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Stricken dairy group Murray Goulburn held talks with the federal government in recent weeks as it unsuccessfully looked to secure a last-minute lifeline, forcing it to go ahead with a $1.31 billion sale to Canada's dairy giant, Saputo.
It has been a torrid 18 months for farmer suppliers and shareholders of the nation's largest dairy processor, which culminated on Friday with the news that it has entered a binding agreement to sell all its assets and liabilities to Saputo, which already owns rival Warrnambool Cheese & Butter.
Murray Goulburn farmer director Craig Dwyer told shareholders the annual meeting in Melbourne that he and chief executive Ari Mervis held talks with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce two weeks ago and discussed a possible short term loan for the failing dairy processor. The loan would have allowed it to try to trade out of its position of a dwindling milk pool, as suppliers farmers deserted the company.
The co-op has been battling reputational problems and a stretched balance sheet after its milk intake plunged following a disastrous decision last year to retrospectively cut milk prices.
Mr Dwyer said he signed up to fix Murray Goulburn, not sell it, but reality prevailed. He said the board left no stone unturned and considered various options from a standalone business, equity partnership or full share sale, in addition to the government talks.
"The outcomes of that conversation [with government] were that it is not an industry problem but an MG one, so it was suggested that we needed to find a commercial resolution," he said at the AGM.
"I asked the Deputy Prime Minister directly whether he wanted MG to stay in the current industry. The option of short-term loans for MG to buy itself some time to trade out of the situation was flagged but it was clearly understood firstly that it would be challenging to secure government agreement, and secondly, any loans would still have to be repaid in full at a point in the future."
Chairman John Spark said given the company's tenuous economic position, the sale was the best option for unit holders and shareholders.
"I appreciate the last two years have been an immensely challenging period for the co-operative and our loyal suppliers, and am aware that some believe the co-operative should remain a standalone business," he said. "However, the fact is that tangible, certain benefits will be delivered from the transaction with Saputo and are far above what can be achieved should MG remain in its current form without access to additional capital."
Under the deal, the farm gate milk price paid to farmers will be increased by 40¢ to $5.60 per kilogram of milk solids this year, with active suppliers to receive an additional 40¢ loyalty payment. This farm gate milk price is in line with Warrnambool Cheese & Butter, while Fonterra's farm gate milk price is $5.50kg MS, and Bega's is $5.53kg MS.
Murray Goulburn will retain a large chunk of proceeds of the sale to deal with its liabilities, including potential class actions, and will only make an initial distribution of 75¢ per share per unit, with another possible distribution of up to 40¢ per share per unit to come, pending the outcome of these issues – which could take years.
The deal values Murray Goulburn at much as $638 million if the full $1.15 per unit/share is paid out.
Morgans analyst Belinda Moore said there has been no winners out of the situation but the deal has swung in favour of supplier farmers over unit holders. She moved to a "sell", saying there is no reason to hold the units.
The Montreal-based Saputo has grown to become one of the top 10 dairy processors in the world and has made farmers a series of commitments from ensuring milk collection and market pricing into the future.
"We intend to continue to pay leading competitive milk prices to farmer suppliers in Australia so they can reinvest and grow their businesses," Saputo's chairman and chief executive, Lino Saputo Jr, said.
Some critics said the deal was only about timing and certainty, saying Murray Goulburn wanted to move quickly to avoid administration.
Mr Mervis told investors on a call the Saputo offer came down to three things: it offered as much certainty as possible, favourable timing, and a competitive milk price.
Saputo beat rivals Bega Cheese, New Zealand's Fonterra, Goodman Fielder/Wilmar and Parmalat to secure a deal.
Fonterra Australia boss René Dedoncker said the news was not a surprise and does not change his growth plans.
"We were not given the opportunity to meet with Murray Goulburn's Board as our proposal required their direct input, and we chose not to participate in the strategic review process run by Deutsche Bank. We have set our sights on growth, and we are accelerating our capital investment plans to grow our milk supply and processing capacity," he said.
Fonterra is poised to pip Murray Goulburn as the nation's largest dairy processor as it seeks to grow its milk pool to 2.5 billion litres by June. In August Murray Goulburn said it expected milk intake for the year to be about 2 billion litres, 27 per cent lower than 2017.
Many shareholders at the AGM were upset, accusing the board of being "morally bankrupt", giving the company away for nothing and wanted to know what other offers were put forward.
One farmer shareholder urged others to vote against the election of Mr Spark as a special director, saying he did not have a good understanding of the dire straights many farmers were in over the past year, while others said the board has done a good job in tough circumstances.
The farmer shareholders upon completion of deal will own the cash paid for the assets. The three classes of Murray Goulburn shareholders – two classes of farmer shareholders (wet and dry), and unit trust holders of the listed entity – will become one.
The deal with Saputo is subject to approval by an ordinary resolution of voting shareholders, with a more than 50 per cent of the votes needed to be in favour to pass. It is also subject to an independent expert concluding that the transaction is in the best interest of shareholders. The competition watchdog and Foreign Investment Review Board also need to give it a tick.
A road show will kick off in November where management will try to sell the deal to farmers.
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|By PR Newswire||
|January 8, 2013 02:00 AM EST||
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma Corporation of America a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world's most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, will be exhibiting at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show at booth 7904 in Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center from Jan. 8 to 11.
At the event, Sigma will introduce the DP3 Merrill compact camera and a new feature set for Sigma Photo Pro software that will expand users' editing options for black and white imaging. The latest lenses from the Global Vision lineup will be on display, and attendees will be invited to the booth to shoot with the SD1 and DP2 Merrill cameras to enter to win a new Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM lens.
"Our involvement at CES this year will reaffirm our commitment to photographers," said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. "We will showcase our Global Vision lens lineup, the new Sigma Photo Pro black and white photo editing mode and our latest DP Merrill compact camera, the DP3, which completes the DP Merrill camera set with its 50mm F2.8 lens. We'll also let people photograph with the SD1 and DP2 Merrill cameras in our booth so they can get the full Foveon sensor experience."
Sigma's brand new product announcements include:
- DP3 Merrill: As the next generation in Sigma's DP camera lineup, the DP3 Merrill features a high-performance, 50mm f2.8 lens (a focal range equivalent to 75mm on a 35mm SLR camera) that is ideal for mid-telephoto and macro range shooting. Equipped with the Foveon X3 direct image sensor, the DP3 Merrill ensures outstanding resolution and a natural rendering with rich gradation that results in a 3D feel. Other highlights include an advanced user interface and the capability of seven-frame continuous shooting. When paired with its DP Merrill predecessors, the DP1 and DP2, the trio is a complete compact camera tool set. For the full press release about the DP3 Merrill, click here. Pricing and availability is yet to be announced.
- Sigma Photo Pro Monochrome Mode: This new black and white editing mode in the Sigma Photo Pro software processes the RAW data of the Sigma Merrill series for the creation of monochrome photography. Sigma's full-color capture system produces richly detailed monochrome images with a wide dynamic range from highlight to shadow. It creates ultra high-resolution images even at high ISOs with minimal noise. In this mode, photographers can expect smooth, beautiful gradations, and editing options that include a new Color Channel Mixer and a Film Grain Effect. Since Sigma's cameras do not use blur filters, and since the image sensors capture full image detail at each pixel location in the image, the Merrill camera series is uniquely positioned to produce great color, and black and white imagery. This feature set will be available in Sigma Photo Pro version 5.5, which will be available for download via the Sigma site. Images made using this monochrome editing tool will be displayed at the CES booth. For the full press release about this feature set, click here.
New products that were previously announced as part of the Global Vision restructuring and will be on display include:
- 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM: This new lens from the Contemporary line is 30 percent smaller than conventional models, and features two "F" Low Dispersion (FLD) glass elements with performance equal to fluorite, and one Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass element. Sigma and Canon mounts will be available this month, Nikon mounts will be available in February, and Sony and Pentax mounts will arrive in March. For the full press release, click here. The 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM will be available for the street price of $499.
- 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM: This new lens from the Sports line will include Sigma's Optical Stabilization (OS) function, a Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM), and two FLD and one SLD glass elements. With a new dust- and splash-proof design, this lens will also have a focus limiter, which incorporates inner focusing and zooming that does not require a change to the length of the lens for focus and zoom. Sigma and Canon mounts will be available in February, and Nikon mounts will arrive in March. For the full press release, click here. The 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM will be available for the street price of $3,599.
- USB Dock: In the industry's first USB dock, photographers are able to update the lens firmware and adjust parameters such as focus through the Sigma Optimization Pro software. Additionally, AF speed, focus limiter and OS functionality will be customizable via the dock for the Sports line of lenses. For the full press release, click here. Pricing and availability is yet to be announced.
Sigma Corporation of America's booth activities at this year's CES include:
- Sigma's CES Fashion Studio: Stop by the Sigma booth each day of the show to shoot with the SD1 Merrill or DP2 Merrill cameras. The studio will feature alternating high-end models in 1950s and 1960s or couture garb, and guided tutorials with Sigma Pros. All participants will walk away with a Sigma T-shirt and their images on a Sigma flash drive.
- Sigma 35mm F1.4 sweepstakes: By participating in the Sigma CES Fashion Studio, attendees will be entered to win a new Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM lens in a camera mount of their choosing. The winner will be randomly chosen at the end of the show. Click here for contest rules.
For information about Sigma Corporation of America, visit www.sigmaphoto.com. Stop by the CES Virtual Press Room at http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/kit/i6ai or download the CES mobile application for more details about Sigma's presence at the show.
About Sigma Corporation
For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation's expertise and innovation has driven the company's core philosophy of "knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination," with an emphasis on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology. This family-owned organization is the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 50 lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax. Sigma Corporation also produces digital SLR cameras and high-definition digital compact cameras. The company is headquartered in Japan, with offices strategically located throughout Europe, Asia and North America. For information, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com.
SOURCE Sigma Corporation of America
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Keeping pace with advancements in software delivery processes and tooling is taxing even for the most proficient organizations. Point tools, platforms, open source and the increasing adoption of private and public cloud services requires strong engineering rigor - all in the face of developer demands to use the tools of choice. As Agile has settled in as a mainstream practice, now DevOps has emerged as the next wave to improve software delivery speed and output. To make DevOps work, organization...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), an industry leader in automated, scalable and secure networks, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Juniper Networks challenges the status quo with products, solutions and services that transform the economics of networking. The company co-innovates with customers and partners to deliver automated, scalable and secure network...
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VeriStor Systems has announced that CRN has named VeriStor to its 2017 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Elite 150 category. This annual list recognizes North American solution providers with cutting-edge approaches to delivering managed services. Their offerings help companies navigate the complex and ever-changing landscape of IT, improve operational efficiencies, and maximize their return on IT investments. In today’s fast-paced business environments, MSPs play an important role...
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SYS-CON Events announced today that Infranics will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Since 2000, Infranics has developed SysMaster Suite, which is required for the stable and efficient management of ICT infrastructure. The ICT management solution developed and provided by Infranics continues to add intelligence to the ICT infrastructure through the IMC (Infra Management Cycle) based on mathemat...
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Virtualization over the past years has become a key strategy for IT to acquire multi-tenancy, increase utilization, develop elasticity and improve security. And virtual machines (VMs) are quickly becoming a main vehicle for developing and deploying applications. The introduction of containers seems to be bringing another and perhaps overlapped solution for achieving the same above-mentioned benefits. Are a container and a virtual machine fundamentally the same or different? And how? Is one techn...
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Google revealed the Pixel Tablet last year, promising it would arrive sometime in 2023 as a competitor against Apple’s iPad lineup and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab series. Today, the company finally revealed more details.
The Pixel Tablet is the first Android tablet to come out of Google since the Pixel C in 2015 — the only attempt after that was the short-lived Pixel Slate, which used ChromeOS instead of Android. This time around, Google went with a 10.95-inch LCD screen, with a resolution of 2560 x 1600. There’s an 8MP front-facing camera, and another 8 MP camera on the back. For connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 USB Type-C port. Not bad at all.
Google is using its own Tensor G2 SoC in the Pixel Tablet, which is the same chipset used in the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. That should give the tablet decent performance — we had no complaints about the speed of the Pixel 7 series in our reviews. The screen of the Pixel Tablet is larger with more pixels to power, but the Tensor G2 should still hold up. The rest of the internal hardware includes 128-256 GB storage, 8 GB RAM, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a 27 Wh battery.
Google is also positioning the Pixel Tablet as sort of an upscale smart display, with the use of a dock accessory. When you attach the tablet to the dock (it uses magnets), your tablet remains charged, and audio comes out of the dock’s more powerful speakers. The tablet can also switch into a photo frame mode, and it will listen for Google Assistant commands.
The Pixel Tablet will be released next month, at a starting price of $499 — nearly twice the price of the 10.2-inch iPad. Google will also include the dock in the box, which is nice. You can pre-order it from the Google Store.


