way to express yourself, to show your interests. Make-up is a way to get creative and confident.”
The five runners-up each received $15,000; all the finalists were ecstatic and said they couldn’t wait to experience the career opportunities that the competition would bring. Sanchez planned to focus on her 840,000 YouTube subscribers and 562,000 Instagram followers once the competition was over.
“We just want girls to feel comfortable in their own skin no matter what they like or what makes them happy,” she said.
You can find the winning videos and entries throughout the competition on the NYX Face Award’s Video Entries Feed.


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Shutdown Day: 03 May, 2008
“Can you survive a day without a computer?” under such a tagline there will be a flash mob action “Shutdown Day” (literally - “Shutdown Day”). On this day, May 03, the organizers offer us to turn off their computer for exactly one day, thereby saving on electricity. So far, the website www.shutdownday.org announced 3027 participants. Prizes for the best photos and videos on the theme “a day without a computer” are also raffled.


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A survey of food stuff specialty samples conducted by the French consumer association, UFC-Que Choisir, discovered Nutri-Rating labels do not penalize traditional products with protected status from the European Union.
The association analyzed 588 food stuff samples derived from 310 traditional products, numerous of which are certified with Guarded Geographical Indication (PGI) or Secured Designation of Origin (PDO) status from the E.U.
UFC-Que Choisir wrote in a press launch that at minimum two-thirds of all those samples “obtained superior grades” from Nutri-Score.
See Also:French Draft Bill to Exclude PDO and PGI Solutions From Nutri-Score
Nutri-Rating grades food items dependent on the contents these kinds of as extra fat, sugar, salt and calories in 100 grams or milliliters of the foods. It then prices the meals with a color/letter code emblazoned on the packages, from the healthiest “Environmentally friendly A” down to the “Crimson E.”
In the survey, 62 percent of the examined food stuff products arrived out with a Nutri-Score quality of A, B or C. Consumption of this sort of foodstuff “is often encouraged because of their superior nutritional qualities,” UFC-Que Choisir wrote.
“There are 121 food products classified as A and B, with olive oil classified as C, which is to be preferred to other sorts of unwanted fat,” they additional.
In the push release, UFC-Que Choisir highlighted a few examples of renowned specialties, “traditional foodstuff which exhibit to be extremely nicely balanced, these types of as the Flemish hochepot, the Auvergne hotpot or the famed Castelnaudary cassoulet.”
Other examples consist of traditional meat and cold cuts, fruits and legumes, all receiving the A and B ratings. Within just the Nutri-Score C classification, olive oils are in the company of products this kind of as Alsatian spaetzle pasta or parsley ham from Burgundy.
The ratings clearly show that Nutri-Score does not stigmatize nearby specialties, according to the association.
In the release, UFC Que-Choisir emphasized that foodstuff products receiving a D or E from Nutri-Score “are not meant to denigrate them or prohibit their consumption, but only suggest it is recommended to consume them in moderate quantities and at reasonable frequencies.”
The association added that D or E‑rated products could possibly have their position in a balanced diet program.
Nutri-Rating inventor Serge Hercberg informed Olive Oil Situations in a July 2020 interview that Nutri-Rating ratings are intended to demonstrate consumers the greatest available alternative of food within just a given food stuff category.
For example, Nutri-Score considers olive oils the ideal decision in the fat category with its C, attributing a D to other fat these as butter.
The association’s survey came on the heels of the ongoing heated debate involving Nutri-Score’s promoters and foodstuff producers which is intensifying as the European Commission’s self-imposed deadline of December to opt for a European-vast front-of-pack label ways.
Not too long ago, several producers’ associations of legendary European cheeses, including the French Roquefort PDO or the Italian Parmigiano Reggiano PDO associations have voiced their opposition to the Nutri-Rating.
They argued the French-born labeling system does not consider the nutritional qualities of these products and does not charge the meals in quantities that will likely be consumed as a daily serving.
Olive oil associations and producers in Spain, Italy and Greece have also argued that Nutri-Score’s quality does not accurately portray the well being benefits of certain grades of olive oil by grading them all with a “C.”
Like the cheese producers, olive oil producers have also stressed how the 100 milliliters sample estimates are not realistic compared to the true consumption.
The opposition to Nutri-Score’s possible introduction in Europe has been growing because the labeling system was adopted by several countries, including France and Germany.
Italy, leading the opposition to Nutri-Rating, has also presented a competing label named Nutrinform Battery, which the European Fee is currently evaluating alongside with several other labeling systems.
According to UFC-Que Choisir, Nutri-Score is the very best device available to let consumers to make a quick and educated choice when buying meals products.
For that reason, the association has confirmed that the survey results have been sent to the European Commission. The association concluded that it “warns food manufacturers of their responsibility in a rearguard fight to maintain opacity on unbalanced food items.”


