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Microsoft's decision to open-source more of its .Net platform didn't happen overnight, or even in the past few weeks. It was a move years in the making.
Chinese electronics giant reports $265 million in net profit in the third quarter on shipments of 15.3 million PCs.
The next-generation Internet plumbing is catching on. That's good news for help carriers, Internet service providers, and companies backing the idea of The Internet of Things.
The new mobile broadband service is available to the 276 million people covered by Sprint's 3G network. And 4G is coming later this year.
Strong quarterly revenue jump from a year ago still not enough to avoid a loss as company loses $5.3 million in the fourth quarter.
Worried that your kids are getting into the liquor cabinet while you're away? A startup hopes remote control and monitoring will ease your mind.
The company is showing the broadband and paid TV industry how services should be delivered as it introduces its Google Fiber 1-gigabit-per-second service and a new Google Fiber television service.
The company, founded by original Mac team member Alain Rossmann, will use the money on tech infrastructure and international expansion.
Official says government agencies and offices have already been connected to its "national information network" just as state news says Google is being blocked, Reuters reports.
Three public interest groups say they're filing a formal complaint against AT&T with the FCC for its policy on FaceTime over 3G.


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The apps people place on their smartphone home screens can say a lot about someone. Phones, whether we want to admit it or not, have become the hub of our lives.
For app developers, if your app makes it on a user’s home screen, you could say you’ve “made it.”
A couple of days ago, highly-esteemed New York venture capitalist Fred Wilson was frustrated that he couldn’t seem to replace the Google search widget on his Android home screen with one from search startup DuckDuckGo.
DuckDuckGo founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg told Wilson about the Nova Launcher, an Android app that lets Android users further customise their phones with a new home screen, gestures, folder icons, and more.
But for now, Wilson has only used it to hack his home screen. Here’s what it looks like.
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Topps Tiles experiences tougher market conditions in second quarter
Tile retailer Topps Tiles saw its like-for-like sales edge down 1.9% in the first half of its financial year as it experienced softer market conditions in its second quarter.
Total revenues in the 26 weeks to 1 April were £106.5 million compared to £108 million a year earlier.
The company said trading in its second quarter reflected softer market conditions with like-for-like sales down 4.1%. The lower sales growth in the first half will primarily be offset by reduced operating expenditure.
During the period, Topps Tiles opened 10 new stores in its core estate and closed three. The company is currently trading from 358 stores, including 15 boutique stores, compared to 340 stores in the same period in the previous year. Topps Tiles expects to open around 15 net new stores in the current financial year.
Matthew Williams, Topps Tiles chief executive, said: “Market conditions over the second quarter have been tougher, but the business has responded well with tight control of costs. While we are taking a prudent view on the outlook for the balance of 2017, an improving trend over the second quarter provides some encouragement.”
Topps Tiles expects full year underlying pre-tax profit to be within the current range of analyst forecasts of between £21 million and £22.3 million, with consensus at £21.8 million.
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MOSES LAKE, Wash — A prototype all-electric airplane took its first flight Tuesday out of Moses Lake.
The plane, called Alice, took an eight-minute flight at an altitude of 3,500 feet.
“Today’s first flight was absolutely amazing, we had the aircraft ready to go on time, we brought it into the field and were able to execute a nearly perfect first flight activity,” said Gregory Davis, President and CEO of Eviation.
The company says Alice produces no carbon emissions, significantly reduces noise and costs a fraction to operate per flight hour compared to light jets or high-end turboprops.
The company that built the plane, Eviation, is targeting the plane at commuter and cargo markets and aims to operate flights ranging from 150 to 200 miles.
"When you look at the breakdown of air travel globally, 50% of the travel is less than 500 nautical miles. When you look a little bit further, about 20% of all air travel is less than 250 nautical miles," Davis said. "So what we're doing is we're targeting that part of the market for our plane."
Eviation believes it can "dramatically reduce" the cost of air travel with its electric technology.
"We should be able to reduce the operating cost from point to point by as much as two-thirds versus a traditionally-fueled airplane," Davis said.
"Here in Moses Lake I believe it's about 12 cents a kilowatt for electricity, it's very inexpensive compared to aviation fuel. This will, coupled with the lower maintenance requirements for the electric motors in the aircraft and so on, it will reduce prices for travel."


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Most of Connecticut’s small businesses are hiring this year, according to the Connecticut Business & Industry Association’s first-ever survey of employers with 500 or fewer employees.
Sixty percent of small businesses statewide have hired or plan to hire workers this year, according to CBIA’s 2016 Survey of Small Businesses.
Of those hiring, 59 percent are adding fewer than four workers, 27 percent are hiring four to 10 workers, 8 percent are hiring 11 to 20 new employees, and 6 percent plan to add more than 20 employees, the survey found.
Small businesses are a major economic driver in Connecticut and statewide, according to CBIA economist Pete Gioia.
“They are vital to communities, and are the backbone of our economy,” he said in a statement. “This survey allows us to better understand what taxes, legislation, and issues concern them and how to correct it.”
The survey marks the first time CBIA has exclusively polled small-business owners, many of whom run family owned and operated companies.
The effort, according to CBIA, is intended to give the advocacy group a better understanding of small businesses’ needs in the state. Small businesses comprise the bulk of CBIA’s membership and participants in the survey represented varied industries: utilities, retail, construction, nonprofits, software, medical, finance, and hospitality, among others.
The survey was emailed to top executives at about 3,800 small companies statewide in March and April, garnering responses from 232 business leaders.
When asked to name their top challenge, the largest share — 31 percent — said profitability and growth; while 21 percent said government regulation, mandates, and other policies; and 20 cited the cost of doing business.
Most respondents, or 69 percent, said they lack confidence that elected officials will act “consistently and predictably” on legislation affecting business over the next three to five years.
Most, however, are being proactive when it comes to approaching legislators. Nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, said they or their employees had communicated with state lawmakers over the past year about their company’s challenges and needs, the survey found.
When it comes to taxes, the personal income tax is small businesses’ biggest challenge, according to the survey, followed by the corporate tax and property taxes. Labor-related regulations are the most worrisome regulations, business leaders said.


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Compared to last week, coming back after last week’s Labor Day Holiday many markets this week are compared to two weeks ago, especially some of the large volume Monday sales and early week sales. Order buyers this week flexed their muscles pursing the long green grass yearlings over 750 pounds, mostly 850-1000 pounds selling steady to $5 higher with instances $8 higher.
Imported meat for the week ending September 12 totaled 36,388 metric tons. The following figures represent metric tons.
Compared to last week, wooled feeder lambs firm, slaughter hair lambs steady, slaughter ewes $5-8 higher, kids $5-10 higher and nannies firm to $10 higher. Sheep and goat receipts estimated 4079 head.
Yearling steers and heifers steady to firm, calves lower, slaughter cows and bulls $3-5 lower. Receipts totaled 2445 head.
Total red meat production under federal inspection for the week ending September 19 was estimated at 1086.9 million pounds. This was 11.9 percent lower than a week ago and 0.7 percent lower than a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was even compared to the previous year.
Domestic wool trading on a clean basis inactive this week, with no confirmed trades reported.
Compared to last week, steer calves under 600 pounds $12-17 higher, feeders and calves over 600 pounds $5-8 higher, heifer calves under 600 pounds $7-12 higher, feeders and calves over 600 pounds $5-9 higher, slaughter cows steady to $1 lower, bulls steady. Cattle receipts totaled 4052 head.
70 YEARS AGO
Oklahoma buyers bought two loads of four and five-year-old ewes at Mid-West Feed Yards this week at $21.25 per head.


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How about an unforgettable evening with a live Cirque du Soleil performance?
Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo will be at T-Mobile Center May 25-28. Creators say the show is one of the longest and most popular of its kind.
Fans can grab two tickets for the show for less than $100. Tickets for all five shows are available at the discounted price. This offer expires Wednesday, Feb. 15.
Similar shows have been hits in Kansas City, with tickets for shows becoming hard to get closer to performances.
Creators promise an evening of Cirque pageantry and acrobatics you’ll never forget.


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With a radius of curvature that can go below 3cm, FlexEnable’s ultra-thin and lightweight OLCDs can be applied to curved surfaces in cars where glass-based displays won’t work. The ability of the display to run vivid colour and smooth video content is enabled by high-performance organic transistors on plastic substrates.
The technology is compatible with existing LCD production lines, and is scalable to large area displays. Due to the use of low-cost plastics and the low-temperature manufacturing process, FlexEnable’s technology is the lowest cost flexible display technology available.
“Plastic LCDs are an excellent option for OEMs and car brands as they can conform naturally to the curved surfaces of the car to enhance visibility and safety,” Chuck Milligan, CEO of FlexEnable, said.


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Barbie is the most fashionable toy on the planet. The Mattel-owned plastic doll has had partnerships with Moschino, Richard Quinn, the late Karl Lagerfeld, Balmain, Diane von Fürstenberg, Coach, Vogue Italia and even collaborated with Mac Cosmetics in 2020. What's more, Barbie got her Met Gala moment in 2019 when singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves dressed as her and rocked up in a pink convertible.
Barbie's male counterpart, Ken, on the other hand, has been contrastingly overlooked. Now, as he turns 60 years old (although it has to be said he doesn't look a day over 20), Mr Plastic Fantastic has been given a high-fashion glow-up.
Kris Van Assche, creative director of LVMH-owned Berluti, has partnered with Mattel to design a wardrobe specially for the plastic doll. Van Assche explained that in celebration of Ken's milestone anniversary, he has designed three limited-edition dolls and a Berluti-branded buggy.
Each doll is decked out in Ken-size versions of pre-existing Berluti gear (which you can buy below), including a double-breasted Prince Of Wales-check suit, a slick, chocolate-hued leather jacket and one of the brand's graphic silk shirts from its Spring/Summer 2021 collection, which was made in collaboration with American ceramicist Brian Rochefort.
And it isn't just Ken's ego that is benefiting from Van Assche's touch. The three dolls will be sold through the Make A Wish Foundation auction in May, which will help fund the charity's ongoing pledge to give children with critical illnesses the chance to live their dreams, from a surprise birthday party thrown by Harry Styles in 2017 to afternoon tea with Emma Watson in 2018.
Until then, below are the life-size Berluti pieces you ought to have in your wardrobe.