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After years of controversy, G2A’s gray market game keys marketplace has admitted what it has long been accused of by angry game developers: profiting from the sale of illegitimate download keys — at least in one specific case.
In a blog post yesterday, G2A confirmed that 198 copies of Factorio that were sold on G2A in early 2016 were indeed obtained illegally. G2A says it will pay Factorio developer Wube 10 times the “bank-initiated refund fee” he incurred for those fraudulent purchases, or about $40,000.
But the discovery and confirmation of the fraudulent keys in this one particular case come only after years of controversy and arguing over the role of the market.
A long history of alleged fraud
G2A allows its users to take game keys obtained from third-party sources such as bundles or third-party online stores and resell them at a price that they set themselves. But developers have long said that many of the keys to those games come from purchases made on other platforms using stolen credit cards.
These users would then use G2A to sell those keys for cash (usually well below the going price), effectively laundering the purchases before the illegal charges are discovered. While G2A is raking in some of these illegal sales, the original developer has to pay for the credit card chargeback fees that come with it.
The issue of reselling stolen keys began to gain prominence in the industry in 2016, when indie game developer TinyBuild said it had lost $450,000 in sales to fraudsters assisted by G2A. “Websites like G2A are facilitating a fraud-driven economy in which key resellers are affected by tons of stolen credit card transactions and these websites are now growing rapidly due to the low prices of game keys,” wrote TinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik at the time.
G2A responded strongly, asking Tiny Build to provide “the list of keys they deemed stolen without any verification.” But TinyBuild said it would “take a lot of time to micromanage this” to separate all illegal keys from legitimate keys bought through bundles and giveaways. And Nichiporchik said he didn’t trust G2A enough to work with them on the case after all.
“Everyone knows his reputation,” he told Polygon in 2016. “Why would anyone even consider giving them a list of keys to ‘verify’? I guess they just resell those keys and make more money from them.” That reputation was a big part of why Gearbox ended its partnership with G2A in 2017.
If you can’t afford or don’t want to buy our games at full price, you can use them piracy instead of buying them from a major reseller. These sites cost us so much potential development time in customer service, investigating fake key requests, sorting out credit card chargebacks, and more. https://t.co/25NWxrj8f8
— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) June 30, 2019
Vlambeer founder Rami Ismail summarized the general industry consensus around G2A a tweet from 2019“If you can’t afford or don’t want to buy our games at full price, please piracy instead of buying them from a major reseller,” he wrote. “These sites cost us so much potential development time in customer service, investigating fake key requests, sorting out credit card chargebacks, and more.”
Wube “satisfied with the results”
In the years since TinyBuild’s impeachment, G2A has provided some potential solutions for developers to address alleged fraud issues. These include G2A Direct – a program that gives developers additional control options and a 10% discount on every sale – and G2A Pay – a merchant-audited payment processor that offers ‘chargeback protection’. But these solutions have gained little traction with developers who still don’t trust the site and are wary of working more closely with it (and giving it credibility) just to be protected from fraud.
So we come to last year, when G2A made a temporary offer that it said, “[putting] all the cards on the table. We pay developers 10 times the money they lost in chargebacks after their illegally obtained keys were sold on G2A. The idea is simple: developers just need to prove that something like this actually happened in their stores.”
Factorio developer Wube was the only company G2A took up that offer, the retailer said. And while G2A initially offered to pay the full cost for a “reputable and independent audit firm” to conduct that investigation, it eventually decided to conduct the investigation itself after none of the auditors it approached “met our agreed-upon requirements.” “.
“Grand auditors, as a matter of general policy, are unwilling to publicly communicate the findings of their private audits,” G2A said in a statement to Kotaku. “It was clear that both G2A and Wube had to make the results of this research public. In order to find a solution as quickly as possible, we therefore offered to conduct the research ourselves.”
Wube, for his part, told GamesIndustry.biz that it was happy with the process. “They produced a pretty detailed report of the keys, who sold them, what dates and times they were sold,” Wube PR, Community and Support Manager Scott Klonan told the site. “I thought they probably wouldn’t fake it, especially since it’s still more than half of the keys we sent out. We’re happy with the results.”
That said, Klonan said going through such a cumbersome audit process was only worth it because of the temporary tenfold multiplier G2A offered last year for such confirmed fraud. “The amount of time it takes and the administrative work to get this refund, it probably isn’t worth the monetary compensation if it wasn’t 10x,” he said.
Wube also had his own role in the fraudulent sales to GI.biz, saying direct sales through his site in 2016 were less secure than those on other platforms. Since Wube switched to using the Humble Store widget for its direct sales and started limiting its once-prolific key giveaways, Klonan said fraudulent sales on G2A “have completely stopped.”
“Ultimately, contacting G2A is treating a symptom of people stealing keys,” he says. “The best way to combat that is to cut it at the source.”


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Victoria's Secret to join Intu Lakeside
Lingerie brand VictoriaÂ’s Secret is to open a new 11,000 square foot store at Intu Lakeside.
Due to open in time for Christmas trade, the store will be situated on the shopping centre's upper mall, adjacent to MAC, Hugo Boss, Tag Heuer, Goldsmiths Boutique, Hamleys and the recently opened Kurt Geiger shop.
Julian Wilkinson, regional director of Intu, said: “With 70% of customers being female and with a keen eye for fashion, we’re confident that an aspirational lingerie brand like Victoria’s Secret will flourish.”
As well as evolving its retail offer, Intu has acquired permission for a £100 million leisure development at Lakeside which will include a range of cafés, restaurants and family entertainment venues situated around a new public square.
In addition, planning permission has been granted for a hotel while outline planning consent has been obtained for a £180 million retail extension which will include improvements to transport links.
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Alphabet Inc’s Google, Apple Inc and Firefox browser maker Mozilla took steps on Wednesday to block the Kazakh government from creating an internet surveillance system using their browsers.
Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox will block a government encryption certificate that allows authorities to read anything a user types or posts using the browsers, including account information and passwords, the companies said in separate statements.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Apple also said in a statement it would take similar measures to protect the users of its Safari browser.
Kazakh authorities were not immediately available to comment.
Earlier this month, Kazakhstan said it had halted implementation of the system, the initial roll out of which was described as a test by the government.
State security officials had said its goal was to protect Kazakh users from “hacker attacks, online fraud and other kinds of cyber threats.”


