text:
We have recently changed our search engine. Check the Advanced options to learn the new search rules.
Digitimes Research: Android phones to account for 70% of global smartphone market in 2013
Luke Lin, DIGITIMES Research, Taipei
Android will further solidify its market leadership in the smartphone operating system race in 2013, thanks to a broad support from smartphone vendors and the rollout of a wide range of low-priced models for sale in emerging markets. Shipments of Android...
The article you are trying to open requires News database subscription. Please sign in if you wish to continue.
The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted production and weakened consumer confidence, with all ICT sectors bracing for major declines in shipments. Digitimes Research has conducted analyses on three mobile device sectors, namely notebooks, smartphones and tablets in the wake of the outbreak.


text:
Blockchain Gaming: Play to Earn
VeradiVerdict - Issue #162
This week we are going to dive into Blockchain Gaming, but specifically on the Play to Earn model. We have a special Q&A section with my friend Amy Wu, who leads crypto and gaming at Lightspeed Venture Partners. In addition, appreciative of the feedback from Brian Cho (investor at Patron and formerly A16z and Riot Games), Aleksander Larsen (co-founder of Axie Infinity), and Gabby Dizon (co-founder of Yield Guild Games).
All eyes have been on the gaming space in recent years, and rightfully so.
Gaming has gone global: there are over 2.7 billion gamers worldwide, particularly concentrated in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. It has also firmly embedded itself into many peoples’ daily routines: 60% of Americans play some form of video game every day. Video game streaming reaches 1.2 billion viewers every year. Fortnite, a smash hit from Epic Games, generated $5.1B in revenue in 2020 from over 350M monthly active players, illustrating the enormous success even a single game can achieve. Analysts anticipate that the industry will surpass $300B in value over the next few years.
Despite the space’s promising trajectory, today’s games still face a number of important shortcomings:
Players don’t truly “own” anything. Last year, gamers spent over $50B on in-game items: outfits, weapons, power-ups, and so on. These purchases typically enhance the player’s performance and enjoyment of the game, but don’t serve any other purpose; you can’t sell, lend, or collateralize your items. Today, they fall into the entertainment spending category, not true investment.
Cross-game interoperability is limited. Today’s games, for the most part, remain walled gardens: they are distinct universes with their own items and experiences. And this is for good reason! Game developers should have full independence to control their creative efforts. But what if game developers could cooperate in more complex ways?
Lack of business model optionality. 80% of total digital games revenue comes from free-to-play (or “freemium”) games. Of the paid games that have succeeded, most are skins-driven, such as CS:GO. This shift has been great for players—paying $0.99 for a mobile game is practically unheard of—but can limit the design space for certain developers. Form follows function; as new business models emerge for game developers (such as commissions on secondary NFT sales), so will new forms of gameplay.
Crypto, I think, is the missing building block that the gaming industry has been waiting for, one that empowers developers to open up entirely new design space. And I’m certainly not alone in holding that belief.
The intersection of blockchain and gaming will no doubt be the topic of many future posts—there’s simply too much to say. This week, though, I wanted to focus on a specific trend that has picked up broader attention recently: play-to-earn (P2E).
What is play-to-earn gaming?
It’s impossible to talk about play-to-earn without first talking about Axie Infinity; the game has undoubtedly pioneered a new type of gaming, similar to free-to-play’s dominance following the “Candy Crush moment” in 2012.
Axie Infinity is similar in gameplay to Pokémon: players raise, breed, and battle their Axies, axolotl-looking cartoon characters. The difference, though, is that instead of earning points for victories, players earn Smooth Love Potion (SLP), the game’s native token.
Unlike the items of “walled garden” games, all of Axie Infinity’s assets are plugged into the decentralized universe. SLP can be transferred instantaneously into another crypto-asset, used as collateral, or cashed out as fiat. Axies, as well as the game’s digital land, are bought and sold between individuals as NFTs. The game even has a governance token (AXS) that allows holders to guide the game’s future.
While Axie Infinity was released in 2018, the game has skyrocketed in adoption in recent months. At its peak in July, the game was generating over $15M in revenue each day, sending the governance token (AXS) to a fully diluted valuation of $22B. To put that in perspective, Axie Infinity—a game that is itself built on Ethereum—has earned over half of Ethereum’s total revenue in the past 30 days. The numbers are mind-bending.
Source: Token Terminal
The game has over 1.5M daily active players around the world, particularly in the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Venezuela, India, and Vietnam. For thousands of their users, playing Axie Infinity has become their livelihood, sometimes providing substantially more than they could’ve earned working a local job. Most are not crypto-natives; they found Axie Infinity through viral word-of-mouth.
The explosive growth, global reach, and widespread income generation that Axie Infinity has achieved is truly remarkable. Regardless of Axie Infinity’s future—which I wouldn’t necessarily bet against—it has pioneered a model, play-to-earn, that will outlive itself.
Inspired by Axie Infinity, Gabby Dizon recently co-founded Yield Guild Games, a “guild” for this new play-to-earn economy. The organization, governed by a DAO, provides scholarships for people who would like to play Axie Infinity and other play-to-earn games professionally, sharing a portion of their earnings. The DAO, as a result, holds NFTs from various metaverse games, making its governance token, YGG, an index of sorts for the play-to-earn economy. The project is still in its early days but already has over 4,500 scholars, paying out over $1M per week.
A number of other play-to-earn games have gained popularity alongside Axie Infinity in recent months, such as CryptoBlades, Zed Run, Cometh, REVV, and others. Many of these are developed by blockchain-focused game developers and are used predominately by crypto-native users.
However, after Axie Infinity’s jaw-dropping success, I think the play-to-earn revolution is too promising for big-name game developers to ignore. I suspect that we’ll see established industry players begin to incorporate these ideas into their games and bring them to the masses.
Slowly, then all at once: why now?
For longtime observers of the space, play-to-earn has been a hot topic for years. So what changed recently that has seemingly opened the floodgates?
There’s no clear answer, but a series of trends have likely played a role:
Scaling. Layer-2 Ethereum scaling protocols, new high-throughput blockchains, and other scalability solutions have made it possible for blockchain-native games to flourish. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’re in a much better place than even a few years ago—remember the network congestion CryptoKitties caused in 2017?
NFTs go mainstream. A number of NFT-related innovations—including the ERC-721 standard—have given birth to the recent boom in NFT adoption. Gaming companies now have the tools to NFT-ify their games and, more importantly, a better public understanding of why rare in-game assets can have value.
DeFi architecture. Now that basic DeFi primitives (such as an automated market maker) have been battle-tested and widely implemented, game developers can incorporate these tools to financialize their games. Buying, lending, collateralizing, and other basic financial activities can now enter the realm of gaming.
Web2 interoperability. As legacy big tech giants begin to plug into the decentralized ecosystem, it will open up a distribution mechanism for crypto-powered games. For example, Apple’s recent App Store changes could make it easier for NFT-based and play-to-earn games to be directly accessed by iOS users. This important change allows games like Axie:Origin, an upcoming mobile app from the Axie Infinity team, to reach a much wider audience.
The metaverse. Working from home, the improvement of VR/AR technology, and a number of other global trends have made “the metaverse” a new frontier for digital experiences—from working in a virtual office to playing an adventure game—to be built. It also seems to have piqued Facebook’s interest.
Some insights from Amy Wu.
To add a bit more color to the P2E movement, I invited my friend Amy Wu from Lightspeed Venture Partners, who leads gaming and crypto investments to also comment.
What do you think caused Axie Infinity to inflect? And why them vs another blockchain game?
It was a combination of factors, including word-of-mouth referrals in the Philippines, the P2E documentary driving interest, streamers spreading awareness, but with all that, I think the key thing was their move to Ronin, which suddenly made transactions like buying Axies free. As for what’s special about Axie Infinity, given there were other blockchain games as well (Gods Unchained, etc.), I think the community playing Axie Infinity, including PvP players and Axie collectors, had always been strong. Retention is an important metric people use to track the strength of gameplay and community, and for Axie Infinity it was significantly higher than other blockchain games (north of 30% D30) even before they inflected.
Is play-to-earn the next game monetization model?
I don’t think of play-to-earn as a game monetization model, like free-to-play, premium, or pay-for-power are. Play-to-earn can co-exist with a game monetization model. It more describes player acquisition strategy, since it’s an incredibly viral method of acquiring a particular type of player, one whose primary objective is to earn money playing. Monetizing these players look different than acquiring a player who’s primarily spending money playing the game. With a large enough volume of P2E players, a company like Axie Infinity can introduce financial services products including crypto trading (on Ronin) to these participants, which is valuable. Ideally, a game has a good balance of regular players and P2E players. If you don’t, you could still balance the game economy, but would need more whale players spending a lot in-game to do so.
What are you seeing now at the intersection of blockchain gaming and gaming?
There is an explosion of new blockchain gaming teams currently, dozens of new teams forming on a weekly basis, and deep pools of venture and crypto capital looking to invest in this category. It’s the best time to be a blockchain gaming developer. Most of these teams are crypto and NFT native, and my recommendation is they bring on folks with native game design and development DNA in the genre of game they’re making because, at the end of the day, games with longevity are not easy to build. There’s a reason some of the biggest AAA hits take years, not months to build. Some teams realize this. I think players will see a golden age of blockchain games a couple years from now, but there is a first-mover advantage to releasing games sooner.
Where do we go from here?
If gaming ends up being a way to earn an income, the implications are massive. A worker who may have ordinarily worked in the “gig economy,” such as driving an Uber, may decide that play-to-earn is an equally compelling alternative, one that’s far more entertaining. New types of jobs, from digital real estate agents to NFT art curators, will be highly sought after in the metaverse. Even casual gamers will now view their gaming-related expenditures as investments, not merely consumption. It’s difficult to overstate how large of a societal shift this could be.
Last week, with the excitement around Loot, we saw a hint of what the future of NFT gaming might look like. Loot is an unusual “game”: 8,000 bags of items were minted as NFTs and purchased by users, containing “randomized adventurer gear” of different rarities. For example, one “bag” might include a “Gold Ring,” “Divine Robe of Skill,” and a series of other items. However, while the NFT holder “owns” them, there’s not really a purpose for them, yet—it’s a “bottom-up” project where the items are created before the game itself. Very quickly after launch, the community was set in motion: the floor price for a Loot bag jumped to over $20,000, artists began designing the items (some with AI!), and several game developers are beginning to architect Loot’s interplay with the metaverse.
All of this, and more, happened in less than 10 days. A “game” is being built, piece by piece, by a passionate community of Loot holders and supporters. This is a paradigm shift for the industry, one that is quite powerful. This is the first, but certainly not the last, NFT-based game to follow this new model: “community, then game” instead of “game, then community.”
With that in mind, here are some questions that I’ve been thinking about lately:
In the play-to-earn economy, what makes a game good? I worry that the phrase “play-to-earn” can send the wrong message: the earning part should be a byproduct of a fun, well-architected game, not the primary consideration. Games, first and foremost, must have high entertainment value, strong community buy-in, and a plan for long-term sustainability. Without any one of those, it’s difficult for me to imagine an in-game economy accruing durable value. So, while play-to-earn is certainly an exciting idea, it can’t exist on its own: you still need a great game. My bet is that the most fulfilling, engaging games—the types of places that people will spend a lot of time in, which the modern era’s currency—will also have the most vibrant economies.
How does play-to-earn fit into my portfolio? In the case of Axie Infinity, there are a number of ways you can get in on the action: buy an Axie, digital land, the game’s native token, or a piece of a guild like YGG. But each asset is very, very different; buying land in a metaverse-based game, for example, requires time and resources to best develop your property, similar to real estate in the physical world. In addition, betting on the right game is extremely difficult. Unless you’re an avid gamer or an industry insider, it can be very difficult to predict which ones take off and which don’t. To resolve this differential access, new financial instruments, such as Index Coop’s Metaverse Index, could give a wider group of investors access to this exciting asset class.
What infrastructure will develop around this industry? Yield Guild is exciting because it’s a logical piece of the ecosystem. A central organization that invests in, advocates for, and mobilizes play-to-earners is intuitively compelling, similar to what drew artisans to guilds in the medieval era. What else is this new economy missing? Will play-to-earners develop a union, organized as a DAO, to lobby for more player-friendly revenue splits? Or what about a platform for play-to-earners to get access to basic benefits such as health insurance, the same way that gig-economy workers do? This is an entirely new class of workers, and I hope that builders are starting the build the types of products that will make their lives easier.
The bottom-line: Play-to-earn has been a work-in-progress for a while, but it feels like it has finally arrived. Following Axie Infinity’s absolutely explosive summer and the recent excitement around Yield Guild, play-to-earn is now on the radar of gaming behemoths and crypto thought leaders alike—it will be fascinating to see what projects are built on these strong tailwinds. This is certainly an interesting time to be an investor in the space, but, more broadly, it also marks a shift in the way we think about labor, leisure, and value. It’s definitely a trend you’re going to want to pay attention to.
- Paul V
We’re thrilled to announce that Clipper’s long-awaited community liquidity program (“CLP”), will launch on October 5, 2021!
How an NFT juggernaut emerged from a grimy bar in Miami.
Nate Chastain, OpenSea’s head of product, is at the center of the scandal that emerged on Twitter on Tuesday night.
Search engine giant Google will not be refused a leadership position in powering the next generation of the world wide web, supercharged by blockchain.
Gregory Dwyer, BitMEX’s first employee, has consented to be sent to the U.S., pending Bermuda’s approval.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler wants to boost the agency’s headcount to better regulate crypto.
IN THE TWEETS
NEW PRODUCTS AND HOT DEALS
The startup is creating key trading services for institutional crypto market participants.
The agreement with HaloDAO will give gamers a chance to ape into yield farming and other aspects of decentralized finance.
LETS MEET UP
Los Angeles, Sept 16-17
Mainnet 2021, New York City, Sept 20-24
Coffee meetings or walks in San Francisco
Hi, I’m Paul Veradittakit, a Partner at Pantera Capital, one of the oldest and largest institutional investors focused on investing in blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies. I’ve been in the industry since 2014, and the firm invests in equity, early stage token projects, and liquid cryptocurrencies on exchanges. I focus on early-stage investments and share my thoughts on what’s going on in the industry in this weekly newsletter.