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Starbucks offers online college program to workers
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In this Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, file photo, pedestrians are reflected outside a Starbucks store in Atlanta.
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JAMAICA will be able to export mangoes to the US come January.
The conditional approval, which was granted by the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, opens up a US$500 million market to local farmers.
But the country has just been able to export US$1.2 million to US$1.6 million worth of mangoes annually over the past decade, even though global demand (around US$1.9 billion last year) has more than tripled since 2003.
What’s more, ministry officials figure that Jamaica has the capacity to export just about 261,000 kilogrammes of mangoes to the US each year, or less than 0.1 per cent of total demand in the North American country.
And while US imports of mangoes have more than doubled from US$180 million in 2003, growth in demand for the fruit has been faster elsewhere. The US market’s share of global mango demand fell from 30 per cent a decade ago to 26 per cent last year.
All of Jamaica’s mangoes currently are shipped to Canada and the UK. Last year, local farmers exported 670,000 kg of the fruit, valued at just over US$1.5 million.
There has been a comparative increase in the volume of exports so far this year, with figures up to June showing that just over 500,000 kg of mangoes have been exported.
Those fruits came from the 14 mango orchards in Jamaica, ranging from two to 150 acres in size, which predominantly grow Julie and East Indian mangoes and which are largely located in St Thomas, with two of them being in St James.
But more orchards would have to be established for Jamaica to take a meaningful share of the global market.
In the meantime, the agriculture ministry is looking to partner with the private sector to set up facilities which will allow farmers to get their mangoes into the US, according to Sheila Harvey, chief plant quarantine and produce inspector at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Before being accepted into the US, Jamaican mangoes must either be subjected to a ‘hot water immersion bath’ or ‘irradiation’ treatment designed to kill all imbedded pests. The equipment to do this is expected to cost just under $20 million.
Jamaican mangoes have been locked out of the US market for the last 30 years due to concerns about the prevalence of tropical fruit flies, namely the West Indian Fruit Fly (Anastrepha obliqua) and the Caribbean Fruit Fly (Anastrepha suspensa).
The approval emerged from a ‘market access request’ that was made by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2009.
As a condition to entry, the mangoes must be produced on designated orchards, in accordance with a ‘systems approach’ that employ a combination of mitigation measures for certain fruit flies and insects.
This will enable the US plant and animal control authority to track the shipment directly the orchard of produce if a pest is detected.


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DraftKings was a company that started in the Daily Fantasy Sports industry, but it has quickly emerged into one of the leaders in the sports betting industry. DraftKings will continue to grow over the next few months as it was announced that it will be launching in Michigan.
DraftKings has partnered with Bay Mills Resort & Casino, which is located in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. Bay Mills is a tribal gaming venue, and they have been searching for a company to power its mobile sportsbook.
As part of the agreement, DraftKings will also be operating a retail sportsbook at the casino, but the big money will be coming from the mobile app. This deal has been in the works for some time, but the deal still had to be approved by the Michigan Gaming Commission before it could be announced.
Michigan approved legalized sports betting last December, and the state wasted little time in getting the industry up and running. The first retail sportsbook went live in early March, just days before live sports were shut down throughout the United States.
DraftKings has done plenty of research into the potential of sports betting in Michigan, and they are convinced it can become a major player in the industry. Michigan lawmakers are pleased that DraftKings will be joining the market and bringing in plenty of additional tax revenue.
One of the biggest reasons that Michigan went ahead and legalized sports betting was because the state realized that bettors were traveling out of state to do their betting. Indiana is one of the fastest-growing sports betting markets in the country, but that growth will be slowed as Michigan begins to add more big players.
Joining the Market at Perfect Time
DraftKings recently became a publicly-traded company, and their prices have bounced around since appearing on the stock market. Prices dropped earlier this week, but they started to climb back up with the announcement that they are now launching a new app in the state of Michigan.
DraftKings is also joining the market in Michigan fresh on the heels of both the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association announcing plans to return. Detroit is home to the Pistons of the NBA and the Red Wings of the NHL.
This will be the eighth state in which DraftKings will be offering a mobile sports app, and the seventh state that will feature a DraftKings retail sportsbook. DraftKings currently offers a mobile app in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
They operate a retail sportsbook in Colorado, Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York.
DraftKings is reportedly also trying to find a way to launch in the state of Illinois, but several hurdles remain. The Midwest portion of the country has seen tremendous sports betting growth over the past 12 months.
The official announcement from these two companies did not provide any specific dates as to when the mobile app or retail sportsbook would be up and running. It would seem likely that DraftKings would aim to get both up and running before the NBA and NHL resume their seasons.
The state of Michigan has received plenty of criticism of their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but the state has started to reopen over the last few weeks. Tribal casinos throughout the state have been reopening as well, and the Bay Mills Resort and Casino is taking reservations for this weekend.
Now that DraftKings Sportsbook has the official approval, they can begin developing their mobile app and creating their retail sportsbook in hopes of launching this summer.


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Gabon PM visits Lebanon to seal economic accords
Gabonese Prime Minister Jean-Francois Ntoutoume Emane arrived in Beirut Tuesday, February 20, on a four-day official visit during which he will sign a series of bilateral accords to boost economic ties.
Ntoutoume Emane was scheduled to have talks with his Lebanese counterpart Rafiq Hariri and seal a series of accords to increase economic cooperation, air transport, trade and tourism, and encourage and protect investments as well as abolish double-taxation. — (AFP, Beirut)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)