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Feb 13, 2021
2  Likes 0 Comments
About this Deal
Sears continues on its path to the retail graveyard. Late Friday night, Transformco, Sears’ parent company, quietly posted new “temporary store closing” employment positions at five of its namesake stores. It won’t be long before Sears will run out of more locations to close.
These five new closures are on top of the eleven stores the company announced just two weeks ago. It leaves Sears with only 28 remaining department stores throughout the country. (The company will not confirm an exact number.) It’s a sad decline for what was once “the World’s Largest Retailer.”
It’s highly unlikely that this will be the last round of closures. It’s unknown how this iconic brand can successfully compete and continue as a brick-and-mortar retailer. The stores that have avoided liquidation sales remain poorly stocked with little customer foot traffic.
Read the full article here


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St. Louis, Mo., July 2, 2012 – The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning consumers to be on the lookout for scams related to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld the Affordable Care Act. Scams related to the federal health insurance law were reported almost as soon as the act was passed, and they’re likely to surface again.
In 2010, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius notified state attorneys general and insurance commissioners that scammers were knocking on doors to sell phony policies, claiming there was a limited enrollment period and urging consumers to buy quickly. However, it will be two years before expanded coverage is available, and it’s very unlikely that it then would be sold door-to-door.
“These types of scams often crop up when there is news of a big change in government policy, whether it’s health insurance or tax credits.
Consumers who suspect fraud can contact the Insurance Consumer Hotline at 1-800-726-7390 or through the insurance department website, insurance.mo.gov. Illinois consumers can contact their state insurance department by calling 1-877-527-9431 or going online to insurance.illinois.gov.
The BBB has tips for consumers who are approached by door-to-door salespeople or unsolicited emails:
If you have concerns about salespeople who are knocking on your door, calling you on the phone, or sending you e-mail, contact the BBB at (812) 473.0202 or at


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Acquisition Adds a Broad Range of Air Distribution Products to Johnson Controls Portfolio
April 17, 2014
Johnson Controls announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire its Air Distribution Technologies business, one of the largest providers of air distribution and ventilation products in North America, for approximately $1.6 billion.
A Key Component of the New Site Is the Online Product Catalog
November 4, 2013
With a significantly different appearance and simplified menu system, Krueger-HVAC said it has made a number of marked improvements in the release of its new website, including increased performance, better organization, and greater compatibility with a host of different browsers.
Krueger-HVAC, a leading manufacturer of air distribution products, announced that F.C. Clifford Inc. is expanding its representation of the company’s products to include Washington, D.C., Maryland, and the northern Virginia markets.


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The Motley Fool does an impressive breakdown of the nitty-gritty of Amazon’s shipping strategy and expenses.
“It’s now been over a decade since Amazon irst announced its Prime membership program to investors. Initially, skeptics balked at the idea of Amazon offering a year’s worth of fast, free shipping for just $79 per year. It just sounded insane. And rightfully so because the value to the average consumer is readily apparent.”


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16 October 2017
Google has announced that YouTube Kids app is now natively available for smart TVs. It means your kids can now enjoy their favorite content on the bigger screen as well instead of being limited to smartphones and tablets. This change also eliminates the reliance on casting feature for watching videos on TV.
At the moment, YouTube Kids app will be made available on Samsung smart TVs (2013-2017) and Blu-ray players through the Samsung App Store, LG webOS TVs (2015-2017) through the LG content store, and Sony smart TVs (2016-2017) except for Android TVs. We can surely expect more devices to join the list in the future.
For uninitiated ones, it is a YouTube app from Google and is dedicated to kids. It features selected educational and entertainment content which is deemed appropriate for kids. The app makes use of algorithms for filtering videos but parents also have the option for flagging any video which they think should not be on the app. It is basically aimed at preventing kids from stumbling upon any video which might not be appropriate or far more mature for them.
Other than announcing the update, it further revealed some data about app's usage. Google said that YouTube Kids has over 8 million daily active users with over 30 billion views. It seems like the app is doing pretty good and has managed to gather a good number of regular users so far.


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Aldi ‘on the lookout’ for 20 new sites
Discount supermarket operator Aldi has unveiled a list of 20 places in Scotland it wants to open more stores if it can find suitable locations.
The company is targeting town centre, or edge-of-town centre, sites so it can “meet the demand of customers”.
Aldi said sites should be around 1.5 acres and able to accommodate a 20,000 sq ft store with around 100 parking spaces,
Currently, the retailer has 96 shops in Scotland with a further four due to open before the end of 2021.
What areas under consideration are:
- Port Dundas/Springburn
- South Ayr
Aldi UK’s Ciaran Aldridge said: “We have been investing in Britain for more than 30 years now, but we know that there are still areas that either do not have an Aldi at all, or that need another store to meet customer demand.”
He added that the retailer was “keen to explore all opportunities to open new stores across the country”.


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Victorian shopping centres are emerging as the asset of choice for Chinese investors, with the $48 million sale of Arena Shopping Centre in Melbourne the latest in a series of transactions.
Over the past 15 months, Chinese investors have spent more than $380 million acquiring shopping centres across Victoria – highlighting the ongoing strength in investment appetite for well-located assets backed by strong tenancy profiles.
Located in the south-east suburb of Officer, on the corner of Princes Highway and Cardinia Road, Arena Shopping Centre is anchored by a 4,100 square metre Woolworths Supermarket and BWS on a 20-year lease.
The centre, which is positioned on a 2.97 hectare site, features 25 specialty retailers as well as a freestanding McDonald’s and Caltex Service Station, which are secured on 20-year and 15-year lease terms respectively.
The centre generates an annual income of $2.65 million per annum.
CBRE’s Mark Wizel, Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong negotiated the sale to a Mainland Chinese buyer from Shenzhen via an Expressions of Interest campaign.
Mr Dowers said the property attracted strong buyer interest, with the successful purchaser outbidding a number of local private groups, as well as Sydney-based institutions.
“The centre’s strategic corner position has always ensured a strong trade performance, which ultimately underpinned a huge amount of interest in the asset,” Mr Dowers said.
The sale reflected an initial yield of 5.38%, which took into account the larger than normal size of the centre when compared to other more traditional neighbourhood shopping centres in Victoria.
Mr Wizel said the sale of Arena Shopping Centre was a very strong statement for the overall confidence that buyers have for retail assets in Melbourne’s south eastern corridor.
“Only a few years ago, there were questions being raised around oversupply of retail centres in Pakenham itself but this part of Melbourne has just gone from strength to strength and, if anything, there is a widely accepted view in planning that more retail floor area is needed to service the booming population.”
Mr Dowers said the limited supply of neighbourhood shopping centres being offered to the market was underpinning strong sale results.
“The limited supply of centres both in Victoria and nationally is ensuring those that do come to market are achieving sharp yields,” he said.