domain: news


text:
FedEx followed Danish logistics provider DSV in suspending its 2020 forecast due to the uncertain global environment caused by the coronavirus pandemic. More companies will likely follow as the pandemic continues. FedEx’s quarterly earnings for the period ending Jan. 31 noted revenue gains across each of its divisions. Average daily volumes were up 10% in […]
Get Air Cargo World Premium for as low as $5 per week!
Start your free one week trial today for access to the latest industry news and trends.


text:
These cereal companies said they would voluntarily reduce the marketing of their unhealthy products to children.
This study tells us that these cereal companies have not done what they promised: to reduce their spending of their worst nutritional cereals directly targeted to kids.
The lead researcher in the study was Jennifer L. Harris, who is the director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Center.
She states, "Children still get one spoonful of sugar in every three spoonfuls of cereal. These products are not nutritious options that children should consume every day."
The Yale News article "Cereal FACTS 2012: A spoonful of progress in a bowl full of unhealthy marketing to kids" states, "With the launch of the industry-led Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative in 2006, major companies such as General Mills, Kellogg, and Post promised to improve the nutritional value of their children’s cereals and strengthen their standards for child-directed advertising."
And, "In 2009, the Rudd Center issued the first Cereal FACTS report, which found that the least healthy breakfast cereals were those most frequently and aggressively marketed directly to children as young as age 2."
Further, "Using the same methods as the original Cereal FACTS, the 2012 study examined the nutritional quality of more than 100 brands and nearly 300 individual varieties of cereal marketed to children, families and adults. Researchers also examined the scope of industry advertising on television, the Internet, and social media sites."
The results are shown on page 2.


text:
Krafton Inc, the developer behind the popular game PUBG, has announced that the company will be launching a new battle royale game in India. Battlegrounds Mobile India will be an India-only game, and it is basically PUBG Mobile in a new form designed for the country.
With the new name and India-centric logo complete with tricolour hues, Battlegrounds Mobile India is expected to launch soon in the country. Ahead of the launch, here’s what we know so far about the new game. But before that, here’s the short trailer for the game in case you missed it.
India only pre-registration
Battlegrounds Mobile India will be up for pre-registration before its launch in India. The pre-registration of the game will give players early access to the game ahead of the launch, and will also be open to only Indian players.
New restrictions for kids and teenagers
Players below 18 years of age will have new restrictions in Battlegrounds Mobile India. These players will need to register for the game with a phone number that belongs to their parent or guardian.
Further, players below the age of 18 will only be able to access the title for a maximum of three hours every day. These players will also not be able to spend over Rs 7,000 per day for in-app purchases. However, it is not clear how the game will verify the age of each player.
The global edition of PUBG Mobile India was banned in India last year among a number of other Chinese apps over issues of data privacy. These included allegations of sending the data of Indian players to servers overseas. Battlegrounds Mobile India is set to fix these issues with the new game with a clear emphasis on privacy.
“In the event of transfer to another country or region, we will take steps to ensure that your information receives the same level of protection as if it remained in India,” it added.
Battlegrounds Mobile India: What we still don’t know
With only a short trailer that does little more than reveal the official name of the upcoming game in the country, there are still many questions that remain to be answered about Battlegrounds Mobile India.
How close will the gameplay and interface of the app be to PUBG Mobile? Will there be new maps and will game modes like TDM be available?
Will players still be able to play the game with those outside India? Will users be able to carry over their accounts and in-app purchases from the banned global version of PUBG Mobile? These are some of the questions that we expect Krafton to shed some light on soon.
The teaser does reveal a map that looks like the Miramar map from the original game, so there is the possibility of the same maps and interface being used in the Battlegrounds Mobile India. Moreover, with Krafton already working on PUBG: New State, the likelihood of the company developing a brand new game for Indian users seems low.
It remains to be seen if players should then be able to carry over their data, achievements and in-app purchases that many players had invested in for years before the ban.
We should soon hear more details on Battlegrounds Mobile India from Krafton closer to the game’s launch date. The exact launch date is expected to be revealed when the game goes up for pre-registration in the country. Details for the pre-registration itself should be soon revealed on the official Battlegrounds Mobile India website.