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© The Financial Times Ltd 2016 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
Last updated: May 19, 2014 2:00 pm
Ryanair on Monday reported an 8 per cent fall in net income for 2013-14, its first earnings decline in five years, and issued cautious profit guidance for 2014-15.
Europe’s largest low-cost carrier by revenue described the profit fall as “disappointing”, and blamed the decline on cheaper fares, negative exchange rate movements and higher fuel costs.
It sought to reassure investors it could increase earnings in 2014-15 after embarking on a series of improvements to its much-criticised customer service, and several analysts said the profit guidance was conservative. In afternoon trading, Ryanair’s shares were up 9.6 per cent at €6.96.
The company expects profit after tax in 2014-15 to be between €580m and €620m, although it stressed the target was partly dependent on the fares it could secure from passengers next winter.
Average fares could fall by as much as 8 per cent in the second half of 2014-15, as Ryanair tries to woo business travellers by flying more between some of Europe’s larger airports.
Last year, the airline surprised several investors with two profit warnings, which it blamed on increased competition, weakening demand amid fragile European economic conditions, and sterling’s weakness against the euro.
The company, which last year was voted worst of 100 big brands in the UK market in terms of customer relations by readers of consumer magazine Which, pledged significant changes to its digital marketing and image, as well as its booking and network strategies.
Some analysts concluded the changes – similar to initiatives by rival easyJet – were an important effort by Ryanair to try to ensure success with plans for a new phase of growth based on buying 175 new Boeing aircraft.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said on Monday there had been “a perception out there that we did not have very good customer service – we are [now] making real and meaningful improvements in the customer experience”.
He added that Ryanair’s average fares – or yields – should rise up to 2 per cent in 2014-15, although he warned these could fall by between 6 and 8 per cent in the second half of the year.
He stressed that expected post-tax profit of €580m to €620m was therefore “heavily qualified by [second-half] yield out-turn, over which we currently have zero visibility”.
Ryanair has the leanest cost structure in European aviation, but it expects expenses – excluding fuel – to rise 5 per cent in 2014-15, partly because it is flying to more of Europe’s larger airports, which have higher landing charges compared to smaller hubs.
These destinations should make the airline more attractive to business travellers who want to fly from airports such as Brussels Zaventem.
From August, Ryanair is planning to issue business tickets that will be higher than other fares, but will include features such as the right to fast-track through airport security.
The company reported revenue of €5bn in the year to March 31, up 3 per cent compared to 2012-13.
Net income fell to €523m from €569m the previous year. Diluted earnings per share fell 6 per cent to €0.37.
Gerald Khoo, analyst at Liberum Capital, said Ryanair’s profit guidance “may follow the usual pattern of starting low and rising through the year”.
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The furniture business is tied to real estate in more ways than you might think.
The five brothers who own Matter Brothers Furniture have benefited from the housing recovery in Florida, of course. People have been buying homes and furnishing them, boosting the Fort Myers-based company's revenues by nearly 13% in 2012 to $35 million.
But Matter Brothers has owned the commercial buildings and the land on which its stores operate, and the brothers say that was a key to surviving the economic bust of recent years.
John Matter, 50, the company's president, is fond of saying he runs a real estate company that sells furniture. “We own all of our properties,” he says. “The only time we expand is when we find real estate.”
In that vein, the Matters are scouting potential sites for a new store in Sarasota that will open next year. “We know it's a very vibrant market,” says Tom Matter, who notes that high commercial real estate values kept the company out of Sarasota in the past. “We prefer to buy a good location, but we couldn't find a good value,” he says.
With four Matter Brothers stores and six Florida Leather Gallery stores throughout the region from Tampa to Naples, Sarasota remains the missing piece in the Matter Brothers territory. “We're focused on the west coast of Florida,” he says.
Still, the brothers remain cautious about future expansion, the housing collapse fresh in their minds. “We're very careful about any expenditure today,” says Tom Matter. “Everybody remembers 2006.”
Surviving the downturn
The region's furniture retailers suffered through the real estate collapse and many of them closed their doors. Matter Brothers shared in the pain as sales fell 50% in that period, but the brothers kept their doors open because they didn't have the crippling lease expenses that burdened rivals.
Even without the building-lease expense, the Matter brothers scrutinized every cost during the downturn, from coffee to lawn service. Like many others, its staff shrank, too. And the company consolidated distribution centers in Fort Myers, closing the one in Tampa. “We did it early,” says John Matter.
When it came down to it, the Matter brothers could drive the delivery trucks themselves if they had to. When their father started the business in Fort Myers in 1977 after moving from Indiana, the five brothers — David, Gary, John, Tom and Stewart — worked in the family store after school. “We'd deliver whatever they sold in the morning,” says John Matter, whose father retired in 1990.
In those days, U.S. 41 in Fort Myers was a two-lane road. The company grew with the residential development, following the rooftops in Naples and further up the coast in Pinellas Park and Tarpon Springs.
In addition, the Matter brothers operate a mattress-production company, which they acquired in Pinellas Park in 1984. Mattresses are usually the first purchase a customer makes when furnishing a new home, and Matter Brothers sells 1,500 mattress sets a year. “We manufacture all of our own bedding,” says John Matter. “We don't have the factory markup.”
The mattresses it sells cost from $599 to $4,995, and Matter Brothers makes custom beds for recreational vehicles and boats. The company made a 10-foot custom round bed for one customer.
Each brother operates a separate part of the business, and the brothers meet weekly for meetings in Fort Myers. For example, David Matter oversees the mattress operation. “We're not on top of each other every day,” says John Matter.
The brothers banter like any siblings, but they don't pull rank on each other. “We're a close-knit group,” says Tom Matter. John Matter is president because he was the first one to get involved in their father's furniture business after school. “I pulled the short straw,” he chuckles.
“Titles don't mean anything.”
With commercial real estate values still depressed, the Matter brothers say there's an opportunity to open the first new Matter Brothers store in 25 years in Sarasota.
Location is key, they say. “We won't go into markets that may be good 10 years from now,” says Tom Matter.
But the Matter Brothers are taking their time, and they don't expect to open the Sarasota store until 2014. “We're all a little more cautious and smart about what we do,” says John Matter.
For one thing, the Matter Brothers stores are much larger than the smaller Florida Leather Gallery stores they operate. The Matter Brothers stores range in size from 30,000 to 50,000 square feet and the Florida Leather Gallery stores range from 8,000 to 10,000 square feet.
Still, the Matter brothers believe the residential real estate recovery is well under way, and there's pent-up consumer demand for new furniture to warrant a new store. “A lot of them are buying complete housefuls,” says John Matter.
Matter says the company's stores target the “upper-middle” segment of the market. A sofa might cost about $1,000 at Matter Brothers, for example.
They're focused on West Florida and don't have plans for other regions of the state. “We're a coastal company,” says Tom Matter.
In addition, the Matters are focused on growing their commercial business, furnishing large buildings such as hotels and condominiums. For example, the tourism recovery is allowing hotel owners to renovate properties. “A lot of that stuff is overdue to be replaced,” says Tom Matter.
The statewide recovery in residential real estate is benefitting Gulf Coast furniture retailers across the price spectrum.
“We are seeing more multi-room purchases,” says Rooms to Go CEO Jeffrey Seaman, whose Seffner-based company posted $1.61 billion in revenues in 2012, up 7.3% from the previous year.
While the average transaction remained about the same, Seaman says much of the growth came from new customers at its 150 stores. “Most of that is Florida coming back,” he says.
Seaman says Rooms to Go has added distribution space to its warehouse operations in Lakeland and plans to expand stores in Orlando and Southeast Florida. “Our sales growth this year will be greater in Florida,” he forecasts.
Sales this year are running 25% ahead of last year at Clive Daniel Home in Naples, says Daniel Lubner, president and CEO of the upscale furniture retailer. Clive Daniel posted revenues of $24 million in 2012, its first full year of operations.
Clive Daniel Home is scouting sites for future expansion on both coasts of Florida. “We're doing due diligence on two different locations right now,” says Lubner. “It's fun to see where the market is going again.”
The growth isn't limited to residential real estate. “The hospitality business is absolutely exploding,” says Lubner, whose company, Lubner Group, offers design and furniture to resorts, hotels, timeshares and clubs. For example, Allied Capital & Development of South Florida recently selected Lubner Group to furnish the 179-room Wyndham Grand Hotel to be built next year in Jupiter.
While Lubner says the hospitality business represented only about 5% of total sales last year, he expects that to grow significantly as hotels and clubs compete for customers after putting off renovations during the downturn. “It's created a domino effect,” he says.


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After long delays and false starts, Samsung has finally started rolling out the much awaited Android 4.0 Ice-cream Sandwich update to the global variant of Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphones. The announcement was made on Samsung’s official blog confirming that the Android 4.0 ICS software upgrade will begin in European countries including Poland, Hungary, Sweden, as well as Korea today and gradually roll out to other markets.
To be clear, the update is being rolled out for international spec Galaxy S2 (the GT-I9100), and the owners of AT&T/T-Mobile Galaxy S2 or a Sprint Epic 4G Touch would have to wait for their carriers to make the announcement.
Samsung has clarified that the Android 4.0 ICS update will be rolled out via KIES software manager. The Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II LTE, and the 8.9 and 10.1-inch Galaxy Tabs are next in line to receive the Ice-cream sandwich love.
Though the owners of the older models like Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab 7, Galaxy S Plus, and the Galaxy W won’t be getting the ICS update, Samsung has tried to make them feel a little better by offering new updates that bring features like Face Unlock and a revamped photo editor.[via]Techcrunch


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Pay.com of the UK has partnered with Cross River Bank of New Jersey to support the growth of the latter’s commercial payments platform in the US and to aid in its development.
Cross River offers “millions” of customers and enterprises technology infrastructure, including scalable embedded payments, cards, and loan solutions.
To support Pay.com’s global expansion and provide businesses and merchants with “efficient” payment options, the company will make use of its embedded solutions and adaptable APIs.
The collaboration, which has been in place since July 2022, enables the payment service provider’s present and future merchants to accept a variety of payment options, including debit and credit cards as well as non-traditional payment options including ACH transfers and digital wallets.
What The Partnership Is All About
Pay.com is also able to offer customer-centric payment capabilities thanks to Cross River’s API infrastructure, enabling closed-loop embedded financial solutions for retailers and companies.
It will be able to “grow and reach new markets” thanks to Cross River’s infrastructure in terms of compliance, payments, and technology, according to Cross River CEO and President Gilles Gade.
Assaf Cohen, CEO of Pay.com, says that Cross River’s “expertise in embedded finance” and “regulatory infrastructure” will aid in the company’s expansion and provide merchants with access to the most recent payment technologies.
In Relation To Nigeria
Coming down to Africa, Wakanow, a travel recently defined the future by creating new opportunities through its services. It enhanced customer interface which is a value to the revolution of the travel industry.
They took care of all travel needs of travel enthusiasts from flights, hotels, holiday experiences, visa processing, and COVID-19 tests, among other offerings.
Bayo Adedeji talking as the new CEO said,
“We are expanding into new verticals and Countries in Africa & beyond to take advantage of new business opportunities in the emerging competitive landscape leveraging our deep understanding of the African customer and expertise in the travel tech industry, and I will be leading this venture as Group CEO”
Follow techkudi.com for more news


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May 23, 2013 BY Aaron Hope
A couple of Nike Free 5.0+ Breathe styles arrived at US retailers over the past month, and now we see that these highly ventilated variations aren’t restricted to just the one model. It’s a full-on ‘Breathe Pack‘ with three colorways for the Frees, two each in mens and womens on the LunarGlide+ 4 Breathe and one each for each gender on the Zoom Structure+ 16 Breathe and Air Pegasus+ 29 Breathe. Those last two models aren’t common here in the US, so stick with Sneaker News for updates after you’ve seen the entire Nike Running Breathe Pack after the jump below.
Photos: Nike Kichijoji


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The acquisition comprises a new freehold DC in Peterborough, as well as 160,000ft2 of warehouse, retail and office space.
The baby products retailer, which generated sales of £37.5m last year, will continue to trade separately as Kiddicare.com, keeping DPD and Interlink Express as delivery partners, Roadtransport.com understands.
Morrisons says it intends to build its online non-foods business and launch its own first products in 2012.
Dalton Philips, Morrisons chief executive, says: "This acquisition brings not only a respected, successful and fast-growing specialist retailer into the Morrisons group, but also a robust, scalable and highly advanced technology platform around which we can begin to build our e-commerce offer."
BCA Marketplace, the company behind Webuyanycar.com, has bought Eddie Stobart’s automotive logistics business – formerly ... more
The High Cube Network has taken delivery of its first longer semi-trailer, which forms a part of the government’s ongoing trial. The ... more
A Derbyshire operator that had its O-licence revoked by North West traffic commissioner (TC) Beverley Bell for maintenance failings has ... more


