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California is known for having some of the most stringent consumer protection laws in the nation. Nonetheless, the state’s fight against the fleecing of consumers apparently ended when Senate Bill 270, a statewide ban on plastic bags, was passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Brown. Many California counties and municipalities have enacted their own plastic bag bans with little fanfare. Besides the fact that a statewide ban leaves consumers fewer choices, this particular piece of legislation has become is an unholy alliance between environmentalists and big grocery interests.
SB 270 prohibits most stores from providing single-use plastic carryout bags to customers, with specified exceptions, such as produce and dry cleaning bags. As an alternative, stores can distribute compostable (paper) bags to consumers at a cost of not less than 10 cents per bag. Grocers would keep the fee as compensation for compliance costs. Normally the fees collected from bag purchases are remitted to the state for environmental programs or, if kept by the grocers (as is the case for the Los Angeles County bag ban), must be used for recycling efforts and educating customers about recycling. However, SB 270 does no such thing, and grocers are thrilled. The bags that consumers would have to purchase for 10 cents if they do not bring their own bags cost about 5 cents to 7 cents per bag. This is a windfall for the grocery industry with a typical 2 to 3 percent profit margin. Indeed, with a 30 to 50 percent markup on bags, it would be one of the most profitable items sell. Just from the sale of bags, they would stand to make almost half a billion in annual revenues. Simply put, California’s bag ban would require customers who do not have their own bags to hand over their money to benefit a private industry.
Thankfully, this state-sanctioned transfer of wealth got enough attention from the public, and with the help of the American Progressive Bag Alliance, opponents gathered enough signatures to place ban before voters in two November 2016 referenda, delaying the effective date of the new law and potentially altering or voiding it. Prop 67 gives voters the opportunity to approve SB 270 in its original form or to repeal it altogether by rejecting the measure — essentially maintaining the status quo, since it has not yet taken effect. If voters uphold SB 270 by passing Prop 67, Prop 65 allows them to redirect the fee collected by grocers to the State of California for environmental programs and clean-up efforts or, if the voters reject Prop 65, allows the revenue to remain with the grocers.
In an August 2016 poll by Probolsky Research, approximately 58 percent supported Prop 67, the ban on single-use plastic bags. However, 57 percent of voters also supported Prop 65, requiring stores to “deposit bag sale proceeds into a special fund administered by the Wildlife Conservation Board to support specified categories of environmental projects.” While there are plenty of arguments to be made about the merits of a plastic bag ban, being that plastic bags comprise such a tiny amount of solid waste, Californians no doubt support such a ban. However, they appear willing to draw the line when it comes to the state mandating the siphoning of their wallets for special business interests.
So where does this leave environmental groups? One would think that with polls reflecting majority approval for a bag ban and majority approval for the fees going to environmental causes, they would be overjoyed. Of course not, silly. They are more concerned about losing the support of the grocery industry than in helping the environment. If California’s grocers can’t keep the fees from the sale of paper and other reusable bags, grocers in other states that are considering bans will also be less likely to support them. Environmental groups need them not just for the tens of thousands of dollars they have spent lobbying in support of the ban, but also in order to make themselves look less extreme on the issue. Hey, your friendly neighborhood Safeway thinks banning those plastic bags is a great idea, so bag bans can’t be all bad, right?
It is one thing for grocery stores to have their own policies on what kinds of bags to provide and how much to charge for them. It should also be their choice if they wish to provide free bags, plastic or otherwise. But for the state of California to mandate a transfer of wealth from shoppers to big grocers simply reeks of back-room deals and cronyism. At the very least, voters will have a say in this matter in November.
National Center for Policy Analysis Senior Fellow Pamela Villarreal’s latest report on plastic bag bans, California’s Bag Ban: A Wealth Transfer from Customers to Big Grocers, can be found at: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/california-s-bag-ban-a-wealth-transfer-from-customers-to-big-grocers. Villarreal and other NCPA scholars have published previous studies on plastic bag bans, including a study on the economic effects of the Los Angeles County bag ban. The NCPA is a non-profit, 33-year old think tank, dedicated to the research of free market solutions to public policy problems. It is based in Dallas and Washington, D.C.


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Application development firm Progress said that it acquiring privately held company Ipswitch for $225 million in cash. The company informed dthat it will fund the transaction with existing cash on hand and funds secured under a new credit facility. The acquisition will bolster Progress' core offerings to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprises.
Founded in 1991, Ipswitch work with about 24,000 customers in 170 countries. Ipswitch targets IT professionals and CTOs at SMBs and enterprises across a variety of industries. The company has approximately $75 million in revenue, of which 75% is recurring. The company deals with customers across all verticals, including finance and banking, healthcare, insurance, retail, government and biotech.
Ipswitch's primary products, MOVEit, WhatsUp Gold and WS_FTP, enable small and medium-sized businesses and enterprises to provide secure data sharing and ensure
high-performance infrastructure availability. MOVEit, their flagship secure data transfer product, allows enterprise customers to securely transfer critical business information between users, locations and partners in compliance with data security regulations such as HIPAA, PCI DSS and the EU's GDPR.
WhatsUp Gold enables small and medium-sized businesses and enterprises to continuously monitor and manage their IT infrastructure and applications, assuring high levels of performance and availability. WS_FTP delivers FTP-based secure file transfer server and client capabilities to meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses.
“Ipswitch has an excellent reputation, top quality products, a thriving customer base and partner ecosystem and highly skilled and engaged employees,” said Yogesh Gupta, CEO of Progress.
“We are excited by the opportunity this acquisition affords both companies and our respective customers, partners and employees. Progress and Ipswitch have a common legacy of enabling businesses to solve mission-critical challenges with efficient, easy-to-use solutions.”
Gupta said, “We've been saying for more than a year now that accretive M&A is an important part of our strategy. Ipswitch is exactly the type of acquisition we've been targeting to drive increased scale and cash flows. This acquisition meets all of our disciplined acquisition criteria and will provide excellent returns to our shareholders.”
“We are extremely proud of the incredible achievements and momentum the Ipswitch team has created to date,” said Michael Grossi, CEO of Ipswitch. “We expect this new chapter with Progress to provide even greater opportunities for our combined customers, partners and employees.”
The acquisition is expected to close in late April.

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The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has threatened action will be taken if players keep tampering with bottles at press conferences.
UEFA said in a statement that it has reminded participating teams that “partnerships are integral to the delivery of the tournament and to ensuring the development of football across Europe, including for youth and women”.
The threat comes after Russian football manager Stanislav Cherchesov skulled a bottle of coke during a press conference at Euro 2020.
It also comes after several players have taken to removing sponsorship products from their press conferences at Euro 2020.
Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo started the trend and made headlines after removing two bottles of Coca-Cola from a press conference before telling journalists to “drink water”.
Less than a day later, French player Paul Pogba removed a Heineken at a Euro 2020 press conference reportedly for religious reasons. Similarly, Italian player Manuel Locatelli placed a bottle of water in front of his microphone and removed two Coca-Cola bottles from sight.
Still, not everyone is endorsing water. During a press conference, Russian defender Georgy Dzhikiya said to his football manager, Cherchesov: “Did you see what Cristiano did when he got rid of them?”
Cherhesov responded by chugging on a bottle of Coca-Cola.
Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov just couldn't resist 😅 pic.twitter.com/sbAcbQv24g
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 18, 2021
Naturally, the football manager’s went viral.
How to open a Coca Cola bottle by Stanislav Salamovich Cherchesov… pic.twitter.com/Y6owC2XaDK
— Joel Amorim (@Vostok1981) June 17, 2021
Cherchesov swigging some (sugar-free) Coke before his presser, Dzhikiya asks him: 'Didn't you see what Cristiano did yesterday? He got rid of it.' Stani's body evidently not as much of a temple as CR7's #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/kOZQBZL3zH
— Liam Tyler (@tyler_lj) June 15, 2021
If Coca Cola want to send drinks to football affiliated persons who don't want to move it out the way…
You know where I am.
— Carl Anka (@Ankaman616) June 17, 2021
Cherchesov, my kind of idol. #RUS
— Marca de Gol (@marcadegol) June 17, 2021
Both Coca-Cola and Heineken are considered top-tier sponsors for Euro 2020.
The Irish Times reported that tournament director Martin Kallen has said that all players are obliged to follow regulations.
“We are never fining players directly from the UEFA side, we will do this always through the participating national association and then they could look if they will go further to the player, but we are not going directly for the moment to the player,” he said.
“We are quite open that if it’s for a religious reason then they don’t need to have a bottle.”
Kargo has today announced several major growth milestones across the APAC region for the first half of 2021, more than doubling H1 revenue year-over-year with 115 per cent growth. Kargo also ran 41 per cent more campaigns in the region than in H1 2020 and the average campaign size increased by 32 per cent over […]
Hootsuite has today announced its acquisition of Heyday, a Montreal-based conversational AI platform that enables brands to deliver personalised customer experiences through 1:1 messaging conversations. Commerce is rapidly moving onto social and messaging platforms. Hootsuite, a pioneer in the social media management category, has the largest customer base in the industry and with this acquisition […]
Moira Geddes, founder and director of independent food publication EATIVITY has been handpicked by IAB Australia to become the first ever micro-publisher to take part in its Mentorship Program, highlighting the important role that specialised custom digital sites play within the country’s media landscape. EATIVITY aims to keep consumers in the know and help small […]
Hivestack, the global ad tech leader in programmatic digital out of home (DOOH) advertising, today announced the appointment of Ichiro Jinnai as president, Hivestack Japan. Jinnai will be responsible for driving the regional strategy, direction and expansion of the Hivestack platform in Japan. “I am beyond thrilled to welcome Ichiro Jinnai to the Hivestack family,” […]
Audience measurement platform LENS Technology & Analytics has appointed Nikhil Elayat to Business Director to fast-track growth opportunities across Australia and New Zealand. Elayat (pictured) joins from New Zealand’s largest independent advertising agency, Stanley Street, where he was head of advertising technology. He played a pivotal role in building adtech functions within the performance team […]
Australian medical research institute, The Burnet Institute has launched, How Science Matters podcast. The informative podcast will be co-hosted by former ABC Radio journalist Tracy Parish and Burnet institute director and CEO Professor Brendan Crabb AC. Crabb is also a microbiologist, malaria researcher and will share his knowledge on contagious diseases. How Science Matters was […]