text:
Taking out debt used to be a mark of shame in the startup world. Investors like Peter Thiel are helping make it cool.
- Peter Thiel poured $250 million into Tacora Capital, which reflects a new interest in venture debt.
- Startups that might've raised cash now look to debt, bucking the stigma around taking on loans.
When startups need money, there's a pretty common game plan to follow: Sell shares off to outside investors, swapping equity in the company for the cash they need to grow. But what happens as the market sours and those investors stop writing so many checks?
Investors like Peter Thiel, the famed PayPal cofounder and former Facebook board member, think they have an answer: debt. Unlike the traditional venture-capital model, venture debt lets startups limit outside control — at the cost of having to pay the principal and interest on the loan back, usually over a term of three years.
Data from the startup tracker PitchBook showed that US venture debt reached $26.5 billion in value at the end of November. This represents 1,925 deals between startups and venture-debt providers. The second quarter of 2022 became the second-largest quarter in debt value in the past 10 years, that data showed.
For Thiel's part, Bloomberg reported he invested in Tacora Capital, a venture-debt fund, in December, which made him the latest and highest-profile mainstream investor to bet on that corner of the industry.
For a long time, the conventional wisdom in the tech-startup scene has been that taking on debt is a sign of a weak business that can't raise money from traditional investors. Moves like Thiel's are a sign that things are changing.
Some industry insiders are going so far as to say that venture debt can make for a better, more resilient business — there's nothing quite like owing a massive loan to keep a startup focused on low costs and building a good business model.
"There's going to be a new crop of founders in 2023 and beyond that are saying to themselves, 'Maybe raising a ton of venture and going for growth at all costs is not a good idea,'" Billy Libby, a managing partner and the CEO at the venture-debt and venture-capital firm Upper90, said. "Founders want to start a profitable business while thinking about their ownership, balance sheets, and sustainable growth."
Out of the shadows
Despite the stigma against debt in the startup community, it's long been a key weapon in the financial arsenal among larger companies. Taking out debt gives a speedy way for those companies to invest in their own growth, while serving as a signal of its confidence that it can pay the money back.
Even among startups, 70% of all venture debt is held by later-stage companies, per PitchBook, which gives them a way to raise money without diluting their investors or giving up more board seats. PitchBook's data shows earlier-stage companies are accounting for larger amounts of total debt raised.
Startups can access venture debt through banks like Silicon Valley Bank or funds that specialize in the vehicle. Since those lenders deal with younger companies, venture-debt terms can be more flexible than traditional business loans.
Debt does have its drawbacks, naturally. Paying back a loan with interest can be a challenge for the largest of companies; for smaller startups experiencing the ups and downs of the early business cycle, it can be a huge burden. And when the startup either goes public or goes out of business, the debt lenders get first dibs before outside investors.
Libby of Upper90 said that for the right small startup, however, debt could give it the tools and discipline to succeed. He suggested that startups with fixed costs and revenues were best-suited for the debt vehicle: He used the real-world example of a startup his firm works with that did good, steady business selling salmon directly to consumers.
Traditional VC isn't going anywhere
What the experts all agree on is that venture debt isn't going to replace the traditional venture-capital model anytime soon.
Debt can complement more traditional equity fundraises, a report from Silicon Valley Bank said. In fact, the bank suggests that having a traditional venture-capital firm (or several) on board as an investor can help make it easier for a startup to qualify for a loan.
It's also worth noting the rise of alternative financing, which has grown in popularity in the past year. Companies like Capchase, Clearco, and Pipe offer credit lines to startups, particularly software companies, typically with a shorter term than venture-debt providers allow.
Ultimately, what it all comes down to is that venture debt is no longer in the shadows — especially as it gets harder to raise money the traditional way.
"We're going to see more companies go for debt next year because it's more relevant now," Libby said.
- India's GDP grows 7.6% in September quarter, beats RBI estimates
- India's GDP grows 7.6% in July-September quarter
- 8 Delicious ways to add spinach to your breakfast
- iQOO 12 camera overview – Samples reveal photography prowess
- She power: The top 10 youngest women entrepreneurs in India


text:
The UK’s Newest Clearing Bank Joins Bacs Payment Schemes Limited
- Payments , Banking
- 31.05.2017 10:00 am
The first new UK clearing bank in more than 250 years, ClearBank, has become a member of Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd (Bacs), the company behind Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit, taking membership up to 17 leading financial institutions.
Michael Chambers, chief executive officer of Bacs, said: "We are very pleased to welcome ClearBank on board as our newest member. ClearBank will provide access to our payment schemes to many organisations who can benefit from using our products. And, with the record six billion-plus transactions we processed last year, it is evident that our payments are still in great demand.”
“ As the first new clearing bank in the UK for more than two centuries, becoming a full member of Bacs is a natural step, and one we're happy to facilitate."
Nick Ogden, ClearBank Executive Chairman, said: “ClearBank® is the first new clearing bank in more than 250 years, delivering full and direct access to all of the UK payments infrastructure.
“We started talking to Bacs in 2015, as a key component of our strategy to open access and create competition. As the first bank to connect to all the UK payment schemes concurrently, Bacs worked with us to agree an ambitious timetable which I’m delighted to say we have met.
“In early 2016 we jointly agreed a process and timetable which has been followed and delivered, exactly to the day. ClearBank® is the first UK bank ever to concurrently connect to all the UK payment schemes. The support and commitment from the Bacs team ensured that we achieved this key business goal.”


text:
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Roadrunner Transportation Systems, Inc. (“Roadrunner” or the “company”) (NYSE: RRTS), a leading asset-right transportation and asset-light logistics service provider, today announced that Patrick (Pat) J. Unzicker has joined the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Unzicker served Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE, formerly DeVry Education Group) in Chicago for the past 13 years, most recently as senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. His 26 years of financial leadership experience also includes management positions with increasing scope and responsibilities with Whitehall Jewelers, Inc., Galileo International and Ryerson, Inc. He began his career at Price Waterhouse LLP in Chicago. Unzicker received a BBA degree from Loyola University of Chicago and is a Certified Public Accountant.
“We are pleased to welcome Pat to the Roadrunner management team. His deep public-company finance and accounting experience and expertise in capital markets, strategic planning and analysis, capital allocation, M&A and financial system implementation will be an asset to our company as we continue to execute on our business strategies,” said Curt Stoelting, Chief Executive Officer of Roadrunner.
About Roadrunner Transportation Systems, Inc.
Roadrunner Transportation Systems is a leading asset-right transportation and asset-light logistics provider offering a full suite of services and solutions under the Roadrunner®, Active On-Demand® and Ascent Global Logistics® brands. The Roadrunner brand offers less-than-truckload, over-the-road truckload and intermodal services. Active On-Demand offers premium mission critical air and ground logistics solutions. Ascent Global Logistics offers domestic freight management, retail consolidation, international freight forwarding and customs brokerage. For more information, please visit Roadrunner’s websites, www.rrts.com and www.ascentgl.com.


text:
Google has updated its app and introduced Google Now on Tap for Marshmallow Preview testers, along with the revamped app drawer. It also includes a complete section of predicted apps under the search bar. Moto X Play owners enjoy even more important changes.
The latest version of Google App allows the Google Now to be the default launcher on Motorola’s smartphones. And it works significantly smoother on the Moto X Play. The past two version of the GoogleApp lagged, but the new launcher no longer lags and skips frames opening up the app drawer.
These performance enhancements go a long way towards making the Moto X Play a more usable phone. The frequent animation stuttering was one of the annoying things with that handset. And the launcher eliminated these issues which make the Moto X Play more enjoyable device to use.
The update doesn’t bring any improvement anything outside of Google Now or its associated launcher. We still face the occasional lagging when dragging down the notification shade, but there’s no denying it’s a big improvement. And it underscores the importance of launcher performance in how quick a phone feels.


text:
Here is a look at U.S. business highlights for this week, including a new boss for the World Bank, another step toward consolidation in the U.S. telecommunications industry, and some magic in the publishing business. As VOA Economics Editor Jim Randle reports, experts expect Friday's data on U.S. job creation to show healthy growth.
The World Bank's Board of Directors approved U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as President of the Bank on Thursday.
Critics questioned Mr. Wolfowitz's fitness for a job devoted to development because because he was an architect of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Washington traditionally nominates World Bank presidents while Europe chooses the head of the International Monetary Fund.
MCI, the second-largest U.S. long-distance company, has accepted a $7.6 billion takeover offer from Verizon.
The deal came after Verizon increased the size of its offer.
MCI choose Verizon over an even larger takeover bid from rival Qwest.
MCI officials say Verizon's large scale and expected growth will make the combined company stronger than would a merger with Qwest, the country's fourth-largest local telephone company.
Disappointed Qwest managers say they will assess the situation.
Harry Potter is about to make more magic in the book publishing business.
Harry is the courageous, talented -- and fictional -- hero of a magical world filled with wizards, dragons, and obnoxious teenage bullies.
The company publishing the next installment of Harry's adventures says it will print an all-time record 10.8 million copies in the United States.
The sixth book in the series is called "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince."
Published reports say author J.K. Rowling's first five books about Harry's education at a school for wizards have sold a staggering 260-million copies in 62 languages.


text:
Based in Minnesota, the Indian Motorcycle Company became aware of this condition in August 2022 as part of a routine review of warranty claims. The manufacturer identified an increased rate of fuel pump failures, prompting an investigation. At first, Indian outreached the supplier, then inspected the failed pumps and performed internal testing.
Come October 2022, the Polaris Industries-owned motorcycle brand learned from Shihlin Electric & Engineering that beginning in March 2021, the impeller within the suspect fuel pump was manufactured thicker than the engineering specification. The safety recall report further highlights that “this was a known quality issue that was previously identified by the supplier, but not communicated to Indian at the time.”
No fewer than 180 reports of fuel pump failures were identified during the investigation, including 26 reports of engine stalls. Thankfully for all parties involved, no crashes or injuries are related to this quality issue.
The safety-related defect will be addressed with a replacement fuel pump, manufactured to improved quality controls and consistent with the engineering specification. Indian has also issued a stop-sale order on potentially affected motorcycles, with shipments to resume after they receive the updated fuel pump. Dealers will be notified tomorrow, November 18th, and known owners will have to wait until December 2nd.
Precisely 7,811 vehicles are called back, with one percent of them believed to exhibit this issue. The recall population includes Scout and Chief vehicles produced between February 5th, 2021 and November 4th, 2022.


text:
Rupert Murdoch, The Guardian Newspaper Group, magazine group IPC (and others) have formed an unlikely coalition, the British Internet Providers Association, in order to do one thing: decimate the BBC Online website, and protect their own online ventures. They demand that “BBC Online should be scaled back to being a ‘news portal’ and…should release its internet source code to commercial organisations.” Spin-off projects such as iCan, the grassroots political site which the BBC is set to launch in October, would be trashed, and the BBC’s use of its website to promote programmes, magazines and services would be restricted. In addition the BBC would face a cost ceiling on its online budget and be forced to “provide links to the news services of its competitors.”
There’s a good discussion over at MetaFilter.
Did I sleep through the winter and wake up on April 1st?


