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With all indicators in the region’s hospitality sector looking very positive, there are plenty of causes for optimism. Dubai has been voted the best city in the world for hotels and shopping by TripAdvisor users in the second annual Cities Survey, beating New York and London for shopping, and Cancun and Bangkok for hotels.
STR Global reports Middle East occupancy as increasing by 3.3 per cent to 75.1 per cent in the first quarter, and the average daily rate gaining 2.2 per cent to $220, while revenue per available room shot up 5.6 per cent to $165.
But STR also added that if all the rooms in the region’s pipeline were to open, supply would increase 40 per cent. Some industry operators also caution about the risk of saturation in the UAE’s F&B sector, with the rapidly increasing number of outlets in malls and hotels vying for residents and tourists.
This crowded market means marketers need to focus on building and sustaining customer relationships, and driving revenue through them. According to a survey of US marketing executives by Gartner Inc., digital marketing budgets will rise by 10 per cent in 2014, following a double-digit percentage increase in 2013.
It stated that on average, companies spent 10.7 per cent of their annual 2013 revenues on overall marketing activities, with digital marketing spending averaging 3.1 per cent of revenue. (The respondents were from eight industries, but did not include hospitality.)
In the Middle East — and especially in the UAE — the real story of digital marketing innovation and investment in the region is in the hospitality sector, where social media is making a real impact on revenues and showing demonstrable return on investment.
Lack of understanding
But it can be a tough sell and especially for social media — 47 per cent of companies are still unconvinced about the value of social media (source: Bigmouth Media & Econsultancy 2013).
Commentators believe that US hoteliers underspend on digital marketing and continue to rely on ‘obsolete advertising formats’. They cite a lack of understanding that travel consumers have migrated to online, social and mobile channels.
Gartner believes that digital marketing is taking an increasing share of the marketing budget; 11 per cent of respondents said they spent more than half of their marketing budgets on digital activities in 2013 compared with only 3 per cent in 2012. Digital marketing represented an average of 28.5 per cent of the total marketing budget in 2013, as compared with 25.5 per cent in 2012.
However, while US hoteliers are spending an average of 28 per cent of advertising on digital marketing, over 42 per cent of room nights booked come from the Internet, and the vast majority of room nights booked via other channels are ‘directly influenced’ by the digital marketing presence of the hotel.
In the UAE, we see a perfect convergence in one of the most advanced, tech-savvy countries in the world (recently ranked the 24th most networked ready country by the World Economic Forum). Its hospitality and travel markets attract millions of tourists, while its resident base has a sizeable number of the young, affluent, online and mobile-enabled population. UAE hospitality marketers have to follow them and harvest the opportunity of the mobile-enabled social world of their consumers.
The return on investment for digital marketing is clear in the results achievable through integrating digital marketing and social media, where dedicated Facebook Apps can drive room, F&B and spa/other services bookings. They can create customer interaction and reward them, as well as drive traffic to the hotel website and collect data to through integrated back office management, creating even greater insights into customer behaviour and preferences.
There are some other real benefits, too. Beyond one-way digital marketing and advertising, socialising online with your consumers will increase a company’s Google and Bing visibility, as this factor becomes increasingly important in search engine optimisation.
This potential for consumer intimacy makes social media a vital part of digital marketing for the hospitality sector and a driver of customer relationship management, whether aimed at the resident population faced with a huge number of F&B choices, or overseas guests looking for a hotel room and other services.
— The writer is CEO of Dubai-based Nexa, a digital marketing agency.


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Homes sales down in second quarter, but indicators show promise
Published 11:22 pm, Wednesday, July 23, 2014
The Connecticut market saw robust seasonal gains in the second quarter, with closed sales exceeding 7,400 transactions and median sales price increasing marketwide versus last quarter.
Pent-up demand from the first quarter led to an 11.3 percent decrease of days on market to 140 days with buyers entering the housing market at all price points, according to Candace Adams, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties.
Overall, the average cost for Connecticut's homes remained unchanged year over year. Signed contracts for single family homes decreased 19.6 percent compared with last year, but increased 13.3 percent from last quarter.
Connecticut has seen a 6.7 percent increase in the number of sold luxury residences in 2014 compared with 2013, characterized by sales over $2 million. Year-over-year sales have shifted toward more expensive homes with the percent of sold homes over $5 million up from 7.7 percent of the market share in second quarter 2013 to 12.8 percent this quarter, Berkshire Hathaway reported.
"Sellers waited to put properties on the market until the weather improved this year, with a majority of the new inventory coming to market in June," Adams said. "The inventory exists in the luxury market for the highly discriminating buyer with over 1,000 homes priced over $2 million currently on the market, approximately 80 percent of them located in Fairfield County."
Some of them are in Ridgefield where Sandra Juliano works as an agent for the local office of Berkshire Hathaway.
Saying the average price for a home in Ridgefield is in the $800,000 range, Juliano said while sales across Connecticut were down in the most recent quarter, Ridgefield bucked the trend.
"The second quarter of 2014 was better than 2013 in Ridgefield. Ridgefield doesn't seem to coincide with the general numbers," said Juliano, who has been a real estate agent for 11 1/2 years. "The weather might have slowed things at the start of the second quarter, but that was a blip on the radar."
The second quarter saw increased competition for homes in Ridgefield, said Juliano, adding that improved consumer confidence brought more home buyers into the market.
"We had a lot of homes that went on the market, and within 24 to 48 hours they had an offer, and there were often multiple bids," she said. "We also saw fewer foreclosures."
Like the overall state housing market, Ridgefield homes spent fewer days on the market in the second quarter, according to Juliano, partly because home owners priced their homes properly -- based on current market conditions and not what they paid prior to the economic crash in 2008.
"It's been a reality check," she said.
Paul Breunich, president and CEO of William Pitt and Julia B. Fee Sotheby's International Realty, saw a decline in second quarter sales and dollar volume, compared with the second quarter of 2013. But he said last year's second quarter was the strongest quarter in many years.
Fairfield County experienced an 8 percent decline in closed unit sales and a 6 percent decline in closed-dollar volume compared to the second quarter of 2013, according to Breunich. But closed days on the market have dipped to their lowest level in three years at 95 days.
"Properties that are priced aggressively and beautifully presented are those that are typically finding their buyers in this time frame," Breunich said. "The fundamentals are there. Consumer confidence is at its highest point since January of 2008, and unemployment levels are at their lowest since 2007."
While on an overall basis Fairfield County housing activity has leveled off this quarter, luxury sales have experienced an uptick in activity, he said, as sales of homes priced in the $3 million to $4.99 million range, as well as homes valued $5 million and higher have risen by 25 percent and 33 percent, respectively, versus the second quarter of last year.
Year-to-date there have been 54 sales of homes valued between $3 million and $4.99 million, which represents a 42 percent increase, according to Pitt Sotheby's data, and there have been 33 sales over $5 million in 2014, which is a 27 percent improvement over a year ago.
In the ultra-luxury segment, many of the sales are in the $6.5 million to $9 million range and are spread across multiple towns.
Greenwich continues to dominate the upper end market with 15 sales this quarter and 25 for the year to date. New Canaan, Darien and Westport represented the vast majority of other towns with a meaningful number of high-end sales during 2014.
"There's a lot of activity in higher priced homes again. That's economically driven," said Nick Perna, a Ridgefield-based economist and economic adviser to Waterbury-based Webster Bank. "If you're doing well, you're doing very well. The improvement in luxury home sales is an indication of the growing wealth of high-end wage earners. Corporate profits are up over 50 percent before the start of the recession, while jobs are up only slightly. We have an increasing inequality in the U.S., and this is a manifestation of that."
Perna was heartened to learn of an improvement in inventory and prices, albeit slight.
"Days on the market are falling which is a very good sign," he said. "It reflects that more people are willing to put their toes in the water. Prices are rising but not terribly fast." Perna commented that the gradual housing market improvement in the county is a reflection of the improving job market.
He cited June state Labor Department statistics showing job growth of 1.8 percent in the Stamford-Bridgeport region in June, compared with June 2013, and a 0.7 percent improvement in Greater Danbury, compared with an overall state job growth of 0.3 percent.
"It says that Fairfield County is outperforming the state as a whole," Perna said.

domain: news


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Fairmont Supply has tools for success
February 25, 2019
Possessor of an airline ticket to Arizona, Paul Fichiera was on the verge of apologizing as he addressed a crowd of winter-weary Western Pennsylvanians.
“I’m heading back to Phoenix, where it’s 75 degrees. That’s a lot different from what you’ve been experiencing,” he said Friday morning.
Fichiera smiled after establishing the tone with a lighthearted opening, then the president and chief executive officer of Fairmont Supply Co. supplied a comprehensive overview of his Washington-based company. And it was an impressive overview of a firm that is 98 years young and blossoming.
“We have a lot of work ahead, and we’re just getting started on what we want to do,” said Fichiera, featured speaker of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Breakfast Briefing, which attracted a large audience Friday to the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in North Strabane Township.
Fairmont Supply, he explained, is a full-line industrial distributor that sells “well over a million product skews. Actually, we sell an infinite number of product skews. One day, I was looking at the shelves and saw we have everything from mining bits to hot chocolate.”
He refers to Fairmont as “a sales, marketing and service sales business.” It is regarded as a top 50 industrial and tools distributor.
“We can compete with Grainger and Fastenal, and we can tell customers that.”
Fichiera (pronounced ‘fi-shera’) has been with Fairmont Supply for a mere year and a half, but learned early on that this is a good-sized firm with more than 400 employees in 27 locations. A workforce of 80-plus operates at corporate headquarters off Jefferson Avenue.
The president/CEO is based in Phoenix, where he resides with his family, but travels frequently to Washington and other corporate sites.
Fairmont, he said, continues to grow. “We’re expecting $225 million in revenue this year. The company has essentially doubled its business over the past 18 months.”
He attributes much of that growth to three elements: diversity, acquisitions and employee loyalty.
Fairmont Supply has evolved quite a bit since it was formed in 1921 by Consolidation Coal Co., which later morphed into Consol Energy. Fairmont Supply, which started out in Fairmont, W.Va., served as a subsidiary to supply the coal industry until January 2015, when Consol sold it to Tenex.
In recent years, Fairmont Supply has made three pivotal acquisitions, the most recent being Amerisourse Industrial Supply in December. That deal, Fichiera pointed out, gave his company a presence in five large markets: Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Memphis and Toledo.
He also praised Fairmont employees for their devotion, saying the average tenure of its workers is nine years. That average, Fichiera added, is nearly 50 percent greater at the Washington location: 13 years. This is why he is motivated to put employees “at the top” of the company’s operating model.
“If we do a good job of treating employees well, there’s a good chance they will be excited to do the work, and we will have a great opportunity to be here in 2119.”