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Today we are publishing an interview in which the expert expresses his views on why regulators in various countries across the globe have declared an all-out war on the largest crypto exchange in the market, Binance.
We have recently written about how ever since the beginning of this year, Binance has come under attack from financial regulators and even courts around the world. The trend here is undeniable. We asked Gennady Chlovenko, a well-known expert on financial technologies and the cryptocurrency market, why this is happening.
– What is going on here? Why all that pressure?
– It’s simple. Binance – as the world’s largest crypto exchange at the moment – is gradually turning into a direct competitor to the banking system.
Today Binance is not just the most significant cryptocurrency exchange with a huge number of cryptocurrencies, colossal volumes, minimal spreads, its own blockchain, a venture fund, and the third-largest cryptocurrency in the world (BNB) by capitalization. In addition, it serves as a bank where you can deposit money at interest rates that traditional banks could never dream of. Binance is also a decentralized exchange, a P2P exchange and the world’s largest OTC exchange.
I’m not trying to promote Binance in any way: much of what it has is available on other leading cryptocurrency exchanges – Poloniex, for example, or Coinbase. It’s just that Binance really pulled ahead, most successfully riding the wave of cryptocurrency hype. And lightning, as you know, strikes the tallest trees. In this case, it is the “lightning” of state regulation.
– Has the crypto exchange actually started “taking food off the table” of traditional banks?
– One of the services Binance provides is the Binance Pay payment system, which allows international payments in cryptocurrency on Binance. Using Binance Pay, you can exchange cryptocurrency with friends and family worldwide.
Binance has become the largest payment system in the crypto world that lets you instantly transfer more than 30 tokens and coins, including BTC, BNB, BUSD, ETH, ADA, ATOM, BCH, DASH, DOGE, DOT, EOS, ETC, FIL, HBAR, LINK, LTC, MATIC, NEO, PAX, QTUM, TRX, TUSD, UNI, USDC, VET, WRX, XLM, XMR, XRP, XTZ, ZEC, USDT, FRONT, STRAX, ONE, EGLD and SXP. This service had been launched long before the emergence of the Facebook Diem payment monster and enjoys considerable popularity.
But that’s not the end of it either. At the same time that the payment service got launched, Binance partnered with crypto-fiat hybrid payment solution provider Alchemy Pay to create a payment bridge between cryptocurrencies and fiat money through the Binance Pay wallet. Introduced as a beta in February, Binance Pay’s features allow users and sellers to send and receive crypto payments anywhere in the world without paying special processing fees for using cryptocurrencies.
– Is the payment component really that important? Handling payments is not even the main source of income for the banking system…
– It’s not, but it is constant. The competition essentially deprives the banking system of its “fodder base”. Supported by the Alchemy Pay integration of fiat and crypto, Binance Pay is used for both peer-to-peer payments and trade transactions. Users and sellers can choose their preferred payment options with over 40 available cryptocurrencies.
That makes Binance (along with other crypto platforms) an invader into the Visa and MasterCard territory. The world’s largest crypto exchange, with a turnover of more than $ 40 billion per day, and the crypto wallet for its users can now replace credit cards.
Through the Binance Pay app, you can directly pay for purchases at Alchemy Pay retailers, including Shopify, QFPay, Hong Kong-based Pricerite, Singapore-based Ce La Vi, Canadian shoe brand Aldo, multinational Arcadier SaaS, Midwest Global Asia taxi services (with its network of over 2,500 limousine drivers) and many others.
Moreover, the number of places where you can pay using any of the 30 cryptocurrencies listed above will grow rapidly and very soon. Simple market logic at work here: every major retail network will want to accept payments from new customers, of which Binance has more than 20 million.
– So what is next?
– Either Binance “gets the hint” and settles for what it has already achieved, staying away from the market territory of banks. Then it will be allowed to continue operating but without any further developments.
Or the “war” continues, and the exchange will inevitably get crushed by a more powerful state system.
Alternatively, Binance survives, and over time begins to provide other services similar to banking – for example, lending in crypto and fiat. That would be a completely different story, signifying the death of both traditional banks and, possibly, Binance itself – as the saying goes, revolution devours its children.
After this interview had already been done, the news came in: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined the Poloniex cryptocurrency exchange $ 10 million for “operating unregistered digital asset exchange”. Poloniex agreed to pay the fine without admitting to or denying the Commission’s accusations.
The SEC’s claims refer to the transactions made from July 2017 to November 2019. The regulator states that Poloniex sold digital assets that were securities. The statement also says that the exchange was planning to aggressively add new tokens, even those that could be considered securities.
As we have foreseen, it’s not about Binance itself or its size, rather about the fact that crypto exchanges, by turning into multi-purpose financial platforms, are increasingly getting on the nerves of government regulators.


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Chinese game studio Yunchang Games (云畅游戏) has announced Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat, a new action game they're developing for smartphones. They've obtained official license from Capcom to use the Devil May Cry IP, so it is an official DMC game. This news was first picked up by MMO Culture.
You can get a glimpse of how at the game looks in the screenshot gallery below, but it looks pretty good for a mobile game. Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat is powered by the Unity 3D engine, and the developers are focusing on its combat system. That makes sense, given the name of the game and the IP in general. You might notice that they've gone with the classic DMC aesthetic for the mobile game, which isn't a surprise. Despite Ninja Theory's best attempts, there's something about the Devil May Cry property that just screams red leather and screaming guitars. While I can't say whether or not Pinnacle of Combat will have the latter, I would be surprised if it didn't. And from a marketing perspective, going with the more recognizable version of the series is a better way to pitch a mobile game to a console fan base.
It has been confirmed that Pinnacle of Combat will include online modes like team battles and real-time PvP, which should prove decently entertaining if only for the novelty factor of DMC PvP.
Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat is expected to launch in China in 2018 for smartphones. There is no word of a worldwide version of the game being in the works, but we may hear of it after the game has been live in the Asian market for some time.


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2021 has already provided the fashion industry with the hope of new beginnings; among them Kamala Harris, America’s first female, first Black and first Asian-American Vice President. The Biden-Harris inauguration was not just an important day for politics, but a timely reminder of the symbolic power fashion holds, and the power of political figures to help establish new designers.
Harris, Michelle Obama and First Lady Jill Biden stepped out onto the world’s largest stage supporting Black American designers, making instant stars out of Christopher John Rogers, Pyer Moss, and Sergio Hudson, and cementing the administration’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity after a difficult year.
It’s time the fashion industry committed to making real change when it comes to inclusivity, diversity, and equality. As we celebrate Black History Month across the US, MADE outlines some of the industry trends and collaboration strategies brands can use to make sure they’re building a business prepared for the next generation, as well as a key resource of brands to know and support right now and going forward.
Merchandising and Design Experts (MADE) specializes in trend forecasting and market positioning foresight for the fashion and retail market. Delivering researched and highly relevant insight on market conditions, emergent opportunities, and key products. MADE bespoke reports help clients to identify and capitalize on current and future market trends. For more information about these topics and market trends and strategy please contact MADE Trends.


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Update: AMD has issued a statement regarding its role in the Project Scorpio console hardware:
"We are proud that Microsoft has chosen to expand their Xbox One family of devices with two new consoles featuring AMD's high-performance semi-custom SoCs that support revolutionary new technologies like HDR, 4K and high fidelity VR to enable the next generation of immersive gaming experiences."
So, that means another big win for AMD in a console war that has never been hotter. And, chances are we'll see another AMD win by way of Sony in a few mere hours (as of this writing).
Original story continues...
"This is the console that developers asked us to build."
Microsoft dropped a major bomb for the kicker in its E3 2016 keynote address. On stage, Xbox team team lead Phil Spencer revealed Project Scorpio with glee.
This is Microsoft's recently-rumored upgraded console set to launch during Holiday 2017. And, with six teraflops of graphics power and an octa-core CPU, boy, is it a doozy.
The reveal video doesn't tell us much about the console other than a few key specs and the idea behind the new mystery box. In short, this is a game console aimed at meeting or exceeding the next two major advances in gaming: 4K resolutions and virtual reality.
What's in the box?!
Slow down, Spacey. Neither the Xbox team leads nor their partners presented in the dramatic video name-dropped Nvidia or AMD or anything like that. However, some vital, jargon-filled points were made about Project Scorpio's capabilities.
For one, it houses six teraflops of graphical performance. To put that into perspective, that's three teraflops shy of the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, but nearly five times as many as the current Xbox One.
Whereas the rumored PS4 Neo is said to pack 4.14 teraflops of graphics oomph. Shots fired?
Secondly, the console can render visuals at 60Hz. That means some super smooth play synced to your TV's refresh rate. Nothing's been said of at what resolution, but hopefully no trickery is being done here.
But something here is missing...
Then, there's the nugget that this all seems to be intended to power VR gaming as well, with Bethesda's Todd Howard directly name-dropping Fallout 4 in VR. But wait, Microsoft didn't say anything about a headset, did they? Nope – at least not yet.
A console designed to run VR gaming without its own headset? Fat chance. (And who's already psyched for E3 2017?)
Finally, we've been promised 100% backward compatibility with existing Xbox One games and accessories – a thinly veiled jab at Sony. Its console is said to be compatible with "all or a very large majority" of existing games.
This has been a very interesting E3 already. Stay with us here for the latest E3 2016 details and commentary.
- Here are the best PC games you can play today


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Sep 30, 2018 | Comments
Google alerts Chrome changes after massive...
This is how the company explains the new login.
Several have responded to a change Google has made in Chrome 69 that automatically logs users into the browser when they log in to a...
Sep 27, 2018 | Comments
Gmail confirms that developers have access to...
Privacy protector responds: - The model is completely broken.
The US Congress wanted a response from Google after it became known in July that the search company gives developers access...
Sep 22, 2018 | Comments
Google China Search Engine tracks users with...
More revelations about Dragonfly.
Google has gained criticism after it became known that the company is developing a dedicated search engine for the Chinese market, called Dragonfly....
Sep 15, 2018 | Comments
Google puts down Inbox
Only Gmail left.
When Google updated Gmail in April, everyone wondered what was going to be the fate of Inbox, which in many ways is a more modern product.
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Panelists at MediaPost’s Publishing Insiders Summit discussed the challenge of monetizing live streaming, specifically on the Facebook platform. Publishers will need to continue experimenting to find the best way for the burgeoning tool to become a source of revenue, the panelists agreed.
The moderator of the panel, editor in chief of LittleThings, Maia McCann, asked a panel with Nojan Aminosharei, entertainment director of Hearst Magazine Digital Media, Jeremy Kaplan, editor in chief of Digital Trends, Drew Lesicko, general manager and product director of AOL Alpha and Dina Sartore-Bodo, managing editor of HollywoodLife, how they plan to make money from live streaming.
“No one wants to answer that question,” Kaplan quipped.
Lesicko added that as of now, there is “zero” monetization strategy for live streaming. “For live and Facebook content in general, there's really not a lot that we can do,” he said.
While the team at AOL can now mention a sponsor on a live feed and watermark their video content, there are still “a bunch of rules,” Lesicko said. For example, they cannot mention a sponsor in the first three seconds of the video.
“Facebook is trying to make sure we don't put a bunch of pre-roll and degrade the experience to the user because they want this thing to start to scale. But at some point, we need to find some way to monetize,” he said. “We have to reshape the conversation from an advertising standpoint, too. With the tools that we have we can't do targeting, we can't do attribution.”
While live streaming is a good way to “speak directly to our readers” as a brand, Kaplan added, it remains “very hard as a business. It's very hard to invest in this more as a platform when there isn't any return on investment and all we are getting is engaged readers.”
Sartore-Bodo said HollywoodLife has found roundtable discussions to be a successful format for Facebook live streaming, as well as streaming during a podcast recording.
However, she found that a Reddit-style “Ask Me Anything” doesn’t work so well; answering comments live from an audience “wasn’t engaging enough.”
“Connection is the new way to engage users,” Lesicko said. “We want to figure out how to build that one-to-one relationship with users so that they can feel like they are part of the experience.”
The panelists agreed live-streaming platforms were beneficial for their brands especially when they were giving “direct access to users,” such as streaming events or answering questions live about a product or celebrity onscreen.
Promotion is also key. Sartore-Bodo said HollywoodLife has had success cross-promoting on Snapchat for Facebook Live. Aminosharei added it was “helpful” when a celebrity or “talking head” shared the live stream with their social media followers. It even helped jolt the viewership of that video by 30,000 views.