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Second Life News April 14, 2023 by TeleportHub.com Live!
Mari Glasses @ Craft Weekend Sale!!
varitiibrand has added a photo to the pool:
Varitii comes to the Crafty Weekend Sale!
We are honoured to release the Mari Sunglasses! A cool set of shades to see the world in!
Mari comes with:
6 different lenses options
20 trim colour options
4 frame colour options
Mari is also unrigged, and clickable for the resizeable options!
Get yours here!:
Get it while it’s hot~!!!
Mari is on sale for L$75 – and will return to regular price after the sale ends


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The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
Find Out if Your Eggs Are Truly Organic and Support Local Farms
The Cornucopia Institute’s report, Scrambled Eggs: Separating Factory Farm Egg Production from Authentic Organic Agriculture, will empower consumers and wholesale buyers who want to invest their food dollars to protect hard-working family farmers that are in danger of being forced off the land by a landslide of eggs from factory farms.
The accompanying organic egg scorecard rates companies that market name-brand and private-label organic shell eggs based on 28 criteria that are important to organic consumers. The scorecard showcases ethical family farms and their brands and exposes factory farm producers and brands in grocery store coolers that threaten to take over organic livestock agriculture.
The scorecard also profiles some emerging brands that advertise their eggs as “pastured” although their birds are housed in fixed buildings. In contrast, the true gold standard in organic egg production is generally smaller flocks of poultry in portable henhouses which farmers rotate in fresh pasture, oftentimes daily.
Some of the factory farm operators literally raise millions of birds, both conventional and organic, with as many as 150,000 to 200,000 “organic” hens in single buildings.
With this web-based rating tool, you can see which brands of eggs found in your region are produced using the best organic farming practices and ethics. Based on more than a year’s research into the organic egg business, the scorecard rates almost 136 different name-brand eggs and additional private-label products.
Both the report and scorecard highlight the good news in the organic egg industry by showcasing the true heroes, including national and local producers that are supplying ethically-produced organic eggs and are worthy of consumer support, and those who are going beyond organic with intensively pastured birds in mobile housing.
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
The brushfires raging through New South Wales have shrouded Australia's largest city in a blanket of smoke that pushed the air quality index 12 times worse than the hazardous threshold, according to the Australia Broadcast Corporation (ABC).
By David B. Goldstein
Energy efficiency is the cornerstone of any country's plan to fight the climate crisis. It is the cheapest option available, and one that as often as not comes along with other benefits, such as job creation, comfort and compatibility with other key solutions such as renewable energy. This has been recognized by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for at least a decade.
By Andrea Germanos
Over 500 groups on Monday rolled out an an action plan for the next president's first days of office to address the climate emergency and set the nation on a transformative path towards zero emissions and a just transition in their first days in office.


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HTC’s August Revenue Up 67%
Despite showing weak financials over the last few years, HTC has reported revenues of $23.52 million for August, up 66.8% on month, but still down 47.1% on year.
However, investors have been advised to remain cautious about escalating competition in the global smartphone market.
HTC shares opened up 0.97% off the back of its strong August sales report and buying accelerated to push up the stock by 1.52%, to close at US$1.17 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The August sales figure has prompted investors to buy into the stock, boosting turnover to 6.59 million shares from 5.74 million shares.
“The month-on-month spike resulted from efforts to promote smartphones and boost the global visibility of our virtual reality development,” HTC said in a statement.
According to market analysts, the VR devices launched by HTC since the beginning of 2019 – such as the Vive Pro Eye, Vive Focus, Vive Focus Plus and Vive Cosmos – have helped ramp up the company’s sales in 2019, and is expected to do so for the rest of the year.


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Unless you live in a metropolitan area and go to a laundromat, you probably wash your clothes at home. That means you have access to a laundry area. These areas are usually pretty tight, which means that the United States manufacturer of washing machines could put your life at risk. The company has admitted that their washing machines are prone to catch fire, and therefore the company has issued a mass recall to take back the faulty products and make sure people get better ones instead.
Now, Whirlpool could face criminal prosecution for putting lives in danger. Since the washing machine fires were very dangerous and caused a lot of damage, the company acted too late and did too little to stop the danger from spreading. The company has issued an alert over half a million units of their Hotpoint and Indesit appliances, asking customers to bring them back to the store for the recall.
However, the government could be trying to build a case against Whirlpool in the wake of this disaster, which the company admitted put a lot of people in danger. There were about a half-million units that posed a fire risk.
The government regulator in charge has refused to release copies of their correspondence with Whirlpool. They are refusing the release these documents because they don’t want to jeopardize “potential future criminal proceedings” against the manufacturer that might happen after it completes its “ongoing investigation.”
The reason that Whirlpool is in hot water is that the company delayed issuing a warning to its many British customers. They did now share the warning about the fire-risk of their appliances in a timely manner, which meant that people were operating the dangerous machines while they could have been hurt.
The washing machines have been igniting as far back as November 2016 and have resulted in at least 79 documented fires and ten injuries.
In a statement back in October 2019, the firm said that it would set aside tens of millions of dollars – to the tune of about $100 million – to deal with the problem and re-compensate customers. It took the company an additional eight weeks to issue the safety recall in Britain than it did for its American customers.
The fires started because Whirlpool designed a flaw in the door mechanism. The flaw in the door-locking system meant that the appliance could overheat and result in a fire. The machines had a heating element that put the appliance at risk of catching fire, which it did in many cases.
Reporters submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), asking for copies of the government’s correspondence with the executives at Whirlpool. However, cronies at the OPSS denied the request on the grounds that the information inside might be used in a future criminal prosecution case.
It is illegal to place an unsafe product on the market. Whirlpool might have knowingly sold the fire hazard to its British customers to make a quick buck.
Will you still trust Whirlpool products?
Every time you share an AWM story, you help build a home for a disabled veteran.


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Yesterday I posted about Netflix limiting it’s streaming customers to one streaming show at a time. Apparently though, it was an error rather than a crackdown as previously thought.
While I had suspicions that this was some mix up (I hadn’t had the problem at my home) the fact remains that it didn’t surprise me. I now assume that the Netflix service is going to get worse and worse until it’s no better than the Charter Cable that I cancelled so long ago. Netflix may still have the best service of its kind, but it now has an image problem. It’s the service that raises prices on its customers and limits their viewing options.
It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens with the Starz contract negotiations going forward.


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Sep 28, 2020
Eric Szucs, Wyoming County Director of Tourism & Marketing, was elected to the New York Tourism Industry Association’s (NYSTIA’s) Board of Directors. Eric will join a diverse 21-person board of directors, which includes tourism professionals from organizations, associations and businesses from throughout New York State. Directors are elected to serve a three-year term.
NYSTIA’s goal is to bring together New York State tourism industry interests in order to: encourage the development of cooperative relationships and partnerships among its members; to raise consumer awareness and appreciation of travel and vacation opportunities in New York State; to advocate government policies and programs which will strengthen the industry; and to raise the level of professionalism within the industry.
“It’s an honor to join NYSTIA’s Board of Directors, and a fantastic opportunity to share Wyoming County’s awesome story with industry professionals at the regional, state and federal levels,” said Arcade native and Director of Tourism, Eric Szucs. “I’m also excited to work on tourism initiatives that will not only impact us locally and regionally, but policies and strategies that will grow and support our tourism industry, especially during these difficult times. The work we’ll be doing with legislators will be critical in ensuring tourism businesses will be able to sustain and succeed.”
“Eric has a real passion for the work that he does in the tourism arena. We have seen year over year growth and successes since he has joined the organization,” said Chamber President & CEO, Scott Gardner. “He has distinguished himself as a leader in the tourism industry, and we congratulate him on this recognition as a NYSTIA Board member. I know that he will bring the same creativity and professionalism to the statewide tourism community and be a voice for the importance of tourism to our economy.”
NYSTIA serves New York State's tourism industry through collaborative initiatives, research, legislative awareness, and exceptional marketing. By facilitating member success, we realize the potential of New York State's tourism industry to drive economic growth, create jobs, improve quality of life and pride of place for all New Yorkers. For more information, visit the website at www.nystia.org.
The Wyoming County Chamber & Tourism is the leading membership organization for local and regional growth, advocacy, and connection for Wyoming County’s business community. The Chamber & Tourism’s mission is to serve the members and community; promote and grow the area’s economic and tourism assets; and work collaboratively to create an environment that leads to the success and economic prosperity of Wyoming County. For more information or to become a member please call 585-786-0307 or visit the website at www.wycochamber.org.
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Black Friday is set to be home to this year’s best Apple Watch deals. All of the top retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are all slated to offer aggressive discounts on Apple’s latest wearables. Specifically, large price drops on Apple Watch Series 3 and the new Apple Watch Series 5 are sure to be the most popular this time around. You’ll find all of the best Apple Watch Black Friday deals down below.
Best Apple Watch deals that are live right now
Black Friday pricing has arrived for both Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5. The best Apple Watch Black Friday deals include up to $350 off the previous-generation Series 4 with a return to all-time lows on various models.
Looking for Series 5? You can currently save up to $80 off the latest wearable from Apple. Many models are $50 off with each marking a return to the best prices we’ve seen so far. You can expect these offers to continue to roll in throughout Black Friday week.
Apple Watch Series 3 with GPS and Cellular has hit a new Amazon all-time low at $199. That’s down from its original $300 price tag and a match of the best offer we’ve tracked all-time. You’re basically getting cellular connectivity here for free, given that the GPS model has an official MSRP of the same price. This notable Apple Watch Black Friday deal delivers solid value for those not needing the larger, always-on display, found on more recent models. If you want the non-cellular model, it’s currently on sale for $170, although be sure to check below for better deals on the horizon.
Make sure to put your savings towards good use and pick up an extra Apple Watch band. There are plenty of options out there, which you can find in our roundup starting at $5. Check out all of our top picks right here.
Best Apple Watch Black Friday deals to come
Without a doubt, this year’s most anticipated and best Apple Watch Black Friday deal comes on the Series 3 GPS variation at $129. As I told you last week, this will likely be the hottest deals come Thanksgiving week. While Fitbit and others may offer more aggressive pricing, its Apple Watch Series 3 that is sure to steal the show throughout Black Friday.
We’re also expecting to see Apple Watch Series 5 hit $100 off for the first time during Black Friday, marking the best prices to date on various high-end models. Entry-level GPS configurations are expected to be discounted by $50. Additionally, Apple Watch Series 4 is likely to be continually marked down by $350 throughout Black Friday until inventory is exhausted at most mainstream retailers.
Black Friday at 9to5Toys
As always, we’ll have all of this year’s best Black Friday deals, news and ad leaks over at at 9to5Toys. If you’re not yet following us on Twitter, be sure to lock that in.
We also have the 9to5Toys iOS app that’s now available for FREE. Customizable alerts, Apple Watch compatibility, and more ensure that you’ll be up to date on all of the best deals throughout the holiday shopping season.