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The billionaire owner of Topshop and Bhs found that the Government could save hundreds of millions of pounds if it renegotiated contracts with mobile phone and stationery suppliers.
Sir Philip said ministers could cut swathes of waste from public services after uncovering a “staggering” waste of money.
He said that the Government’s buying practices were “appalling” and that central Government would be “bankrupt” if it was a standalone business.
The retail chief was asked by David Cameron, the Prime Minister, to carry out an external efficiency review of Whitehall departments in August.
In one example he found 138,000 civil servants were able to spend up to £1,000 a month on special procurement cards with little accountability.
He said: “People are allowed to spend up to £1,000 on stationery, travel or whatever from their normal suppliers.
“There is £1billion spent on that card. Is it spent efficiently? Respectfully, it can’t be because there will be a variation of prices that are getting paid.”
A team from Sir Philip’s Arcadia’s head office spent two months gathering information from senior figures in different Governments.
Sir Philip catalogued a litany of failures in the way that the Government buys goods and services in a series of slides in his report.
These include lack of processes, chaotic record-keeping and no central buying. The Government also failed to use its significant buying power to get the best deals, the clothing billionaire said.
Sir Philip found that taxpayers paid for 400,000 hotel nights in London last year, costing £38 million.
The prices of the rooms ranged from £77 to £117. “Have they not heard of video conferencing? It is just unacceptable,” he said.
Sir Philip highlighted details of un-coordinated spending, with departments paying wildly different amounts for the same services.
In one instance a department was paying £1.31 a leaflet, compared with a market price of 26p - an 80 per cent difference.
In another, departments were paying anything between £8 and £73 for a box of paper and between £86 and £396 for printer cartridges.
The report revealed that the price of a cup of coffee ranged from £1.45 to 90p, a 38 per cent difference, across Whitehall.
One of the biggest areas where savings could be made was fixed line telecoms, which costs the Government £2 billion a year.
Sir Philip estimated that this could be 30 per cent to 40 per cent cheaper and called for an urgent review of costs.
The annual cost of 105,000 mobile phones, mostly with one provider, was £21million Sir Phillip said it was “inefficient”.
The prices paid for its laptops varied from £353 to £2,000. Sir Philip said that one of his team found the same laptops online for £800.
Sir Philip described the lack of controls and poor book-keeping as “lazy”. He said: “I could not get to the bottom of why they do it. And it was not from a lack of trying. I don’t get it.”
The Government was failing to leverage its credit rating and buying power, with basic commodities bought at “significantly” different prices across different departments.
It was the biggest tenant and property owner in the country, yet the use and management of space was "wholly inefficient”.
Sir Philip said Government payment terms to suppliers are too short, and could save money by delaying payment.
Payment terms were then taken down from 30 days to five days to help companies in the downturn.
Mr Cameron said it was a “solid” report which identified how much money had been wasted.
Public spending had increased in recent years, yet “crazy” decisions had been made about property, computers and other goods and services.
He said: “Philip Green has given us some very good pointers about how to save money.”
A Labour spokesman said: “The Labour Government made great progress in cutting waste. It is right that efficiency measures continue to be looked at, but this report is extremely thin on detail on how that should happen.
“Until we see the detail, nobody can be sure that they will deliver efficiencies, or deliver them fairly.
“So far, the Government has found it easy to talk about efficiencies in principle, but hard to deliver them fairly in practice - such as with their plan to child benefit for thousands of hard-working families.”


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By Deborah Belgum | August 25, 2015
One block of Broadway closes in downtown LA for a big event.
Here’s a few looks at the Crooks & Castles brand’s Fall ’15 lines. There’s the Luxplorer outerwear collection and Crooks Femme, a streetwear line for women.
Here’s another dispatch from downtown Los Angeles’ funland. Globe Theatre, a more than 100-year-old theatre located on 740 S. Broadway, was reopened as a nightclub and events space earlier this month.
O'Neill hosts a sunset cocktail party to introduce its collection designed with Cynthia Vincent.
With the backdrop of the always gracious Carondelet House near downtown Los Angeles, the Ted Baker London brand produced a party for its Autumn/Winter ’15 collection. The moniker for the collection? “Curiosities.” Take a look.
London Fashion Brand Forever Unique made its official Los Angeles debut on Aug. 12. Take a look.
Actress Emma Watson recently teamed up with Vogue to produce a video focusing on gender equality in the fashion industry.
Patagonia Provisions is partnering with buffalo ranchers to restore the grasslands of the Great Plains.
Almost every city in the Good Ol’ USA sponsors a municipal clean-up. But Citadel Outlets got special notice when it produced a clean-up of Commerce, Calif.
John Varvatos Enterprises announced that it will open a big 3,500-square-foot boutique in Fashion Valley, a Simon-owned regional mall in San Diego.
Liberty Fairs' Sharifa Murdock (@SharifaSays) was recently in Tokyo scouting menswear trends and retailers. She sent us a report of some of her favorite finds.
Back-to-School Saturdays starts on Aug. 8. It invites consumers to shop for Back-to-School gear. On Aug. 5, mall giant Simon teamed up with Teen Vogue and Chateau Marmont Penthouse for a BTSS event. Young actors such as Bella Thorne, Willow Shields and Amanda Steel had a dinner at the Chateau Marmont and checked out new Back-to-School looks.
Portland, Ore.–based Pendleton Woolen Mills is adding new Italian and Swiss jacquard looms in its original mill in Pendleton, Ore.
By day, Rachel Anne Rainwater designs women’s line Sea Gypsies for Lost which has been sold at retailers such as Tilly’s. By night, she sings for the rock band His Eyes Have Fangs which features skateboarding legend Tony Alva on bass.
Speedo USA works with Italian textile company to recycle old nylon fabric for swimwear.
Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th could use a good map of Beverly Hills.


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Most of them involved traditional corporate cant about the environment, excitement and innovation, some of them involved dancing girls gyrating next to TV frames – but threading through all of them was TV content, and the presence of CEOs from other companies.
So the bosses of Adobe, Comcast, Hulu and Time Warner Cable all joined Mr Yoon on stage. For the British audience, this could scarcely be less consequential. But it demonstrates an approach, copied by all other TV makers: connecting the TV to good programmes delivered over the internet is now a basic requirement for a new television, and a collaborative approach is common too.
What Samsung above all has realised, however, is that a manufacturer who merely manufactures hardware will struggle. Like broadband companies, the firm is determined not to be come a utility, a dumb pipe over which things are delivered. This, of course, is Apple’s approach too. So iTunes provides films; HuluPlus, to take another example, will stream them direct to the TV.
Over coming months and years, however, it’s clear that it is software developers working on television apps who will be the innovators. That means firms such as Samsung have to reshape parts of their business to accommodate consumers who want programmes not televisions – because otherwise, one TV will be very much like another, and only the cheapest producers will win.


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Swiss steel manufacturer Schmolz + Bickenbach AG's bankruptcy risk potential is heating up according to our proprietary FRISK® score.
Credit professionals should remain attentive to Tesla’s low FRISK® score, as well as their suffering operating performance, leverage and liquidity.
Rite Aid Corporation's elevated risk of financial failure might be imperceptible if a credit and procurement managers put too much stock into whether or not the pharma retail mainstay continues to pay bills on time.
RetailDive recently set out to compile a list of distressed retailers at risk of bankruptcy, using data provided by CreditRiskMonitor's proprietary FRISK® score. In this podcast, author Ben Unglesbee discusses his findings in advance of the 2019 holiday season.
CreditRiskMonitor announced that its Board of Directors today declared a dividend of $0.05 per outstanding share of its common stock. Additionally, the Board elected Michael Flum as SVP and COO and Jonathan Levy as SVP, Secretary and General Counsel.
Nearly 30% of publicly traded companies worldwide are already trending in the FRISK® red zone, indicating heightened bankruptcy risk - and as recession whispers intensify, every day you delay taking action could cost you and your company dearly.
We're seeing financial risk increasing within agricultural equipment leader Titan International, Inc. With the FRISK® score in their arsenal, our subscribers are far less likely to be surprised when public company bankruptcies crop up.
Transportation and freight leader YRC Worldwide Inc. has delivered prompt payment to its customers without fail - but wise financial risk evaluators know that payment data doesn't predict future behavior from public companies.
CreditRiskMonitor announces a new partnership with HighRadius, a Fintech enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company which leverages Artificial Intelligence-based Autonomous Systems to help companies automate Accounts Receivable and Treasury processes.
Public company financial risk is higher than it has ever been, and the weakest links in your supply chain may lead to costly, time-consuming problems.
Frontier Communications’ deteriorating business fundamentals have been ongoing for years now, and CreditRiskMonitor’s subscriber crowdsourcing has provided an important high-risk signal in the last few quarters.
In a discussion with CreditRiskMonitor CEO Jerry Flum, Karen Webster of PYMNTS.com talks about the volatile bond market and the unprecedented Global Debt Problem that continually grows in 2019.


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Beehive recently announced that it has facilitated over AED 12 million in finance for more than 25 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE since its launch in November 2014.
The funds, raised from investors on the Beehive platform, have allowed businesses across a broad range of sectors to expand, recruit more staff and refinance existing debt, saving them on average up to 30 per cent on their financing costs.
“This key milestone comes at a time when hundreds of SMEs across the UAE are struggling to gain access to the finance needed to grow their businesses,” said Craig Moore, Founder and CEO of Beehive. “This is a major step in Beehive’s effort to bring attractively priced finance directly to SMEs. We are connecting investors with creditworthy businesses to build mutually beneficial partnerships for growth through our innovative platform and also through new financing options, such as our Invoice Finance product. SMEs represent the vast majority of companies in the UAE, and provide the bulk of jobs in the private sector, and we are proud to support them.”
The Beehive platform uses peer-to-peer finance, based on crowdfunding technology, to directly connect investors with creditworthy businesses seeking working capital to grow their business. The technology eliminates the cost and complexity of conventional finance and enables SMEs to access faster, lower cost and more flexible funding. Beehive facilitates business finance solutions starting at AED 100,000 for up to 3 years at very competitive rates. Investors can join Beehive by setting up an account with only AED 1,000 and can invest from as little as AED 100 into businesses listed on the platform. Beehive has already attracted over 1,500 investor registrations, and that number continues to rise.