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Apple's online store was offline Tuesday night for an unknown update that the company expects to be completed by 1 a.m. PT.
The outage, a familiar procedure before a major Apple product release, began around 9 p.m. PT. However, the reason for the outage was unclear as no major releases are expected for at least two weeks.
Apple will reportedlyto unveil new iPads, along with the Mac Pro and OS X Mavericks. However, the event has not been confirmed by Apple. Apple typically invites media to such events a week or so before, suggesting we'll all have more details early next week.
It's also possible that tonight's update will focus on enhancements to Apple's iPhone ordering system -- perhaps including the addition of an actual reservation system.
All the latest Apple news, featuring developments on the iPhone, iPad, Macbooks, OS X and much more.
Mar 27How to force install final iOS 10.3 for beta participants
Mar 26Is Dell claiming it's better than all that Apple magic?
Mar 25The 3 best ways to protect your iCloud account
Mar 244-year-old gets Siri to help save mom's life


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DELL launches new zero carbon initiative
Dell launched a long-term, global effort to partner with its customers to become the greenest technology company on Earth for the long-term. The new Zero Carbon Initiative will maximize the energy efficiency of Dell products and over time offset their carbon impact.
The company committed to reduce the carbon intensity of its global operations by 15 percent by 2012 and extended its “Plant a Tree for Me” program to Europe, allowing computer users to offset the emissions associated with the electricity their computers use.
Dell also announced that they are asking customers for their ideas in building the “greenest PC on the planet.” Dell’s call for ideas can be found on its IdeaStorm site, www.ideastorm.com.
The zero-carbon initiative will include IT lifecycle assessments, management of Dell’s direct and indirect climate impacts, reduction of the company’s carbon intensity and partnership with customers.
Dell will undertake a lifecycle assessment of the carbon impact of an IT product through its supply chain and with input from environmental stakeholders.
Dell’s “Plant a Tree for Me” program is now available in Europe. One hundred percent of those funds will be donated to plant trees in professionally managed reforestation projects.
Dell will continue to work with The Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org to manage the European program. Carbonfund.org is supporting a tree planting project in Hungary developed by KlimaFa Kft., a subsidiary of Planktos Corp.