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Bosch, a company we already love for home appliances and tools, has developed a way to turn any pair of generic spectacles into smartglasses.
“The Bosch Smartglasses Light Drive module is a sole source, all-in-one technology stack consisting of MEMS mirrors, optical elements, sensors and onboard processing,” the company said in a release. “This integrated solution delivers a clean visual experience with bright images that are always in focus – even in direct sunlight.” Continue reading “More than Meets the Eye: Bosch Smartglasses”
Apple first announced HomeKit, its wireless protocol for home automation, almost an entire year ago at Apple’s developers conference in June 2014.
Finally it looks like the first batch of hardware partners will be launching their iOs HomeKit-complaint devices. Continue reading “5 New Devices on Apple HomeKit”
Google-owned Nest Labs can keep you more connected with your home thanks to the many new third-party devices added to its “Works with Nest” Program.
The Works with Nest program originally launched with consumer brands including Whirlpool, Jawbone and LED bulb-maker LIFX.
According to Nest Labs senior product manager Greg Hu, the company’s goal is to keep the interactions between his company’s products and Continue reading “You Can Be More Connected to You Home Appliances with Google’s Nest”


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Foxconn and Sharp Seal the Deal
5/11/2016 11:32 AM
Foxconn’s off-and-on again takeover deal with Sharp has been approved at last by the boards of both companies, with Foxconn set to acquire two thirds of Sharp – including its thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) business -- for $3.5 billion. The two companies had been poised to make the transaction earlier this year, with Sharp agreeing in February to accept a $6.2 billion bid from Foxconn. Then Foxconn received a list of “contingent liabilities” from Sharp, said by numerous unconfirmed sources to be in the area of $2.5 billion. At this point Foxconn put the acquisition on hold for further research, until announcing the new deal at the end of March. Presumably the new and lower price reflects the “liabilities.”
Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer -- perhaps best known as the maker of Apple’s iPhones -- stands to gain both IP and market share with this acquisition. According to David Hsieh, Senior Director at market research firm IHS, Foxconn is already a leading supplier of TFT LCDs through its subsidiaries Innolux and Century “The convergence of Foxconn’s business with Sharp’s TFT LCD business and other innovative developments, such as active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) and larger TV displays, creates a powerhouse with the largest TFT LCD production capacity and research capabilities in the world,” says Hsieh.
For Sharp, a 100-year-old company known for its innovative display products, some kind of acquisition seemed inevitable. Financially, the company has been foundering; it received two bank bailouts in the last four years. In the final nine months of 2015, Sharp posted a net loss of about $960 million.
And it is not alone. Around 2012, articles with titles like this one from CNET began proliferating: “The era of Japanese consumer electronics giants is dead.” The article began, “Once venerable names in consumer electronics such as Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp have been besieged by competition from rivals in the U.S., South Korea and, increasingly, China.”  Oft-cited reasons for this fall from grace include a failure to react nimbly to changing markets, an emphasis on building machinery vs. writing code, and sometimes, a lack of innovation.
This last reason does not apply to Sharp, which has in recent years introduced a number of display innovations, including a new indium (In), gallium (Ga), and zinc (Zn) (IGZO) technology that earned it (with co-developer Semiconductor Energy Laboratory) a 2013 Display of the Year award from SID. Hsieh offers a few ideas about why a highly innovative, well-regarded company like Sharp might fall on difficult times.
“First,” he says, “Sharp is excellent at developing new technology but comparatively slower than its competitors to bring these technologies to market. This is related to the company’s culture; it is very engineer-centric but not commercial-centric.” Hsieh believes that Foxconn’s skill with the commercial aspects of the display business (it has handled its key customer Apple well for several years) may be a positive addition for Sharp.
Hsieh also mentions that competition from Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese companies who have been very fast to commercialize products and ramp up capacity, put pressure on Sharp, as well as on other Japanese companies. Last, he adds, “Sharp’s costs (due to the higher overhead in Japan) and organizational structure and culture hamper the company in terms of making fast reforms -- even though they have great innovative technology development.”
Hsieh reports that Foxconn’s Innolux subsidiary is already in the process of increasing its production capacity with a Gen 8.6 TFT LCD fab in Taiwan. It is also building three Gen 6 low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) TFT LCD fabs in Taiwan and China. With the acquisition of Sharp, currently the leading maker of high-resolution LTPS TFT LC smartphone displays, low-power oxide TFT LC tablet displays, and a-Si based TFT LC automotive displays, Foxconn is also probably eager to invest in an AMOLED fab for flexible smartphone displays, says Hsieh. In terms of TFT LCD production capacity, the new company will account for 21% of the global capacity in 2016, surpassing LG Display, Samsung Display, and BOE, according to IHS’s Display Supply Demand & Equipment Tracker report.


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Rooters for hydrogen scooters have gotten a treat this year as both Yamaha and an entrepreneur from Holland are showing off their latest vehicles.
Crijn Bouman created the as a graduation project while at the Delft University in Holland. The Fhybrid is a hydrogen electric hybrid that is front-wheel drive, has a reverse gear for parking and a regenerative braking system to recharge its lithium-ion battery pack. The Fhybrid has a top speed of 40 mph and a range of about 125 miles, comparable to most traditional gasoline scooters.
Yamaha next week will be unveiling its hydrogen prototype scooter at Yokohama’s International Electric Automobile Show, calling it the FC-Aqel. The FC-Aqel is a 125cc vehicle powered by fuel cell and using two compressed hydrogen tanks.
Hydrogen scooters are not all that new, though as several have been rolled out in the past as you can see from the past blog post called Hydrogen Scooters for Urban Commuters. Hydrogen scooters will make even more sense in the future as more hydrogen home fueling systems are rolled out and the hydrogen scooters can be gassed up easily for both scooter owners and businesses in the tourist trade.