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Fife cabling company Brand-Rex, now known as Leviton, saw its pre-tax profits increase by more than 11% last year as sales grew across Europe.
The firm saw pre-tax profits rise from £6.1 million in 2017, to £6.8m for the year ending December 31 2018.
Turnover jumped from £78.1m in 2017 to £86.7 in 2018.
The group, which has its European headquarters in Glenrothes, designs and manufactures high-speed copper and fibre-based cable and connectivity systems for IT and data communications.
The firm also manufactures cabling for extreme environments, across a range of sectors, including military, rail, automotive and aerospace.
A brand transitioning programme during the year saw the company position the Leviton brand as the principle name of the group.
In the company’s annual accounts, managing director Ian Wilkie said the group had seen significant sales growth in the data communications sector “in almost every country” throughout Europe, driven by an “increasingly successful approach to large data centre projects.”
Rising demand from existing customers for the firm’s high performance cables also delivered strong growth, which was boosted by the acquisition of new customers, with plans in place to increase sales in the automotive, marine and industrial markets.
However, the firm warns that the UK’s decision to leave the EU will undoubtedly have an impact on the business and while the extent of the impact is not known, directors will continue to monitor the situation.
Mr Wilkie, said: “The group remains ambitious for continued growth but expects market conditions and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit to restrict opportunities in some areas.”
The firm also saw an increase in employee numbers, rising 312 in 2017, to 343 last year, with the majority working in production – bringing a total wage and salary bill of £12.6m.
Across geographical markets, the UK last year amounted to £19.3m, however, the rest of Europe including Russia was by far the largest market for the firm at £51.1m.
The USA accounted for less than £1.5m of the company’s turnover, while Asia and Australasia brought in £6.1m.
Leviton also conducts manufacturing, distribution and research and development from Leigh in Lancashire.
Brand-Rex was acquired by Leviton, a leader in network connectivity systems based in the United States, in December 2015.


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It’s our privilege to bring you thought leadership and industry insights for the Healthcare and Pharma sectors. Our resources cover industry-relevant articles, whitepapers and reports, webinar recordings, information on in-person events and the latest in business news.
Datapharm becomes a certified B Corp
Datapharm, has announced its certification as a B Corporation (or B Corp), joining a growing group of companies reinventing business by pursuing purpose as well as profit.
Reflections on 2023: Datapharm and Pharma’s key moments
Datapharm's CEO, Rich Cooper, reflects on the developments the company has been making in 2023 towards improved HCP and patient engagement, and what Datapharm and Pharma have learned from ePI, collaboration and industry events.
Datapharm becomes a PAGB associate member
Datapharm is excited to announce it has become an associate member of PAGB (the Proprietary Association of Great Britain), the consumer healthcare association representing manufacturers of branded over-the-counter (OTC) medicines.
Datapharm announces Nick Doe as CCO and Tiffany Willcox as CTO
Datapharm is delighted to announce the arrivals of Tiffany Willcox as Chief Technology Officer and Nick Doe as Chief Commercial Officer.
Datapharm unveils brand new website
Datapharm is excited to announce the launch of its new website; bringing a transformed user experience, a brand-new resource hub for leading industry content, and more concisely addressing pharma’s and healthcare’s challenges with medicines information.


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According to VG247, the PSN Store will have a new look by the end of October.
European versions will get the update on Oct. 17, while the North America PSN will get the update Oct. 23.
The storefront will feature a “redesigned UI that places sections for games, movies and TV content on the front page.”
The new update will also add in a smart search by trying to automatically fill-in game titles as you type them or correct misspellings.
The Vita and PSP sections are also getting separate sections from the PS3 store.


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Tixel, the marketplace for tickets to the nation’s hottest events, has today announced a $1.5 million capital raise that will see the company invest further in scaling the platform and expanding a product suite made for event organisers. Investors in the round include Alberts, the pioneering Australian music business and impact investor, and other renowned independent music businesses including Future Classic, I OH YOU, Rose Avenue, and UNIFIED Music Group. David Albert, CEO at Alberts, will join the Tixel Board of Directors.
The company has largely fuelled its own growth through minimal third party investment since its inception in 2018, via service fees charged on each ticket transacted on the platform. It counts an impressive number of the nation’s top festivals, live music venues, musicians, and promoters amongst its customer roster — such as Beyond the Valley, Strawberry Fields, The Corner Hotel, and The Teskey Brothers. This new injection of capital will enable scaling of the platform to meet an expected increase in demand for resold tickets, and expanding the breadth of solutions that will further support event organisers looking to streamline their operations and drive incremental ticket sales.
“The entire music and live entertainment industry has suffered beyond measure this last year and our team is incredibly grateful to have been able to weather the storm. We’re feeling optimistic about the steep uptick in demand we’re seeing on Tixel from fans wanting to see their favourite musicians, artists, comedians, and sports stars,” said Zac Leigh, co-founder and CEO of Tixel. “Our investment partners share this optimism and know that a safe and honest place for fans to buy and to resell tickets is a critical need both today, as our plan-making remains fluid, and into the future.”
Up to 30% of tickets change hands in the leadup to an event, yet options for the safe and fair resale of tickets between fans has historically been very limited. This results in a lack of clarity around who is actually at the event, reduced attendee numbers that can negatively impact at-event spending, and countless hours in the box office spent dealing with ticket fraud — all factors that hurt our country’s venues and promoters.
As a long-time supporter and advisor, now Board member, David Albert of Alberts said of the raise, “At the heart of every investment we make is the goal to back pioneers who share our vision for a better tomorrow. A core pillar of our impact thesis is contributing to a vibrant culture. Tixel is a great example of this and sits within our arts, music and entertainment theme. It helps to bring fairness to a market that can attract exorbitant pricing, and safety to transactions that have the potential to be fraudulent. Having an independent ethical ticket resale marketplace in Australia can mean more fans at shows, more bar and merch sales for our venues and importantly an all-round better experience for everyone involved. We’re big fans of what Zac, Jason, and Denis have created and the way they handled the stresses and strains of the pandemic.”
Alberts is joined in the capital raise round by a powerhouse of successful independent music businesses — Future Classic, I OH YOU, Leisurely and UNIFIED Music Group — as well as newly formed venture experts, Galileo Ventures, and Linktree Co-Founders, Alex and Anthony Zaccaria.
“We’re so humbled by the support we’ve received, especially from such wise and respected industry figures. We truly believe it is an indication of renewed confidence in the live events industry and it’s our hope that the platform we’re building will continue to have a positive impact on the concerts and festivals space today, and for years to come,” added Leigh.
“The thing that the most successful and enduring artists care about most is their fans, and a fan’s experience extends right out to the process of buying a ticket to their show. The Tixel team is laser focused on making that experience better and fairer for fans, as well as bringing transparency and data access to the promoters and venues that help bring shows to life and we’re proud to continue our support of their customer-centric approach and business model,” said Jaddan Comerford, CEO and Founder at UNIFIED Music Group.
Much of Tixel’s ticket inventory currently exists in Australia and New Zealand, with further growth in the U.K. and U.S. markets expected in the back half of 2021 as the in-person events industry recovers.
Tixel is a marketplace for tickets to the hottest events. Tixel effortlessly handles transactions between fans in a safe and honest manner, helping to get more people to the shows, festivals, and matches they love. Founded in Australia in 2018, partners include leading festivals and promoters such as Beyond the Valley, Strawberry Fields, and The Corner Hotel, and primary ticketing platforms Eventbrite, Humanitix, and Oztix. Investors include Alberts, Future Classic, Galileo Ventures, I OH YOU, Rose Avenue and UNIFIED Music Group. For more information head to https://tixel.com/


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Private Equity Firms Show Interest In Sanofi's Consumer Health Unit: Bloomberg
(RTTNews) - Several private equity firms reportedly have shown interest in pharmaceutical giant Sanofi's (SNY) consumer health unit.
According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, buyout firms, including Advent International and Blackstone Group Inc., are seeking to invest in the consumer health division of the French pharmaceutical giant ahead of a potential separation of the business.
The business is also drawing early interest from Bain Capital, CVC Capital Partners, EQT AB and KKR & Co., according to the report. The unit could be valued at about $20 billion in any deal, they said.
Sanofi said in October that it plans to separate the division. The company had then said that separation would enable greater management focus and resource allocation to the needs of the Biopharma business, where value-creating opportunities and longer-term operational levers have been identified to support the accelerated R&D investments.