text:
2020 has been quite the year for many things, making history being the biggest. The Coronavirus outbreak has affected so much of our lives and daily routines. Even moreso than usual, it is important to focus on the positive during these times. Fortunately, good things will always arise from difficult situations. Times of crisis tend to bring out a sense of community and togetherness. Here at Rick’s Paint & Body, we’ve seen first-hand an abundance of people helping others here in the Augusta, GA area. Furthermore, we’re seeing businesses like vehicle manufacturers band together to help make life easier and safer for many.
Ford Motor Company Initiatives
Ford and Lincoln are among numerous vehicle manufacturers that have changed the way they do business. On March 16, 2020, Ford Motor Company announced that their finance customers will have the option to change their payment due date or even delay payments. They also released a “Built to Lend a Hand” program which provides customers with up to six months of payment relief. The goodwill efforts didn’t stop there. Ford Motor Company Fund also directed more than $500,000 to help nonprofit groups in Michigan, as well as supporting delivery of food to thousands of elders and children.
Teaming with other companies and finding creative ways to utilize resources are also on Ford’s agenda during COVID-19. In collaboration with 3M and Thermo Fisher, Ford is producing up to 3 million face shields and COVID-19 Collection Kits. They have also established a team of engineers within the company to create reusable medical gowns from air bag materials.
Generosity from General Motors
General Motors is not far behind on the innovation. GM partnered with a company called Ventec in order to mass-produce tens of thousands of masks and ventilators. The ventilators are Ventec’s V+Pro, which are portable and can function on battery power. The V+Pro is geared towards treatment in rural hospitals that may not have adequate resources for employees and patients. In the first week of production, GM delivered 20,000 of these masks and ventilators to healthcare workers on the front line. Within two weeks of this plan going into effect, they will have created approximately 50,000 masks a day. That’s almost 1.5 million masks per month! Their goal is to fulfill these orders through August 2020, but they are prepared to continue production into the following months.
Goodwill from Other Manufacturers
A few other manufacturers are also taking precautions and doing their part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Volkswagen decided to close the doors at their manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, TN and sanitized the entire factory. Their employees continued to receive full pay during this time, including healthcare benefits and bonuses.
Toyota took similar steps, shutting down their North American plants and reassessing a resumption of production day-by-day. Like Volkswagen, Toyota is also conducted a deep cleaning and sanitizing of its facilities.
Tesla is another manufacturer that has halted all factory production. Co-founder and CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla’s plant Giga New York in Buffalo, NY as well as their location in Fremont, California, assisted in production of ventilators. The evening after production began, the Resmed, Phillips and Medtronic ventilators began dispersing to hospitals in New York.
Doing Our Part
During times like this, the possibilities are endless when it comes to making positive changes – no matter how small the impact might seem. Although these manufacturers are making big strides, remember that the smaller actions like washing your hands frequently, following CDC’s guidelines to social distancing, and staying up-to-date on the latest COVID-19 news are equally important. Let’s all remember to do our part to slow the spread!


text:
Yes to night market's trade fair
Budding entrepreneurs will tout their wares before thousands of shoppers on Saturday thanks to a partnership between Hamilton Night Markets and the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES).
The markets, at Kmart's underground car park in Bryce St, will host the annual YES Regional Trade Fair in a partnership designed to support the Waikato's entrepreneurial secondary school students.
YES regional manager Mary Jensen said students will operate more than 25 market stalls alongside regular stallholders, selling a range of products and services they have developed, from chocolate and perfume to an executive babysitting service.
This will involve schools from Hamilton and across the Waikato including Cambridge, Matamata and Putaruru.
Jensen said in most cases the fair will give students a first taste of running a business in the real world.
"The Hamilton Night Markets will be a great launch pad for their businesses and an excellent way for them to dip their toes into the world of entrepreneurship," she said.
"The market atmosphere will make it exciting for them to be taking their product to market for the first time."
Students will be judged by a panel of business leaders as part of the fair.
Night markets managers Tania Simpson and Frank Te Wani said they are pleased to be encouraging student entrepreneurship at the markets.
"We're very excited to be hosting the trade fair as a way of supporting the business leaders of the future," said Simpson. "Markets are a great way for people to start a business and we are pleased to be able to do something to encourage them."
She said the YES partnership is also part of a push to enhance the family-friendly atmosphere at the markets.
"We want to encourage people who perhaps haven't attended the markets before to come down, support these young people and grab a bite to eat.
"This weekend there'll be more than 100 stalls, including 44 food stalls, so it's a great time to visit."
The YES initiative, involving about 250 year 12 and year 13 students from throughout the region, is a year-long programme where they set up a real business, and research, develop, produce and market a real product to make a profit.
Hamilton Night Markets are open from 5pm to 11pm and entry is free.


text:
Mumbai, Sep 18 (UNI) The public issue by Koutons Retail India Limited has received an overwhelming response from investors and it was subscribed 1.85 times on the very first day of opening today.
The issue closes on September 21.
J M Financial Consultants Private Ltd is the BRLM and Karvy Investor Services is the co-BRLM for the issue.
Koutons Retail India, an integrated apparel manufacturing and retail company in the country, has entered the capital markets with an IPO of 3,524,439 equity shares of Rs 10 each through 100 per cent book building process in the price band of Rs 370 to Rs 415 per equity share. The issue will constitute 11.54 per cent and net issue 11.37 per cent of the post-issue paid up capital of the company. The equity shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE, the release said.


text:
Nandini Das' idea of providing homemade food, through yummykitchens, has struck a chord among busy professionals in Kochi
By Shevlin Sebastian
Photo by Ratheesh Sundaram
One day, a man called Nandini Das, and said, “Maam, I am calling from the Kochi International Airport. My name is George Brody. I live in the US. My wife came across your website, [yummykitchens.in] and we are impressed. We need breakfast and lunch for the one-and-a-half months we will be in Kochi.”
And that is how Nandini began providing meals to Brody, a chairman of an IT company. Her USP is simple: she provides home-made food made by ordinary housewives who have a passion for cooking.
So, if you want Punjabi food, it will be made by a Punjabi homemaker. The same is the case for Malayali, Gujarati, Jain and other types of cuisine.
Among her collaborators is Geetha Shenoy, a retired Assistant General Manager of a nationalised bank. “I love cooking,” she says. “And it keeps me engaged.”
Nandini has told her eight-member team that the only way people will come back is if quality is maintained. “Thus far, we have 90 per cent repeat customers,” she says.
Her initial target was the IT crowd. She felt that since both husband and wife are working, they would like to eat home-made food. “But now most of the calls are from elderly couples, whose children are living abroad,” says Nandini.
Another group is the floating population of North Indians who have come to Kochi on transferable jobs. “After a while, they crave north Indian food,” says Nandini. “They like dal thadka, vegetables, paneer, and chicken tikka.”
One fan is online writer Sindhu Deepak. “The charm of the dishes is that it feels like food prepared in our own kitchen,” she says. “There is less oil and flavouring.”
Nandini also has an irresistible one-liner which makes it difficult for customers, especially working women, to say no. “I always tell them that having my food is cheaper than paying a maid,” she says. Indeed, the prices range from Rs 50 to a maximum of Rs 145.
So far, she has a menu of 120 dishes. One of the popular items is a Konkani sweet dish called the Jambul. “It is made of semolina,” says Nandini. “This is cooked in a mixture of milk, water and sugar. Following that, it is ghee-fried. Then it is coated in sugar syrup, with sprinklings of cardamom.”
And thanks to the multi-cultural nature of our society, the Malayalis are eating Punjabi and Gujarati dishes, and sometimes, the North Indians have the Malayali menu. “Within a family, the parents will have a South Indian thali, while the children will have the Punjabi menu,” says Nandini.
To have breakfast or lunch, Nandini prefers if the orders are given the night before. “We take the same amount of time, as any housewife,” she says. Once the food is ready it is delivered to the home through a special delivery team.
At Sindhu's home, in the suburb of Vennala, she has ordered food for her guests. And it arrives promptly at 12.45 p.m., in plastic containers, by two young men, who are wearing white T-shirts and red caps.
The food consists of rotis, baigan ka bartha, Dahi Wala chicken, chana and boondi raita. The dessert is a mouth-watering kulfi. The food is simple, but the taste is delicious. “Nandini told me that the home-makers are not making these dishes to make money,” says Sindhu. “They have a joy in cooking.”
And it is a joyful period for Nandini as her business picks up steam. A home-maker, she felt a vacuum when her daughter Krishna got married. Her son Achuth Govind is in Class 12, while her husband is busy in his IT business.
One day, while reading an article about a Bangalore-based entrepreneur, who started a business in homemade food, by collecting extra food from housewives, it struck Nandini that she could tweak the idea and provide a menu-based home-cooked food in Kochi.
And what has helped is the catchy name for the venture. “The name Yummykitchens was given by my son,” she says, with pride in her voice. “My future plans include expanding the business to other parts of India.”
(Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)