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Quibi has raised $2.15 b in total funding. View Quibi stock / share price, financials, funding rounds, investors and more at Craft January 08, 2021. Tags Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/B) Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) Lemonade (LMND) From Stock Gumshoe. Roku Buys Quibi's Content Distribution Rights. January 08, 2021. Tickers ROKU TECH. Tags streaming video Tech Benzinga. From Benzinga Find the latest QIWI plc (QIWI) stock quote, history, news and other vital information to help you with your stock trading and investing Quibi's price is $4.99 a month with ads or $7.99 without ads. However, Quibi is offering a free 90-day trial. And some T-Mobile users may be qualified for a free year of subscription. Next, Quibi has a second source of income. Before the platform went live, Quibi sold $150 million worth of ads. Partners include T-Mobile, Taco Bell, PepsiCo and Walmart, just to name a few Quibi's stock: Are they trying to salvage the company by selling? Is Quibi the little streaming service that couldn't - or could?. After it launched on April 6th, Quibi has certainly failed to find its audience. According to a spokesperson, in its first three months Quibi was downloaded 4.5 million times & had 1.6 million subscribers: a slow start compared to HBO Max's 26.5 million.
Durchstöbern Sie 187 quibi Stock-Fotografie und Bilder. Oder starten Sie eine neue Suche, um noch mehr Stock-Fotografie und Bilder zu entdecken Quibi launched on April 6 for $5 per month with ads or $8 without. It also offered a 90-day free trial Quibi war eine rein mobile Plattform, die 18 Monate nach dem Start wieder geschlossen wurde, da sie kein Interesse bei der Öffentlichkeit weckte. Obwohl Quibi einige Hollywood-Stars für die Produktion von Inhalten und Werbekunden für die Unterstützung des Dienstes gewinnen konnte, kam der Dienst bei der Öffentlichkeit überhaupt nicht an. 3 Aktien, die jetzt von der Digitalisierung der.
Video streaming service Quibi, which will debut next month, has raised another $750 million in funding, according to the Wall Street Journal. That brings the total investment in an app hardly.. Can You Buy Stock in Quibi? Ultimately no, you cannot buy stock in Quibi, but you will be able to purchase shares in any future IPO. Based on the latest valuation, the stock price could range from $10-20 per share. I will most definitely be keeping my eye out for more IPO updates because I love investing in new tech ventures Quibi's core offerings -- its eponymous Quibis -- are short-form videos. A portmanteau of quick bites, Quibis aren't generally just clips or highlights. They still serve as full episodes or.. Quibi, the short-form streaming service started by Jeffrey Katzenberg and led by Meg Whitman, is exploring a sale of the company, two people familiar with the matter said Monday Quibi, short for quick bites, raised $1 billion last year and seeks to raise an additional $500 million by early 2020. The service will launch on April 6, 2020. That's a lot of.
Quibi with a capital Q refers to the service, but all-lower-case quibi is the word the company invented for its short-form episodes, which all run about 10 minutes or less In fact, Quibi is short for quick bites, meaning each episode is meant to take only a few minutes to consume. The other quirk: Quibi shows will only be watchable on a mobile device via the app... Quibi has already indicated a move away from the mobile-only part, as the company is in talks with Amazon Fire and Roku to bring the app to TV. And Quibi could move away from the hard 10-minute. Finden Sie perfekte Stock-Fotos zum Thema Talk:Quibi sowie redaktionelle Newsbilder von Getty Images. Wählen Sie aus erstklassigen Inhalten zum Thema Talk:Quibi in höchster Qualität Whitman is the former CEO of eBay (EBAY) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Pronounced kwib-bee and meant to be an abbreviation for quick bites, Quibi debuts April 6 and cost $4.99 a month..
Streamingdienst Quibi soll verkauft werden oder an die Börse gehen. Während du schliefst Streamingdienst Quibi soll verkauft werden oder an die Börse gehen. Barbara Barkhausen. 22 Sep 2020. Filmproduzent Jeffrey Katzenberg will den Smartphone-Dienst abstoßen. Außerdem: Verwirrung um Tiktok-Oracle-Deal und Microsoft geht im Gaming-Markt shoppen. Filmproduzent Jeffrey Katzenberg startete. UPDATED with stock uptick. In its biggest original programming foray to date, Roku has bought exclusive global distribution rights to the portfolio of Quibi, the recently shuttered mobile-only str Quibi aside, Katzenberg has a long history of success in Hollywood, having churned out hits for Walt Disney Studios in the 1990s and created DreamWorks Animation, which is now a unit of Comcast.
Quibi is hedging a lot of bets that its short-form content will be the differentiating factor. The company has said it expects to release 7,000 pieces of content within the first year of launching. Even Quibi's founder, Hollywood insider Jeffrey Katzenberg, poured $5.5 million of his own money into the company. Katzenberg had been raising capital from big names in Hollywood as well as Silicon Valley and Wall Street. But, as Quibi's failure proves, a startup with $1.75 billion to burn is still just a startup. And startups fail UPDATED with stock uptick. In its biggest original programming foray to date, Roku has bought exclusive global distribution rights to the portfolio of Quibi, the recently shuttered mobile-only.
The first stock we're looking at, Cardiff Oncology, is a clinical stage biopharma company with a laser-focus on cancer treatment. Cardiff is developing... Roku Pops 5% On Quibi Catalog Content Deal SmarterAnalyst via Yahoo Finance · 5 months ago. However, the service didn't take off the way the company had hoped, and in October, Quibi announced that it is planning to shut its operations and. Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg is reportedly having a hard time finding a buyer for the struggling short-form video streaming service, after being rebuffed by Apple Quibi, Katzenberg's plan to create a library of polished, Game of Thrones-quality short-form video shows for mobile phones. Named for the quick bites of entertainment it intends to offer.
Advertisers reviewing Quibi deals after streaming startup's numbers flop Streaming service Quibi is beginning to feel the pinch of its lackluster performance since launching last month Roku stock closed 5.2% higher following the announcement. Per the deal, Roku gained the exclusive rights to stream over 75 shows and documentaries produced by Quibi on The Roku Channel platform. Quibi, the much-hyped mobile app promising to deliver quick bites of video entertainment, is finally here. The company has been in the headlines for more than two years, thanks to the. Quibi manages to miss every trend and tactic that could help make its app popular. The  Quibi is the anti-TikTok (that's a bad thing) 4 reasons it bites. Josh Constine @JoshConstine / 1. What's most exciting about Quibi is its launching with a robust programming library, giving new users plenty to watch on Day 1. What's more, it's going to continue new series throughout its first.
Quibi, the struggling short-form video service launched by entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg and led by Meg Whitman, may be close to a shutdown as it runs out of options, The Information says. . Here's the case for and against Quibi and its chances to succeed in a video world already. Your Quibi stock images are ready. Download all free or royalty-free photos and vectors. Use them in commercial designs under lifetime, perpetual & worldwide rights. Quibi aims to provide quick bites of premium content to subscribers. Unlike traditional networks that air 22-minute episodes, or platforms like Netflix and HBO that have TV episodes with runtimes that nearly match a feature film, Quibi guarantees high quality content under 10 minutes. In addition, Quibi can't be accessed through a laptop or smart TV Quibi, the brainchild of former HP CEO Meg Whitman and former DreamWorks head Jeffrey Katzenberg, launched on April 6. The price: $4.99 per month with ads, $7.99 for ad-free. The pitch: quick bites (hence the name) under 10 minutes long that people can watch on their commute, on the toilet, or at any moment when they have time to kill. That premise looked unique in the very crowded.
Hi. Here's a quibi about Quibi.Support SOME MORE NEWS: http://www.patreon.com/SomeMoreNewsCheck out our MERCH STORE: https://tinyurl.com/y4xxl3znSUBSCRIBE to.. Find the perfect Quibi stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Select from premium Quibi of the highest quality Quibi now marks his ambitious return to Hollywood prominence. As for Whitman, she helped grow eBay into one of the most notable internet brands in the world as president and CEO from 1998 to 2008 Quibi launched April 6, with the app going live around midnight ET with a free 90-day offer for anyone in the U.S. and Canada (and free for one year to some T-Mobile customers). Consumers have. Roku (ROKU) has rebranded the content it acquired from failed venture Quibi as Roku Originals, which will also served as the brand for its original programmin
Find the perfect chief product officer at quibi stock photo. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. No need to register, buy now By Christiana Sciaudone. Investing.com -- Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) rose 4% after getting a Street-high price target from Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), ahead of a potential acquisition of Quibi. The firm. Roku acquired Quibi's content distribution rights back in January this year for an undisclosed amount. In the fourth quarter of last year, Roku crossed a major milestone of 50 million active subscribers and its users streamed 17 billion hours worth of content. See Roku stock analysis on TipRanks) Last week, Merrill Lynch analyst Ruplu Bhattacharya reiterated a Buy and a price target of $500.
Quibi promises a vast library of original and exclusive content when it launches this April. With its unique approach and exclusivity, it could easily become a major streaming contender, especially since it'll only cost $5 per month. That said, the mobile-focused approach poses a major problem for those who like streaming on a bigger screen. But if mobile-only viewing is a dealbreaker, you. The first stock that Andrew bought was Apple, reflecting his love for its products. Related Articles. Stock Market Analysis . Should I Buy 2U Stock As Education Continues To Move Online? Posted on April 3, 2021 March 31, 2021 Author Andrew O'Malley. If you are wondering Should I buy 2U stock? then look no further as we have the bull and bear case for the education leader. Stock Market. High-frequency trading brings real benefits but still could wind up hurting the stock market — here's why. Roku is giving the series it acquired from defunct short-form streamer Quibi a new. Royalty-free stock photo ID: 1695738070. Portland, OR, USA - Apr 6, 2020: Quibi mobile app icon is seen on a smartphone. Quibi is an upcoming mobile app that hosts a variety of original short-form movies and shows
. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. No need to register, buy now Quibi is in advanced talks to sell its content catalog to Roku, as the short-form streaming service winds down its operations following an unsuccessful run Quibi clearly didn't have the ability to experiment very much. After launching on April 6th they extended their 90-day free trial to the end of the month (they eventually converted less than ten percent of those early sign-ups into paying subscribers), and after switching to a two-week free trial on May 1st they have not changed their offer since (basic plans start at $5 a month) The Update Issue: AutoNation and Netflix Earnings, RIP Quibi, Another Blow to Department Stores. By Berna Barshay. Friday, October 23, 2020 A A It's the time of year when I feel like I'm drinking from a fire hose Earnings season is upon us. With it comes a plethora of new information about how companies are performing and often more important, how they see the future shaping up. It. Thinking about selling Quibi stock options? Use our calculator to see what you could make: Number of options: Strike price: Sale price per share: Take home, pre-tax. You need to sell for to break even. Total. Exercise Cost. Fees (5% Average) Get the full picture and take control of your equity wealth with a free Vested account: Sign up with Google. or use an email address. Full name. Email.
Quibi IPO: Investors Look For Quibi Stock Post Launch . Tags: quibi ipo investors katzenberg investors. April 10th 2020. View original. A Quibi IPO is on investors' minds. The new streaming platform launched earlier this week. And the startup has over $1 billion in private funding. With that kind of value, investors are calling for Quibi stock. Related Articles. Goal 2020 review and 2021. . How to buy quibi stock. From big holidays pretty much all falling weekends to even more streaming service options (hel. Investing in a stock market crash like warren buffett. Ces 2020 quibi and stock market
Roku agreed to acquire the rights to content from Quibi, a deal that will make the defunct short-form streaming service's shows available on the biggest streaming-media player in the U.S Streamingplattform Quibi Serien-Häppchen fürs Handy . Serien in Hoch- und Querformat, serviert in schnell konsumierbaren Häppchen fürs Smartphone: In den USA ist der neue Streamingdienst Quibi. It was a long year, and one in which the coronavirus crisis and the US presidential election dominated the news. Yet the tech industry still managed to embroil itself in scandals of its own. 2020. One media investor says the fate of Quibi, which touted more than 100 original shows, reminded him of Verizon's Go90 streaming service, which was launched in 2015. The telecom giant spent.
Quibi's future seemed unlimited, and for a moment, when it launched on April 6, it looked as if all of Katzenberg's glorious predictions might come to pass. That first day, the Quibi app rose. Quibi has raised $1.75 billion from major movie studios, tech companies and wealthy individuals. It is betting users will pay at least $4.99 a month to watch movies and TV shows in quick bite. Roku acquired the exclusive global distribution rights to Quibi's award-winning shows and will make the content available for free on an ad-supported basis in 2021 to all Roku users. The Roku.
Roku Rebrands Content From Quibi Acquisition - Roku Originals SmarterAnalyst · 2 days ago. Roku will re-brand the content from its acquisition of Quibi as Roku Originals which will be Why Is Roku Stock Undervalued Even After A 450% Jump? Forbes · 1 day ago. Roku stock (NASDAQ: ROKU) has seen a formidable rise of more than 450% from its March 2020 lows. The... Is Roku Setting Up. Streamingdienst Quibi soll verkauft werden oder an die Börse gehen. Filmproduzent Jeffrey Katzenberg will den Smartphone-Dienst abstoßen. Außerdem: Verwirrung um Tiktok-Oracle-Deal und Microsoft geht im Gaming-Markt shoppen. Filmproduzent Jeffrey Katzenberg startete den Service im April zum Höhepunkt der Krise. Guten Morgen Beautiful Soul Meaning, Javier Rey Tv Shows, Helios Greek God, Mexico Climate, Bruno Bucciarati Arrivederci Figure. Quibi co-founders reveal pricing and launch date for the short-form streaming service, Verge readers can get an exclusive discount on Jackbox Party Pack 7, Dell's G5 15 gaming laptop is 27 percent off right now, Sign up for the Recent news which mentions Quibi. Quibi Stock. Quibi has raised $2.15 b in total funding. Quibi's Moment In The Spotlight Could Be Over Quick
(Photo by Quibi) The Best Quibi Shows to Stream Now. Updated as of October 1, 2020. New mobile-only streaming service Quibi launched in April with an all-star lineup to rival any other player in the streaming wars: Sophie Turner, Lena Waithe, Liam Hemsworth, Chrissy Teigen, Chance the Rapper, and LeBron James are all in new Quibi shows, with more big names on the way (Steven Spielberg and Zac. Quibi delivers quick-bite entertainment that fits into any moment of your day. Watch shows featuring the world's biggest stars. Episodes in 10 minutes or less. All designed for your phone. Download now to start watching. Your first 2 weeks are free. Enjoy original comedies, movie-quality action & drama, inspiring documentaries, and Daily Essentials to stay informed on news, sports, finance and. Quibi is launching with some 50 programs, a collection of short-form series, news and reality and movies in chapters. No program will ever be longer than 10 minutes. The word: Ryan Murphy on. Quibi, which is short for quick bites, offers short-form content that's no more than a few minutes long. The content ranges from scripted, fictional series to news and sports highlights. Quibi.
Roku Pops 5% On Quibi Catalog Content Deal. Roku confirmed the acquisition of Quibi Holdings, the company which holds Quibi's content distribution rights, on January 8. However, the video streaming platform did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Roku stock closed 5.2% higher following the announcement More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to. Your Quibi Logo stock images are ready. Download all free or royalty-free photos and vectors. Use them in commercial designs under lifetime, perpetual & worldwide. Vor etwa einer Woche ging der neue Streamingdienst Quibi online. Neben ersten Zahlen zur Nutzung gibt es nun auch Pläne, das geplante Smartphone-Format zu erweitern
Quibi management pulls the plug. Thu, Oct 22, 2020 1:41 PM EDT. Add to Playlist Quibi didn't get off to a great start, according to analysts, who reacted to Jeffrey Katzenberg's new service getting 300,000 downloads in its first da Looking for a stock symbol, but only know the company name, or a portion of the company name? Use this handy form to search our extensive database of stock symbols. Simply type the company name, or a portion of the company name into the space below, select an exchange (or all if you want to search all exchanges), then click the Search button. Search company names containing in . exchange(s. Quibi launches with a free 90-day trial - far more time than competitors Netflix and Amazon Prime (30 days) or Apple TV+ or Hulu/Disney+ (seven days). A monthly subscription will cost $4.99 with.