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Kazakh food producers intend to enter Japanese market
Astana, Kazakhstan, March 17
By Daniar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Kazakh food producers participated in the largest food products and beverages exhibition in Asia-Pacific region 'FOODEX 2014' (Tokyo, Japan), Kazakh National Export and Investment Agency Kaznex Invest said on March 17.
"Three Kazakh companies - Sesame Eco, Sun Bee and Maslodel had over 100 talks with potential foreign partners and buyers. Products from Kazakhstan caused interest in the Japanese and Asian companies," according to a message from the Kaznex Invest.
Kazakhstan was presented at the FOODEX exhibition for the fist time over almost 40-year history of the exhibition, thanks to a two-year collaboration of Kaznex Invest and Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro), according to the message.
Jetro approved three Kazakh producers for product presentations at the FOODEX 2014 at Jetro exhibition hall.
"Given the demand for Kazakh food products, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Japan proposes to establish a trading house for promotion of domestic products. The joint plans for the next year also include presentation of goods from Kazakhstan to FOODEX in the format of a national stand basing on the example of the many foreign countries," according to the message.
Translated by E.A.


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Experts have warned that many chocolate bars and ice cream wrappers contain latex and could trigger potentially fatal allergic reactions in people who are already sensitive and that there is no law for it to be listed on labels.
It was reported that the study had been commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and was conducted by Leatherhead Food International, a leading science research laboratory. They had reported hat hey had found that one-third of packaging tested was contaminated with latex, which in some cases transferred to the food. They further reported that in a certain brand of chocolate biscuit, the amount was 20 times more than the necessary minimum that could produce a reaction, and also a very high level in an ice cream.
It was reported hat as of now there is no agreement on the amount that would probably constitutes a safe level, but many experts are of the belief that as little as a billionth of a gram (1 ng/ml) could trigger an allergic response. The research is to be published today in Chemistry & Industry, which is the magazine for the Society of Chemical Industry, and is supposedly the first known study that has quantified the presence of latex in food and packaging.
Graham Lowe, who is an expert adviser to the 'UK Latex Allergy Support Group' said, "For a few people, natural rubber latex is a very potent allergen and for [them] there is no safe level of exposure." It was explained that natural latex, which is derived from rubber trees, is used in meat netting, for fruit and vegetable stickers, rubber bands and confectionery wrappers.
According to Chemistry & Industry magazine, there had already been two recent reports of people reacting to latex in chocolate bars, one of which was a woman who had developed a rash around her mouth. It was also mentioned that the proteins in the latex that drift from the packaging to the food are usually destroyed by heat, but in case of 'cold sealing', which is the technique that is used to wrap products such as chocolate and ice cream, there could be a problem.
The authorities from the FSA have said it was still too early to draw a firm conclusion, but advised people not to alter their eating habits.


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Probably one of the most lucrative jobs on campus is that of the dorm desk worker. Not only because future employers love students who have had dorm desk experience (Steve Jobs worked Desk), but also because it’s so easy to multi-task. I am one of said desk workers at Baker, and early last month I made the terrible mistake of taking one of the 8am-10am shifts. I have no problem waking up that early; it’s just… well… that’s when the mail arrives.
This year, Desk workers across campus have reported that they have been receiving more packages than usual; I recall having to check maybe 10-15 packages on an average morning in the past, but on that one day last month, I had to check in nearly 50 packages of various sizes. The culprit? Well, most pinned the blame on Amazon for its recent Amazon Student promotion, which gives college students free Amazon Prime membership (with free two-day shipping) for a year. And, supposedly, students have been taking advantage of this, now being so lazy they can’t even go to the store to pick something up.
I’ll admit I’m no less guilty than anyone else on this matter. I purchased tea, a scrapbook, and several textbooks from Amazon, and I was considering buying a notebook (the paper kind, not the computer kind), just because of the Prime membership. And last month, The Tech published an article about the package fiasco.
Well, today, Amazon, in probably one of the smartest PR moves, took out a full-page ad in The Tech “apologizing” for the additional burden caused by their program. You can take a look at the online and below.
And, no, I do not work for Amazon…


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- Articles tagged "xperia p"
Sony Mobile Communications kickstarted MWC 2012 with a new name and a new NXT series, Xperia P and Xperia U. Here's a round up of the news and interesting developments at the annual mobile device trade show.
One of the two Android phones under the new Xperia NXT series, the Xperia P, makes its appearance today at the Sony Press Conference. What does it have to offer? Take a quick look.
- Plantronics launches two versions of the BackBeat Pro 2 in Singapore
- Pre-orders for the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe now available on Hachi.tech
- Bluetooth 5 devices will begin offering faster speeds and longer ranges over the next year
- YouTube reveals Singapore’s top-trending videos of 2016
- Pebble confirms that it's joining Fitbit; will issue Kickstarter refunds
- Google is working to shrink the size of Android app updates by as much as two-thirds
- How the ‘Get a Mac’ ads were made
- Apple said to be negotiating for earlier access to movies on iTunes


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STOP! SodaStream National Campaign ★ 5 Day Christmas Action
A product made in an illegal Israeli settlement is no gift for your loved ones!
■December 20-24, 2013
SodaStream produces its home soda makers in a factory in Mishor Adumim, an Israeli-controlled industrial zone in an illegal settlement in the West Bank.
These Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are in clear violation of international law, including the Geneva Convention. Despite the clear and continued denouncement by the international community, the International Court of Justice, and the UN, settlers and companies like SodaStream continue their profiteering off of the illegal occupation.
SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum claims that their factory on occupied land is justified operation, it is beneficial because both Palestinians and Israelis work in the same factory together. However, some of these Palestinian workers report that SodaStream treats them like slaves, that “We Palestinian workers in this factory always feel like we are enslaved.”
SodaStream marketers call these home soda makers environmentally and economically beneficial, but not only does this put the economy and the environment above human rights, the claims are dubious in themselves. The industrial zone produces large quantities of solid waste and industrial wastewater, and the landfill for the illegal Israeli settlement there was cited by the Israeli Ministry of the Environment for polluting the land and water.
We are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people suffering under this illegal occupation of their land by standing against the purchase and sale of SodaStream goods. We are calling for all of us to boycott SodaStream this Christmas season, and will be conducting actions at retailers across Japan .
■Retailers carrying SodaStream home soda machines
Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores, Takashimaya, Daimaru Matsuzakaya, Kintetsu Department Store, Mitsukoshi Isetan Department Store, Sogo & Seibu, Loft, Tokyu Hands, Ito-Yokado, Bic Camera, Kojima, and others.
※Ranking of retailers according to their investment in SodaStream machines produced on illegally occupied land (to be updated soon).
■Some examples of what you can do:
★ With One Person
・Write about the problems with SodaStream on your blog, Twitter, FaceBook, or other social media.
・Point out these problems in a customer review comment on Amazon, Rakuten, or other retailer.
・Call the brick and mortar stores, explain these issues, and ask them to stop carrying the product.
・Send “Stop! SodaStream” cards to these retailers.
・Go to the store itself and hand a Stop! SodaStream Pamphlet to the person demonstrating the product and the store manager, ask them to discontinue sales of the product.
★★ With Two People
・Take a picture with someone holding a “Stop! SodaStream” or similar sign in front of the SodaStream display and in front of the department store.
・Explain to the manager or other people in charge about the issues of how this product is produced in violation of human rights, and ask them to discontinue sales of the product.
★★★ With Three or More People
・Distribute the Stop! SodaStream Pamphlet to passersby in front of the store, call for boycott of the product.
・Organize a study group to learn about the Israeli occupation and destruction of Palestinian lives and resources (contact us for help identifying study group leaders in your area).
・Think of other ways we can call for the unjust sales of this product; organize/participate in these actions!
※Please send any photos or video from these actions to palestine.forum [at] gmail.com and let us know if we have your permission to upload it to our blog. If you would like this included in our blog, please feel free to submit at a low resolution or otherwise make sure your identities are protected in this publicly shared video or photos.
※With or without photo or video, we encourage you to submit a short report on your actions on your own blog or again, send it to us at palestine.forum [at] gmail.com
※While generally staff at the store have responded politely, occasionally we have been met with a particularly frosty or rude reception. In any case, from the standpoint of consumers who are conscious of the importance of peace and justice, we believe it is important to ask for the discontinuation of sales of SodaStream products.
■Downloadable Action Kits
・Pamphlet (contact us for hard copies)
・Postcards (contact us for hard copies)
・PDF of Sign/Poster (Approximately 2MB）
Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions about the Stop! SodaStream campaign.
・(AlJazeera) SodaStream: Building walls, not bridges
・(Interfaith Boycott Coalition) SodaStream Boycott
・(CodePink) Tell Sodastream there is nothing friendly about occupation!
・(Electronic Intifada) Activists burst occupation profiteer SodaStream’s “feel-good” bubble”
・(Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh) “Don't buy SodaStream”


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A rare 2009 Topps Chrome Refractor Gold, Stephen Curry rookie card that is limited to 50 has sold for over $167k in a PWCC auction. Collectors consider this one of his best rookie cards.
The sports card market is still heating up with no end in sight. Most recently PWCC auctioned off a coveted 2003-04 Topps Chrome Refractor Lebron James rookie card, graded a PSA 10. This is the most sought after Lebron James rookie card and can be compared to Michael Jordan’s 1986 Fleer rookie.
High grade Michael Jordan Fleer rookie cards have been on fire recently, especially PSA 10’s which have fetched a whopping $200,000 📈 at Goldin Auctions.
A step down from the Gem Mints also command huge sums of money. A few nights ago a mint (BGS 9) copy sold at PWCC’s auction for nearly $30,000.
Back to back MVP winner, Giannis Antetokoumnpo’s rookie card sells at auction for $35,000. This rare card is a Panini Prizm (Silver) and was graded a gem mint 10 by PSA which is why it commanded the premium price tag. 📈
Collectors are still hungary for high end rookie cards of legends in sports. Last night PWCC sold Derek Jeter’s 1993 Upper Deck SP rookie, graded BGS 9.5 for a little over $20k. 📈
A new record has been set for the most expensive sports card ever sold. Actor Rob Gough purchased a Mickey Mantle Topps rookie card, graded a PSA 9 for a mind boggling $5,200,000. This price has eclipsed the previous record of $3.9 million for a Mike Trout 1 of 1 Superfractor rookie card.
Mahomes is special and his talent is being reflected in his rookie card prices. The Chiefs take on the Browns this Sunday 1/17, 3:05 PM.