text:
The pandemic has certainly taken its toll on different industries in different ways. One group that was punished severely is restaurants, a sector that was nearly completely shut down for a portion of this year. The group has come roaring back, however, and the strong stocks within the group look pretty attractive, even after the massive rally.
One such stock is one of the best-run restaurant chains anywhere, Texas Roadhouse (TXRH). Texas Roadhouse has been a sector leader for years thanks to its nearly perpetual same-store sales growth and strong margins. As we can see below, Texas Roadhouse has rallied back to near its previous high, but remains about 15% below it. With the recent pullback from $66, I think Texas Roadhouse looks like a buy for long-term holders.
We can see in the middle panel that the restaurants have outperformed the broader market by a significant margin in the past several weeks, building a ~10% lead since the beginning of August. This relative strength is very attractive, and we can see that Texas Roadhouse has performed well against its peer group this year. This strength on strength is exactly what I want to see from a stock, and Texas Roadhouse continues to exhibit strength, even in a very strong sector.
A track record of success
Texas Roadhouse has shown for the past few years that it can continue to grow, even as its footprint expands and therefore, the comparable base grows. The top line, as we can see below, has moved steadily higher, with the exception of this year for obvious reasons.
Source: Seeking Alpha
Texas Roadhouse has achieved these results in part due to an expanding store base. The company has spent years building out its store base, with most of it being company-owned, plus a small number of franchises. At the end of calendar 2018, the company had 575 stores, and today, it has 620. That period includes a construction halt due to COVID, but still represents ~8% growth in a period of 18 months or so. This is commensurate with the company’s long-term store base growth rate in the mid-single digits, and I fully expect the company to continue to grow at about that rate moving forward. That 5% or so tailwind to revenue is key to the bull argument.
The other source of revenue growth is comparable sales, which Texas Roadhouse has excelled in for many years.
Keep in mind that this period includes some pretty nasty industry numbers as consumers pulled back on restaurant spending for brief periods in the past few years. Texas Roadhouse has not only outperformed those benchmarks, but just about every competitor it has. Of all of the things Texas Roadhouse has going for it, this is probably the most important, and impressive one.
The company’s comparable sales gains not only build the top line but also help boost margins as well as store costs are leveraged down. Comparable sales are obviously tanking for 2020, but looking forward, we’ll likely see a retracement of this year’s losses next year, plus some additional gains. There is no reason to believe Texas Roadhouse won’t be able to continue its comparable sales gains as it has focused on building its takeout business to cope with COVID, and its menu innovation continues to drive traffic.
Speaking of margins, I think there is a fairly compelling case that this will be a source of earnings growth for the next couple of years, at least.
EBIT margins spent years in the area of 8% to 9%, but will be very close to zero in 2020. Plummeting revenue will do that, but of course, it should be temporary. Looking into 2021, however, the current estimate is for just 6.5% EBIT margins, which is meaningfully below its historical norms. In other words, analysts aren’t expecting a full rebound in profitability until 2022 or later, meaning either Texas Roadhouse can surprise to the upside next year, or there is a longer tail to the earnings rebound. Either way, those are good outcomes as we can reasonably expect the comparable sales rebound to produce a simultaneous rebound in margins.
A reasonable valuation and strong dividend growth
This market is littered with great companies that are simply too expensive. Texas Roadhouse is definitely a great company, and while I wouldn’t consider it cheap, necessarily, I do think it is fairly valued for how much growth is coming.
Source: Seeking Alpha
EPS will obviously be close to zero this year, but given the circumstances, I don’t really care about this year’s numbers. Looking forward, we have EPS of $2.26 for next year, which is a huge rebound off of this year’s numbers, but still off from the $2.46 the company produced last year. In other words, despite the fact that conditions should have largely normalized by then, expectations for Texas Roadhouse are still pretty subdued. I love low expectations because it gives the company runway to surprise to the upside. If any restaurant chain can surprise to the upside, I have full faith it is Texas Roadhouse.
Looking out into the future a bit further, as margins reflate and revenue grows, the company is slated to hit new EPS highs in 2023. I think there’s a good chance the company hits $3 in EPS in 2022, but even if I’m wrong, the stock is fairly valued for buyers.
At 28 times forward earnings, I wouldn’t say it is cheap. However, given the EPS growth numbers we’re talking about – 20%+ annual growth through at least 2023 – 28 times earnings is quite reasonable. If I’m right and EPS surprises to the upside, all the better.
As a bonus, you also get very strong dividend growth with Texas Roadhouse.
Source: Seeking Alpha
The company’s payout has grown at mid-teens rates or better for the past several years, resulting in huge payout growth. With strong earnings growth coming from the COVID rebound, I could see Texas Roadhouse producing long-term dividend growth of 10% to 15% annually for the foreseeable future. To be clear, I think the stock is a buy with or without the dividend growth, but it is a nice bonus if you’re bullish anyway.
The bottom line is that the crisis hasn’t impaired Texas Roadhouse’s long-term outlook, and with expectations low and the stock reasonably priced, it looks quite attractive to me. During this current bout of market weakness, it may come a bit lower, but beginning to build a position in the low-$60s looks like a good idea if you want to own it.
Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.


text:
Vodafone India announces exciting offers such as free calling for a whole year, bill discounts of INR 100, free Vodafone-to-Vodafone 100 minutes talktime, chance to win Samsung Galaxy phones etc., for customers those who refer their friends, relative or colleagues to port to Vodafone.
Named as ‘Refer-A-Friend’, the program promises the offers for ‘customers who refer a friend with the referred friend who ports in to Vodafone.’ To refer, the customers can send message -- MGM<space><Friends Mobile Number> to 199. People can send multiple referrals and will get benefitted for up to three successful refers.
“Vodafone currently has 8.6 million customers in Mumbai who we believe are our true brand ambassadors. Vodafone ‘Refer-A-Friend’ is an initiative with a two pronged objective - to thank them for their patronage, as well as to welcome their closest associates into the Vodafone family,” Ishmeet Singh, Business Head- Mumbai Circle, Vodafone India invited customers in Mumbai to join the program.
Among the offers, Samsung phone luck draw is only available for messages sent up to January 15, 2016.


text:
Technology/R&D: Latest news and analysis articles
PSA built the 100,000th Peugeot 2008 after just nine months of production at the Mulhouse plant in France. Now, a night shift has just been...
Today's media release from Daimler is official confirmation that the Mercedes-Benz passenger cars division will leverage multiple architectu...
The name is the same but Porsche's latest Panamera 4S loses its normally aspirated V8 and gains a biturbo V6 that's not only more powerful b...
The site for Tesla's big battery factory has been announced....
Mentor Graphics is a major supplier of software tools that help engineers design electronic systems and components. Headquartered in Oregon, US, Mentor generates annual revenues of some US$1bn. Its tools are involved in the design of almost every electronic gadget you can think of. To find out about its automotive business, Matthew Beecham spoke to Martin O’Brien, General Manager, Integrated Electrical Systems Division Mentor Graphics.
Though today’s new vehicle development programmes are more comprehensive than ever, using exhaustive virtual and ‘real world’ testing, issues can still escape into the market place. just-auto spoke to Mark Findlay of UK engineering consultancy Drive System Design about a new approach to reducing warranty costs.
TRW Automotive has demonstrated its semi-automated driving capabilities at a test track event in Michigan.
Avtovaz plans to spend RUB100bn (US$2.62bn) modernising technology and updating its model range in the next three years, OAO Avtovaz president Bo Andersson told a business forum.
Opel is demonstrating its OnStar connected vehicle service at this year’s 'eCall Days Germany' (16-18 September), the biggest international conference in Germany covering the European emergency call system for vehicles.
Toyota has apparently distanced itself from comments made earlier by Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk that future collaboration between the two automakers cannot be ruled out.
South Korea has launched an investigation into the transfer of engine technology to a Chinese automaker by a local automotive contractor, according to local reports.
Japanese steel giant Kobe Steel is reportedly working on a new generation of lightweight composite materials designed for fuel cell vehicles with a view to saving weight and improving the safety of hydrogen tanks in collisions.
We're digesting the news that TRW will be (subject to the usual approvals) acquired by ZF. Looks like ZF has paid top dollar.
In a pleasing variation of authority using cameras to spy on car drivers, General Motors has come up with a car camera that can be a nosey parker on the valet parker entrusted with the keys to your pride and joy.
- ANALYSIS: ZF puts in place a growth strategy
- THE WEEK THAT WAS: More musical chairs
- ANALYSIS: Mercedes-Benz future model plans
- VEHICLE ANALYSIS: MY2014 Peugeot 2008 1.2 VTi 82
- COMMENT: Tesla's Musk talks a good game
- PARIS DEBUTS: Kia Optima diesel hybrid concept
- ZF to buy TRW after $13.5bn deal agreed
- Largest Rolls-Royce order ever bound for Macau
- Alliance re-thinking EV battery strategy - report
- Jaguar launches India assembled XJ
- Global Carsharing Market 2014-2018
- Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (BMW) - Financial and Strategic SWOT Analysis Review
- PLDB - vehicle cycle plan database (annual subscription)
- Jaguar Land Rover: Providing remarkable growth throughout the economic downturn
- OLED Display Forecasts 2014-2024: The Rise of Plastic and Flexible Displays


text:
Narrow your search
Miss a few stories this week? We'll bring you up to speed with this rundown of all the tech news.
The Roku TVs introduced at CES in January are now available for preorder. In addition to offering our favorite streaming platform built right into the TVs, the initial wave of models is priced even lower than mainstays like Vizio.
Dan Hesse, stepping down as chief of the US's third-largest wireless carrier after seven years, helped clear up Sprint's baggage. But the company still lacks a key essential: new subscribers.
For Apple CEO Tim Cook, it was a time to talk up China and a new partnership with IBM -- and to downplay weak iPad sales.
Beating Beats for sound and build quality is supereasy, but the Audiophiliac picked the best of the best, priced from $99 and up.
Google really wants better software for Android and the Web. At Google I/O this week, it will attempt to help programmers get more out of both.
CEO Jeff Bezos enters the smartphone game, in an effort to get shoppers to buy even more from the e-commerce site.
These smart LED bulbs promise to breathe new life into your home lighting routine.
Commentary: By unbundling the Kinect sensor from Xbox One, Microsoft strips away the console's last differentiating element. The industry and gamers will suffer for it.
Apple’s rumored $3.2 billion takeover of the trendy music brand has left many scratching their heads.