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Artnet.com, an online marketplacefororiginal works of art, has selected MadDogs & Englishmen as the agency of record for its $3 million to $5 millionmillion advertising account.
The company had been evaluating several alternatives, including using an interactive agency.
"We ultimately went with Mad Dogs because of the strength of their strategic approach to our business and their willingness to immerse themselves in the world of our brand, says Dan Wald, vice president of marketing for artnet.com.
The companies have not yet announced plans for a campaign.
Artnet.com gives Internet users access to 800 galleries, 20,000 works of art, and over 6,000 artists. The company competes with Art.com, Guild.com, and PaintingsDirect.com, and, to lesser degree, with auction sites like eBay.com and Sothebys.com.
Pamela Parker is a former managing editor of ClickZ News, Features, and Experts. She's been covering interactive advertising and marketing since the boom days of 1999, chronicling the dot-com crash and the subsequent rise of the medium. Before working at ClickZ, Parker was associate editor at @NY, a pioneering Web site and e-mail newsletter covering New York new media start-ups. Parker received a master's degree in journalism, with a concentration in new media, from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
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October 13, 2015
1pm ET/ 10am PT
November 12, 2015


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The liquor shops, which were closed since March 23, opened from Monday across the state, except in the COVID-19 containment zones and shopping malls, following the Centre's decision to ease some curbs during the lockdown.
But, a large number of people queued up outside liquor outlets in the state capital Raipur and other districts, defying the physical distancing norms.
"The state government has given permission for online sale of liquor so that crowding at wine shops can be discouraged," the official said.
- Madhya Pradesh
However, the home delivery facility will not be available in Raipur and Korba districts which are not classified as green zones, the official said.
The Centre has classified districts as red, orange and green zones based on thecovidCOVID-19 risk profiling.
People will have to register their mobile number, Aadhaar number and address for placing the order online which will be confirmed through an OTP (one time password).
A customer can order up to 5,000 ml of liquor at a time for home delivery, the official said, adding that the delivery charge is Rs 120.
The main opposition BJP termed the state governments decision of home delivery of liquor as "shameful" and demanded that it be withdrawn.
The Congress, which came to power, after promising to ban liquor is now delivering liquor at home. It is a very shameful decision, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Dharamlal Kaushik said.
Sunday, 10 Dec, 2023
- Reform Push Laid Ground for India’s Robust Growth: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Saturday that the priority given to policy, good governance and citizens’ welfare in the past decade has resulted in India becoming a robust economy with a GDP growing 7.7% in the last six months.IT Cos Take Pole Position on CEO Pay Front in India
The IT services industry continues to be the top CEO paymaster in India despite business headwinds in the past two years, going by FY23 numbers when seven out of the 10 highest earning CEOs in the country were from this sector.Discounts Reign with Early Yr-end Sales
Big discounting is making a comeback as brands and retailers including ecommerce platforms are advancing their end-of-season sale events by 7-10 days, in a rush to clear unsold inventories and notch-up revenue that remained under pressure for most part of the year.
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After being closed for over a year, Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park are planning to reopen on April 30, 2021.
“The day all of us have long been waiting for is almost here,” said Ken Potrock, president of the Disneyland Resort, in an official reopening announcement.
The announcement revealed that all Hotels of the Disneyland Resort would be reopening in phases, beginning April 29, and more than 10,000 Cast Members will be returning to work. Parades and nighttime spectaculars, which draw large crowds, will return at a later date.
Because theme park capacity is being significantly limited in compliance with governmental requirements, Disneyland Resort will manage attendance through a new theme park reservation system. To enter a park, guests must be sure to book both a park reservation and valid admission. Theme park reservations will be limited and subject to availability.
Current state guidelines mandate that only California residents may visit the parks, until further notice. All guests over the age of two will also be required to wear a face covering while in the park.