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I am told by @vedhaspatkar that in yesterday’s presentation, Apple claimed that the iPhone 5 is the thinnest smartphone around. I didn’t watch the presentation, as I have no use for Apple’s reality distortion field, so I cannot verify that. I have also checked Apple’s website and there is no mention of the iPhone 5 as the world’s thinnest smartphone.
Still, for the records, the iPhone 5 at 7.6mm thickness is not the thinnest smartphone around. That honour belongs to the Oppo Finder, a Chinese brand product running Android ICS, a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and sporting a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display. It is 6.65mm thick, which is significantly thinner than the iPhone 5. The Finder was released into the market in June 2012.


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The owner of a popular eatery specializing in spicy rabbit heads admits that eating bunny brains might not be for everyone, but the residents of Chengdu can't get enough.
Everyone handles spice differently. I invented a heat index scale for my restaurant, Han Dynasty, so that people don't send dishes back to the kitchen, one of the biggest cultural insults in China.
Outfitted with aged wood panels and dangling Edison-style bulbs, Charu looks like the kind of coffee shop I avoid in the States—but in Chengdu, it's trying to offer new opportunities for Tibetans.
ESL teachers expect to face some cultural difficulties, but few realize quite what they're in for.
Photos surface of cheating devices confiscated by police including a wired t-shirt, pens equipped with cameras, and wireless earphones.


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RepairPal Expert Overview
Thirty-six vehicles are being recalled because the windshield may not have been installed correctly and could come loose in the event of a crash.
Land Rover will notify owners of affected vehicles beginning November 5, 2012. There are no symptoms related to this recall. If you don't receive notification and you feel you should have, please contact your dealer. It’s helpful to have your vehicle identification number (VIN) handy when you call.
Thirty-six vehicles are being recalled because during the manufacturing process, the windshield on these vehicles may have been installed incorrectly. In the event of a crash, the windshield may come loose from the vehicle, increasing the risk of injury to the vehicle's occupants. Dealers will replace the windshield on these vehicles to correct this concern. The Land Rover recall number is P028.


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For many years now, there have been a lot of talk about the supposed health benefits of probiotics.
Every day now, we seem to see more and more new products that promise to introduce the daily recommended amounts of probiotics into your diet in a simple, and for some of them, an expensive way.
But are they really worth giving it a try?
Do probiotics really can enhance your overall health, focusing on your metabolism, and even inducing weight loss?
This article follows an investigation on the many supposed health benefits of probiotics, focusing on their ability to achieve weight loss and maintain a healthy metabolism.


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Industry Analyst Michael Pachter on the Plight of AAA Games, and the Assault of Mobile
Adam sat down with industry analyst Michael Pachter about Triple-A games and mobile gaming!
In part one of Adam Sessler's conversation with industry analyst Michael Pachter, we discuss the state of AAA games given the recent departures of EA and Square Enix's heads, as well as the news that Tomb Raider's 3.5m sales were "disappointing." Plus, how is mobile going to shape the next generation? Is it a threat to hardcore console games? Stay tuned for part 2, all about the next-gen!


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Spotify is gearing up to make some big announcements later today. The speculation is that this means a follower model, like on Twitter, and, finally, a web app. Before all that though, Spotify is doing a bit of bragging and publishing some user numbers.
The big one is that the service has over five million paying customers all over the world. That's a big number, bigger than any of the competition can hope for. One million of those are in the US.
It's still probably not enough, it's never going to be enough actually, as most of Spotify's revenue goes to the music labels and the more subscribers it has, the more money it has to pay.
In fact, Spotify has paid some $500 million, €384.50 million to rights holders, artists, labels, songwriters and so on.
Still, it's now up to 20 million users in total, again, the biggest number for on-demand music services.


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Holiday sales expected to rise 3.9%; Online sales 13-15%
Home Accents Today Staff -- Home Accents Today, 10/3/2013 3:40:48 PM
The National Retail Federation expects sales in the months of November and December to increase 3.9% over 2012, to $602.1 billion. The forecast is higher than the 10-year average of 3.3% and 2012's 3.5% actual holiday season sales growth.
Shop.org expects online sales in November and December to grow between 13-15% over last holiday season to as much as $82 billion. Shop.org calculates sales based on government data including consumer confidence, consumer credit, disposable personal income, and previous monthly retail sales releases. The U.S. Dept. of Commerce announced that final Q4 2012 e-commerce sales increased 15.5%.
According to NRF, retailers are expected to hire between 720,000 and 780,000 seasonal workers this holiday season, in line with the actual 720,500 they hired in 2012, which was a 13% year-over-year increase from 2011.
"Overall, retailers are optimistic for the 2013 holiday season, hoping political debates over government spending and the debt ceiling do not erase any economic progress we've already made," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. "Our forecast is also somewhat hinging on Congress and the Administration's actions over the next 45 days; without action, we face the potential of losing the faith Americans have in their leaders, and the pursuant decrease in consumer confidence."
"The economy continues to expand, albeit at an unspectacular pace," said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz. "In order for consumers to turn out this holiday season, we need to see steady improvements in income and job growth, as well as an agreement from Washington that puts the economic recovery first. Our forecast leaves room for improvement, while at the same time provides a very realistic look at the state of the American consumer and their confidence in our economy."
We would love your feedback!
- Oct 4, 2012
- Oct 11, 2011


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T'was a whale of a weekend
Hermanus was bursting at the seams this past weekend and the economy of the whole region benefited from a welcome surge of visitors who came to enjoy the Kalfiefees, hiking trails, surfing, whale-watching and other attractions.
“Heavy traffic into Hermanus on Thursday and Friday, and even more leaving the town on Sunday, with vehicles stuck in slow-moving queues all the way to Sir Lowry’s Pass, bore evidence to the number of people who visited our area for a mini breakaway,” says Cape Whale Coast Tourism Manager, Frieda Lloyd. “Although there were also foreigners spotted in town, the majority of long weekend visitors came from Cape Town and other towns over the mountain.”
Several local businesses, including restaurants and wine tasting venues, said they’d had one of their best Saturdays ever, not only in Hermanus but throughout the region, all the way from Betty’s Bay to Stanford and Gansbaai. Some even compared the long weekend to the festive season, remarking that “Christmas came early this year”.
“When I asked business owners how their weekend went, I was greeted with big smiles all round,” says Frieda. “It seems this bustling long weekend was exactly what we needed, providing the impetus for local businesses to push through these last, tough winter weeks.”
According to Frieda, large groups of friends and family members were sharing holiday homes this long weekend. “Most of the bookings made at restaurants were for tables of six to ten people, and restaurants were packed on Friday and Saturday.
“The markets also did excellent trade on Saturday, from the Gansbaai Farmers Market to the Hermanus Country Market, while many visitors took advantage of the sunny weather to go hiking or enjoy our beaches. The tourism offices were inundated with requests for whale-watching boat trips and the operators had a busy weekend catering for visitors, mainly from the Cape Town area.”
The 19th Hermanus Times Kalfiefees was undoubtedly a big drawcard for visitors over the long weekend. Although it was a shorter weekend (three days as opposed to four days last year), Kalfiefees Chairperson, Jimmy Hattingh says the festival venues achieved an average attendance of 80%. He was also pleased to report that a total of 14 artworks were sold at the Kalfiefees Art Exhibition in the Municipal Auditorium.
First team rugby player, Sean Castle (mid-air), scores an spectacular try with support from teammates, Marnus Hamman (left in blue) and Realdo Williams (right in blue) at Inter-schools on Friday 9 August. See more photos on P 23.


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Ag, logistics and tourism top Hong Kong agenda
A STREAMLINED focus on agriculture and capitalising on the region's connectivity will play out on the global stage in Hong Kong with the upcoming Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise trade delegation in September.
At a predicted cost of $1.8 million, the privately-led and funded business trip from Wellcamp airport to the Asian economic powerhouse will coincide with one of the world's largest fresh food conventions.
TSBE partnered with Food Leaders Australia for the second of its Asian trade missions, developed to coincide with Asia Fruit Logistica - one of the world's largest food conventions.
"Hong Kong is a fantastic logistics hub for Asia and it's a great doorway into China, and we were keen not to move away from China too far," FLA CEO Dr Ben Lyons said.
"We only feed 60 million as a nation at present so we need to reaffirm our position as a premium food producing country."
TSBE executive chairman Shane Charles said the trip was "not just about agriculture".
"Whilst agriculture is clearly important, and we've got fantastic connectivity as a result of our airport right through to Asia, particularly with the Cathay flight weekly - it's great leverage for us," he said.
"We know in Toowoomba generally that tourism, we think, is a bit underdone."
He said indirect tourism benefits would flow to the region as a result of the trip.