text:
LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, a technology, data and analytics company, will host a lunch panel discussion on the development of a new FICO® Score based on alternative data at the EMERGE Forum on Thursday, June 11, 2015. The panel will discuss the extensive research into the credit invisible population, conducted by LexisNexis, Equifax and FICO, that led to the development of the new FICO® Score aimed at extending credit responsibly to millions of additional people.
The credit invisible population includes over 50 million consumers who do not have a traditional credit score, which hinders their ability to qualify for mainstream forms of credit. Lenders rely on credit scores to help determine a person’s creditworthiness to obtain mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. LexisNexis, Equifax and FICO have partnered to address this problem and develop a new credit score based on alternative data such as property records, cable and telecommunications bills.
The panel session will explore the characteristics of the credit invisible consumer population, dive into the details of how alternative data informs the new FICO® Score and discuss how consumers, lenders and the broader economy will benefit from this innovation.
• Ankush Tewari, Senior Director, Market Planning, LexisNexis Risk Solutions
• Dacia Edmondson, Senior Director, Product Management, Equifax
• Dave Shellenberger, Senior Director, Scoring and Predictive Analytics, FICO
Thursday, June 11, 2015, 12:05 pm. 1:05 pm.
Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
Session: Get the inside scoop on the new FICO score powered by LexisNexis and Equifax
About LexisNexis Risk Solutions
LexisNexis Risk Solutions (lexisnexis.com/risk) is a leader in providing essential information that helps customers across industries and government predict, assess and manage risk. Combining cutting-edge technology, unique data and advanced analytics, LexisNexis Risk Solutions provides products and services that address evolving client needs in the risk sector while upholding the highest standards of security and privacy. LexisNexis Risk Solutions is part of RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries. LexisNexis and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used under license.


text:
A wave of containers is about to hit ports in the US and Europe while retail stores are closed and consumers are shut inside their homes to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus.
More from Greg Knowler
Carriers are making huge cuts in capacity with little warning, reflecting the speed with which demand is falling amid deepening lockdowns across major markets.
The lengthy apparel supply chain, with its multitude of raw material suppliers, is struggling to cope with a collapse in retail sales and canceled orders.
Carriers are battling to match their available capacity with demand that is drying up from major economies in Europe that are under lockdown.
The European Commission scolded member states for unilaterally closing borders and delaying urgently needed medical supplies for coronavirus-hit countries.
The Trump administration may be celebrating its “phase one” trade deal with China as a success, but the collateral damage on Europe will be costly.
The difficulty in fulfilling cargo contracts amid an increasingly chaotic supply chain and a spreading pandemic is driving forwarders to drastic steps to limit their liability.
Disappointment and criticism from users of container shipping services and their service providers has followed the European Commission’s decision to extend the carrier block exemption for another...
Extensive cutbacks in air and sea capacity are making life difficult for cargo owners, but expedited less-than-container-load (LCL) services and space guarantees from liner carriers offer...
Measures taken by China to limit the spread of the coronavirus, including shutting down factories and its economy for the better part of a month, will drag down container throughput this year.
The European Commission had already indicated it was planning to extend the carrier antitrust block exemption, but the decision to renew the regulation without any changes will have taken carrier...
More on JOC
Mar 26, 2020 1:00PM EDT
Apr 2, 2020 1:00PM EDT
Apr 28, 2020 1:00PM EDT


text:
LONDON — Sugarcookie.com is now offering 4K video content to its premium site subscribers.
"In our quest to adapt to the ever-changing technology and deliver the best possible viewing experience,” site founder Harriet Sugarcookie said. “We are now offering our Sugarcookie.com premium members — those that take out a three-month subscription — a little something extra for their customer loyalty.
Sugarcookie.com's catalog of adults-only erotic video content is currently available for downloading, with enhanced streaming options on tap for the future.
"Our quality HD video content is available for customer downloads or streaming, and for now our premium 4K video service is download only for customers to enjoy on their computers and personal devices for multiple plays, anytime they like," Sugarcookie said.


text:
NAIROBI, Kenya, 2019-Oct-28 — /Travel PR News/ — Three of most popular Wildlife parks in Kenya that any visitor must visit in November 2019 to March 2020. The classic route will put you face to face with the continent’s most charismatic creatures. “Safari njema” – means good trip! Departing form Nairobi’s Capital, Kenya’s capital which is… Read the full press release
NAIROBI, Kenya, 2019-Aug-21 — /Travel PR News/ — Coming from Nairobi the first glimpse of the spectacular Rift Valley are breathtaking. The escarpment on which the city rests crashes where to the floor of a volcano-studded valley hundreds of meters below, across which savannah grasslands reach out beyond the horizons. If the view could speak… Read the full press release
NAIROBI, Kenya, 2019-Jun-28 — /Travel PR News/ — Kenya’s tourism industry is booming in business and 2018-2022 is looking even better after recovery for a long time. Cruzeiro Safaris Kenya’s strength in packaging tours and committed service delivery is expected to increase in the future. Undoubtly, Kenya is the best African country for safari experience… Read the full press release
NAIROBI, Kenya, 2018-Oct-26 — /Travel PR News/ — This season we have selected a few luxury packages the best way to spend your holiday season and the but first have you read our reviews on trip advisor or NAIROBI TOURS ONLINE SITE – https://cruzeiro-safaris.com/nairobi-tours 1. He goes by the alias code name Kichwa(Head) others call him Panthera… Read the full press release
Nairobi, Kenya, 2018-Oct-09 — /Travel PR News/ — Kenya Airways the official carrier of the Republic of Kenya will from October 2018 commence flights from New York, USA to Nairobi, Kenya. This is a welcome move in the travel and tourism industry in Kenya that is intended to see an increase of tourist and business travellers… Read the full press release
Nairobi, Kenya, 2018-Sep-20 — /Travel PR News/ — The Masai Mara has fuelled African fantasies for years and without the shadow of a doubt, its wildebeest-spotted savannahs are the attractions of what a star-studded region as it became one of the wonders of the world. Dream of Africa and you dream of the Masai Mara. This… Read the full press release
ATLANTA, 2014-2-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — African lion cubs may now be seen on exhibit with both parents WHO: The humans aren’t the only ones drawn outside by this week’s unseasonably warm weather. The spring-like temperatures are also a bonus for Zoo Atlanta’s African lions, now exploring their exhibit as a pride for the first time since the… Read the full press release
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.


text:
On the day that Apple releases El Capitan details of an exploit that makes it possible to bypass the Gatekeeper feature of OS X have emerged. Designed to combat various forms of malware, the security feature can be bypassed using a simple trick involving the use of a signed binary.
Even when Gatekeeper is configured to use its highest level of protection, the ease with which the fortifications can be slipped through is staggering. Using a file that has already been deemed trustworthy by Apple, it is possible to trick OS X into executing a malicious file stored in the same folder as the signed one. No patch is yet available, and it is believed the problem affects all versions of OS X.
While the world was oohing and ahhing (or yawning) at the latest Google Nexus devices, an arguably far more important announcement hit the Internet. The long-awaited, and much-anticipated, OS X 10.11 El Capitan got an official release date. Guess what? You do not have to wait long, as that date is tomorrow. Woo-hoo!
How much do you expect to pay for this upgrade? Well, if you said anything larger than zero, you would be very wrong. While Microsoft recently gave Windows 10 as a free upgrade to some users, Apple has been doing this for years. In other words if you own a compatible Mac (all since 2009 and some from 2007 and 2008), you can be enjoying the latest and greatest operating system tomorrow at no charge.
Perhaps inspired by the backlash Microsoft has faced over privacy concerns in Windows 10, Apple has published its own privacy policies on a new page that's designed to be easy to read. Written in plain English, the site sets out Apple's position regarding privacy in OS X and iOS. As well as touting the steps to which the company goes to protect its customers' privacy, Apple also uses the documents to trumpet numerous security features.
This is Apple riding the waves of interest concerning privacy, using it as an opportunity to get one over the likes of Microsoft and Google. There are promises of "telling you up front exactly what’s going to happen to your personal information and asking for your permission" as well as the offer that "if you change your mind later, we make it easy to stop sharing with us". Sounds great in theory, but does it stand up to scrutiny?
With OS X 10.11 El Capitan set to launch at the end of the month, Apple has already started working on the first update for its latest Mac operating system. The early OS X 10.11.1 build was released last week for developers, and is now also available to those of us who are enrolled in the public beta program.
Given that it is a relatively minor update, OS X 10.11.1 El Capitan is not expected to introduce any major changes. Nonetheless, let's take a look at what's new.
A vulnerability has been discovered in iOS and OS X that could be used to install apps without permission, using AirDrop. The feature exists to provide a way for people to quickly send files from one device to another, but security researcher Mark Dowd has been able to exploit the vulnerability to push apps to iOS even if the user does not accept the file that is AirDropped.
Dowd has reported the vulnerability to Apple, but the company has failed to patch the problem so it still exists in iOS 9. Using a combination of techniques, it is possible to bypass the security screen that asks if an app is to be trusted or not, meaning that a malicious app can be installed without permission or notification.
This just arrived in my inbox from Apple: Offer to download what could be the final build before Apple certifies OS X 10.11 as golden: "Thank you for participating in the Apple Beta Software Program. Your feedback and usage of the OS X El Capitan public beta has helped us make this release great. We are pleased to give you access to the OS X El Capitan GM Candidate".
Promises. Promises. "If you are currently testing OS X El Capitan, please back up your Mac and do the following to install the GM Candidate. Go to your Purchased tab in the Mac App Store and click the Download button next to OS X El Capitan GM Candidate. When your download finishes, the installer will automatically launch. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete installation".
Two security researchers have discovered a serious vulnerability in OS X that could allow an attacker to steal passwords and other credentials in an almost invisible way. Antoine Vincent Jebara and Raja Rahbani -- two of the team behind the myki identity management security software -- found that a series of terminal commands can be used to extract a range of stored credentials.
What is particularly worrying about the vulnerability is that it requires virtually no interaction from the victim; simulated mouse clicks can be used to click on hidden buttons to grant permission to access the keychain. Apple has been informed of the issue, but a fix is yet to be issued. The attack, known as brokenchain, is disturbingly easy to execute.
I must apologize to Art Alexakis, lead singer for Everclear. In a personal post last night observing his role as a tattoo artist in movie "Wild", his name is misspelled. Funny thing, so to get it right, I copied and pasted from the web into the WordPress editor. Yet somehow when published, and I missed, his name appeared as Alexis. My thanks goes to Scott Bell, who pointed out the error in a Google+ comment.
It's strange how tech meant to be beneficial gets in the way. More mistakes appear in my stories because of autocorrect than I make myself. The pattern is consistent: I will write, nix autocorrect's changed misspelling, but later edit something else in the sentence. Word changes! As a long-time writer and editor, I revise constantly until publishing—and afterwards, too. The spelling errors I miss most often typically are the ones made for me during spot edits.
It's no secret that Chrome for Mac (OS X) is a mess. It eats a ridiculously high amount of memory, energy and shortens the battery life. Google announced earlier this year that it was working on a fix. And now it is delivering on that promise. The latest Chrome build -- available via Canary channel -- is significantly less resource hogging, and surprisingly faster at the same time.
The company has been hard at work improving the memory consumption in its Web browser while also making the tabs snappier. You can read about the development process and feedback at Chromium's developer website. The build dubbed 45.0.2454.46 is also significantly lighter on the battery and is no longer making the laptop crazy hot. In a recent build, the company was testing interesting internal processes like tab discarding in the background. The idea behind it is simple: make the tabs you haven't used in awhile idle automatically. This would, under the typical condition, free up a significant amount of memory.
Two zero-day vulnerabilities in Apple’s OS X, that have been discovered by an Italian teenager, could potentially be used to gain remote access to a computer.
Luca Todesco, 18, found that there are two bugs in the OS that can be used to corrupt the memory in the OS X’s kernel. Once the memory is corrupt, the attacker can then circumvent the kernel address space layout randomization (kASLR), which is a defensive technique of the OS to protect itself from giving the attacker the root shell. But once the attacker circumvents through the kASLR, they can gain a root shell.
One of the main benefits to owning a MacBook is the superb battery life. Apple's laptops can work for a great deal of time on battery power alone, thanks in no small part to the numerous improvements made to OS X in recent years. Take my 2013 13-inch MacBook Air for example: it gets well over six hours of battery life on Yosemite, despite being nearly two years old at this stage. I rarely have to worry about plugging it in.
In fact, it could last even longer. The trick is not to use Chrome, which, despite Google's recent efforts to lower its power consumption, continues to be the most power-hungry major browser on OS X, more so than Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox.
Apple has promised it will fix a major vulnerability which recently cropped up in its OS X Yosemite operating system.
The worrying zero-day vulnerability allows malware authors to modify a hidden configuration file to get root permissions on the victim machine, security firm Malwarebytes explained in a blog post, allowing for the installation of adware and other assorted malware nastiness.
Macs have long been touted as being immune to viruses and malware -- but there have been plenty of vulnerabilities that show this to be a fallacy. Apple's own claims that its hardware was not susceptible to the same firmware security flaws as PCs served only to encourage people to prove the company wrong.
At Black Hat USA on Thursday, researchers will demonstrate that not only can Macs be remotely infected with malware, but that this malware can survive a user formatting the system. In a talk at the InfoSec event in Las Vegas that focuses on all manner of security topics, Trammell Hudson, Xeno Kovah, and Corey Kallenberg will show that Macs are just as vulnerable to remote attacks as PCs using the Thunderstrike 2 backdoor.
Not so long ago most Mac users would have told you that their systems didn't need any form of protection as they were inherently safe. But the world has become a more dangerous place and last year the iWorm malware is thought to have recruited some 18,000 Macs into a botnet.
Whilst experienced users who are careful about what they install and where they go online may still be justified in feeling safe using a Mac without additional protection, there's no doubt that non-experts need extra security. Particularly as cyber criminals have started to target Macs because they know more of them are unprotected.
Apple has released the first public betas of iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan, allowing anyone with a compatible device -- iPhone and/or Mac -- to become a tester. Having signed up for the beta program last month, I immediately wanted to experience what is new in the upcoming versions of the two operating systems.
There is huge demand for the first public betas, proof being that Apple's servers were quickly overloaded during the first hours of availability. You can thank the media frenzy for this. Nonetheless, I have managed to install the iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan public betas on my iPhone 6 Plus and 13-inch MacBook Air, respectively. And here are my first impressions.