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Samsung has begun producing NAND chips using "10 nanometer-class" process technology. The press release doesn't get more specific about the fabrication process, which could be anywhere from 10 nm to 19 nm. My money's on something closer to the high end of that range.
The new NAND chips weigh in at 64Gb each, and Samsung is combining eight of them on a new eMMC Pro Class 2000 memory card designed for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. This 64GB device is purportedly capable of hitting 260MB/s with sequential reads and 50MB/s with writes. Its random read throughput is rated at 5,000 IOps, while random writes are pegged at 2,000 IOps.
Those performance figures aren't that impressive in the context of full-sized SSDs, but the eMMC card is much smaller, at just 11.5 x 13 mm. Samsung says the Pro Class 2000 is 30% faster than its smiliarly sized eMMC predecessor. The firm also claims the new eMMC card improves "manufacturing productivity" by 30%, which might help you narrow down the exact number of nanometers in the fabrication process.
Samsung says the eMMC Pro Class 200 has been in production since late last month. There's no word on how soon it will start popping up in devices, though.
|SilverStone Nitrogon NT08-115XP cooler fits in nearly any case||0|
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|Deals of the week: laptops and spinning storage||8|
|Qualcomm readies up 48-core Centriq 2400 ARM server chip||41|
|BitFenix Shogun chassis goes for internal and external coolness||3|
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There is increasing public concern that post-Brexit trade deals could lead to lower quality food, according to a government survey.
Ever since the UK voted in 2016 to leave the EU, farming leaders have been pleading with the government not to allow the import of lower standard foods in order to secure trade deals with the US and others.
Government ministers have continued to insist that they would not sacrifice food and farming standards in the pursuit of trade deals.
Despite this, the government refused to support amendments in the House of Commons that would have introduced the defence of such standards into law.
In September 2018 the government commissioned a UK-wide survey to examine public attitudes towards trade and to understand the public’s priorities as they relate to trade policy and how these may change over time.
The latest update was published recently and it shows growing concern about food standards post-Brexit.
In the initial survey 12% of those questioned said they thought that increased free trade would lead to lower quality goods and services. In the latest updated survey this has increased to 17%.
However, two thirds of respondents (66%) said they were supportive of free trade agreements, and just under two thirds (63%) thought that signing free trade agreements outside the EU would have a positive impact on the UK overall.
Support for establishing free trade agreements with selected countries - Australia, New Zealand, US, China and India - remained broadly high, but declined for each country between five and seven percentage points since the first survey.
Mark Williams, chief executive of the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has warned that British egg products could not compete with lower priced and lower welfare imports from such countries.
Mr Williams, who says that a significant percentage of the cost of producing a dozen or a kilo of eggs in the UK came from legislation on food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection, has warned that pursuing a trade policy with the countries would result in British farmers being undercut.
A report from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, produced by egg industry expert Peter van Horne, highlighted the importance of tariffs.
Peter van Horne said in his report that, compared to the average level within the EU, the production cost of shell eggs in 2017 were 24% lower in the USA, 22% lower in Ukraine, 14% lower in Argentina and 11% lower in India.
Production costs of whole egg powder in 2017 were 21% lower in the United States, 20% lower in Ukraine, 13% lower in Argentina and 13% lower in India.
Peter van Horne said that, because the cost of transportation of powder was low, the offer price of whole egg powder from third countries was relatively low, but current import levies protected EU production.
Elizabeth Truss, the Secretary of State for International Trade and the minister responsible for securing new post-Brexit trade deals, has again insisted that the UK would not trade away food standards to clinch such deals.
Her assurances came in exchanges with opposition MPs in the House of Commons.
SNP MP Angus McNeill asked: "Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to ease farmers’ anger and consumers’ anxiety and state categorically that there will be no changing of food standards or any compromise whatsoever in any trade deal on the high standards of the food that now goes on our supermarket shelves?"
The Secretary of State said she could "absolutely give such an assurance."
Labour MP Bill Esterson said NFU Scotland wanted the Trade Bill amended to ban food imports not produced to UK standards, but Ms Truss said: "The fundamental principle of our trade policy is that we will not allow our fantastic farmers, whether in Scotland, Wales, Wales or Northern Ireland, and their great produce to be undermined. What we want them to be doing is exporting more around the world."
She said that, in the EU withdrawal Act, all the import standards that the UK had as part of the EU had been transposed into UK law.
"Those import standards remain, and we will not be negotiating them away in any trade agreement. Furthermore, we have the Trade and Agriculture Commission, which is specifically involving organisations such as NFU Scotland, to ensure that British farmers get a fair deal and British consumers have products that they can have confidence in."
It comes as the government bowed to pressure and agreed to establish a trade and agriculture commission to look at potential trade deals.
In a letter to NFU president Minette Batters, Ms Truss said the commission would look at UK agricultural trade policy, animal welfare standards across the world and export opportunities for British farming.
The letter stressed that the commission's recommendations would be advisory only.


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The steep rise in incidents of cyberattacks, malware and hacking has led to an increase in demand for smartphones and laptops with enhanced inbuilt privacy measures and anti-virus software.
Companies are now leveraging the demand by launching more such devices or including these for marketing pushes, industry executives said. “We have launched the Dell EMC PowerProtect DP series integrated appliances and PowerProtect Data Manager Software that help customers in counteracting the effects of cyber threats while safeguarding data across traditional and cloudnative applications,” said Ripu Bajwa, director, Data Protection Solutions, Dell Technologies, India.
More than a year since the pandemic struck, cyberattacks have surged manyfold and become more sophisticated, preying on both company and personal data. Retailers like Sangeetha Mobiles have seen an uptick in sales of antivirus software after recent data privacy concerns. “There has been an increase in anti-virus programs since the Pegasus issue with customers opting for the 999 priced software versus 499 taken earlier,” said Chandu Reddy, director of Sangeetha Mobiles.
The Pegasus Project revealed that more than 50,000 phone numbers were targeted by a spyware created by NSO Group, an Israeli software company.
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When consumers say they don't want their online activity monitored by companies mining data out of their every click they mean it, the Federal Trade Commission warned yesterday. The consumer protection agency said that if technology and advertising companies can't voluntarily create an effective and easy to use "Do Not Track" option by the end of this year, then it will support legislation to ensure consumers can opt out of having their behavior online monitored and shared, the New York Times reports.
The consumer privacy debate has put the FTC at odds with data brokers who collect and sell a wide range of information about consumers, and with online advertising companies, which fear letting users opt out of being tracked will destroy their businesses. Internet users have "enthusiastically" shifted more of their lives online in recent years, FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz says. "As a result, we have had to ask, how can consumers continue to enjoy the riches of a thriving online and mobile marketplace without surrendering their privacy as the price of admission?" (Read more Federal Trade Commission stories.)


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Food stamp costs are mushrooming. More than 46 million Americans -- about one in seven -- rely on food stamps, the equivalent of the entire populations of Texas and New York. The program now consumes 2 percent of the federal budget, or $78 billion in fiscal 2011. That's about the cost of the auto industry bailout.
Each day until the election, Record-Bee.com and Face the Facts USA are partnering to bring you one exhaustively researched and vetted, non-partisan fact about a major issue facing our nation. Face the Facts USA is a project of The George Washington University. On Twitter: @FaceFactsUSA


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Instagram reported to be working on standalone shopping app
Instagram is working on the launch of a standalone shopping app allowing users to buy directly from the brands and retailers they follow.
The move has not yet been confirmed, but it would be a natural follow-on on from the platform's decision last March to allow brands to tag their posts with shoppable tags taking the user direct to the product's page on the brand's e-commerce site. It has since extended the service to Stories.
Website The Verge claims to have spoken to Instagram insiders and says the app may be called IG Shopping. It reports that the company feels it is well positioned to take on online e-commerce platforms like Shopify by introducing paid e-commerce tools.
Instagram has around 25m business users and four in five of its overall users follow at least one business offering an attractive, ready-made audience.
Even if it is true the app is in development, there is no guarantee it will come to market but Instagram is not averse to launching standalone apps having recently launched IGTV, a YouTube competitor that puts vertically shot videos into their own app, and it is trialling Direct, a new instant messaging app.


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adidas Originals Mutombo TR Block
The adidas Mutombo returns this August and we’ve seen a few more colorways on tap for the coming months. Now comes word that we can expect to see a ‘retro’ for a shoe that never actually released, as Three Stripes reaches even deeper into their vaults and finds a scrapped sample model. The Mutombo TR Block fits right into the era of its creation, so well in fact it’s hard to imagine why this 1994 prototype never hit store shelves. Luckily for modern sneakerheads, this is just one more part of the abundant variety we now enjoy, so take a closer look at two colorways after the jump and stick with Sneaker News for release info.


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There is one event every year that makes Apple fans worldwide drool into their soy chai lattes. No, it's not the opening of that new cereal café; we're talking about the company's Worldwide Developer Conference,...
IBM has fit 20 billion more transistors onto a chip than it achieved with 7nm tech in 2017
A Downing Street spokesperson said the app may not be ready by the 17th May
The plans will create 700 new permanent jobs in New Mexico
Jaguar Land Rover has suspended production at two plants due to a shortage of computer chips
Moving to remanufactured laptops could save the UK a million tonnes of carbon and £1bn a year, says Circular Computing
Because the reconditioned units reuse much of the original device, emissions, water and raw materials are significantly reduced, with costs 40 per cent less


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Sales rose to $A112.5 million in the three months ended September 30.
Eponymous mogul will now design for company rather than lead it.
Retail reporting kicks off tomorrow amid a weakening New Zealand outlook and tough Australian trading conditions.
The 2015 annual dividend will fall to 5c per share, from 6.5c in 2014.
But analysts warn the jewellery retailer must polish up its cornerstone Australian business.
Sales rose to A$495.6 million in the 12 months ended June 30.
The Meeting Place of Intelligent Business


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Billing Concepts Corp., a publisher of bills for telephone companies, has agreed to invest $10 million in Princeton Telecom Corp., an electronic bill payment and presentment processor.
The deal would give Billing Concepts a 22% equity stake in the New Jersey company, which processes about $250 million of consumer payments a month for 700 billers through an electronic lockbox.
Billing Concepts, whose customers include 1,300 local telephone companies and 400 long-distance carriers, creates and mails paper bills on their behalf. Rather than build its own electronic delivery system, it will team up with a company that "has been active in this technology and is well established in this marketplace," said Parris H. Holmes Jr., president and chief executive officer of San Antonio-based Billing Concepts.
"Our telecom customers have expressed a strong interest in publishing their bills and receiving payment over the Internet," he said.
Through Billing Concepts, Princeton Telecom gains valuable relationships with billers. "We get more than money, we get all their customers," said Donald Licciardello, chairman and chief executive of Princeton Telecom.
The company's decision to nurture relationships with billers through Billing Concepts does not bode well for banks, said Gary Craft, analyst at BancBoston Robertson Stephens.
"This is disintermediation of the banks," Mr. Craft said. "If I were a bank, I would want to resell this portfolio of services to a customer. The bank would be the point of contact."