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Digital TV News: Harmonic Inc
One third of cable subscribers to be passed by DOCSIS 3.1 by April 2017
Jul 28, 2015 – IHS (NYSE: IHS) conducted in-depth interviews with cable operators across the globe that collectively control 87 percent of the world’s cable capex and found that 42 percent of them plan to deploy a distributed access architecture (DAA) by 2017.
News categories: Infonetics, Jeff Heynen, Broadband, Cable TV, Content Distribution, DOCSIS, Market Research, Worldwide
Cable broadband equipment market off to mixed start in 2015
Jun 10, 2015 – As MSOs continued major upgrades to their broadband networks, cable DOCSIS channel shipments grew to 1.8 million in the first quarter of 2015, a 14 percent sequential increase, and a gain of 48 percent from the year-ago first quarter, according to IHS (NYSE: IHS).
News categories: Infonetics, Jeff Heynen, Cable TV, Content Distribution, Market Research, Worldwide
DOCSIS channel shipments rose to record levels in 2014
Feb 27, 2015 – Infonetics Research (NYSE: IHS) has reported that DOCSIS channel shipments rose to record levels in 2014 - up 114 percent to 4.8 million worldwide - as cable operators continue to improve their networks to offer services to customers at ever-higher speeds.
News categories: Infonetics, Jeff Heynen, Cable Modem, DOCSIS, Market Research, Worldwide
ViXS and Harmonic demonstrate HEVC 1080i and hybrid AVC/HEVC MPEG-DASH streaming
Jan 5, 2015 – ViXS Systems (TSX: VXS) has teamed up with Harmonic at CES to demonstrate hybrid AVC/HEVC, MPEG-DASH technology - called HybridDASH. The companies will also demonstrate 1080i HEVC broadcast video delivery using SAFF standard syntax.
News categories: ViXS Systems, Harmonic Inc, Sally Daub, Thierry Fautier, CES2023, Digital TV, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Streaming, Worldwide
DOCSIS channel shipments up 95% YoY in 3Q 2014
Nov 24, 2014 – Infonetics Research has released excerpts from its 3rd quarter 2014 (3Q14) CCAP, CMTS, and Edge QAM Hardware and Subscribers report. Worldwide revenue for CCAP, CMTS, edge QAM, and CMC equipment totaled $445 million in 3Q14, an 8% sequential increase.
News categories: Infonetics, Jeff Heynen, Cable TV, DOCSIS, Market Research, Worldwide
OTT and multiscreen TV drive spending on broadcast and streaming video equipment
Jun 3, 2014 – According to Infonetics, the broadcast and streaming video equipment market grew 5.6% worldwide in 2013, as spending on CDNs increased while spending on contribution encoders and VOD playout servers decreased.
News categories: Infonetics Research, Jeff Heynen, Content Distribution, Market Research, Worldwide
Verimatrix to secure Wananchi OTT services
May 19, 2014 – Verimatrix has extended its partnership with the Wananchi Group to secure the revenues of Zuku TV across DTH satellite, digital cable and IP-over-GPON networks, and later this year via over-the-top video services.
News categories: Verimatrix, Wananchi, Richard Alden, Steve Oetegenn, ANGA COM, Content Protection, Digital TV, Kenya, Streaming
Octoshape demonstrates 4K end-to-end OTT/IPTV with Harmonic and AirTies
May 13, 2014 – Octoshape has announced an interoperability demonstration of 4k stream resolution delivered over the public Internet to consumer set-top boxes (STBs), with technology from Harmonic and AirTies Wireless Networks.
News categories: Octoshape, Harmonic, AirTies, Bulent Celebi, Michael Koehn Milland, Thierry Fautier, Content Distribution, IPTV, Set Top Box, Streaming
Harmonic and Elemental tie for lead in multiscreen encoder market
Apr 23, 2014 – A recent Competitive Assessment by ABI Research, looking at the multiscreen encoder market, found a virtual tie between well-established Harmonic and rapidly growing start-up Elemental.
News categories: ABI Research, Sam Rosen, Content Distribution, Market Research, Mobile, Worldwide
- Tenstorrent to build AI and RISC-V chiplets with LG for Smart TVs
- DISH brings its linear TV to the digital ad marketplace
- health tv launches first FAST channel with Amagi
- Number of UK SVOD homes falls in 1Q 2023
- inext signs Moldova distribution contract with DIGIMAX
- EL PAIS begins live broadcasts on its FAST channel with The Channel Store
- SoftAtHome implements Alexa voice control software for etisalat by e&
- Arabsat Badr-8 satellite successfully launched
- Streaming TV growth in Latin America driven by ad-supported viewing
- STARZ domestic OTT subscribers up 700,000 in 1Q 2023
- New DIRECTV STREAM customers get priority access to Telly waiting list
- Insys Video Technologies simplifies video streaming with Bitmovin
- BeIN Media and Google Cloud announce media and broadcast collaboration
- Activated STBs grow to 3,166,461 for South Africa's Openview
- Singtel TV subscribers down 6,000 in 1Q 2023
- Orby Elevate selects EUTELSAT for DTH TV distribution in the US
- U.S. SVOD revenues to grow at a 6.3% CAGR over 2022-2027
- Netgem releases trading update
- IPTV to partially offset revenue losses in cable and DTH in Korea
- Player.pl available on Xbox consoles, powered by Redge Media


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Samsung projecting it made $8.33B in profit in Q2
0. phoneArena 04 Jul 2013, 21:40 posted on
Q2 looks to be a record breaking quarter for Samsung, and we expect that Q2 will continue to be a big quarter for the Korean company, because that's when the new Galaxy S comes out, and a new Galaxy S phone is basically like printing money for Samsung. The official numbers don't come until the end of the month, but early projections from Samsung are saying that the official report could see a record $8.33 billion in profit for Q2...
This is a discussion for a news. To read the whole news, click here
2. mas11 (Posts: 1034; Member since: 30 Mar 2012)
Profit wise, but they will continue to release many phones on an open OS.
3. InspectorGadget80 (unregistered)
soon Samsung will make a profit as big as Apple.
5. Topcat488 (Posts: 1396; Member since: 29 Sep 2012)
To this, we have to just call out analysts on being ridiculous. it should be expected since they aren't working with real numbers but estimations based on other estimations.
I agree with Michael H. 100%.
6. SprintGuy26 (Posts: 220; Member since: 21 Mar 2011)
love the picture they used...watching futurama right now!
7. Tsepz_GP (Posts: 987; Member since: 12 Apr 2012)
This is excellent!They are still headed for a record quarter! :)
8. tedkord (Posts: 11910; Member since: 17 Jun 2009)
Whether its Apple or Samsung, the stock market has zero connection to reality. It's 100% speculation based.
10. darkkjedii (Posts: 21698; Member since: 05 Feb 2011)
Ted as a the non fanboy you are, you as well as I know Sammy fanboys will never buy that. Somehow they think they're part of this Samsung wolfpack, cuz they have a Sammy device. Their only interest, and knowledge in the stock market is seeing if apples or Sammy's gained or lost.
9. Jason2k13 (Posts: 1214; Member since: 28 Mar 2013)
Those analysts are useless, they create bad publicity and create more fanboys. I remember when they said samsung was losing profit and marketshare, then all the fanboys believed it and laughed at samsung. When in reality, samsung is earning more profit in 2013 compared to 2012.
11. livyatan (Posts: 867; Member since: 19 Jun 2013)
8.3 Billion is actually MORE THAN APPLE will post, (I excpect 7,5 billion for them)
Still, both companies are raking in an unprecedented amounts of cash, and ridiculously enough , both see their share prices go down.
Don't those idiotic analysts know the first thing about the world??
GROWTH CAN'T BE LIMITLESS


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Alibaba's Executive Chairman Jack Ma will step down in September 2019 and hand over the reins to Chief Executive Daniel Zhang, the Chinese e-commerce giant said on Monday.
Ma, who co-founded the company almost 20 years ago which now is the world's biggest e-commerce behemoths, said in a letter to his employees that "transition demonstrates that Alibaba has stepped up from a company that relies on individuals, to one built on a culture of talent development".
Ma, who was a school teacher in China's small town of Hangzhou where Alibaba is headquartered and now one of the richest men in the world, will get to back to education, the billionaire said in a letter to his employees.
On the company's 20th anniversary on September 10, 2019, Zhang will take charge as the new chairman.
The development comes days after his imminent retirement in a report by the New York Times, juked by the company.
"Ma will continue as the executive chairman of the company over the next 12 months to ensure a smooth transition to Zhang," a statement from the firm said.
Ma's net worth is $36.6 billion.
Zhang, who was earlier the Chief...


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2020 has been an unprecedented year. In January, the year started like many other years, Sonus faber was awarded a Grand Prix Award from the most demanding audiophile committee at Stereo Sound (Japan) for our Electa Amator III.
As February begun, we started to hear about Coronavirus in China. A storm was about to break loose. March brought COVID-19 to Italy in full force. The Sonus faber team responded with an amazing strength. The team rallied together to implement all the proper safety measures – masks, cleaning, social distancing, and smart-working from home. Then, as the virus raged, we closed the company so that everyone could stay home and stay safe and healthy.
As the factory re-opened in April we started to work with our unchanged passion, supported by the international press that continued to recognize our Olympica Nova collection with numerous awards – Blue Note Award (Enjoy the Music, US) and Best of the Best (What Hi-Fi, Australia) to name a few.
Despite the difficulties we stayed committed to investing in the facility. We reshaped the production buildings creating a new assembly area exclusively dedicated to the Reference models: the Sonus faber Production Boutique.
We enriched the R&D Department with new expertise and equipment, and we restructured the Design Lab as the core of the product’s design, research, development and realization.
In July, Lumina was announced to our distributors. And, it truly was a bright light in these dark times. An amazing Sonus faber product – built in Vicenza, at a good price. The market responded so well that our future didn’t seem to be so dark anymore.
Thank you all for these results.
September marks the beginning of an incredible new chapter for Sonus faber: the partnership with Maserati with the new Maserati MC20 super sports car.
And, we also announced our Il Cremonese ex3me, thought for a small circle of passionate, that actually has been really appreciated by many. This is something unexpected for a niche product designed in a limited run.
With fall ready to begin we still had the public and press support and in November our R&D team gave us an amazing gift: Maxima Amator, a 2-way floor standing product made of solid wood. The new model of the Heritage collection is the heart and soul of our classic Sonus faber loudspeakers taken to a whole new level of performance and beauty.
In the end, this has been a very difficult year for all, on both personal and professional sides. We have to say, after all the challenges we have faced in 2020, that the Sonus faber team is extremely strong and resilient. And, for that we are very grateful.
So, here we are at the end of December 2020 looking back a truly remarkable year.
THANKS to the whole team for all our contributions to Sonus faber.
BIG THANKS to every one of our enthusiasts that never stopped to make us feel unique.
We wish you a peaceful Christmas holiday and we look forward to an amazing 2021.
With the warmest regards,
The Sonus faber team.