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D-Link has announced that it has entered into an exclusive partnership with Ameyo, a provider of omnichannel customer engagement solutions. D-Link is Ameyo’s only cloud partner in the UAE an... Read more
D-Link urges customers to pay heed to the security aspect when purchasing wireless routers and other gateways for home networks. As businesses across the region embrace remote working models... Read more
As regional businesses slowly ease into the new normal, D-Link Corporation, a global player in connectivity solutions for small, medium and large enterprise business networking, is primed to... Read more
D-Link has announced a new reseller store together with its partner Grand PCD. The new D-Link branded store by Grand PCD is located at the heart of Khaled Bin Waleed Street, formerly known a... Read more
D-Link has expanded its innovative portfolio with two unique solutions apt for today’s market demands. The all-new D-Link Thermal Solution Fever Screening Kit DCS-F9400KT for group thermal i... Read more
As the economy gradually opens up post Covid-19 lockdown restrictions across the globe and in the UAE, D-Link Corporation, has announced that the company has emerged stronger than ever befor... Read more
COVID-19, the disease caused by the Coronavirus, in almost all countries around the world, D-Link Middle East urges the regional channel community to stand strong and to come together during... Read more
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Xiaomi has gained a lot of ground at Samsung’s cost lately after dethroning the Korean tech giant in a couple of markets and becoming the world’s biggest smartphone brand in the process. But the year is not over yet, and we have now learned that Xiaomi is also gaining a lot more ground in LATAM countries (Latin America), while Samsung is doing the exact opposite.
Although Samsung continues leading the smartphone market in LATAM ahead of Motorola, Xiaomi, ZTE, and Apple, its market performance in Q2 2021 wasn’t that great. Over the course of one year, Samsung’s market share dropped from 42.5% to 37.3% in Q2 2021. The lost market share was captured mainly by Xiaomi and ZTE. The latter had an 11.4% share in Q2 2021, up from 4.9%, while ZTE managed to increase its share from 3.2% to 4.4%.
Samsung’s losing focus as the LATAM smartphone market recovers
Samsung lost a little over 5% market share in one year, but the bigger issue is that the company lost all this ground as the LATAM smartphone market was recovering.
Smartphone shipments in LATAM declined 6.5% in Q2 compared to the previous quarter. However, they surged a whopping 41.8% year-on-year, according to Counterpoint Research.
Despite this favorable climate, Samsung lost ground to Xiaomi and ZTE. The reason is that the company was affected the most by its supply shortages caused by delays at its Vietnam factory, claims the market watcher.
The same production issues in Vietnam have also caused the Galaxy Tab S7 FE to be released gradually in fewer markets than initially expected.


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Instagram is developing a standalone shopping app allowing users to buy goods directly from the app from merchants they follow.
According to The Verge, sources close to the situation revealed that the new app may be called IG Shopping, but its still in development and could yet be scrapped.
The Facebook owned app has been slowly introducing shopping features to its platform in recent months, having launched an update allowing consumers to directly purchase from businesses in March in the UK, following a successful pilot in the US.
A month earlier it launched shoppable adverts, which blend product catalogues with videos and allows users to buy items from the range without having to leave Instagram.
“Instagram is a business’s visual shop on mobile, and we’re seeing more people seek out businesses there,” Facebook’s chief operating office Sheryl Sandberg said in February.
“About two-thirds of the visits to Instagram business profiles are from people who don’t yet follow them. This is how many businesses are finding new customers.”
Sandberg added during its most recent earnings call that 80 per cent of Instagram users follow at least one business, and there are currently 25 million business accounts on the platform.