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Sustainable practices that were put on pause due to the Covid crisis are seeing a resurgence.
Just ask Marks & Spencer, which is relaunching its popular “Shwopping” clothing recycling program after months of inactivity. On Oct. 1, the British retailer will revive the 12-year-old upcycling and resale scheme after shutting it down in March amid the retail lockdown.
Shwopping has found a new home or use for 35 million clothing items since its inception, M&S says. Apparel is donated through bins at 287 of the company’s retail stores and sent to charitable collective Oxfam, which brings together more than 20 global charities in an effort to alleviate poverty.
The charity resells the clothing in one of its shops or on the web, while some donations are sent to its social enterprise in Senegal. Unsalable merchandise is sent to M&S’s Wastesaver facility to be recycled into new materials, like filling for mattresses. Since 2008, Shwopping has raised 23 million pounds ($29.5 million).
The company’s decision to stop accepting donations this spring stemmed from a need to focus on enacting safety measures across its store locations. And like most retailers, M&S has faced hardship because of declining foot traffic. In August, the retailer announced that it would be slashing about 7,000 jobs over the ensuing three months, in addition to the 950 positions eliminated earlier this year.
But as U.K. shoppers have spent more time holed up at home, many have become desperate to clear their wardrobes of unwanted shoes, apparel and accessories.
“At M&S, our goal is to source all our products with care and ensure nothing we make goes to waste,” said Carmel McQuaid, head of sustainable business for the British chain. “We want our customers to be confident that the clothes they buy at M&S are made to last, but if they finish wearing their old favorites, we make it easy to give them a new purpose through Shwopping.”
The effort should prove particularly timely for shoppers who have been anxious to declutter their closets, McQuaid added.
Fee Gilfeather, head of audience and strategic planning at Oxfam, said the program was designed as a simple solution for customers and the general public to donate unwanted garments, and that Shwopping “helps to extend the lifecycle of clothes and reduce the number of items of clothing going to landfill.”
“The return of Shwop drops to M&S stores means that there are more ways for people to donate to Oxfam and support our work fighting poverty and helping vulnerable communities around the world,” she said.
The pandemic has forced the program’s evolution, however, and new processes have been put in place to ensure the safety of those who come in contact with the garments and accessories. All items donated through M&S stores will be quarantined for 48 hours before being sent to Oxfam to lessen any risks of infection.
The retailer has also taken steps to support a more sustainable shopping journey online. M&S has begun including details about the eco-friendly raw materials it uses on its product pages, totaling 4,000 so far, and touts itself as the first major U.K. retailer to publish information about each of its factory partners, available through a web-based interactive map.
Shoppers also have an opportunity to make a donation to one of the retailer’s charity partners—including Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, Breast Cancer Now, and NHS Charities Together—each time they check out online. The M&S distribution center in Leicestershire is powered fully by renewable energy—one-quarter of which comes from solar panels on its roof.
Products are shipped in bags made from recycled plastic, which can be recycled at any of the company’s stores, and the company is phasing out paper delivery slips in an effort to save 140 tons of paper each year.


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Enterprise startup Icertis recently raised a $6 million funding round from Greycroft Partners and Fidelity Growth Partners India. Here's what it means for the company.
Showing results 1 to 20 of 3,859
Dell plans to centralize collaboration and maximize investment in Microsoft Yammer and Office 365 with its new release. Migration Manager aims to eliminate the need to support multiple, disparate social networks with redundant functionality and content.
EMC CEO Joe Tucci said that aside from woes in China and Russia the company wasn't "executing as crisply as we had expected."
Microsoft has purchased cross-platform, mobile business-intelligence vendor Datazen Software, a Toronto-based company, for an undisclosed amount.
Microsoft is working on a new set of Azure 'mobile first/cloud first' microservices for business users, an effort some at the company say could become another billion-dollar business.
PayPal Australia has appointed Libby Roy as vice president and management director, after Jeff Clementz announced that he would be returning to the US to take up another role with the company.
The data integration and management software provider will pursue its growth plans as a private company owned by Permira and Canada's pension plan.
Microsoft officials confirm the company will deliver the second tech preview of Windows Server 2016 in May.
The figures are from the Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report by UK-based security firm Avecto, in which the company pulled data from every Patch Tuesday issued by Microsoft in 2014.
Microsoft will be rolling out its promised, free subset of mobile-device-management features to Office 365 commercial customers over the next four to six weeks.
Microsoft has bought another productivity company. This time it's LiveLoop, a vendor of collaboration plug-ins and tools for Microsoft Office.
Microsoft has struck deals with 11 Android tablet makers, including Samsung and Dell, to preload a number of Microsoft's applications and services on Android hardware.
Microsoft warned of "attempts to spoof content, perform phishing attacks, or perform man-in-the-middle attacks," but reports quickly began to pin blame on the company.
Former LinkedIn and Microsoft executive Tony Ward has been picked to head up SurveyMonkey's Australian and New Zealand operations, as the company works to ramp up its enterprise growth.
A Reuters report today says Microsoft is working on a major update to its Cortana personal assistant technology. The report also cites unnamed sources predicting the company will release Cortana as a standalone app for other platforms. But you might have a long wait.
VCE, now an EMC portfolio company, set up a path forward that offers VMware's software defined networking software.
Microsoft's OneDrive and OneNote apps are preloaded on the just-announced Samsung Galaxy S6 Android phone. Could this be just the start of more OEM deals for Microsoft?
Cinema management software company reports 55 percent year-on-year growth.
Is Microsoft looking to Android vendors like Cyanogen and Samsung to give the Redmond company a leg up in the mobile space?
Microsoft is set to buy the company which supplied the technology for the Surface Pro 3, and has spearheaded the comeback of pen tech.


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In a regulatory loophole described as "an absolute disgrace", tyre retailers* are skimming millions of dollars paid by motorists to tyre companies through a $5 tyre disposal fee.
Under the scheme, Australian motorists have paid about $100 million in disposal fees in the belief their tyres are being responsibly recycled. However, some operators are taking the money and stockpiling the tyres.
William Amiot, co-founder of Brisbane tyre recycling company TyreStock – which won the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards for environmental sustainability on Friday – estimated Australia recycled just 3 million of the 22 million passenger-car tyres replaced every year.
"The rest are getting exported, getting stockpiled – whatever they do with them," he said.
"These collection companies are pocketing $3 per tyre each time they collect. Some are putting them into a warehouse and doing nothing with them."
Mr Amiot's concerns were supported on Friday by Waste Recycling Industry Association of Queensland chief executive Rick Ralph.
Mr Ralph said the regulator, Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science, had not effectively policed the tyre recycling industry.
He said although tyres were a regulated waste that had to be transported by an operator with an environmental approval, tyre companies were not regulated by legislation to "legitimately get rid of their tyres".
"The system is open to extraordinary rorting, and that is how operators get away with it," he said.
"The regulator has failed on a multitude of levels with regulating the storage of tyres and the removal of tyres. That is where it breaks down."
More than 56 million tyres of all types are stockpiled in Australia annually, yet only about 10 per cent are recycled.
Queensland does a little better, with about 14 per cent of the 12 million second-hand tyres recycled and 15 per cent exported by tyre recyclers.
However, this is dwarfed by the 71 per cent of Queensland tyres ending up in landfills or stockpiles, according to figures reported by tyre collection accreditation body Tyre Stewardship Australia.
TSA chief executive Lina Goodman believes Mr Amiot has identified a major problem.
"I agree with him. That’s an absolute disgrace," she said.
"If you think about poor collectors and recyclers, it is not a bad business model is it?
"You go around and collect your tyres from retailers, take your [share of the] tyre disposal levy, stockpile it, and then it’s some other poor bastard's problem to come and collect it.
"It’s the community that usually has to pay for it."
TyreStock, which electronically tracks second-hand tyres then assigns accredited collectors to take them to a tyre recycling business licensed by the state government, highlighted the emerging consumer and environmental problem. Under this scheme, tyres are not stockpiled.
TyreStock’s collection companies are not paid until the tyres are taken to Pearl Global, a tyre recycling company at Stapylton.
Mr Amiot said until companies were required to recycle tyres, serious environmental and economic concerns linked to the tyre disposal fee would remain.
"The consumer has already paid about $100 million," he said.
"That comes from the $5 on the 20 million or 21 million tyres that are not recycled. And we know those tyres are not all recycled."
He said all companies collecting second-hand tyres from tyre retailers needed to be audited and accredited.
"A good tyre collection company collects about 1000 tyres a day," he said.
"However, they are paid to make sure those tyres are disposed of in an environmentally sound way."
The Department of Environment and Science said new regulations were introduced in November 2018 requiring sites storing more than four tonnes of waste tyres to obtain an environmental authority.
"This ensures waste tyre stockpiles are managed appropriately, and it allows the department to conduct compliance activity for unlawful stockpiles," it said.
Last month the department fined tyre company Tyremil $200,000 for failing to meet tyre stockpile guidelines at its Rocklea plant.
TSA, which accredits tyre collections from eight major importers, including Goodyear, Bridgestone and Continental, audits the tyre retailers linked to those eight suppliers.
"If they are stockpiling, they lose their accreditation with TSA and we suspend them," Ms Goodman said.
If a tyre collector loses their accreditation, they cannot collect the tyre disposal fee charged by retailers linked to TSA.
While recognising the regulatory loophole, Ms Goodman disputed some of Mr Amiot's figures.
"Of the 22 million passenger tyres, there has been a 25 per cent increase in the number of tyres sent to become crumbed rubber in the past 12 months," she said.
"That equates to 4 million tyres that are being used in road, railways (as sound-dampening mats) and in civil applications."
Ms Goodman said 16 million tyres were processed into fuels, which are exported to Asia for cement kilns.
She said most of those tyres were from passenger vehicles, while Mr Amiot said they were from heavy vehicles.
At the latest Council of Australian Governments meeting in August, the federal government announced tyres would no longer be exported, increasing fears even more would be stockpiled.
*Correction. The original version of this report said tyre recyclers were not using the tyre disposal fee effectively. That is incorrect. It should have read tyre retailers - who impose the tyre disposal fee - who are not using the fee to encourage recycling.