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A new price comparison website aimed at fleet operators has been launched by former operator Simon Marsh. Fleetscompare.com enables operators to compare prices on a wide range of products and services including insurance, camera systems, telematics, fuel cards, driver training and vehicle purchasing and rental. Marsh, who has run his own fleets, said he has negotiated “large discounts” from suppliers for operators who purchase through Fleetscompare.com, enabling significant savings to be made. The company is also sourcing products such as […]
A consortium led by HGV drivetrain systems developer Meritor has been awarded £31.9m of government funding to develop a “game changing” heavy duty electric truck.
Coventry-based engineering specialist Penso is to launch a range of new ultra-lightweight 3.5-tonne delivery vans for the booming home delivery market, writes George Barrow.
ULEMCo has worked with Yorkshire Water to produce what is believed to be the first water tanker anywhere to operate on hydrogen fuel.


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Sulzer Chemtech has finalised an agreement with Encina Development Group, LLC (Encina). Sulzer Chemtech will provide technology to recover high-purity circular aromatics from cracked oil products derived from Encina’s mixed-plastics-to-aromatics catalytic conversion platform. Encina’s 1000 tpy waste plastics recycling facility will be located in Northeast US, and is expected to be operational in 2024.
Encina has developed a catalytic platform wherein the cracked products selectively contain high levels of circular aromatics as well as other valuable byproducts. Sulzer Chemtech will provide its hydrotreating and aromatics extraction technology (SuRe™ BTX) to recover high purity circular benzene and toluene.
Sulzer Chemtech’s flagship aromatic extraction technology (GT-BTX®) has been deployed worldwide for aromatics recovery from reformate and naphtha cracked pyrolysis with more than 70 licenses sold. This is the first commercial application of this technology where waste plastics is used as feedstock within a circular chemical solution to help resolve a global environmental issue.
Carlo Badiola, Senior VP of Engineering and Technology at Encina, comments: “We selected Sulzer Chemtech and its SuRe BTX technology due to the company’s leading expertise in aromatic extraction. Sulzer Chemtech’s technology will allow us to produce high-quality circular aromatics from catalytically converted oil products derived from plastic waste. This collaboration will drive-up sustainable practices in industry.”
Sander van Donk, Head Global Technology Business at Sulzer Chemtech, concludes: “We are pleased to support Encina’s mission of enabling circularity in plastics recycling by providing our SuRe BTX technology downstream of their catalytic conversion process. This novel value chain builds on Sulzer Chemtech’s commitment to circularity and opens up an entirely new market for ultra-pure circular benzene and toluene produced from waste plastics.”
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/26012022/sulzer-chemtech-and-encina-enter-into-agreement/
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Boeing has agreed to purchase 7.5 million gal. of blended Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ in 2024 to support its US Commercial Airplanes business operations in reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.


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The tech giant Huawei’s sub-brand Honor is all ready to expand its smartphone family with the V10 flagship. The brand confirmed the news, through a teaser on the Honor Weibo account, that the device is all set to be unveiled in China on November 28th.
The teaser picture confirms that the Honor V10 will sport a dual-camera system along with AI and also a powerful 4000mAH battery. The smartphone is said to run the latest Android 8.0 Oreo-based EMUI 8.0.
The company is also planning to unveil the upcoming device in European markets a week after its official launch in China. The company is to host a launch event in London on December 5 where the new handset would be launched.
GSMArena reports early rumours have claimed that the Honor V10 will be a lower variant of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro that was unveiled back in October. The device is expected to have a bezel-less, 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio and would be powered by a Kirin 970 SoC, coupled with 8GB of RAM. Also, it is rumoured to feature 16-megapixel and 20-megapixel sensors on the rear and is likely to have an enhanced portrait mode.
According to some reports, the Honor V10 will come with a price tag of 3,000 CNY.


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Travel receipts rose by 42.4 percent year-on-year in November 2018 to 326 million euros from 229 million euros in the same month in 2017, driven by a 6.2 percent rise in inbound traffic and increased spending per trip by 35.8 percent (or 106 euros), according to provisional data released by the Bank of Greece (BoG).
The balance of travel services in the same month marked a surplus of 175 million euros, compared to 101 million euros in 2017.
More specifically, receipts generated by EU nationals increased by 26.7 percent in November to 175 million euros and by 74.0 percent by non-EU travelers. Leading spenders were visitors from Germany, up by 2.5 percent to 36 million euros, from France – stronger by 185.7 percent to 16 million euros, from the UK – up by 16.2 percent to 25 million euros, and from the US – up by 57.4 percent to 34 million euros.
On the downside, receipts from Russia fell by 12.3 percent to 4 million euros.
According to central bank data, the number of inbound travelers in November 2018 increased by 6.2 percent year-on-year to 786 thousand, with 24.2 percent more traveler traffic through Greek airports, and down by 14.8 percent via road border-crossing points.
Over the January-November 2018, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of 13,930 million euros, up from 12,700 million euros in the 11-month a year earlier.
For the same 11-month period, travel receipts came to 15,847 million euros, up by 9.7 percent compared to the same period in 2017 driven by a 12.0 percent increase in receipts from EU residents at 10,919 million euros and by a 5.8 percent rise in receipts from non-EU residents to 4,513 million euros.
According to BoG figures, travel receipts reflected a 10.6 percent rise in inbound traffic, while average spending per trip dropped by 3 euros, or 0.5 percent.
In January-November 2018, inbound traffic grew by 10.6 percent to 29,466 thousand against 26,632 thousand in 2017: up by 13.6 percent through airports and by 5.8 percent via road border-crossing points.


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Making a digital payment, e.g. using cryptocurrency is still, for many Italians, an operation that could potentially be a security risk. To highlight it is a study conducted by Luno, a company specialized in cryptocurrencies, through the Dalia Research platform on a sample of a thousand people for each of the countries taken into consideration are Italy, France, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Nigeria and South Africa.
The research shows that although electronic payments are increasing in Italy, 11% of the inhabitants do not yet have a bank account, nor do they have payment instruments such as credit or debit cards. This is a record for Italy, which in this case has a higher percentage than France and the United Kingdom, where 6% of the population does not have bank accounts or cards, but also Nigeria (5%) and South Africa (4 percent).
The other side of this medal is that in Italy cash is used more than in the other countries examined by the research: one Italian out of three in fact claims to use it on most occasions (34%), while the percentage drops by 21% in France and 24 percent in the UK.
Furthermore, given a scale from 0 to 10 to measure their confidence in the guarantee of money in stock with banks, 19 percent of the sample expressed a vote between zero and four.
To increase the perception of security, Bitcoin represents a logical evolution of money, since it satisfies the five needs of divisibility, scarcity, durability, transferability and fungibility, and is also able to adapt to the "digital" world.
The last decade has seen a huge increase in the number of electronic payments, either through contactless cards, cryptocurrency, smartphone apps or through digital banking. The practicality and speed that this allows, offers enormous benefits to both resellers and customers, for whom it is more efficient.
However, digital payments are still vulnerable to fraud, regardless of whether they are the result of theft, hacking, and so on. Cryptocurrency is money built for the digital age and overcomes many of the limitations of money as we know it. It is a square peg in a square hole, with safety incorporated in it also in terms of design.


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Price Cut For T-Mobile/Starbucks Wi-Fi
We’ve been saying for a while that commercial WiFi hotspots charge way too much. Most hotspot operators will tell you that almost no one makes use of the hotspots. So, having realized they’ve already committed to a huge rollout (and knowing that there’s plenty of competition coming their way, T-Mobile has realized they need to drop the price for their hotspot business. At least they’re experimenting, but it’s still too pricey, and Starbucks has shown they have no clue how to market the service. Every Starbucks I’ve been in has the info hidden, and the workers usually seem clueless about the WiFi offering in their own stores.


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When it comes to housing, this year will be one to remember.
As we posted last week on LinkedIn, the average home price has passed the £250,000 mark – an increase of over £30,000 since the pandemic began in March 2020.
However, a forecast by Nationwide indicates that, rolling over into the new year, tax increases and inflation could douse the fire of demand.
“Consumer confidence has weakened in recent months, partly as a result of a sharp increase in the cost of living. Even if wider economic conditions continue to improve, rising interest rates may exert a cooling influence on the market, though the impact on existing borrowers is likely to be modest” said Robert Gardner, Chief Economist at Nationwide.
Many anticipated the slight increase of interest rates by the Bank of England last Thursday, but instead they decided to stick with the already rock bottom rate of 0.1%. Despite this, the Bank made it apparent that a rise will soon be needed.
Inflation is currently at 3.1% but the Bank expects it could reach 5% by early next year.
Eventually, the Bank will need to begin offloading the £800bn debt accumulated over the course of pandemic. This, on top of inflation, is likely to put an impact on long term finance like mortgages.
It is unknown as to when these changes will come into effect, but they are coming at some point next year. Higher interest rates on mortgages are going to have a negative impact on demand for property – particularly for first time buyers.
What can you as a new home builder do to prepare?
The best thing any company can do when preparing for potential incoming costs or a slowdown in sales is to improve cash flow. Here are some ways to keep cash flowing through your business through periods of uncertainty.
The first thing you can do is improve your inventory. Draw up a list of goods and supplies that simply are not getting used up as frequently as others. These can tie up your cash. Inventory such as this could be buyer extras for your properties that rarely get chosen. Sell this inventory or buy much less to improve cash flow quickly.
Another common form of stabilising cash flow is by liquidating assets. There may be some equipment lying around that is simply not getting used. Selling off these assets are a great way to get your hands on some cash quickly.
Finally, the best thing you can do is prepare. Think about how market conditions could fluctuate and be prepared for each possible scenario. Preparation can make you invincible. Draw up cash flow forecasts and sales forecasts for a given time frame and compare your forecasts to your actuals every so often so you know exactly where you stand and how healthy you are as a business.
There are many tools out there which allow you to have total transparency over your business processes. Housebuilder Pro is a business management software system for new home builders. Sales forecasting and other finance related reports are available in Housebuilder Pro software, perfect tools to help you prepare for the near and distant future. Learn more here.