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Flite Banking Centers plans expansion, capital raise
Flite Banking Centers LLC, a Houston startup that launched a multi-bank, drive-thru ATM concept last year, plans to raise $1.5 million to expand its footprint and roll out new services.
Houston, home of giant ATM operator Cardtronics Inc. (Nasdaq: CATM), has been Flite’s guinea pig to firm up its thesis on how banks benefit and how customers react to the multi-bank site.
Bankers say its working.
Flite wants to get banks into new submarkets without the hassle of finding and developing real estate for a branch or ATM — a potential boon as some banks question the need for costly branch networks, but don’t want to cut off customers from convenient after-hours banking.
Since launching its multi-bank ATM spot near U.S. Highway 59 and Kirby Drive in August 2011, banks testing the concept have seen transaction volumes climb month by month, outpacing what some thought the location could pull in traffic.
Flite wants to grow its footprint in Houston to between 15 and 30 locations over three to five years — in August, the company opened a walk-up vestibule in the Shops of Houston Center downtown.
Recently, Flite signed a lease for a spot at The Rim, a retail development in San Antonio, and expects to open a second Houston drive-thru location at Interstate 10 and Durham Street in the first quarter of 2013. The company also has its eye on Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
The startup has learned a lot since its initial launch, said president and founder Michael Villarreal.
“What we’ve learned over the last year and a half is that there are other products and services that the banks need from us,” Villarreal said. “Flite would deliver a great location with a full functioning ATM — our bank partners would brand the ATM and not have to worry about managing it.”
Collin Eaton covers banking, finance and securities for the Houston Business Journal.
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Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased the tech giant's new store on his Facebook page with photo of him trying out the Quest 2 virtual reality headsets. Photo courtesy of Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook
April 25 (UPI) -- Meta announced Monday it will open its first brick-and-mortar retail space in California next month to allow customers to test its hardware, such as virtual reality headsets.
The roughly 1,550-square-foot store will open May 9 with operating hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT Monday through Friday on Meta's campus in Burlingame, Calif.
"Having the store here in Burlingame gives us more opportunity to experiment and keep the customer experience core to our development," Martin Gilliard, head of Meta Store, said in a statement. "What we learn here will help define our future retail strategy.
The store will include interactive demos on the Meta Portal video calling system, Ray-Ban Stories through smart glasses that allow people to take photos or record videos through the click of a button, and Quest 2 virtual reality headsets, according to the company's statement.
The Quest 2 demo has its own area where customers can try out virtual reality games like Beat Saber, Real VR Fishing, and a boxing game Supernatural on a large, wall-to-wall curved LED screen that displays what they are seeing in-headset.
Customers will be able to purchase Quest 2 accessories and portal devices at the store, and if they're interested in Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses retail associates will be available to help them order them directly from Ray-Ban.
Shoppers will also be able to take home a 30-second clip of their demo experience.
"Once people experience the technology, they can gain a better appreciation for it," Gilliard said in a statement. "If we did our job right, people should leave and tell their friends, 'You've got to check out the Meta Store.'"
Meta previously partnered with Best Buy for pop-up demo stations that let shoppers try Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets for free, but closed 200 of 500 stores, Business Insider reported. The stores had infrequent requests for demos and slow sales, according to employees.
Last June, Google opened its first brick-and-mortar retail store in New York City.


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HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - Police need the public's help to identify a woman who used a fraudulent credit card to buy $35,000 worth of jewelry in September.
On Sept. 4, a woman entered Goodman and Sons Jewelers located in the 2000 block of Coliseum Drive around 4 p.m. and selected $35,000 worth of Pandora jewelry for purchase, Cpl. Mary Shackelford with the Hampton Police Division said.
The woman presented a credit card and Arizona driver's license that contained corresponding information. When the card was declined, the woman called the credit card company listed on the card and let the sales associate at the store speak to a representative.
Shackelford said the representative told the sales associate the purchase could be completed by using a special code. Once the purchase was complete, the woman was last seen walking northbound on Coliseum Drive.
Both the credit card and the driver's license were later determined to be fraudulent, Shackelford said.
Anyone with information as to the woman's identity is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
Newport News Police are still looking for a killer more than four years after a 17-year-old was shot dead.
An Amtrak train carrying more than 40 passengers was involved in an accident with a car Thursday morning in Waverly.
A boil water advisory has been issued in Corolla after a water line break.