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Ajax Away Shirt For 2013-14 Season: Black And Hot Pink [PHOTO]
Photos have been published on the Internet that reveal Ajax’s new away shirt for the 2013-14 season.
The away shirt for the current Eredivisie Champions next season is designed by Adidas, and features a black jersey with hot-pink trim.
The Ajax away jersey features a v-neck collar. The front of the shirt features a black and charcoal-colored hoop design.
Overall, it’s a winner in my book. And certainly better than Everton’s hot pink jersey from the 2010-11 season.
About Christopher Harris
Founder and publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris is the managing editor of the site. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who has lived in Florida since 1984, has supported Swansea City since 1979. He's also an expert on soccer in South Florida, and got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.
Harris launched EPL Talk in 2005, which was rebranded as World Soccer Talk in 2013.
View all posts by Christopher Harris →


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Remember flip phones – phones you could fold in half? Remember how much more convenient the folding phone was to stick in your pocket? Then came smart phones, which signaled a death knell for phones that you could fold and put in your pocket. Until now.
Samsung actually announced that they were working on a foldable phone more than two years ago, and even produced a concept video at the time.
Samsung Folding Phone – Concept Video
Of course, making a screen that can be folded – not hinged or jointed, but actually folded – is no easy trick. “It is complex technology to manufacture reliably and this has implications on the eventual cost of devices using such screens,” CCS Insights’ Chief Researcher Ben Wood told the the International Business Times.
Samsung is developing the foldable screen by using OLED screen technology. OLED stands for ‘organic light-emitting diode’, and Samsung has been a pioneer of this technology for years.
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In addition to the technical challenges inherent in developing a foldable smartphone and bringing it to market, is the issue of cost. As smartphone prices have dipped – or at least become normalized – will consumers jump on the next new thing even if it costs $100 or $200 more?
Still, according to inside sources, Samsung is on track to announce a folding phone by the end of this year or the beginning of 2017. During a conference call earlier this year, Samsung Display Director Lee Chang-hoon is quoted as saying “Development of Foldable OLED is taking place according to our plan. We are planning on mass-production and release of this product by discussing with our partners.”
Which would you be more likely to buy: a phone that folds such that it is smaller than the average smartphone when folded up, or a phone that when folded is the size of the average smartphone, but which when unfolded is double the size of an average smartphone?
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Why constrain customers instead of creating greater choices for them?
Soon, hardware and software that track your location will be providing directions, offering shopping discounts, and aiding rescue workers-services that promise a windfall for ailing telecom carriers.
Programs would sift private data while protecting names.
MIT researchers are developing new routing strategies for a wireless network that hops data in the roofs of the city.
Dialogue: Per-message charging may be an effective way to stifle spam. But it is anathema to most Internet users.
Shhh! Bose’s new noise-cancellation headset is the first to mute the outside world without adding an annoying hiss of its own.
Co-program manager Robert L. Popp on the U.S. Defense Department’s Terrorism Information Awareness project.
The proliferation of junk e-mail is threatening to overwhelm the Internet. Software companies are rushing to build defenses-but will the new technologies do more harm than good?
Smart, networked sensors will soon be all around us, collectively processing vast amounts of previously unrecorded data to help run factories, maintain crops, and even watch for earthquakes.
Jeremy Hockenstein, SM ‘99’s data entry company in Cambodia hires Phnom Penh’s poor and offers them the chance of a better life.


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Slaughter Report Last updated December 2, 2016
Feeder Report Last updated December 2, 2016
Alberta direct cattle sales Thursday saw light trade develop with prices steady to a touch higher compared to Wednesday. This week live sales have been reported on either side of 150.00 while dressed sales are ranging from 248.00-252.00 delivered. Cash to futures basis levels did strengthen and remain stronger than the five-year historical average. Given higher cash prices and stronger basis levels some producers did sell more cattle than what they had intended on this week.
|Steers||No trade||No trade|
|Heifers||No trade||No trade|
|D1, D2 Cows||D3 Cows||Bulls|
In the US, 10,000 head of cattle traded between Nebraska and Iowa yesterday with dressed sales fully steady with prices seen on Wednesday, sales are also steady to 5.00 higher than the previous week. Clean up trade was noted in Kansas with a couple hundred head of cattle trading at 115.00.
|Choice Steers||115.00 (South)||174.00-175.00 (North)|
|Choice Heifers||115.00 (South)||174.00-175.00 (North)|
|Boner Cows||Rail Avg|
|Over 500 lbs||113.15|
The nearby Canadian dollar at 8:30 this morning was trading at 75.24, up 0.17.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, in midsession trade, live cattle futures are as follows:
|108.75, -1.80||109.30, -2.07||109.55, -1.67|
Information provided on this report is supplied by various auction markets throughout Alberta. In reference to the following prices, producers are reminded to check with individual markets on current prices and trends. Prices quoted include top quality cattle only.
Feeder and stocker prices in Central Alberta on Thursday
|Bred Cows||Bred Heifers||Cow/Calf Pairs|
All information sourced from Statistics Canada, Alberta Agriculture and Canfax.
Report for the week of November 28, 2016
Western Canadian fed prices have strengthened for six consecutive weeks and prices have moved from the low $130’s to the mid $140’s. Dressed sales were reported from $243.00-245.00 delivered last week. Local packer interest in the cash market has been mixed with the bulk of sales going to one buyer. Most of the cattle that traded last week were being scheduled for the first week of December delivery. Canadian weekly beef production (fed cattle) totaled just over 37 million pounds, 4% larger than the same time last year and 10% larger than the ten-year average.
Weekly Alberta feeder prices rallied higher for a fifth consecutive week, bolstered by rebounding fed prices and cattle futures. New crop calves saw keen buying interest and prices surged $8.50-10.50/cwt higher than the previous week. Feeders over 600 lbs trended $4.00-7.00/cwt higher. Weekly auction volumes were 16% larger than the previous week at 68,070 head and YTD auction volumes totaled 1,338,892 head. For the week ending November 12th, USDA reported a meager 998 Canadian feeders heading to the US. Total YTD feeder exports of 174,033 head are 39% lower than last year.
Non-fed prices rebounded last week with slaughter cows generally trading $2.00/cwt higher than the previous week. Dressed cow bids firmed higher to $163.00-168.00/cwt delivered. Butcher bull prices rallied over $4.00/cwt higher to average $103.56. Western Canadian non-fed slaughter for the week ending November 19th eased lower to 9,709 head. YTD western Canadian non-fed slaughter was up 15% totaling 284,025 head. Canadian non-fed exports to the US for the week ending November 12th totaled 5,833 head. YTD non-fed exports are 10% below last year at 226,656 head.
For more detailed information on markets this week please visit the Canfax website www.canfax.ca.


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The State of the Union address, delivered Tuesday night by President Trump, touched on key initiatives for recreational boating, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
NMMA president Thom Dammrich responded to the address, saying that the group is optimistic that industry momentum is seeing from tax reform will continue as Trump turns his focus to infrastructure and trade, saying both are critical to the future of recreational boating.
“Marine manufacturers, and the 650,000 American workers they support, rely on robust, free trade, to provide boaters and anglers with the boats and marine products they demand at prices that are fair and sustainable,” Dammrich wrote.
“With the industry facing the threat of skyrocketing prices for aluminum sheet used to manufacturer more than $3 billion in products from 111,000 aluminum boats to thousands of marine trailers, the need for free and fair trade has never been so crucial.”
“As the Administration looks to rebuild our country’s roads, bridges and railways, NMMA is working on behalf of its recreational boat, marine engine and marine accessory manufacturer members to put a spotlight on recreational waterways — an often forgotten, yet vital part of our nation’s infrastructure,” Dammrich said.
“From marinas and ports to dredging and docks, improvements are needed to sustain access to our country’s waterways for the 142 million Americans who go boating each year,” Dammrich wrote.
“We applaud the President’s recognition of the importance of public-private partnerships to creating thriving public spaces and the need for swift and streamlined permitting processes,” he said. “These are significant elements of an infrastructure bill that will aid in sustaining the healthy and growing recreational boating industry.”


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Health Teladoc posted a net loss of $3 billion during the second quarter, bringing its losses for the year so far to nearly $10 billion.
By comparison, the virtual care giant posted a $133.8 million loss in the second quarter of 2021. Teladoc also reported another $3 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge in the second quarter, then of a $6.6 billion charge related to its acquisition of Livongo reported last quarter.
But Teladoc revenue increased 18% to $592.4 million, compared to $503.1 million in the second quarter of 2021, the high end of expectations.
During an earnings call, CEO Jason Gorevic said the virtual care giant’s performance was driven by growth in its chronic care segment. Teladoc had previously projected that chronic care enrollment growth would be weighted at the end of the year. But he also noted that deals for the segment are moving slowly so far this year.
“We think at least in part it’s due to competitive noise as the market moves from stand-alone point solutions to integrated virtual care for the whole person,” he said during the call. “Based on what we’re currently seeing in the market, we also believe that heightened economic uncertainty in recent months is playing an increasingly important role in delaying the decision-making process in the employer market.”
He also promoted Teladoc’s BetterHelp direct-to-consumer mental health product, which saw revenue growth of more than 40% year over year. Still, similar to the company’s first-quarter report, BetterHelp was hampered by poor returns on its marketing spend as competitors flooded the mental health market.
“We still see smaller private competitors pursuing what we believe to be low or no return customer acquisition strategies to establish market share. While we don’t see this as sustainable, it’s hard to predict how long this dynamic may continue,” he said. Gorevic.
“We also believe that the weakening economic environment and declining consumer confidence are likely to have an effect on BetterHelp’s performance. In recent months, we have seen a modest incremental decline in return on ad spend, which we believe which may be a belt indication. hardening among consumers”.
Teladoc expects revenue of between $600 million and $620 million in the third quarter, with a net loss per share of between $0.85 and $0.60. For the full year, the virtual care giant forecast revenue of between $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion, though it cautioned that results could be on the lower end of the range due to market conditions.
THE BIGGEST TREND
Teladoc Stock dove on the earnings news, closing Wednesday at $43.24 a share and opening Thursday morning at $35.28.
After disappointing earnings in the first quarter of this year, a class action lawsuit alleged that Teladoc had misled investors about its business and financial prospects. A Teladoc spokesman said “there was no factual basis for the lawsuit.”
The virtual care company launched its Chronic Care Complete management program earlier this year. It also recently added same-day drug delivery and home lab collection to its primary care offering, Primary360, through partnerships with digital pharmacy Capsule and Scarlet Health.