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By Hoang Bac – Translated by Anh Quan
Nostalgic books and comics
The opening ceremony of the occasion took place at the National Library of Vietnam in Hanoi in the buildup to the eighth Vietnam Book Day which is held annually on April 21 to encourage a reading culture among the public.
The online book festival is running with the theme of “Sách cho mọi nhà”, “Books for everyone”, and is scheduled to last through to May 15.
The highlight of the event will be an online book copyright festival which will run between April 19 and April 26 on book365.vn.
A number of exchanges among authors, interpreters, researchers, publishing house owners, and readers will take place throughout the festival. In addition, there will be many discounts and gifts on offer for customers, with the first 30,000 online book orders enjoying free shipping.
A ceremony to mark the start of a series of activities to mark celebrations for the eighth Vietnam Book Day is set to get underway on April 18 in Ho Chi Minh City.
The event was part of the activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Soviet Union/Russian diplomatic ties and the 40th anniversary of the spaceflight by the Soviet Union’s cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko and Vietnamese pilot Pham Tuan.
Since the two countries established their diplomatic ties 70 years ago, Vietnam and the Soviet Union/Russia have signed a number of cooperation agreements, treaties, and conventions in the fields of economy, trade, culture, and aeronautics and space. In 1980, the Soviet Union’s cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko and Vietnamese pilot Pham Tuan went to space on the Russian Soyuz-37 spacecraft and returned safely. This is seen as an historic event.
Following the Cooperation Plan in the 2019-2022 period, the State Records and Archives Department and the Federal Archival Agency of Russia co-published a three-part book about the spaceflight.
Translated by Song Anh
The “Huong Thom Que Me” (The Fragrance of Motherland) exhibition, held April 14- 26, displays 100 works of calligraphy in various languages including Vietnamese, English, French and Chinese.
The works reflect the Zen master’s love for Mother Earth, who nurtures and protects all sentient beings.
The exhibition takes its name from the title of a new book that features Thich Nhat Hanh calligraphy.
According to Eve Yuen, a Hongkong-based art critic, Hanh’s works are choreographic calligraphy that exude exquisite qualities, incorporating straight and solid lines as well as flowing curves in a balanced composition.
The works were earlier displayed in France, Germany, Canada, the U.S., Thailand, Taiwan, Hongkong, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Calligraphy works by Thich Nhat Hanh. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tuyen.
The Zen master said he has done more than 10,000 calligraphic works since 1994. They have helped him demonstrate the art of mindful living to his students. They have become a source of donations supporting humanitarian projects in many developing countries.
“Writing calligraphy is a practice of meditation,” the Master has said.
“The way I do calligraphy, I do it in a certain way that can generate the energy of mindfulness, concentration, insight, and compassion during the time of practice.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, considered the second most influential Buddhist leader in the world after the Dalai Lama, studied and practiced Zen Buddhism from 1942.
Born in 1926, he became a monk at the age of 23 after studying Buddhism for seven years.
In the 1960s he spearheaded a movement by Buddhists in southern Vietnam that called for a negotiated end to the Vietnam War.
He left the country in 1966 and lived in Plum Village in southern France for decades, traveling regularly throughout North America and Europe to give lectures on mindfulness and peace.
Thich Nhat Hanh is also a celebrated poet and peace activist. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967, and is the author of more than 100 books, including several bestsellers like the “The Miracle of Mindfulness.”
Emirates has announced the latest updates to its booking policies, offering customers even more confidence and flexibility to make their travel plans.
Customers holding tickets issued before September 30, 2020 for travel before December 31, 2021, can now rebook to travel anytime within 36 months, an extension of 12 months from the previous policy.
Those holding tickets issued after October 1, 2020 for travel before December 31, 2021, can utilise their tickets anytime within 36 months from the date of their original booking.
Fees for reissuing any ticket will be waived, and vouchers or unused portions of Emirates tickets may be refunded without penalty.
Customers who hold tickets issued directly by Emirates, whether via emirates.com or the airline’s retail and contact centres, do not have to contact Emirates as the tickets are automatically extended. Customers who purchased their tickets via a travel agent will need to contact their agent before the expiry date to reissue their tickets.
Emirates was the first airline to provide global multi-risk travel insurance cover for all passengers, and the airline is now extending this facility beyond March 31, 2021 until further notice, offering added value and peace of mind for its customers.
For its loyal frequent flyers, Emirates Skywards is extending the Tier Status of its Silver, Gold and Platinum members until 2022. The validity of any Skywards Miles due to expire since April 2020 has been further extended until August 31, 2021, providing Skywards members with more opportunities to utilise them for an extensive range of flight and partner rewards as well as other privileges.
In addition, Emirates Skywards is offering members a chance to earn double Tier Miles on all Emirates and flydubai flights booked from April 1 until June 30, for travel until December 30, 2021. — VNS
Vietnamese artists are welcoming the establishment of an electronic trading floor where involved parties can meet for transactions, assess the value of products, and support artists on issues related to intellectual property.
Singers Tung Duong (left) and Tran Thu Ha
Personal information, honoraria and creative products of Vietnamese artists now can be reviewed and assessed in a transparent way on Vietnam Artist Booking (VAB).
The trading platform can serve as a channel for transactions, product valuation and support in intellectual property, striving for Vietnam’s showbiz industry development and integration.
There will be an official information portal and transaction channel on VAB that connects and manages orders related to performance schedules and creative product use.
Tang Ngan Ha, the founder of VAB, said the trading floor will create a civilized and transparent environment to protect and assess the value of artists’ intellectual property.
Unlike developed countries, where the showbiz industry has existed for many years and the market controlled by prestigious distributors, in Vietnam, artists have been alone in the process of advertising, distributing and protecting their products.
With the establishment of the electronic trading floor, all products to be announced will be examined in a strict and transparent way, with authorization. There will not be any limitation on the fields of creativity of the artists. They could be singers, musicians, dancers, actors, models or writers.
Well known artists, including musician Do Bao, singers Tung Duong, Ha Tran, Luu Quang Minh and Tang Nhat Tue, have expressed their support about the establishment of the floor.


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According to a new study by CE Delft, using a scrubber to control SOx adds less CO2 to the atmosphere than operating on sulphur-compliant fuels.
Alfa Laval PureSOx scrubbers employ efficient water cleaning on the world’s largest container vessel
On 28 July 2021, the world’s largest container vessel set sail from Samsung Heavy Industries. Owned by Evergreen Marine Corporation, Ever Ace has two Alfa Laval PureSOx scrubbers with a shared water c...
Safe Bulkers extends partnership with Alfa Laval through a PureSOx Service Agreement including connectivity
New PureSOx water cleaning system provides future-proof and cost-saving flexibility for scrubbing in closed loop


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The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel association, is delighted to announce its 2021 European Conference, in partnership with VDR.
The joint European Conference which will take place this year in Wiesbaden, 13-15 October, bringing together the industry from across Europe and beyond.
“VDR is delighted to be partnering with GBTA once again, to host Europe’s largest business travel conference and we look forward to working in partnership to bring the industry back together. The challenges of the entire industry are greater than ever, and we want to meet the growing need for personal knowledge transfer and networking with our event.” said Hans-Ingo Biehl, VDR.
“This is great news for our industry, and I’m delighted that VDR has reaffirmed their intent to partner once again for the GBTA- VDR European Conference,” Said Catherine Logan, Regional VP, Europe GBTA.
“GBTA has introduced a number of significant changes over the past six months to ensure that we have an industry association fit for purpose with influence at a regional and global level. We have introduced international representation on the Board of Directors, with the appointment of the chairs of the Europe; LATAM and Canadian Advisory Boards; we have instigated a global review of the associations by-laws and the integration of ACTE, plus the imminent conclusion of the inclusive and transparent search for the new Executive Director.”
Added Logan, “I look forward to working with VDR, our other partners and volunteers, to deliver a conference that will provide our attendees with a new playbook, for a new world under our conference theme of Ready.Safe.Travel.”


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DNP International has been named one of Los Angeles’ 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. DNP will join several other private corporations that will be honored at the publication’s cocktail reception on Tuesday, November 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.
“We feel extremely honored to be recognized in a competitive market like Los Angeles,” said David Ji, president of DNP International. “With our broad product line, loyal customers and our extraordinary employees, we are positioned for growth today and beyond. And our commitment is evident in the quality raw materials that are a part of the everyday products used by consumers.”
About Los Angeles Business Journal
Each week, the award-winning Los Angeles Business Journal examines the many ways that the L.A. economy operates. Together with the economic news, demographics and lifestyle profiles, the Los Angeles Business Journal is presented in an accessible format. First-rate editorial and research teams provide in-depth analyses of the community’s ever-changing business and economic scene.
Regular departments include Up Front, highlighting stories of importance featuring Los Angeles businesses and their decision-makers; Media & Technology, focusing on up-to-the-minute changes and innovations in the businesses that serve these fields; Small Business, profiling those smaller businesses moving into the fore; and Investment and Finance, where L.A.’s many public companies are profiled and analyzed.
About DNP International
DNP International imports and distributes raw material ingredients to manufacturers in the nutritional supplements, food, beverage, feed, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Founded in 1994, DNP is one of the largest suppliers of raw materials in the United States and sources over 1,200 different ingredients. DNP is headquartered in Southern California and has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey and Shanghai, China. For more information, visit www.dnpint.com.