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Stocks in Europe are edging higher on Thursday as investors continue to look for clues as to the current state of U.S.-China trade relations. The price action indicates some light buying and position-squaring ahead of today’s key event – the release of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product report at 12: 30 GMT.
This can be a tricky report to read because it is only preliminary data and it is stale data. Traders are looking for a reading of 3.1%, down slightly from 3.2%. It may not be the actual number, per se, that drives the price action, but how investors project overall second quarter GDP, given the increased tariffs between the United States and China that are expected to kick in on June 1.
The GDP number could come in as expected at 3.1%. This may be read as bullish for some investors because it means the economy has some wiggle room to play with when the new tariffs start to trickle through the economy during the second quarter. A number below 3.1% is likely to be read as bearish because it will indicate the economy had been weakening even before the tariff was imposed. In this case, investors will feel that things could only get worse.
We could also see a muted response to the report because it is old data and conditions have changed since it was compiled, and likely to change even more before the final figures are tabulated. When analyzing today’s report, keep in mind that it is actually a look back at how the economy did in the first quarter of 2019. The second estimate for the prior quarter is released nearly two full months into the current quarter.
Going into the report, J.P. Morgan economists are already predicting much slower second-quarter growth of just 1%, down from their prior forecast of 2.25% and way off the 3.2% reported in the first quarter.
“The April durable goods report was bad, particularly the details relating to capital goods orders and shipments. Coming on the heels of last week’s crummy April retail sales report, it suggests second quarter activity growth is sharply downshifting from the first quarter pace,” the economists wrote.
The J.P. Morgan economists said the key risks they see for U.S. growth include the uncertainty from the trade war, impacting business sentiment, and global economic slowing.
The U.S. markets that could be affected by the report are Treasuries, S&P 500 Index futures and Fed Funds futures. Judging from this week’s performance in the Treasuries and Fed Fund futures, it looks like investors are already pricing in a weaker economy in the future.
Currencies that could be affected are USD/JPY, EUR/USD and USD/CNY.
Again, don’t try to anticipate the data, let the Treasurys dictate the move. Like I said before, the report contains dated information so it’s possible we’ll see a muted reaction to the news. The futures markets are already pricing in a weaker economy and a Fed rate cut later in the year. Try to avoid getting trapped on the wrong side of this report.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
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While the GTC stands for Grand Tourismo Coupe, the 4 stands for the 4WD and 4-seater option that the family supercar has to offer.
Tata Motors had unveiled the all new Nexon at the 88th Geneva Motors Show this year in March.
We tell you 7 things that you need to know about the powerful Coupe from the Mercedes-AMG range.
Rumours about the launch of the Benelli Tornado 302R have been doing the round for some time now. Benelli has gone ahead and confirmed the launch for July 25.
American two wheeler manufacturer Indian Motorcycle has unveiled the Scout Bobber that will be part of their MY18 line-up.
Tata is soon going to introduce two new technologically advanced, powerful engines and a new gear box, along with its new compact SUV Nexon.
The latest motorcycle from the Italian brand MV Agusta to land on Indian shores will soon be the Brutale 800.
Hyundai dealers in India have started accepting bookings for the new Verna and the sedan will be launched towards the end of August.
Renault's new offering in India will the crossover Kaptur that is already on sale in Russia and some South American markets.
We expect the new Jaguar E-Pace to make its way to India by next year, most likely at the Auto Expo 2018.
Globally, the Verna is known as Accent in North America and Solaris in Europe and Russia.
The Volvo V90 Cross Country will be more expensive than the V90 station wagon because it'll come as standard with all-wheel-drive, front and rear skid plates, and plenty of standard kit..


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Want to take better photos on your iPhone? Microsoft is here to help
THEY have long been Apple’s fiercest rival, but Microsoft has just released an app that will make your iPhone better in one key way.
DON’T worry Apple fans, Microsoft is here to make your iPhone even better.
Microsoft has released the Pix app for the iPhone which claims to put the skills of a professional photographer in your pocket.
Side-by-side comparisons of photos shot on an iPhone with the native Apple iPhone camera versus photos shot with the Microsoft Pix app show the ones shot with Pix have better contrast, better skin tones, and less noise.
And, in news that will bring a smile to every failed family photographer, the app automatically looks for the moment when everyone’s eyes are open.
The free app from Microsoft Research works by capturing 10 images with every shot, firing off seven shots before you hit the shutter and three shots after.
Microsoft research Josh Weisberg explains why the app starts taking pictures before you hit the button: “If you see it happen and you aren’t already taking pictures, it’s too late, you missed the shot.”
Microsoft plans to release a version of the app for Android phones and future updates include adding a “beauty mode” to smooth out those wrinkles in your selfies.
The app has its own version of those Harry Potter-style still images that contain movement. With Pix, these are called Live Image and they are similar to the Live Photos feature in the most recent Apple iPhones.
Unlike Live Photos, the Pix app lets you capture Live Image photos on phones as old as the iPhone 5S. The app will automatically generate if it detects movement, like a wave crashing on a beach, and stores the photos as short silent video clips in your camera roll.
The app is produced by the same research group which last year released the How Old Do I Look? tool last year that was designed to guess a person’s age by a photo.