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The Moscow Alternate (MOEX) is drafting a invoice to permit buying and selling in digital monetary belongings (DFAs) and securities based mostly on them, in response to a report within the Russian press. The inventory trade is writing the invoice on the behalf of the Russian Central Financial institution, which doesn’t have the ability to introduce laws, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday.
Talking at a banking convention, MOEX supervisory board chair Sergei Shvetsov mentioned the invoice in preparation foresees buying and selling in each DFAs and DFA certificates that might commerce like securities. “The trade and its subsidiaries will apply to the regulator and I hope that they’ll obtain the standing of trade operators” to commerce in DFAs, Shvetsov mentioned. He added:
“We would like the market to make its personal alternative between blockchain accounting and depositary accounting, and if the regulation is handed, Russian depositories will be capable of maintain DFAs of their accounts on the blockchain — as quickly because the consumer wants the underlying asset, they redeem the certificates and obtain the asset of their account on the blockchain.”
Lack of familiarity is an obstacle to distributed ledger expertise in Russia, in response to Shvetsov. “If you don’t know who to name and who to sue, many individuals don’t wish to take part,” he mentioned, however “It’s a clean sheet that we will draw no matter we would like on, in response to the wants of the economic system and traders.”
Shvetsov mentioned that the invoice is at the moment beneath evaluation by the Russian Central Financial institution. State Duma finance committee chair and head of the Russian Banking Affiliation Anatoly Aksakov instructed in July that MOEX become a crypto exchange, following the examples of the Toronto Inventory Alternate and the Deutsche Boerse.
A MOEX spokesman said in August that the trade expects to be permitted to commerce DFAs. “It’s within the pursuits of our shoppers,” MOEX Worldwide managing director of technique Artem Zheleznov mentioned.


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PCs for People: Collaboration Provides Computers and Internet to 100 Greenlee Elementary Families to Increase Computer Literacy
NACEPF's subsidiary, Mobile Beacon created Bridging the Gap with national digital inclusion nonprofit, PCs for People. Bridging the Gap along with the help of a few community-focused organizations, will provide free computers and Internet hotspot devices to 100 Greenlee families. The computers and hotspots will be distributed to the students’ families on Wednesday, November 9, at 5:30pm, at the school’s campus at 1150 Lipan St.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE


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Quantum computing may get a boost from 3D printing via Nanoscribe, a subsidiary of Swedish-based bioconvergence startup BICO (BICO.ST). At this year’s Photonics West Exhibition (January 25-27), Nanoscribe is unveiling the Quantum X align, a 3D printer specifically designed for auto-aligned printing on optical fibers and photonic chips.
Not to be confused with quantum computing itself, the Quantum X line of products launched in 2019 is a micro 3D printing platform. More recently, Nanoscribe has released multiple versions of the machine, tailored for a variety of specific applications. These include the Quantum X shape, announced last fall, and designed for life sciences applications (particularly microfluidics). Then there was the Quantum X bio, announced last December. This system is intended for use in bioprinting, a primary focus of most BICO-related entities.
The latest addition to the Quantum X series, the align, has been engineered precisely for applications in the photonics field, which has particular relevance for the quantum computing industry. One of the most significant differences between quantum and classical computing has to do with the chips involved in building the respective systems. While quantum computers can be and are constructed using conventional electronic integrated circuits (“microchips”), much research into the quantum field — especially during the mini-boom quantum computing has undergone in the past few years — centers around exploring the viability of photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
PICs are based on a similar premise to traditional microchips. Photonic computing has been discussed for years as a basis for classical computing and most serious quantum computers aren’t photonic computers. However, the Quantum X align could be a notable development, not only for the quantum computing industry, but for 3D printing, as well.
“Alignment” here refers to the need for every tiny element on a PIC to be situated with as tight precision as possible. Any minuscule irregularity in the placement of the optical lens on the chip can lead to disproportionately large processing errors. Usually, this consideration is dealt with via a technique known as active alignment, which entails centering shims onto a chip, then replacing the shims with the lenses, and finally using an adhesive to lock the lens in place, once it’s been properly located.
Active alignment is extremely expensive and time-consuming. The align, on the other hand, deploys the other major method for centering and tilting lenses on microchips, the use of imaging modules to print focusing optics directly onto the optical fibers of each chip: hence the name, “automatic alignment”.
This represents a perfect example of the unique solutions achievable when applying 3D printing to an industrial problem. 3D printing here offers greatly enhanced automation and precision in the production process compared to other methods of achieving the same result.
Additionally, it encapsulates a theme I mention often: the collaborative, interdependent nature between all the various facets of “Industry 4.0”. This is a theme which BICO Group seems to grasp as well as any other company on the market. Moreover, not only is the company correct to suggest that the align could increase efficiency in the production of PICs for quantum computing purposes. It could also help achieve sufficient accuracy to eventually make quantum computing scalable, which, at present, is the major objective for those in the industry serious about commercializing the technology.
Images courtesy of Nanoscribe
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May 25, 2012
SMEs are putting themselves at risk by failing to check out the financial credentials of business partners and suppliers, according to the results of a new survey.
Conducted by the online directory, 192.com, the research shows that more than one in three SMEs have been unaware of the debt of a business partner; 32% of small firms said they had been lied to about the state of a company’s finances and 22% had entered into a partnership with a financially unsound partner. One in five SMEs has been let down by a supplier.
The survey reveals that few SMEs are doing basic checks into potential business partners — 77% of the SMEs polled had not studied a business partner’s company credit report.
“We advise all businesses to use a company credit report to find out whether a potential business partner can service its debts, pay its suppliers on time, and maintain stability at board level,” said Dominic Blackburn of 192.com.
Company credit reports detail the financial health of a business and expose county court judgments — legal notices that a company failed to pay a debt.
The survey asked respondents what would most concern them in a company credit report. These were the findings:


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With digital technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate – and consumers increasingly adopting an ‘always on’ mentality – it is vital that businesses keep up with the technological times. Many brands are already utilising platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to provide real time information, but those that stand out are incorporating more advanced technology, such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), VR (Virtual Reality) and MR (Mixed Reality).
Take China’s WeChat for instance. The brand is leading the way in how to bridge the gap between consumers’ online and offline lives. Service users can do everything from answer work emails and take video calls, to buying everyday essentials, theatre tickets, paying bills and booking hospital appointments. For those using the app in a professional capacity, the WeChat QR even takes away the exchange of business cards – one short scan of a code and your networking is complete.
A WeChat user never has to leave the platform as it ‘integrates [all mobile apps] into a single digital identity’ (The Economist), which gives us a glimpse into how technology will eventually blur the line between the virtual and real world.
When Facebook opened up the use of its messenger to chatbots in early 2016, 11,000 businesses developed their own programmes in the first three months (Retail Dive). Major brands bought into the chatbot process on Facebook messenger to give their customers a personalised service that is always available, providing a reliable and exciting alternative to traditional customer service tactics.
Brands that are paving the way to chatbot success include major makeup brand, Sephora. In February 2016 it became one of the first businesses to develop its own chatbot programme, and since then the tool has continued to develop to meet consumer demand. Chatbot users can now try on makeup with a Virtual Artist before buying preferred products. Other functions include a Reservation Assistant and Colour Match.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has also expanded into the chatbot arena, giving users the chance to use their Facebook Messenger platform as their digital boarding pass. Now this may not seem particularly revolutionary, but the way the chatbot interacts with the user is. Using the Facebook Messenger platform, users are greeted with a conversational interface that also reminds users when check-in opens, gives them their boarding pass, sends flight status updates and will answer any questions at any time of day.
When compared to own brand applications, chatbots undoubtedly make more sense. They’re cheaper to develop and increase user interaction as they don’t need to be downloaded onto a mobile device as a separate entity. The ultimate goal for brands is to become a fixture in a customer’s online identity by making the process for consumers quick, personal and hassle free.
By harnessing the power of the digital platforms that are continuing to evolve, brands will not only gain attention for modernising their ways of working, but also attract a larger customer base.
“Journalists aren’t interested in you or your organisation; they’re interested in covering great stories that are a perfect fit for their audience. So anything that sounds like you’re just trying to plug your company – rather than provide compelling content – is an instant turn off… tell stories, use visual imagery and anything that appeals to the senses.” – Janet Murray, The Guardian
The simplest display of humanity can spur an emotional connection. Sentiment plasters the pages of newspapers and media websites. Christmas adverts which do more than just sell products are one timely example, charity collaborations are another. People want to hear about their local heroes and journalists are keen to pitch these stories to their editors.
Journalists write stories. And what is a story if it contains no characters? What audiences really want is to get to know the people behind the brand. To understand the motivations and aspirations that drive that particular business and inspire its customers.
As a PR or marketing manager, it can be all too easy to get swept up in key messages and corporate objectives, and to lose track of what makes your target audience tick. But, no matter what your business, you should always look for a way to make your story resonate on a personal level.
Bringing the human element of a piece of news to life is the job of a successful PR. It’s what makes a good story. The sort that people can’t help but read, or watch. More and more, journalists at major online news outlets are asking for video content to supplement their articles. Whilst beautifully crafted hi-resolution images have their place, a short video clip of a store manager giving a roundup of Christmas treats to look forward to can add another dimension to a news piece. Better still if the video is pieced together with interviews and clips filmed at a customer’s local store, resulting in a multifaceted story that’s relatable to the outlet’s audience.
The Trump and Leave campaigns have highlighted more than ever that there is a disconnect between people and storytellers. This is the proof that PRs and brands need to explore and understand, leaving those that build locally relevant stories at a distinct advantage when trying to connect with the consumer. It has to be the starting place not the destination.
Here, we explore why ‘newsjacking’ is one of the great ways law firms can increase their brand awareness and drive business, using the ongoing Uber test case as a prime example.
As a PR agency, we’re always on the lookout for different ways of generating media interest in our clients’ stories. This is particularly true when working with law firms, where competition for column inches is high and legal journalists are few and far between (as well as notoriously hard to get hold of!).
So what can we do to cut through the noise?
One of the advantages of working in the legal sector is that there is never a shortage of stories that need commentary, or indeed people that want to comment on them. Almost every story we read, be it political, financial or about Harrison Ford’s broken leg, will have a legal implication that consumers and businesses can consider.
Take the ongoing Uber employment tribunal as an example. After much deliberation, the judges will soon deliver their hotly anticipated verdict on whether the global firms’ drivers should be classified as ‘workers’ or ‘self-employed’ in the UK. Whatever the decision there will undoubtedly be mass media interest, so with many legal PRs vying for the top spot on what this means for employee rights and how the news will affect the burgeoning gig economy, we needed to be prepared ahead of the proposed judgement on 12 October.
PR top tips for newsjacking a legal judgement:
- Consider both eventualities and prepare the necessary statements and content so you’re ready to hit send once the judgement lands
- Talk to relevant people within the business who can deliver insight on the impact of the decision – any data will be gold dust
- Research the media that are active on the story and be prepared to feed them your content
Even the best laid plans never go exactly as you think however….judgement day came and went without so much of a hint at the result – and we’re still waiting more than a week later. However, those initial conversations have still proved fruitful, with us being asked to provide commentary from our client for the BBC’s piece, ‘What does Uber’s employment case mean?’
Unfortunately, we don’t always have the luxury of two months to prepare, so moving fast on these opportunities is an absolute must. Thankfully, law firms have experts in almost every field so we are primed and ready to shed light on the next breaking news story!