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Volunteers help Oklahoma tornado survivors
North Korea tourism boost bid
Vindoo’s ancestral villagers deny accusations …
South Korea helicopter on show
The 5 richest countries in the world
Massive tornado in Oklahoma
The world’s 10 richest tech billionaires
Meet the cast of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Tickets go on sale for UAE Rihanna concert
VIDEO: Scores killed in Oklahama tornado
Is now the time to buy property in the UAE?
VIDEO: Preity Zinta, the next politician?
VIDEO: Exclusive interview with Yara
VIDEO: Divas who romanced father and son
Vindoo’s ancestral villagers deny accusations against himrn
To mark its 50th anniversary, Lamborghini chief designer Walter De Silva crafted a one-off, 600-hp model …
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Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson donned a mini-skirt, red lipstick and a perfect pout to dress …
Pakistanis vote in the nation's first democratic elections in five years.


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While the rumours of Vivo’s flagship Vivo X80 series are circulating around, a new Vivo smartphone has emerged over the web. A smartphone with model number V2196A from the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has been approved at the 3C certification site in China. The report comes in from a tipster according to which the listing of the device at the certification site has also revealed charging details that might come with it. Let’s take a look.
Details on the Upcoming Smartphone
The smartphone at 3C listing was spotted by known tipster WHYLAB which shows that a Vivo smartphone is arriving soon. The listing shows that the device has a 20V and 4A charging speed which means that it will come with 80W charging support. The approved smartphone is 5G enabled and is expected to launch soon. The tipster further suggests that the earlier charging standard of 66W fast charge is most likely to be featured in lower models from the company and 80W fast charge is going to be the new standard.
Vivo is working on multiple devices including the Vivo X80, Vivo X Fold, Vivo X Note, and the sub-brands iQOO Neo6 which are going to feature 80W fast charge technology. Out of these the flagship Vivo X80 series is expected to arrive soon and previous reports have given us an idea about the devices. The series is expected to consist of Vivo X80, X80 Pro and X80 Pro+ smartphones.
Vivo X80 Series Specs
Reports suggest that both Pro and Pro+ will have 6.78” AMOLED displays. The report suggests that the Vivo X80 Pro+ will use a QHD+ LTPO 2 panel, while the regular Pro will offer an FHD+ resolution. Talking about the processors, Vivo X80 Pro+ will be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset while the Pro model will feature MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset.
A previous report has also provided intel on the camera details of the devices including the vanilla model which falls in line with the new details revealed by the tipster. Vivo X80 is expected to feature a triple rear camera setup with a 50MP primary sensor, a 13MP sensor, and a 12MP sensor with 2X optical zoom. Vivo X80 Pro might arrive with a quad-camera setup headlined by a combination of 50MP + 50MP sensors along with a 12MP sensor with 2X optical zoom and a 50MP sensor with 5x optical zoom.
The Vivo X80 Pro+ model is rumoured to feature a quad-camera setup as well with 50MP + 48MP sensors along with a 50MP sensor with 2X optical zoom and a 50MP sensor with 5x optical zoom as well. The Pro+ model will also feature a 50MP front camera whereas Vivo X80 and X80 Pro are expected to sport a 44MP front camera. Furthermore, both Pro and Pro+ devices could be backed by a 4700mAh battery.


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Wotech Electrical Limited was established in Shunde.
Wotech heat pump companies launched air conditioners and heat pump product lines.
Wotech heat pump companies get ISO9000 and ISO9001 certified.
Wotech heat pump companies was awarded the "Top Ten Brand of Air Source Heat Pump Water Heater" in China.
Subsidiary Longchuan Technology Co.,Ltd. was established.Subsidiary Longchuan Dongde New Energy Technology Co.,Ltd.was established.
Manufacturing base was built in Longchuan and Zhaoqing,covering 100,000 square meters.
Wotech heat pump companies was awarded the honor of"National High-Tech Corporation" and its heat pumps "Guangdong High-Tech Products".
Wotech heat pump companies is the first public-listed heat pump companies in China,changing the name to be Guangdong Wotech Newable Energy&Technology Co.,Ltd.Opening a new era of business development.
the Building Envelope


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Samsung presents Blockchain certification tool for banks, thus aiming to replace old and impractical banking verification system. The system will require verification from just one bank as opposed to each individual bank in the conventional method.
28 August, AtoZ Markets – The IT division of the Samsung, Samsung SDS has reportedly developed a Blockchain-based certification tool for banks called BankSign.
Samsung Presents Blockchain Certification Tool for Banks
The official announcement from the company notes that the development work by Samsung SDS appears as a joint project with the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB). BankSign will aim to provide a simple transaction method within different banking systems by requiring certifications from just one bank. In addition, this certification can be further verified on the platform with the use of passwords, patterns of fingerprints.
As per the announcement, BankSign allows customers to acquire a certification that will be valid for up to three years. This would ultimately replace the existing certificate system, which currently requires annual renewal and registration along with authentication with each individual bank.
Hong-Jun Yoo, the Vice President of finance business at Samsung SDS has stated that the upcoming project BankSign would be “the first example of applying blockchain technology to banking services.” He also added that the company is “further expanding its digital transformation business, which will enhance the competitiveness of banks and other financial institutions.”
Back in June, the KFB has first stated that it was working on the development of BankSign. That time, the company has stated that it was planning to replace the present complicated 20 years old verification system. Instead, they planned to present a more efficient and practical system that is based on Blockchain. At that time, online reports stated that BankSign would be based on Nexledger, which is a private enterprise transaction management tool that is developed by Samsung SDS.
Samsung SDS has also released a suite of Blockchain-based products this year. Earlier this summer, the company has revealed its product called CelloSquare 3.0. It is a Blockchain implementation product that is targeting the global logistics sector.
Before that, Samsung SDS has introduced its Blockchain-powered finance platform called Nexfinance. It has stated that the product would also incorporate aspects of “artificial intelligence,” “big data analytics” and “advanced IT technologies, such as Intelligent Process Automation.”
Samsung DLT Tech for Logistics
This April, AtoZ Markets reported that Samsung Electronics was already working on a distributed ledger system to track international shipments. The company reportedly expects that the move could reduce shipping costs by as much as 20%. The company’s logistics and IT subsidiary, Samsung SDS, was developing the platform, according to the media reports.
Song Kwang-woo, blockchain lead and vice president at SDS, has been quoted as saying:
“It will have an enormous impact on the supply chains of manufacturing industries. Blockchain is a core platform to fuel our digital transformation.”
As per the report, SDS plans to ship around 500,000 tons of air freight and around 1 million shipping containers in 2018. These products are worth tens of billions of dollars. Samsung plans to decrease overheads with the help of a Blockchain-based system. In addition, the new system will allow it to react more quickly to the market movements.
Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments section below.


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Rush Enterprises Inc. announced the promotions of Steven Keller to senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, and Derrek Weaver to senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. The company also appointed Corey Lowe to the newly created position of senior vice president of Peterbilt Dealerships.
Keller has served as vice president, CFO and treasurer since 2007. He has been involved in the company’s finance and accounting functions since 1997 and will maintain responsibility for financial analysis and planning, business acquisitions, SEC reporting, investor relations and corporate taxes.
Weaver has served as vice president and general counsel since 2010. He remains responsible for overseeing the company’s legal department, general corporate governance matters and the legal aspects of business acquisitions and SEC reporting. He served as the company’s vice president of legal affairs and chief compliance officer from February 2005, when he joined the company, until 2010.
“Both Steve and Derrek are outstanding professionals in their fields and have been instrumental in the company’s ability to accomplish key growth initiatives, including recent major business acquisitions,” says W.M. “Rusty” Rush, president and chief executive officer. “Their continued leadership will no doubt benefit the Rush organization and contribute significantly to the company’s success in the future.”
Lowe has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president of Peterbilt Dealerships and will be responsible for overall dealership operations of the company’s Peterbilt Division. He joined Rush in 1998 and has served as regional manager for the company’s North Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee dealerships since 2008, regional general manager for Rush Truck Centers in Oklahoma from 2006 to 2008, and general manager of the company’s Oklahoma City dealership from 2003 to 2006.
“I am pleased to name Corey Lowe to this new position,” Rush says. “Corey has spent his entire career in the Rush Truck Centers dealership organization, and I am confident his expert knowledge of both the Peterbilt product line and dealership operations will contribute greatly to his success in this new role.”


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macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Beta 5 Released for Testing
Apple has released macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Beta 5 to users enrolled in the Mac operating system beta testing program.
The new beta build likely includes various bug fixes and enhancements to the High Sierra release, marching towards the inevitable final version.
Users who are enrolled in the beta testing programs for MacOS can find the macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 beta 5 release available now via the Software Update mechanism of the App Store.
Any user can choose to participate in the beta testing programs for Apple, either through the public beta testing program for free, or via he Developer program, which requires an annual $99 fee.
Apple typically releases several beta releases before a final version is released to the general public, thus with the release of the fifth beta this suggests we’re not too far off from the public finalized version of macOS 10.13.3 being available.
Separately, several days ago Apple also released iOS 11.2.5 beta 5 for testing. It’s reasonably likely the two new system software versions will be finalized around and released around the same time in the coming weeks.