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Maruti Suzuki logo
Firm commodity prices, a slowdown in sales, and a double-digit increase in discounts pulled down the profit of Maruti Suzuki by 10 per cent in the quarter ended September 30. The country’s biggest car maker reported a profit of Rs 22.40 billion for the quarter against Rs 24.84 billion a year ago. This is the first decline in the company’s profit after nine consecutive quarters of profit growth.
Sales revenue of Rs 215.51 billion for the September quarter was marginally higher by 0.50 per cent over the corresponding quarter of last year. The company, which has a market share of about 52 per cent in the domestic market, sold 484,848 vehicles, 1.5 per cent fewer than the year-ago quarter. Of these, 455,400 units were sold in the domestic market, while the rest were exported. The company’s stock price slipped more than 2 per cent in intra-trade on the BSE but recovered to close at Rs 6,724, down 0.65 per cent.
“The conditions have changed for the worse in the last few months. This festival season is not showing any buoyancy over last year. We do not expect a 10-15 per cent jump in festive season sales,” said R C Bhargava, chairman of the company. He said customer sentiment and affordability had been impacted by the regulation that required the purchase of three-year insurance with a new car. “This has caused an increase of Rs 9,000 in the price of a car,” he said.
Bhargava also attributed the change in customer sentiment to the regular price increase in petrol and diesel. The company’s Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin in the second quarter stood at 15.3 per cent against 16.9 per cent last year.
Maruti Suzuki had projected double-digit volume growth for FY19. Bhargava said it was not going to be an easy task.
“We do not know what will happen in the second half of the year. The company will make its best efforts to achieve a growth rate of 10 per cent this year,” he said. In the first half of FY19, the company sold 975,327 vehicles, growing 10 per cent over last year. In order to push sales during the quarter, the company had to offer an average discount of Rs 18,700 a vehicle, 23 per cent higher compared to Q2 of FY18. “Discounts have been on the higher side this quarter. Discounts tend to be higher when the market is weak,” said Ajay Seth, chief financial officer of the company. The impact of this additional Rs 3,500 discount a vehicle over last year translates into Rs 1.7 billion on sales of 484,848 units. The waiting period on some of the company’s best sellers such as Baleno, Dzire and Swift has come to an end. Seth said the company paid parent Suzuki a royalty of 5.7 per cent on revenues this quarter compared to 5.9 per cent last year. He said the adverse foreign exchange had an impact of 120 bps on margins.
The company imports some parts from Japan and also makes payment to Suzuki in Yen. The cost of material as per cent of sales rose to 70.8 per cent in the quarter against 69.7 per cent last year.


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It's not an actual coin, it's "cryptocurrency, inch be sure you form of payment that is produced ("mined") by lots of people worldwide. It allows peer-to-peer transactions instantly, worldwide, for free or at very low cost.Top 10 cryptocurrency stocks to invest in
Bitcoin was invented after decades of research into cryptography by software developer, Satoshi Nakamoto (believed to be a pseudonym), who… Continue
Summary – A new market study, “Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) - Global Market Outlook (2017-2023) ”has been featured on WiseGuyReports.
According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) Market is accounted for $0.86 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $4.55 billion by 2023 growing at a CAGR of 26.8% during the forecast period. Open technology platform, compatibility with a large variety of products and superiority in terms of challenging technology are…


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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut launched its newest tourism campaign Thursday, marketing the state as an attraction offering a lot without a long drive.
The $3.4 million advertising and social media effort unveiled at a tourism conference in Hartford will run through August. It will appear in nearby markets such as the New York City area, Hartford-New Haven, Providence, R.I., and western Massachusetts.
Connecticut launched its "Still Revolutionary" marketing campaign in 2012 seeking to draw attention to the state's role in both the Revolutionary War and Industrial Revolution.
The industry generated about $11.5 billion annually in economic activity in Connecticut and accounted for about 110,000 jobs in 2011, according to state officials.
However, Fred Carstensen, director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut, said the numbers are outdated and more recent data are not available. State officials are not funding research into the economic impact of tourism, making it difficult to tailor marketing efforts properly, he said.
"We mostly throw darts," Carstensen said. "Sometimes we hit a target. Sometimes we break a window."
The campaign launched in 2012 has generated $219 million in revenue, said Kip Bergstrom, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
The newest phase is the "booster rocket" taking off from the initial campaign begun two years ago, he said.
Continue reading this story on the...


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Mercedes-Benz Begins Production Of India-Bound EQC All-Electric SUV
Mercedes-Benz has a prominent lineup of electric cars under its EQ branding waiting to be unveiled. First of them, will be the EQC, the German car maker’s very first car built to be electric from the ground up. First unveiled in Stockholm, Sweden back in 2018, the auto major says that the car has now entered the production phase.
Making the announcement under the banner name “EQC sales release and start of production,” the firm has even started taking orders for the vehicle. The release stated “The Mercedes-Benz EQC is produced at the Mercedes-Benz Bremen plant – and can be ordered now.”
As per Daimler, the Mercedes-Benz EQC is being produced on the lines of the C-Class Saloon and Estate as well as the GLC and GLC Coupé in Bremen. As a testimony to the car’s easy integration into the company’s existing production lines, the company mentions, “the EQC can be flexibly integrated into the ongoing series production of vehicles with combustion engine or hybrid drive.”
Mercedes-Benz even released a video, depicting the initiation of the production which you can check out here:
Post the start of production, the deliveries of EQC will start only after next month. Though it was earlier reported that the EQC will only be available for the “VIP customers” starting June, it was also noted that the EQC might not make it to the masses anytime before November.
It doesn’t really matter for the enthusiasts though, as the all-electric SUV is already sold out for this year.
As for the specifications of the first electric car from the house of Mercedes-Benz, the EQC claims a range of 450 km on a single charge of its 80 kWh lithium-ion battery. This, will be connected to 2 asynchronous motors with a total capacity of 300 kW (408 hp). The result would let the electric car touch a top speed of up to 180 kmph and have an acceleration of 0 to 100 kmph in just over seconds.
In addition, the EQC will come with a water-cooled onboard charger having a capacity of 7.4 kW and has a maximum capacity of “up to 110 kW at an appropriate charging station.“
It is known that Mercedes-Benz will be bringing the EQC to India in the following years. Though the exact date has not been mentioned by the company as of now, it is expected that the electric Merc will hit the Indian shores sometime in 2020, along with many other global markets.


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AUSTIN (KXAN) — A group of Austin bakers are cooking up some sweet treats for a good cause.
The Austin Curbside Bake Sale is raising money for racial and social justice.
On Saturday, four local restaurants sold everything from cookies to brownies — and even dog treats — to support local organizations working to fight systemic injustice
“Just knowing that there are a ton of people that have been watching what’s going on in our world — and in our country — that are really, really willing to spend some time and do a little to make a difference: it helps everybody feel a little less helpless,” said Darcie Fromholz, volunteer.
The event was hosted by the “Big Bake Sale” and all the proceeds will go to the Austin Justice Coalition and Communities of Color United.


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Sony Pictures has announced Ghostbusters World, a new augmented reality-focused game for Android and iOS.
The game was revealed as part of Google’s announcement that it has officially launched its ARCore platform.
Ghostbusters World is being developed as a collaboration between Sony Pictures Entertainment Consumer Products, Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures’ Ghost Corps division and publisher FourThirtyThree Inc. (4:33), best known for mobile titles like Three Kingdoms Blade and Hero for Kakao.
According to Sony, the game will feature “the latest in AR and other mobile technologies and differentiates itself with skill-based gameplay,” as well as “numerous other exciting features yet to be announced.”
Sony says more information on the game “will be revealed soon,” including in a playable demo offered at Google’s booth at Mobile World Congress this weekend. Ghostbusters World will also have a presence at next month’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Sony has confirmed.
The game is set to release sometime in 2018 on Android and iOS.
Source: Sony Pictures


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Five start-up companies took part at the Techweek fest and related trade events in New York with help from InnoTrade scheme and Hungary’s local Consulate General.
Ever since Techweek was first organised in 2011, it turned into one of the most important series of events in the US focusing on technology and innovation, with the New York programming proving to be one of the pinnacles.
The trade show was a highlight of the week-long innovation fest and presented close to 50 innovative start-ups, mainly from the US, to the professionals and journalists present, including a competition with a prize worth half a million USD.
This year five Hungarian start-up companies made it to New York, courtesy of the Hungarian National Trading House and Hungary’s Consulate General in New York.
From protection from online fraud to social media news agency
The five companies presented a wide spectrum of industry solutions at the event:
SEON developed a data security system that filters potential fraud during online shopping, which is a growing worry for e-commerce businesses.
Reporter Community established a social platform where anyone can share their newsworthy photos and sell them to the media and news agencies.
Brokerchooser brings innovation into online stock-exchange trading: their system allows investors to entrust brokers directly in Europe.
Ozone Extrade developed a machine that sterilizes facilities with ozone. The tool can be used in health care, food industry, agriculture as well as usage by the general public.
Wearnotch is a movement analysing application using motion sensors for medical use by physiotherapists and movement analysis by sports people or musicians.
Connecticut welcomes Central European companies with open arms
Hungary’s Consulate General in New York, together with Connecticut’s Quinnipiac University, organised a professional study day in connection with Techweek. The Hungarian start-ups had the chance to find out about company formation and business visas, familiarise themselves with the university’s innovation centre, strategy and Connecticut’s comprehensive programme encouraging the activities of Central European innovative start-ups in the state, from company establishment to market access through various forms of cooperation at university level. The event was also attended by Connecticut Innovation investment fund, which is looking for investment opportunities in start-up projects with a 120 million USD budget.
Other events organised for the Hungarian entrepreneurs were business development training courses, investment-oriented networking events and roundtable discussions.


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Last year, iPhone released the iPhone 12 lineup which includes iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 pro, and pro max. Now via EverythingApplePro video shared information on Apple’s iPhone 13 series and CAD design drawings, indicating that Apple plans to make this year or next.
iPhone 13 camera module significantly larger, and it is likely to be larger. The sensor and Sensor-Shift stabilization function pave the way according to the cad drawings. In terms of size, the iPhone 13 Pro Max camera system will protrude by 0.87mm than the current iPhone 12 Pro Max. Therefore, according to the CAD drawings, the overall thickness of the fuselage will also increase by 0.25mm. Compared to the iPhone 12 Pro Max, the camera module will be 3.38mm higher and 4.77mm wider.
On other hand, iPhone 13 mini surfaces with diagonal camera settings in a 5.4-inch form factor. From the specific measurement results of CAD, the camera module will protrude by 0.99mm than the iPhone 12 mini. The width is 3.06mm longer and the height is 0.14mm shorter. The overall thickness of the iPhone 13 mini will increase by 0.26mm.
Today, A weibo blogger shared the iPhone 13 screen protector which is quite diffrent from last generation
As we are getting tips on new iPhone 13 leaks and rumors we can expect the launch of the new iPhone series is not far, however, there are no official confirmations for now but we are looking forward to it.
Thanks for reading till the end of this article. For more tech Leaks and Upcoming gadgets, head over to our Twitter Handle, and hit the follow button. For more informative and exclusive tech content, head over to our Facebook page.