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Facebook Just Made a Bold Prediction About the Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality
Mark Zuckerberg sees a future where virtual reality and the meatspace aren't mutually exclusive.
During Facebook's F8 conference keynote today, Zuckerberg slapped a photo of dad glasses on the big screen — glasses he pictures as the future of augmented reality and virtual reality eyewear.
The only catch? It's going to take another decade.
"Over the next 10 years, the form factor's just going to keep on getting smaller and smaller, and eventually we're going to have what looks like normal-looking glasses that can do both virtual and augmented reality," Zuckerberg said during the keynote, according to the Verge.
Imagine the potential of the Oculus Rift smashed with the potential of Microsoft's HoloLens scaled down to the size of a pair of eyeglasses. That's Facebook's vision. Zuckerberg added:
"So that means that today, if I want to show my friends a photo, I pull out my phone and I have a small version of the photo. In the future, you'll be able to snap your fingers and pull out a photo and make it as big as you want, and with your AR glasses you'll be able to show it to people and they'll be able to see it.
Smaller is better: It's clear that tech companies want to pack in a mixed reality experience into the smallest hardware possible; both Samsung and Google have made small strides in shrinking this vision down into smart contact lenses.
Let me paint you a picture of Facebook's vision of mixed reality in 2026.
Glasses are no longer just a fashion statement or a way to correct vision — they are as commonplace as smartphones are now. You won't whip out your phone as your default interface, because now the world is your interface.
Gazing, winking, blinking, voice-activating and hand gesturing will control the features of your smart glasses. You can share a photo — as Zuckerberg said at the keynote — or maybe you want to play a game. Imagine: your Neko Atsume kitties sprawled around your actual living room, no longer confined to the 5-inch screen of your smartphone.
You can FaceTime, overlaying the receiving end's face into your field of view. Physical objects will be sparse — you won't need them. TVs, tablets — phones even — will become less necessary, since the glasses on your face turn your world into a screen on-the-go.
In a whim of escapism, you can switch your glasses over to VR mode, tinting out your surrounding environment for whatever world, game or virtual social experience you want.
Don't freak out yet. As Zuckerberg said, this experience can take up to a decade to come to fruition. This was a moonshot vision; how exactly these smart glasses would work — the specs, the guts — remains to be seen.
What's clear is this: Facebook has its sight set on a future where mixed-reality glasses are indistinguishable from many of the glasses you see on people's faces. In the meantime, make sure you don't spend too much time in the void — the meatspace misses you.


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In a recent poll, CEB asked sales and marketing professionals why some leads aren’t followed up on, in what ways that’s a problem, and how to fix it. Not surprisingly, the two functions had some differences of opinion. In the blog post Why Leads Die, CEB’s Katie Castagna discusses the issues:
“Each lead is a financial investment and unfortunately many of them end up being ignored, then forgotten, never to be seen again. … Interestingly, both Sales and Marketing seem to agree that information transparency could be better. Marketers generally assume that having more customer information will make Sales more inclined to follow up. But what Marketers clearly underappreciate, is that Sales often wants to know why Marketing considers a lead valuable or sales-ready. While it may seem like a subtle distinction, giving sales the right type of information could be relatively easy and make a big difference to follow-up.”
Let’s take a closer look at the problem
Are you ready for this scary statistic? 49 percent of surveyed sales reps ignored more than half of all marketing-provided leads. Ouch. What’s greater here, the injury or the insult?
However, when sales reps were asked what they wanted from marketing, 53% said theywant better leads from marketing.
And only 3% of the reps said they could generate all the leads they needed themselves.
When asked why sales ignores leads from marketing, the reps replied:
- 30% said they don’t trust marketing’s leads
- 29% said they don’t have enough time to follow up on every lead
- 22% said they need more contextual information to have a productive conversation
- 67% said fewer leads from marketing actually convert
- 49% said it takes more time for marketing-generated leads to convert
- 41% said it takes more effort for marketing-generated leads to convert
37% of reps agree that their marketing colleagues understand and support sales business needs. 28% are neutral on the issue. Of the balance 35% disagree, with 9% disagreeing strongly.
That’s enough rain for anyone’s parade. What to do?
Alignment is the answer.
Every company needs to define “sales and marketing alignment” for itself, but at a minimum it begins by agreeing on a common lexicon and getting sales’ input into how leads are qualified.
- 64% of salespeople say getting leads that were qualified according to criteria sales had agreed on would give them more confidence about following up on marketing-generated leads.
- 61% of salespeople say they would follow up on marketing-generated leads more often if they had more information about why a lead is considered qualified. Here again, if sales has a seat at the table and can say what “why” means to them, then marketing has an opportunity to fulfill that need.
Paying attention to sales’ desires might change the how, why, where, and when of marketing’s hand-off to sales, but it should also result in better leads, more confidence in those leads, and so more marketing-generated leads being followed up.
There’s a lot to learn about sales and marketing alignment. Act-On’s white paper “Introduction To Integrated Marketing: Sales and Marketing Alignment” gives seven steps, from developing buyer profiles to reviewing success, that can get your teams on the road to cooperation – and profit.
Graphs courtesy of CEB, Why Leads Die, Arlington VA, 2013


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The British Automobile Racing Club heads to Pembrey this weekend (June 9/10) with the Trade Team Citroen C1 Challenge, BARC Saloons, Classic VW Cup and Dream Automotive Honda VTEC Challenge all looking to take centre stage.
Descending on the popular Welsh venue for a blockbuster two days, some of the best racing the Club has to offer is set to wow those in attendance.
Topping the bill will be more than eight hours of track action from the ever-growing Trade Team Citroen C1 Challenge. Marking the second stop on the calendar for the low cost endurance series, the C1 Challenge heads to Pembrey looking to build on the success of its 2018 curtain-raiser, a first-ever 24hr race at Rockingham.
With more than 50 cars and 200 drivers competing at the event, the season-opener was a significant step forward from the 15 car entry that took to the track for its maiden meeting the year previous.
For this weekend, another bumper entry list has been confirmed and Saturday will see a bulk of the action take place. Kicking things off with a 60-minute qualifying session, a five hour endurance race will then round out the days track action.
Sunday will also see a feast of C1 competition too with a 50-minute shootout for pole position followed up by a shorter two hour race.
The Classic VW Cup has been another category to benefit from going from strength-to-strength this year, with a 20-car entry list competing last time out at Brands Hatch.
Bringing together some of the most iconic models of the Volkswagen brand onto one track, all manner of machines compete in the series – all of them proving to be highly competitive too.
With two events in the books already, the likes of Ken Lark, Daniel Rose, Brad Kaylor and Scott Fletcher are the notable drivers to keep a watchful eye on.
The BARC Saloon Series and Dream Automotive Honda VTEC Challenge will also share a grid for the third time this year and will undoubtedly serve up plenty of high-octane thrills.
Open to drivers wanting to compete in the saloon car of their choice, BARC Saloons is the newest addition to the Club’s championship portfolio and it has been a smash-hit thus far. Boasting a diver range of cars that compete, Craig Rainer in his Ford Escort RS2000, Matt Ellis in his Citroen Saxo VTR and Paul Foreman in his Volkswagen Golf are just a handful of entrants to look out for.
Elsewhere in the VTEC Challenge, fans of the popular Japanese marque are in for a treat as some of the most iconic models from the brand go wheel-to-wheel. Double Brands Hatch race winner Ben Rushworth, as well as nearest challengers Robert Burkinshaw and Benjamin Griffiths have bene the benchmark drivers this year and could well shine once again, this time in South Wales.
In addition to the BARC action, a pair of races from the Welsh Racing Drivers Association is also set to keep fans on the edge of their seats.


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The three untended child-sized graves, a few minutes’ walk from the village of Paltupur, bear witness to what happened when the trucks loaded with nutritional powder stopped coming to this desolate corner of eastern India.
As a pack of sports utility vehicles jostles in the parking lot of Ghana’s flagship KFC restaurant, Venkataraman Balakrishnan is putting in orders to make sure the Yum! Brands Inc.-owned fast-food chain won’t run out of chicken.
Asian cuisine may be too much of a good thing for some of the region’s central banks as policy makers grapple with the challenge of responding to spikes in the cost of staples from rice and pork to onions and chilies.
Smarter use of land, water and energy is needed for the world to continue to make gains against hunger, the International Food Policy Research Institute said today as it released its annual Global Hunger Index.