text: Google's answer to Apple's HealthKit has arrived. Today the company launched its Google Fit app for Android. Much like Apple's solution, Fit offers a central place to monitor your health goals and workout stats. When used as a standalone health tracker, the app will monitor your walking, running and cycling, Google says. Goals based on duration or total steps can be established, with Fit keeping you aware of your progress throughout each day. But third-party fitness trackers and apps can also tap into Google's platform and input your health data. What remains to be seen is whether Android's HealthKit rival can avoid the rocky start that Apple endured with the rollout of iOS 8. Right off the bat, Google Fit is compatible with every Android Wear device on the market. And you can also access your health profile via the web and on tablets — a decent feature if you plan on carrying a Nexus 9 to the gym to pass the time while you're on the treadmill. Google Fit is a free download in the Play Store and is rolling out right now.


text:
Christie’s end-month auction in Hong Kong offers a plethora of the coveted handbags, and more from the house of Hermes.
The founder of streetwear label Off-White and creative director for Kanye West has replaced Kim Jones as the menswear artistic director of Louis Vuitton.
Show of heart.
Keeping things fresh for customers who already have everything is key, says CEO Antonio de Matteis
Getting into the finer details of one of the world’s most desirable fibres.
Keeping it easy
Cassina’s art director shares about the inspirations for her designs and the importance of meeting the needs of society today.


text:
Entrepreneurs get a taste of ‘Shark Tank’ styled encounter
Aspiring entrepreneurs like Jason McIntosh and Mitch Nelson convened one night recently at Tallahassee Community College’s Advanced Manufacturing Training Center.
In the winter and summer, they come for the Entrepreneurial Excellence Program – a 10-day course covering topics necessary to sustain a business. The course outlines ground work for getting started, legal do’s and don’ts, copyrights or patents and team building.
On previous nights, they’ve heard from former health-care executive Gov. Rick Scott and former Florida Congressman Steve Southerland, a funeral home owner, dispensing insight based on personal experience.
On Tuesday, a dozen entrepreneurs had 12 minutes to pitch business plans or concepts on “Shark Tank” night. McIntosh and Nelson sat in the rear of the small group, a mix of college students, a former IBM employee, a construction worker, a lawyer and others.
Like panelists on the popular television show, Tallahassee’s shark, John Thomas “J.T.” Burnette, is an aggressive investor who was an owner in Hotel Duval, and he’s currently a principal at Hunter+Harp and InkBridge LLC. Burnette dispensed no-frills advice. Each business discussed was different from the next: gourmet pecans, non-lethal weapons and an app that streamlines customer wait times and foot traffic.
“It’s hard to start a business without a customer being big enough to start a business,” said Burnette, a Monticello native who started a construction business at the age of 17. “When I look at starting something, I always look and say, ‘What’s the one customer I need to make it worth doing?’”
First up were McIntosh and Nelson who pitched Divvy Up – a company selling trendy socks. For every pair purchased, another pair is donated to a local homeless shelter.
It started as a class project rooted in giving back to the community. McIntosh and Nelson, both studying entrepreneurship at Florida State, took a trip last spring to The Shelter on West Tennessee Street and asked how they could help. The answer? Clean socks.
“We thought the best way to donate socks for the most sustainable basis is to sell the most awesome socks around,” McIntosh said.
Create a product that’s different, Burnette advised, like adding a red stripe or symbol unique to Divvy Up. The FSU juniors said they would prefer to manufacture instead of buying socks from various websites. Burnette advised outsourcing for mass production. He didn’t want to see them setting up sewing machines in their apartment.
“If you buy that, I swear to god I’ll slap you,” Burnette said in jest. The next day, McIntosh and Nelson returned to campus refocusing their approach but with a sense they were on the right track.
So far entrepreneurs representing more than 100 businesses have graduated from the EEP offered by the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County. That would include about 70 percent of businesses in the DOMI Station on Railroad Avenue – created to be a home for start-up entrepreneurs.
Last year, entrepreneurs representing 28 businesses graduated. The current class was so full that entrepreneurs representing five companies had to be turned away.
“We see it growing, not contracting,” said program director Larry Lynch. The program was created with a $50,000 grant from the Knight Foundation through the Community Foundation of North Florida. “A waiting list is a great problem to have.”
Bob Gula, owner of Timberline Garden and Carpentry, has made upscale outdoor furniture by hand for the past four years. In April, it became a full-time job. Talking to Burnette forced Gula to ask himself a lot questions.
“You come into the class thinking you have a good idea. Then you hear someone’s already done what you’re trying to do,” Gula said. “I have to redirect my thoughts.”
After each entrepreneur had a one-on-one with Burnette, the participants listened and learned from each other’s questions and Burnette’s advice. Gula couldn’t get over Burnette’s wealth of knowledge on the range of industries represented that night.
“It was like, ‘Wow, do you read every paper that’s produced every day?” Gula said.
Lynch admits he wasn’t sure the program would last this long. But the local climate for entrepreneurs is improving. On the first night four years ago, Lynch said Burnette’s “feet weren’t touching the ground because he was jazzed” after feeling he could affect people’s lives.
Burnette, who lingered longer to talk more after the three-hour night, said cities must think differently when it comes to attracting and retaining entrepreneurs. “You have to create places that are exciting and where people want to be,” he said.
“Entrepreneurs are the spirit behind that. They are the driving force. If you go to San Diego and you go in the main areas, everybody’s going for broke, right? Everybody’s an entrepreneur, and that’s an exciting place to be. They create a community.”
Burnette said the EEP is a good start in making Tallahassee that kind of community.
“It’s people starting on a voyage,” he said. “What I sensed was people are willing to make that journey, and our community has to get behind them and help support them.”
More on the Entrepreneurial Excellence Program:
The cost is $400 for up to two individuals per business. For more information, contact EEP director Larry Lynch at firstname.lastname@example.org or (850) 570-0560 or visit taledc.com/startexpandrelocate/entrepreneurial-excellence-program/


text: Economy Israel inflation dips to 4.6% in August 2022 By Reuters September 16, 2022 Reuters/Raneen Sawafta Policymakers are expected to raise the key rate again by at least another 50 basis points at its next decision on October 3. Israel’s annual consumer price index (CPI) of inflation dipped to a 4.6 percent rate in August, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, easing from a 14-year high of 5.2 percent in July and after aggressive Bank of Israel rate hikes in recent months. A Reuters poll of analysts had projected an inflation rate of 4.8 percent last month. CPI fell 0.3 percent in August from July, led by declines in transport, telecommunications, clothing and footwear, the bureau said. In a bid to cool inflation, Israel’s central bank has raised its benchmark rate to two percent from 0.1 percent in April, the last move a strong 75 basis-point hike on August 22. Policymakers are expected to raise the key rate again by at least another 50 basis points at its next decision on October 3.