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As budgets shift to focus on new technology initiatives, many marketers are making the critical mistake of excluding out-of-home advertising from their mix.
Print media, in its many forms, is remarkably effective when leveraged artfully with online marketing.
We think. You win. We are a 25-year-old full-service, integrated marketing and advertising agency in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Nashville, Tennessee.
CEO wants to put the brakes on his $10 billion ad budget.
Digital ad sales surpassed linear TV in the U.S. for the first time in 2016, pulling in $70 billion compared with $67 billion for national and local TV.
Twitter is now letting its advertisers fit more text, photos and videos into a single ad than ever before.
Steve Job’s serves as an example of doing agency new business the right way. Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple. When it comes to presenting and salesmanship, there’s no one b…
Stats and facts on advertising in the first 50 years of the Super Bowl including ad spending and cost for a 30-second commercial.
Explore the top challenges facing social advertisers in 2017.
Digital advertising has been a "godsend" to the Ad Council's public service campaigns, says the council's former president Peggy Conlon.
If you work on the creative side of advertising, you'll earn a paycheck for, among other things, crafting ads where sloths and hairdos sing and piano players caress keys with 30 fingers on a half-dozen hands.
Dentsu Aegis Network has worked with about a dozen brands testing video guarantees on Twitter, where they can count on delivery of the pre-roll commercials.
Here’s why you should know the difference between native advertising and content marketing – Content Marketing Institute.
Advertisers on Facebook really, really want to know how you feel.
Twitter said today that it expects to see lower demand from marketers over the next three months, a trend it started seeing at the start of the year.
If you ask the person next to you about the difference between marketing and advertising, there’...
15 Advanced Facebook Advertising Techniques You Probably Didn_t Know AboutFacebook advertising is just as powerful in 2017 as it’s ever been. Perhaps even
In this article we investigate how virtual and augmented reality are changing advertising.
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- Adding Beauty to the Fall at Barboursville Park
- UP CLOSE: Preparing to "Jump" and Taking the "Plunge" on Bridge Day Images
- MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: Defense Dept. Contracts for Oct. 23, 2014
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- Two Members of Newman Drug Gang Enter Guilty Pleas
- BOOK REVIEW: 'Unveiling the Mind': Poems by Chicago Writer Beatriz Badikian-Gartler Reach Out to Readers
- MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: Defense Dept. Contracts for Oct. 22, 2014
- Detroit Man Arrested for Heroin Distribution
- Preventing Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
- West Virginia Film Office iPhone App to Provide On-the-Go Access to Film Industry Resources
U.S.: New Home Sales Up 18.6% in May; Highest Rate in 6 Years
“These numbers are in line with our recent builder surveys, which indicate that more consumers are getting off the fence and coming back into the marketplace,” said Kevin Kelly, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del.
“This increase is a welcome sign after a slow start to 2014,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “As job creation continues, we can expect further release of pent-up demand and continued gradual growth in the housing recovery.”
Regionally, new-home sales were up across the board. Sales rose 54.5 percent in the Northeast, 34 percent in the West, 14.2 percent in the South and 1.4 percent in the Midwest.
The inventory of new homes for sale held steady at 189,000 units in May. This is a 4.5-month supply at the current sales pace.
The median sales price of new houses sold in May 2014 was $282,000; the average sales price was $319,200.


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THE WINE MARKET IN RUSSIA: GROWTH RETURNS
Russia, the world’s seventh largest wine market, is a vital vino stop on global export markets. Traditional tipples are losing ground amongst Russian drinkers as, despite the lingering effects of recession, consumption and imports of international wines are gaining ground in Russian once more
Picture your idea of the stereotypical Russian drink. You’re likely to be picturing a chilled shot glass topped up with crystal-clear vodka. While this may be the historical view, Russia’s thirst for spirits is shrinking. And, much like beer, the Russian wine market is tasting a sweet mixture of increased consumption and imports.
Imported wines enjoy popularity in Russia
Wine is a $693 million market in Russia — one that has started growing again as post-recession recovery continues. Russian imports of both sparkling and table wine rose around 4.5% across 2016, hitting 174.73 million litres and 34.85 million litres respectively. Harder liquors were not so popular amongst importers. Whiskey imports, for example, fell by 15.4% to 28.43 million litres. Brandy and cognac showed similar drops, imports decreasing by 21.8%, as Russian’s wine tastes take on an international flavour once more.
It should be pointed out that spirits still make 42% of Russian alcohol sales — so the market for these products is still very real and very stable. But why are Russian’s increasingly preferring a glass of fine red, or sweet white, wine to other drinks? A weaker euro and increased production output in many key EU supplier states means Russians are able to snap up great wines at lower prices, while other nations with developed vinicultures are specifically targeting Russia.
Additionally, around the beginnings of Russia’s economic crisis, domestically produced wines skyrocketed in price. According to President of Russian alcohol dealers Simple, Maksim Kashirin, consumers made the switch to cheaper, internationally-sourced varieties. Wine is an international concern for Russian consumers As mentioned above, Russia’s wine enthusiasts have a taste for European vintages.
Statistics from Russian wine sector website Nashevino.ru show Spain is Russia’s chief wine supplier with a 50.49% import share. South Africa was 2016’s second biggest exporter, accounting for 13.29% of total imports. Russian wine racks and cellars are well stocked with international bottles, with major retail groups reporting sales of foreign labels were up in 2016. GC Dixie, one of Russia’s largest supermarket chains, said its sales of imported wines grow 5%.
Russia’s wine market: the big players
Russia’s biggest wine importers are split between table and sparkling categories, according to data from Russia’s Federal Customs Service. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the main movers and shakers on the Russian wine import market:
- Table Wines Mistral Alco — 19.86 million litres — 11.3% import share — 5% rise compared with 2015
- Ludwig — 15.89 million litres — 9.1% import share — 25% rise compared with 2015
- Simple — 8.82 million litres — 5.05% import share — 32.1% rise compared with 2015
- Retail Imports — 6.29 million litres — 2.6% import share — 87.3% rise compared with 2015
- Priorimpeks — 6.24% million litres — 3.57% import share — 123.2% rise compared with 2015
- Sparkling Wines Bacardi Rus — 3.62 million litres — 10.4% import share — 18.6% drop compared with 2015
- Campari Rus — 2.7 million litres — 7.76% import share — 18.3% rise compared with 2015
- Simple — 2.2 million litres — 6.3% import share — 45.2% rise compared with 2015
- Marine Express — 2.03 million litres — 5.81% import share — 50.7% rise compared with 2015
- Russian Alcohol House — 1.89 million litres — 5.41% import share — 5.9% rise compared with 2015
Russian wine consumption predicted to grow
Russians consume an average of around 10 litres of wine per person per year. Consumption, which hovers around 1 billion bottles a year, is also predicted to grow steadily. By 2020, research body Euromonitor, consumption is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1% — reaching a total of 1.1 billion litres. The market, despite enjoying a healthy taste for the products of overseas vinyards, is focussed on cheaper offerings — although, as mentioned earlier, international wines tend to be cheaper than domestic labels for Russian consumers. The price of choice for 70% of consumers, when it comes to bottled wine, is under 200 roubles a bottle (about $4). Bottles costing between 200-500 roubles, about $4-10, hold a 25% market share. Premium wines, i.e. those priced 500 roubles and above, make up the remaining 5%. However, this sector is in contraction — in part due to tighter household budgets, but mainly due to Russia’s HORECA industry struggling to recover from the economic crisis.


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GlobalFoundaries, a popular semiconductor manufacturer, has locked horns with tech giant IBM over a dispute for over $2 billion from a deal made in 2014. The semiconductor manufacturer is now gearing for an IPO of stock, all set to generate more than $30 billion. IBM has stated that GlobalFoundaries abandoned the deal as soon as the payment of $1.6 billion was made back in 2014. According to the deal, GlobalFoundaries had to deliver next-gen microchips to IBM. However, recently GlobalFoundaries had filed a lawsuit against the Big Blue, citing that it did not violate any part of the agreement.
GlobalFoundaries has stated that the tech giant has not yet taken any action against the company, and it is just providing baseless threats. Back in 2014, GlobalFoundaries had acquired the chip manufacturing segment of IBM, and as a part of the deal, the company has to continue the production of new chip-making technology. This move was, however, dropped in 2018. GlobalFoundaries went silent for more than two years following the changes made in 2018, and then in April, IBM has sent a letter to GlobalFoundaries stating that the company has breached the contract. According to GlobalFoundaries, IBM is yet to provide a strong explanation from its side for the recent claims.


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ZTE officially announced today that the new generation of under-screen camera phone dubbed the Axon 30 will be released on July 27. Prior to this, we have got too much information concerning this handset. And today, it seems have the whole picture.
The certification information shows that the ZTE Axon 30 5G under-screen camera phone will sport a 6.92-inch 120Hz OLED high refresh rate screen. Honestly, this is in line with the official promotion. Previously, we learned that this display will also have a 4000ppi pixel density. Plus, it will use “7 layers of high-transmittance materials and 3 layers of special technology to provide a stronger light transmission.”
In addition, the machine weighs 190g and has a thickness of 7.8mm. It comes with a Snapdragon 870 processor. There are three memory versions of 6/8/12GB as well as three storage versions of 128/256/512GB. The front camera has a 16MP resolution, while the rear quad-camera comes with a 64MP + 8MP + 5MP + 2MP sensors combination. The machine has a 4100mAh battery and supports 55W fast charging.
In addition, a Weibo tipster released a real picture of ZTE Axon 30. We can hardly see the front camera area under the white background. The display effect seems to be very good. Combined with the official promo materials, the hiding effect of the camera is obviously further improved. Lastly, this machine ought to be the first to launch Visionox’s new under-screen camera solution.


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Earlier this year, the popular online retailer Verona Collection opened up its first brick-and-mortar location in Orlando, Florida. While there are a number of online marketplaces for finding faith-based clothing, there are few physical storefronts catering to consumers looking for modest garments. Instead of sifting through the racks at traditional clothing stores, Verona Collection gives women a convenient place to shop for modest outfits.
The new Verona Collection store is one of the few Muslim women's clothing stores to open in a mainstream US mall. Like the online shop, the new store sells modest clothing with a distinct Western feel. The more contemporary designs are meant to appeal to both Muslim and non-Muslim consumers who are looking for modest pieces that are still fashion-forward. As brand director Nadine Abu-Jubara explains, "We don't want to be a Muslim company that just caters to Muslims. Modest fashion is also a movement we're trying to create."