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By Qiqi(Vivian) Zhang
When Yorick Traunecker, a 31-year-old Swiss expatriate, wanted to rent a workspace to develop his startup idea in Tokyo, finding TechShop, an open-access DIY workshop in Minato-ku District, was a surprise to him.
“There is no way you can find a space that is as big as this with so much industrial-level equipment,” Traunecker said. “They are good at helping you build prototypes at a really early stage, and they are I think the best at that. Nobody else really helps doing that.”
TechShop opened a year ago as the first membership-based DIY studio in Japan. Its mission is to help entrepreneurs bring their innovations to life, with industrial-level machinery and tools, open co-working space, engineering trainings and networking events.
Entrepreneurship is growing in Japan, as the country has clawed its way back from the 2008 financial crisis and a longer-running stagnation. The Mothers Index of Tokyo Stock Exchange, an index used to measure investors’ enthusiasm for high-growth startup companies listed on the Mothers section of the stock market, has seen steady growth since 2012. But observers and experts say cultural risk aversion, funding and an inflexible labor market remain as challenges.
TechShop was first built in 2006 in Menlo Park, California, at the center of Silicon Valley. The Tokyo studio is under contract with TechShop U.S. and is fully funded by Fujitsu Ltd., a Japanese multinational IT equipment and services company. Currently there are 10 startup projects and about 500 members registered in the studio.
The studio is breaking the ice by helping entrepreneurs start from the ground up. It provides large open workspace for members to exchange ideas and co-create with others. Members can design and build prototypes, using devices and tools like a 3D printer, laser cutters and metal engraving machines. Beginners will have the supports from the on-site “dream consultants” if they are not familiar with the new gadgets.
Tokai said TechShop plans to open more studios in Japan over the next few years. He said many prefectures in Japan have expressed interest in building similar DIY workshops.
There are other startup efforts under way. The Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, began offering boot camp trainings and consultations for Japan’s tech companies in 2015, said Futoshi Okazaki, a staff member at administrative
affairs department, in an email.
“We offer a matching event in Silicon Valley named ‘TechMatch’ to excellent companies in the JETRO Innovation Program,” Okazaki responded. Some 40 Japanese companies have participated and met with such tech giants as Google, Samsung, PayPal and AT&T, Okazaki said.
However, there are still many obstacles. “The startup culture was just born in Japan. Nobody knows how to make a startup in the current situation,” said Masamitsu Tokai, General Manager in TechShop Tokyo. “Many startups have emerged but support situation is not enough for them, like money and making the network,” said Tokai.
“In the Japanese culture, risk is not very embraced,” Traunecker said. “This means that there are some policies that do not ease the process of finding private capital or even providing an easy exit strategy for companies to invest in startups.”
But experts say it’s more complicated. Regulatory conditions have been improving in Japan. Last May, the National Diet passed an amendment bill that allowed banks to acquire more than 5 percent of financial technology companies. Bank holding companies can acquire more than 15 percent of such companies.
It is easier for companies in software development, electronic commerce and biotech to get funding, but investors are still conservative for other sectors, said Robert Eberhart, an assistant professor of management at Santa Clara University, in an interview. He was also a visiting scholar at Stanford University leading research for Japanese entrepreneurship for the past five years.
Experts say software development is not Japan’s strong suit. “Japan is historically relatively strong in hardware…But unfortunately hardware doesn’t scale well as software does,” said David Brunner, CEO and Founder of ModuleQ and coauthor of the book “The Japanese Entrepreneur: Making the Desert Bloom.” “Another problem is scaling a software company is still really expensive,” Brunner said.
Experts also say the problem is less about the availability of funding but more about the capability of the entrepreneurs and the human resources they have.
“In Japan, they usually teach entrepreneurship as coming up with a technology, getting venture capital and trying to sell it,” Eberhart said. “That’s the wrong way to build a company. Good entrepreneurs look to find a market first, and figure out a smart way to get into that market.”
Japan’s lifetime employment system also discourages risk-taking, said Brunner.
“The entrepreneurs themselves, overall in Japan, the best and the brightest, don’t work for startups. They still go to the government, or large companies,” said Brunner. “If you are one of the well-educated top young people, you have one chance to get an elite job, and that’s when you graduate from college. If you leave, you will never get it back.”
But Eberhart said the labor market is changing. Companies now hire more temporary employees, and those people are more likely to start companies to gain a better sense of security than being a temporary employee.
“That’s changing the condition for entrepreneurship in creating a larger community,” Eberhart said.
“On the whole though, it’s still an economy that is very much dominated by big, established companies,” said Jonathan Soble, New York Times correspondent in Tokyo who has covered business for the past fifteen years.
“Some of them are trying to nurture more innovation and more of a startup culture in-house,” Soble said, adding, “It’s kind of hard.”
In TechShop, Tokai is still working on how to attract more entrepreneurs who would pay membership fees. As it is, the studio would be losing money without Fujitsu’s sponsorship.
For Traunecker, he just finished the financial model for “FrenchLab,” and plans to pitch the project to 10 companies in the next two or three months.
“TechShop inspired me to work there since it has a similar business model as I imagine will be profitable for FrenchLab,” Traunecker said.


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Explainer: The best video games to come
Motion controls, 3-D gameplay, shiny new gadgets — yeah, plenty of exciting new gaming technologies made the headlines at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.
But ultimately, it's the games that truly matter.
At E3 — the game industry's biggest trade show — developers and publishers unveiled and showed off throngs of games for every system and for every kind of player out there. Alas, these games are still in the works, which means we might not see them for months or perhaps even years.
After spending time perusing the offerings at this year's expo, here's a look at the most promising games of E3 2010 — the games we just can't wait to play.
Also, be sure to check out our list of the best original games of E3.
—Winda Benedetti & Todd Kenreck
Crysis 2 - PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Crytek is showing off its game engine muscle with this beefy, beautiful shooter which will play in 3-D (for those with the gaming set-ups to display such things), not to mention good-ol’ fashioned 2-D.
“Crysis 2” takes place in New York city during an alien invasion. After trying out this first-person shooter in 3-D, we can say that the added dimension certainly made the gameplay feel more instinctual and the environment more immersive. “Crysis 2” is due to arrive on store shelves this holiday season.
Portal 2 - PC, PS3, Xbox 360
No, we didn’t get to see much of “Portal 2” when it was unveiled in a teaser trailer for the first time at Sony’s press conference Tuesday. But that’s all right. We loved the first “Portal” game and couldn’t be happier to hear that the space-bending, puzzle-solving, brain-tingling hit from Valve is going to make a return in 2011. Of course the question is: Will we get cake when it finally arrives?
Medal of Honor - PC, Xbox 360, PS3
This WWII first-person shooter franchise has been on hiatus since 2007. But it gets a reboot this fall, not to mention a new war-torn location and time period. That is, the game is set in modern-day Afghanistan and is based on the stories of real soldiers who’ve experienced combat in that troubled region.
“We’re putting you into their boots and telling their stories of what they see and do and how they try to survive and come back home,” says Frank Gibeau, president of the EA Games Label.
He says real soldiers have been extensively consulted throughout the process of creating the game to ensure that it is tastefully done. “Medal of Honor” will launch Oct. 12.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - PC, PS3, Xbox 360
This third game in the “Deus Ex” franchise arrives as a prequel to the acclaimed original game which made a splash way back in 2000 with its genre blending first-person shooter/RPG gameplay.
“Human Revolution” takes place 25 years before the original game’s story and will offer new and improved shooting/RPG action in a gritty “Bladerunner-esque” world of cybernetic augmentation, corporate corruption and intrigue. It’s scheduled to launch in 2011.
Star Wars: The Old Republic - PC
If any massively multiplayer online role-playing game could hope to reach the excessive success of “World of Warcraft,” it’s “Star Wars: The Old Republic.” Two words: Star. Wars.
This game, due to launch in 2011, lets players explore the “Star Wars” universe on a grand scale and like never before. At E3 this week, the developers announced a player vs. player battleground set on Alderaan and also revealed that each player will get their own starship to call home sweet home.
LittleBigPlanet 2 - PS3
The first “LittleBigPlanet” was not only utterly adorable it was also mindblowingly creative. Players got to have not only a blast exploring eye-popping handmade worlds but, more importantly, the game gave players the tools to create their very own eye-popping handmade game levels themselves.
Sony promises us “LBP 2” will be even more robust — so much so that it will let players create not just game levels, but entire games of their own as well as compose their own music and even direct their own cinematic pieces. “LittleBigPlanet 2” will also make use of Sony’s new motion-control system called Move. It’s scheduled to launch in November.
Killzone 3 - PS3
Sony is certainly putting a lot of tech into this first-person shooter. “Killzone 3” — which picks up the story where the much-lauded “Killzone 2” left off —will feature 3-D graphics and will also take advantage of Sony’s Move motion controls.
“When you pair 3-D with PlayStation Move the experience is unlike anything you’ve seen before,” Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai said during his company’s E3 press conference Tuesday. “It’s really the closest thing you will ever experience to being in the game itself.”
Sony reps say “Killzone 3” will include a new melee system and will feature massive new levels that are 10 times the size of those in “Killzone 2.”
Twisted Metal - PS3
In a surprise announcement, Sony revealed at their press conference Tuesday that the famed and freakish “Twisted Metal” car combat game would arrive exclusively on the PS3 in 2011. The game will have a robust online system, highly destructible environments and, of course, a wicked sense of humor. And we mean wicked.
Halo: Reach - Xbox 360
Bungie creative director Marcus Lehto told the crowd gathered at Microsoft's press conference Monday that the newest “Halo” game is the “most ambitious game Bungie has ever created.”
Storywise, “Reach” acts as a prequel to the previous games with gamers playing through the campaign as a member of Noble Team. The team is a squad of Spartan soldiers who are the last line of defense against the Covenant and the destruction of Earth. On Monday, Bungie revealed that “Reach” will be the first “Halo” game to feature space combat. Meanwhile, the multiplayer experience has been dramatically expanded.
We won’t have to wait long for our latest “Halo” fix the game arrives Sept. 14.
Gears of War III - Xbox 360
The “Gears of War 3” campaign demonstration on Monday certainly left us wanting more. The folks from Epic showed off the game’s four-player co-op mode. The battle was intense, with epic mutating enemies giving the crowd a good show.
They also revealed the new Beast mode, which turns the tables and lets gamers play the role of the Locust army and battle against the humans.
All in all, we can’t wait to see how they bring the “Gears” trilogy to a close. The game arrives in stores April 5, 2011.
Child of Eden - Xbox 360, PS3
Many of us were absolutely hypnotized by the stylish, musical and artistic gameplay that “Rez” delivered when it appeared on the PlayStation 2 back in 2002. Now, “Child of Eden” – a game that is being touted as the spiritual successor to “Rez” – is in the works and helmed by renowned game creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi (the man behind “Rez.”)
Much like “Rez,” “Child of Eden” appears to blend music and colorful visuals into one unique, gorgeous, kaleidoscopic shooter that we can’t wait to get our hands on. In fact, for the Xbox 360 version, we will be very much getting our hands on it. That is, players will be able to interact with the game using Microsoft’s forthcoming Kinect motion controllers.
During an E3 demonstration, we were shown how a player could move their hands in the air to play the game. It was cool, trippy stuff. Hands down, “Child of Eden” is the most exciting Kinect game we’ve seen so far.
Dance Central - Xbox 360
It may have looked a bit goofy during the Microsoft press demonstration, but we suspect this Kinect-controlled dance game is going to be the kind of game that everyone wants to bust out at the party.
Kinect’s full body motion controls just make good sense for a dance game. Plus, thankfully, “Dance Central” offers tutorials for those of us with two left feet.
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Wii
The “Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” demonstration at Nintendo’s press conference Tuesday may have hit a snag or two, but we’re still looking forward to Link’s latest adventure (arriving in 2011). Players will get to use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers to move Link’s sword and shield. And we’re especially happy that this game makes use of Nintendo’s MotionPlus gadget, which should make the Wii’s controls far more accurate and responsive.
Epic Mickey - Wii
Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance on the Wii in a surprisingly promising-looking game that mixes aspects from the platforming and RPG genres. The game pays tribute to Disney’s animation history, finding Mickey in a place known as the Cartoon Wasteland populated with many familiar characters. Interestingly, the game employs a morality system — which means the player’s actions and choices have consequences and affect the game world and Mickey himself. All in all, it looks like a unique new take on a mouse we all thought we knew. "Epic Mickey" is due this holiday season.
Kid Icarus: Uprising - Nintendo DS/3DS
The last “Kid Icarus” game appeared way back in 1991. But, he’s finally back. And talk about a modern makeover. This week Nintendo revealed that “Kid Icarus: Uprising” will arrive in 2011 as a launch title for Nintendo’s forthcoming 3-D portable game machine — the 3DS. We don’t know much about the game, but we’re definitely looking forward to seeing the Kid in glasses-free 3-D.
Also see: The best original games of E3