text:
Orcs Must Die! Unchained Patch 2.2 – Rifty Business Now Live
Robot Entertainment has just released a new update for Orcs Must Die! Unchained. The new patch 2.2 has been dubbed “Rifty Business,” and contains many new changes and updates since the last patch was released for the closed beta just a few short weeks ago.
Major changes in this patch include:
- • Cygnus has a brand new skill called Rift Shard and a new unique weaver
- • A third Guardian has been added to every lane
- • New Deckbuilder UI
- • Glory Seeker Ballista, Healing Well, and Mana Well have been reworked
- • Every Hero has had its weavers reviewed and adjustments have been made
- • Matchmaking has been improved
You can read the detailed patch notes here.
Articles You May Enjoy
- 8BitMMO adds Music from Chiptune Legends
- Archive Entertainment has announced that music has finally arrived in 8BitMMO.
- ÆRENA: Heading to Gamescom; Presented by ESL
- Cliffhanger Productions Games’ speed-chess-meets-MOBA, cross-platform game ÆRENA will take to the ESL Twitch stage in Hall 9.1 for a global...


text:
Novell, a multinational corporation specialized in management solutions and enterprise operating systems such as SUSE Linux Enterprise, will be acquired by Attachmate Corporation with the measly sum of 2.2 billion dollars.
Attachmate Corporation enables IT organizations to extend mission critical services and assures they are managed, secure and compliant, and is the property of an investment group led by Golden Gate Capital, Thoma Bravo and Francisco Partners.
"This acquisition will add significant assets to our current portfolio holdings and the Novell and SUSE brands will allow us to deliver even more value to customers,", said Jeff Hawn, chairman and CEO of Attachmate Corporation. "We have great respect for Novell's business, its employees and its commitment to customers. Moreover, we look forward to maintaining and further strengthening Novell and SUSE solutions to meet market demands."
The transaction has yet to be finalized as it has to pass the scrutiny of customary closing conditions (antitrust issues to be solved). Novell will cease to be an independent company most probably by the end of the first quarter of 2011. Another snag in the way of this huge transaction is another deal Novell has made with CPTN Holdings LLC, in which the latter has acquired certain intellectual property assets.
"We believe the transaction with Attachmate Corporation will deliver important benefits to Novell's customers, partners and employees by providing opportunities for building on Novell's history of innovation and market leadership," said Ron Hovsepian, president and CEO of Novell, according to marketwatch.com.
Ron Hovsepian also added that "Novell, SUSE, Attachmate and NetIQ have complementary product portfolios and many shared customers. We are pleased that Attachmate has committed to building on the strengths of the Novell and SUSE brands to address customer needs."
After this transaction is completed, Attachmate Corporation will manage a portfolio consisting of Attachmate, NetIQ, Novell and SUSE.


text:
ProgrammableWeb tracks the latest API news to keep you on top of the API economy
Searching: No Search Term , Filtered By Category: "Refunds", Category: "eCommerce", Category: "Payments"
Feedzai launched many enhancements to its Fraud API just a few months after its release. The enhancements resulted from direct feedback from its partners and developer community.
Coinding is launching a Bitcoin GameDev Hackathon that focuses on promoting the inclusion of bitcoin in gaming. First place will receive $3,000.


text:
Plymouth, Michigan --Simrit has launched its Xpress technology that allows the company to produce customised seal designs up to 100 inches in diameter (2.5 metres), for the mining, steel and press industries.
The machine uses a CNC lathe that is integrated with advanced computer software to produce custom seals without mould charges, said the company, in a 12 Nov statement.
Simrit said that its customers would benefit from cost-effective solutions for low quality production and speedy prototyping.
â€œWe are thrilled to offer this new technology to better satisfy our customers' needs,â€ said Clive Hill, market development director, Merkel Heavy Duty Industry, Simrit, in the statement.
Customers will be able to access and design their products online, choosing from hundreds of standard designs and materials, including polyurethanes, elastomers, plastomers, PTFEs and others, by going to the company's website.
Simrit said that users will receive instant online price quotes and a guarantee as to when products will be shipped (many within 24 hours).
Housing drawing and inspection reports will also be available online.
This is an external link and should open in a new window. ERJ is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Press release from Freudenberg-Nok(ss)


text:
Apple Set to Create New Sales Record with iPhone 6s
Apple is all set to create another record with the launch of the iPhone 6s that began on Friday. The sale of the latest device is estimated to fall between 11 to 13 million this weekend. Foursquare and Swarm are working together to find out the foot traffic at Apple retail stores across the world based on the information from their apps.
“Based off of early indicators, we predict that launch day traffic will be about 360 percent higher than preceding weeks. This likely means that iPhone sales will surpass previous records, in the 11 to 13 million range.” A report cited.
Sometimes it takes only one new feature to get Apple loyalists around the world excited about a launch. And the Force Touch feature in the latest iPhone devices is the clear winner. This feature, among others, is set to take the sales of the iPhone to an unprecedented new high. Other features also include iOS 9, hugely improved camera (both front and back), faster processors and better connectivity.
Other than a robot in Sydney, the general crowd lining up are pretty much all human. Meanwhile, Apple stores around the world are readying their shops for the potential crowd lining up outside. Here’s a video of store employees setting up iPhone displays in Japan on Thursday night.
If Apple does manage to sell between 11 to 13 million units this weekend, they would top last year’s iPhone 6 that managed 10 million units in its opening weekend. Furthermore, a 13 million sales weekend would represent a 30% increase in sales.
The pre-orders for the iPhone 6s has already seen a major increase since the last year, with the Rose Gold colour being the most popular choice, accounting for 30 to 40 percent of total units pre-ordered.
Source : [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.computerworld.com/article/2986321/apple-ios/apple-s-iphone-6s-is-setting-new-sales-records.html”]Computer World [/tw-button]


text:
Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 will be released with different name. Xiaomi can no longer use the Mix trademark
By Fields Corrielus 2019-08-22 815 0
From the Celestial Empire came the latest news about the upcoming flagship smartphone Xiaomi Mi Mix 4, whose characteristics we published in the morning news feed.
A well-established insider claims that Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 may be released under a different name. The fact is that Xiaomi no longer has the right to use the Mix trademark in the name of its new products.
In the accompanying description of the situation it is indicated that under the name of Mix in China operates some service, the owners of which demanded in court to ban Xiaomi from using this trademark. Xiaomi appealed to the Beijing Intellectual Property Court on this issue, but the court refused Xiaomi.
To date, Xiaomi has never called its future flagship with a 108-megapixel camera specific name Xiaomi Mi Mix 4. Representatives of Xiaomi refrain from commenting.
● Over 300,000 products
● 20 different categories
● 15 local warehosues
● Multiple top brands
● Global payment options: Visa, MasterCard, American Express
● PayPal, Western Union and bank transfer are accepted
● Boleto Bancario via Ebanx (for Brazil)
● Unregistered air mail
● Registered air mail
● Priority line
● Expedited shipping
● 45 day money back guarantee
● 365 day free repair warranty
● 7 day Dead on Arrival guarantee (DOA)
2019-09-06By Joe Horner
2019-06-27By Fields Corrielus
2019-12-27By Alie Iwasaki
2019-11-04By Goraud Mazanec
2019-08-30By Fields Corrielus
2019-09-10By Fields Corrielus
Prev article:HyperX releases Cloud AlphaTM S in Gamescom 2019


text:
In 2023, the main suppliers of wine to Russia were Lithuania, Latvia and Georgia, according to UN Comtrade international trade statistics. This was noticed “RIA News” And RBC.
From the beginning of the year to July, Lithuania exported $126 million worth of wine to Russia. The volume of supplies from this country, according to Comtrade, increased by a third compared to last year. Russia imported $112.1 million worth of wine from Georgia, and supplies from Latvia reached $79 million.
Italy supplied bottles of wine for a smaller amount – $72.7 million. Other suppliers had significantly lower figures: Spain, fourth on the list, exported only $20.8 million worth of its products, followed by Poland, Germany, Chile, Portugal and Armenia. According to Comtrade data, this year Lithuania and Latvia bought wines from Italy ($59.3 million), Spain ($21 million) and Germany ($14.1 million).
At the end of July, the Russian government increased duties on the import of wine from unfriendly countries from 12.5 to 20% (but not less than $1.5 per liter). As the Ministry of Energy noted then, this measure is in response to actions towards Russia by such states. The duties came into force on August 1.
Kommersant then drew attention to the fact that the import of all wines to Russia in July, a month before the increase in duties on such products from unfriendly countries, exceeded 45.5 million liters. The volume of July deliveries increased by 17% compared to June, becoming the maximum this year. The Ministry of Economy reported that after the increase in duties, the wine market will be saturated with domestic producers and imports from friendly and neutral countries. Imports of still wines from Chile in 2022 increased in value terms by 9%, from Armenia – by 161%, the ministry noted. Demand for South African wines has also increased.
According to Georgian statistics, wine exports from Georgia to Russia for the period from January to June 2023 made up 29,991 tons, which is 39.51% higher than the same period in 2022.