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One Wisconsin company has offered to implant microchips in its employees. But, are the Three Square Market employee microchip benefits worth the downsides?
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Private practices are struggling to find qualified staff across the country in this look at the latest small business healthcare recruiting trends.
How do you change your employee's pay without causing a meltdown in the office? Here are 10 tips for managing compensation changes.
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Hiring seasonal employees can be a stressful task for a small business owner, but using these five tips can make it easier.


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Is government going with the global turn inwards or is it looking out for local manufacturers as Africa opens up for free trade?
South Africa is heading towards “autarky”, a much greater self-sufficiency that includes trade protectionism, in its economic policies.
The government began bringing the economy “closer to home” before the Covid-19 crisis but seems to be accelerating the move since then. That’s the view at least of some of the country’s trading partners. They worry about a push to contract manufacturing value chains down to the region or to Africa; to localise much more manufacturing and to give the state greater control of the economy.
This would run counter to globalisation and free trade and thereby deny foreign manufacturers and suppliers beyond Africa a chunk of their share in the SA economy.
Western diplomats discern signs of these tendencies in recent policy pronouncements by the ANC and by the government, particularly Ebrahim Patel, minister of trade, industry and competition.
Other Western diplomats are less worried because they believe so far SA is merely doing what most of the world is doing: reducing its dependency on imports.
The policy orientation that is worrying diplomats is clear in the ANC’s discussion document, “Reconstruction, Growth and Transformation: Building a New, Inclusive Economy”. This was prepared in June by the ruling party’s Economic Transformation Committee in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
Like the left elsewhere in the world, the ANC believes the crisis has exposed the limitations of global capitalism, has tilted the “balance of forces” – which the ANC always obsesses about – between the public and private sector in favour of the public side and has “legitimised a greater and more active role of the state in guiding the economy”.
“As the world economy enters recession and global trade slows, this has opened up avenues for greater regional integration, trade and investment. Equally, as many economies are forced to look inward, this presents opportunities to rebuild local industry, strengthen local manufacturing and drive import substitution," the document states.
This excessive reliance on imports has been
revealed by the Covid-19 crisis since most of the medical
equipment and personal
protective equipment has had to
The slowing of global economic growth caused by the pandemic is reducing imports of consumer goods, and capital and intermediate products.
“These developments present an opportunity for SA to look inward by strengthening the agenda for localisation, in particular local manufacturing and local procurement,” the ANC document says. By “localisation” it includes greater integration of SA manufactured products within the Southern African Development Community and continental value chains, especially through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which was due to start operating on 1 July this year but was postponed until 1 January 2021 because of the Covid-19 crisis.
A “massive programme of localisation should prioritise key industries such as agro-processing; healthcare; consumer goods; household hardware products; capital goods, especially for infrastructure projects, mining, agriculture, renewable energy, the green economy and digital infrastructure; construction material, and transport equipment”, and “state procurement should shift decisively to local procurement”, the ANC advocates.
Patel’s development of “master plans” in some of these areas, well before Covid-19 struck, is also worrying some diplomats. In his speech in the State of the Nation debate in February, Patel focused particularly on the master plans for the clothing and textiles industry as well as the poultry sector.


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Facebook has decided that separating publishers into their own News Feed is a bad idea
Facebook has decided itâs a bad idea to separate brandsâ and publishersâ posts from those that your friends and family share.
The social giant confirmed Thursday that it has ended a test of that concept it was running in six countries dating back to last fall.
The test removed content from publishers and businesses from the News Feed and put it inside a separate âExploreâ feed, creating a digital divide between your friends and brands. Publishers in those countries that rely on Facebook for traffic freaked out when users no longer saw publisher posts interspersed with stuff from their friends.
âPeople donât want two separate feeds,â wrote Adam Mosseri, the exec in charge of Facebookâs News Feed, in a blog post Thursday. âIn surveys, people told us they were less satisfied with the posts they were seeing, and having two separate feeds didnât actually help them connect more with friends and family.â
When Mosseri spoke at Recodeâs Code Media conference in February, he said the test was âcostly,â and that Facebook wanted to run it once before deciding âdefinitively once and for allâ whether it worked or not.
It didnât. So Facebook is ending the test. It is also shutting down its âExploreâ tab, a section of the app where users could find public content from brands or publishers they didnât follow.
The test wasnât necessarily a waste â" Facebook learned people donât want two feeds! â" but the company h as also admitted that it wasnât handled very well.
âWe should have been more transparent and up front about [the test] ahead of it,â said Campbell Brown, Facebookâs head of news partnerships, onstage with Mosseri at Code Media. â[Publishers] totally freaked out, rightly so, because they didnât understand what we were doing or trying to get at.â
The sentiment was echoed in Thursdayâs blog post from Mosseri. âWe also received feedback that we made it harder for people in the test countries to access important information, and that we didnât communicate the test clearly,â he wrote. âWeâre acting on this feedback by updating the way we evaluate where to test new products, and how we communicate about them.â
Facebook routinely makes changes to its News Feed to show users more (or less) of specific types of content, like live video. Its most recent News Feed update had a similar purpose to the now-defunct test: The change w as made to show people more stuff from their friends and family, and less from brands and publishers.
That is still the priority, but separating the two groups completely isnât the way to accomplish that.
Ironically, that total separation of friend stuff from publisher stuff is the premise of Snapchatâs redesign, the same redesign that people are freaking out about. Facebook found that strategy doesnât work. Itâll be worth watching to see if Snapchat decides the same.recode_divider
More From Recode
- Snapchatâs redesign puts publishers in one feed and friends in another. Thatâs exactly what Facebook says doesnât work.
- Why arenât we harnessing technology to end homelessness?
- Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky are comin g to the Code conference
- Twitter is wondering whether Twitter is bad for society â" and Jack Dorsey is starting new research to find out
- Facebook is not getting any bigger in the United States
- Where SoftBank has invested its $98 billion Vision Fund
Sign up for our Recode Daily newsletter to get the top tech and business news stories delivered to your inbox.This Article has a component height of 17. The sidebar size is long.Source: Google News US Technology | Netizen 24 United States


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Elon Musk has teased Tesla’s next electric sport utility vehicle – the Model Y.
Though the teaser tells nothing about the Model Y, Musk clarified that the Model Y won’t be based on the Model S, but on a completely new platform. “Tesla will get rid of the 12-volt battery architecture. It means no more lead-acid battery and a different way to power in-car electronics,” automotive news portal Electrek quoted Musk as saying last month.
He expects the new Model Y platform to be ready by late 2019 to 2020, and that it will reduce overall wiring and simplify production.
Tesla recently neared $60 billion market valuation and became the fourth largest automaker on the planet, overtaking BMW, and targets making 1 million units annually at its Gigafactories by 2020.
Adding this model to the range, it would appear that Elon Musk is looking to make electric cars S3XY…Electric vehicle market, Electric Vehicle News