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Prestons Wilmslow showroom Tudor watches UK launch
- Credit: Archant
Over 100 guests enjoyed an evening of fine champagne and a seafood buffet at the Prestons Wilmslow showroom to mark the UK launch of Tudor watches.
Guests were able to browse the stunning collection of luxury Swiss watches as Prestons announced their appointment as an official Tudor stockist. The Tudor brand was first launched in 1946 by Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf.


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The logo for Coinbase Global Inc, the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, is displayed on the Nasdaq MarketSite jumbotron and others in Times Square in New York, US, April 14, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Coinbase will buy $500 million worth of crypto on its balance sheet and allocate 10% of its quarterly profits to a crypto asset portfolio, company leaders announced late Thursday.
The company plans to invest in “Ethereum, Proof of Stake assets, DeFi tokens, and many other crypto assets supported for trading on our platform,” becoming the first public company to do so, chief financial officer Alesia said. Haas in a blog post Wednesday night. .
CEO Brian Armstrong first revealed the brokerage’s plans in an earlier tweet, saying he expects allocation to grow as the market matures, and indicates the company has ambitions to diversify its crypto services and business. mainly focused on trade.
“Hopefully over time we will be able to run more of our business in crypto,” Armstrong said on Twitter. “Today it’s still a mix.”
The price of bitcoin climbed higher on the news on Thursday, passing $47,000 Friday morning after being below $45,000 for the past two days. Coinbase stocks are up more than 1% in pre-market trading.
The few companies that have chosen to own bitcoin, such as Microstrategy and Tesla (with help from Coinbase), have done so as a hedge against inflation and possible devaluation of the US dollar. On Thursday, Citi placed Microstrategy’s rating under review, suspending its price target and estimates due to its investment in bitcoin and correlation with bitcoin price.
The news comes the week after Palantir reported quarterly results showing it had bought $50 million worth of physical gold to allegedly hedge against black swan events. Palantir also said it accepts customer payments in bitcoin, but no one has used the option.
That same week, Coinbase reported quarterly earnings and growth stats that stunned analysts, who are especially patient about the stock’s correlation to bitcoin’s price and volatility, and optimistic about its long-term plans to fuel innovation in the existing financial system. .
Haas said the investments will be driven by its custodial crypto balances and will be deployed “over several years using a dollar cost averaging strategy.” She added that Coinbase is investing for the long term and “will only divest under certain circumstances, such as removing assets from our platform.”
Oppenheimer’s Owen Lau said he doesn’t expect the new investment policy to diminish the correlation between Coinbase and bitcoin “materially in the foreseeable future.” However, he said he sees it as a signal that, over time, Coinbase can “further facilitate and influence both retail and institutional adoption” by integrating cryptocurrencies into its own operations, such as paying vendors and employees, for example.
The news follows a Wall Street Journal report this week that Coinbase has saved $4 billion in cash to weather regulatory headwinds. Lau notes that this means the company still has a lot of cash on hand after the bitcoin transaction.
“Share buybacks and dividends appear to be off the table at least in the near term, but we believe management will use excess capital to reinvest in the company and make acquisitions, especially in its international presence and subscription-based business,” he added. ready.


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Cordkillers 258 - Hey, Real Quikster...
Cobra Kai is coming back, Game of Thrones trailer, and a 10 year retrospective.
It's Spoilerin' Time and Aftertalk will return next week!
CordKillers: Ep. 258 - Hey, Real Quikster...
Recorded: March 7 2019
Cobra Kai season 2 first-look
Roku Devices Can Now Interact with Amazon Alexa
- Roku devices are now compatible with Amazon's assistant-enabled devices through a new Roku skill. So devices including the Amazon Echo, Echo Show, Echo Dot, Echo Spot and Echo Plus – can now pause a show, launch a streaming channel and search for entertainment through various commands., Roku TV users can also turn on the TV, change the volume, mute the TV, switch inputs and change channels if there is an OTA antenna connected by saying, “A, turn on Roku” or “A, turn up the volume on Roku.”
Game of Thrones' Final Season Trailer: Be Prepared for Death
AT&T’s new HBO chief criticizes Netflix, says it ‘doesn’t have a brand’
- AT&T's new TV boss, and this new head of HBO, Bob Greenblatt told NBC News. “Netflix doesn’t have a brand. It’s just a place you go to get anything — it’s like Encyclopedia Britannica.” He added that Netflix has a “great business model when you’re trying to reach as many people on the planet as you can.” when asked about the forthcoming streaming service that will add Turner networks to HBO he said “They’re not saying let’s undo HBO.”
Cable and satellite TV sinks again as online streaming soars
- Cable and satellite TV providers in the United States lost more than 3 million video subscribers, a new report from Leichtman Research Group said. By contrast, Leichtman's survey of the US broadband market found that cable companies added 2.9 million Internet subscribers in 2018, achieving a total of 64.3 million.
Frame Rate Era
That's right. June 27 2011 Tom and Brian covered Moviepass.
All You Can Watch MoviePass Brings Nwxflix Model to Theaters
MoviePass gets kicked out of theaters before it can get a ticket
Cable TV denied Netflix was a problem.... maybe it wasn't?
Okay, Okay, Maybe Netflix Is a Problem for Cable After All
AND then of course - there was Qwikster
There was a rumor that that whole mess was to make it easy for Amazon to buy Netflix
But that probably wasn't true
And Netflix killed Qwikster anyway
Then it was all over as subscriber numbers stagnated and that was all we ever heard from Netflix
It even stopped spending money except on that one original content thing it's doing, a "miniseries" called House of Cards that will run next year but whatever
Yep, Netflix is done for folks
It's only hope is a sale to Verizon
OH wait. Verizon teamed up with Redbox instead.
And Amazon is going to obliterate Netflix anyway
TV being popular on Netflix was news at one time
Remember when Hulu was the free service and Hulu PLus was the one you paid for?
Did you forget there is a Hulu Japan?
Hulu sold their Japanese business to Nippon TV, but is still letting them use the brand and tech!
And Hulu even tried to go to Europe
Yahoo wanted to buy Hulu
But it didn't
HBO To Cord Cutters: You'll Never See Our Shows
-HBO Co-President Eric Kessler told a gathering of industry boffins this morning in New York that there is no chance his company will make shows like True Blood or The Wire available to digital non-subscribers.
Kessler is undaunted, saying HBO regards cord cutting as a temporary phenomenon that will go away once the larger economy improves.
- Eric Kessler left HBO two years later 10/2013
- HBO Now launched 10/15/2014
Did you know Hulu arguably beat Netflix to original programming?
- Battleground 2/14/2012
- Lillyhammer 2/6/2012
- House of Cards 2/1/2013
Analyst To Studios: It’s Time To Force Early VOD On Theater Chains
- 7 Years ago analysts were arguing against the 90-day window. “The reality is most people who were planning to go out to the movies would still go,” Greenfield also contends.
First ever super bowl live stream