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Bridging the info gap between Wall Street and Main Street as the Reddit frenzy continues
In South Korea, retail investors have given Cathie Wood a nickname: “Money Tree.” Looking at the pile of cash now managed by Ark Investment Management, it’s easy to see why.
Ark’s exchange-traded fund assets under management crossed US$50 billion this week, up from only US$3.6 billion at this time last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In 2021 alone, investors have funneled almost US$11 billion in Wood’s family of funds.
The new record underscores the flood of money pouring into thematic products, tracking topics like genomics and fintech, as retail traders put money to work in funds with relatable narratives. Wood’s eye-popping returns catch the pros’ attention, while her approachable persona attracts investors just starting out.
“This is a key milestone, and a sign that the ETF business is not just dominated by firms tracking indexes,” said Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF research for CFRA Research. “Given investor focus on long-term thematic investing, there’s room for additional growth for Ark and other active managers.”
In South Korea, retail investors are swarming to buy thematic products and Cathie Wood has become something of a celebrity. In social media posts they refer to her as “돈나무”, which roughly translates as “Money Tree.” The facts back that up -- her ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) has gained 19 per cent already this year, on top of a 149 per cent rise in 2020.
In fact, due to popular demand, Ark recently launched a line of merchandise. Offerings include T-shirts that say “Truth Wins Out” and baseball caps with “Stay Innovative.” There’s even a baby onesie with “Invest in the Future” on the front.
The allure faded a bit last week as GameStop Corp. stole the headlines and the main ARKK fund went four days without an inflow. Also shorts are building in the US$25.4 billion fund. Short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding on ARKK is nearly 1.5 per cent, down slightly from an all-time high of 1.9 per cent earlier this month, according to data from IHS Markit Ltd.
Critics warn Ark could face headwinds, since her funds are so heavily exposed to technology companies that saw tremendous gains during the pandemic lockdowns. As the economy reopens and a broad market rotation takes hold, tech stocks could suffer.
Still, Wood’s name recognition is only growing, and her stamp of approval is enough to move stock prices. Her inclusion of DraftKings Inc. in the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) boosted the sports-betting company’s shares 8.6 per cent earlier this week.
“Performance leads to inflows,” said Mohit Bajaj, director of ETFs for WallachBeth Capital. “All their funds have done very well, which had led to such huge amounts of money going into them. Investors still believe in the fund manager.”


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before the likes of Samsung could put two displays onto one single smartphone, Russian company Yota attempted to do the same as far back as December 2012 with the release of the YotaPhone.
The manufacturer of the dual-screen YotaPhone, which first appeared in December 2012, announced the bankruptcy.
Before giant companies like Samsung put two displays on a single smartphone, the Russian company Yota was put on the job in 2012 with the YotaPhone smartphone with the primary display LCD screen and the second screen with e-ink on the back. The device had a very high level of technology compared to other smartphones. Yota, this furyaya YotaPhone 2 and YotaPhone 3 continued until 2017.
Unfortunately, dual-screen phones did not attract the attention expected by consumers. Although other OEMs (original product manufacturers) have begun to focus on this idea, it seems to be the end of the road for the Yota company.
The Supreme Court of the Cayman Islands, where Yota was registered, said the company was bankrupt. The bankruptcy case was opened by Hi-p Electronics, a company providing the screens of the first two generations of the YotaPhone. These two companies were in dispute because Yota did not reach the minimum number of orders and therefore did not sell enough.
Dual-screen phones can make a comeback with foldable telephones, but the Samsung Galaxy Fold did a lot of trouble right after it came out. The fact that Samsung faces these challenges and Yota’s phones don’t sell enough will be a sign that OEMs will not pay much attention to this idea.


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Disney Store Expands to Outlet Arena
Glendale, Calif., Disney Store North America, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Children’s Place Retail Stores, will expand into the retail outlet arena. Its first outlet will measure more than 7,000 sq. ft. and will open in New York this weekend at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. Five additional outlets are planned to open this year in California, Arizona, Illinois, Tennessee and Ontario, Canada. The move marks the first adjustment to Disney Store’s real estate strategy since The Children’s Place acquired the chain in November.
Australia’s Foodland Up For Sale
Melbourne, Australia, Australian grocer Foodland Associated Ltd. put itself up for sale after Metcash Trading Ltd. made a hostile bid for the company, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Foodland is in discussions with several other suitors.
Foodland may consider selling its New Zealand assets separately. The grocer previously had announced plans to spin off its plum New Zealand business by August. Australian retail bruisers Coles Myer Ltd. and Woolworths Ltd. are rumored to be interested in Foodland’s New Zealand business, but both have declined comment.
Ultimate Electronics Plans Closings
Denver, Ultimate Electronics plans about 30 store closings, about half the number of its total store count of 62. The chain will leave markets in Iowa, South Dakota, Texas and Utah and Kansas City, Missouri, when the closings are completed by June 30. About 900 employees will lose their jobs through the closings, and another 65 employees of the central office will be terminated.


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Wine Staging, a playground for experimental Wine patches not yet ready to be accepted to the mainline tree, is out with their newest release that's powered off last week's official Wine 1.9.9 release.
Wine 1.9.9 was released earlier today as the newest development release for this software to run Windows applications/games on Linux, OS X, and other operating systems.
Adding in more experimental patches over last week's Wine 1.9.8 development release is the routine Wine-Staging update.
Wine 1.9.8 is now available as the latest development snapshot of this program for running Windows programs/games on Linux, OS X, and other operating systems.
For those sticking to Wine 1.8 stable releases rather than the bi-weekly Wine 1.9 development releases, Wine 1.8.2 was released this morning.
Building off Friday's release of Wine 1.9.7 is now a new release of Wine-Staging.
Wine 1.9.7 is now available as the latest bi-weekly development release of this program for running Windows programs on Linux and other operating systems.
CodeWeavers this morning announced the release of CrossOver 15.1 as the latest version of their software to allow Windows programs to run on Linux and OS X. CrossOver 15.1 is now powered by Wine 1.8.1.
CodeWeavers got their Wine-based CrossOver software running on Android, but before getting too excited, it's x86 Android.
The Wine-Staging 1.9.6 release adds an experimental Vulkan wrapper for running Vulkan Windows binaries on Linux.
Wine 1.9.6 was released this morning as the latest bi-weekly development release of Wine.
Support for running Vulkan Windows programs/games under Wine is currently being developed.
Building off last Friday's release of Wine 1.9.5 is now the Wine-Staging update that adds in extra patches.
Wine 1.9.5 was released today and it's a rather exciting bi-weekly update to the Wine stack.
The Wine crew has today released Wine-Staging 1.9.4 as the latest version of this experimental proving grounds for upstream Wine and based off last week's release of Wine 1.9.4.
Wine 1.9.4 was released today as the latest bi-weekly Wine development release.
It has been quite a while since last having any Wine-Staging release to talk about, but nothing has stopped and simply was due to the project not having the time for putting out release notes. Wine-Staging continues to ride off upstream Wine while adding in over one hundred experimental patches for testing.'
Wine 1.9.3 is out today as the newest bi-weekly Wine development release.
Wine 1.8.1 was released this morning as the first stable point release to Wine 1.8.
Wine 1.9.2 was released this morning as the newest bi-weekly Wine development release.
The Wine project's first development release of 2016 is now available.
With Wine 1.8 having been released last week, Wine 1.9.0 was released today as the first development snapshot leading to the Wine 1.10 release in 2016.
Just days after the release of Wine 1.8, the Wine-Staging 1.8 release is now available.
As a nice Christmas present for those dependent upon running Windows games/applications on Linux, Wine 1.8 was officially released just moments ago!
The fourth weekly release candidate to Wine 1.8 is now available.
With the Wine crew shipping new unstable releases every two weeks, the Wine packages that end up in Linux distributions tend to be out of date for fetching the bleeding edge support for running Windows programs on Linux. As a result, Wine developers are stepping up their game in providing packages for popular Linux distributions.
Back during E3 in June, CodeWeavers was talking about "support for DirectX 11 [in the coming months]." It's been nearly six months and it looks like we're still a ways out from seeing support in Wine.
With the open-source Wine 1.8 release just around the corner, CodeWeavers announced this morning the immediate release of CrossOver 15.0 for Linux and OS X systems for running the latest Windows applications.
The third release candidate is now available for Wine 1.8 as a weekly update to take care of more bugs.
The latest weekly release candidate to Wine 1.8 is now available.
446 WINE news articles published on Phoronix.


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SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix has begun streaming its Internet video service in 130 more countries, nearly completing its expansion a year ahead of schedule.
CEO Reed Hastings made the surprise announcement at the end of a presentation Wednesday in Las Vegas at CES, a showcase for gadgets and technology services.
Investors cheered the news, sending Netflix’s stock surging 6 per cent during another dour day on Wall Street.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings gives a keynote address, January 6, 2016 at the CES 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP/Getty)
With its latest move, Netflix is now available in about 190 countries. China is the only major missing piece in the company’s global matrix. Filling that hole will likely require potentially difficult negotiations with a government that prevents its population from seeing material it considers objectionable or incendiary.
Netflix already has more than 70 million subscribers, who watched 12 billion hours of programming on the Internet video service during the final three months of 2015, a nearly 50 per cent increase from the previous year.
Netflix entered the fourth quarter with 69 million subscribers compared to the previous year’s 53 million, a group that watched 8.25 billion hours of programming. That means Netflix subscribers watched a weekly average of 13 hours of programming in the 2015 period versus 12 hours in 2014.
The company’s periodic revelations about the behaviour of its subscribers are one of the few ways outsiders can gauge the popularity of its series and movies.
Netflix’s stock rose $2.40 to $110.07 in early afternoon trading.