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Businesses have been through a lot this year, and there’s never been more focus on honoring customer relationships and building customer loyalty. With businesses pivoting and adapting to a new way of operating, there is a strong need for businesses to leverage insights to understand new needs and expectations from customers.
Technology that was once viewed as digital convenience has become a necessity with shopping options like online stores and curbside pickup. These tools were once viewed as a luxury but are now a must-have for shoppers looking for companies that meet their needs in the most targeted, personalized, and safest ways possible.
Meeting those personalized expectations starts with understanding each customer as an individual with unique needs and preferences. Acquiring that kind of understanding takes time, making long-term customers’ buying histories exceptionally valuable to businesses. In fact, according to a study by Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95%.
That’s why digitally savvy marketers — around 64%, according to a report from Salesforce — are making consistent, personalized customer experiences a priority. By learning customers’ needs and preferences up front, companies can design experiences that make them feel safe and comfortable when shopping . This makes it easier for customers to get what they expect from a company, with minimal decision barriers.
Anticipate customers’ needs
Personalization and consistency have always been central to a great customer experience. There are now added elements to consider, like health and safety, but the basic principles of a superior customer experience that customers expect largely remain the same.
Mail-order catalogs and grouping department store goods by category were early ways that retailers looked to make the physical purchase of products more convenient. Personal shoppers and VIP programs were expansions on the same idea, offering services that cater to specific clients’ needs and goals.
But customer experience today is about more than physical purchasing, and that’s changed the nature of shopping. According to Google data, 84% of Americans are shopping for something in any given 48-hour period, and 63% of shopping now begins online, and that number continues to increase this year. A recent Mastercard study saw a 93% spike in eCommerce sales in the month of May alone.
Online eCommerce sites and marketplaces use search- and browsing-based information (as well as past purchase data) to personalize customers’ experience on their sites.Every time a shopper visits Amazon, for example, the recommended products and options are more and more tailored to their activities on the site. Convenient tools that help sellers track orders, offer wishlists, and rate products bring customers back time and again, earning more and more data to inform sophisticated recommendation algorithms.
Personalized recommendations are key to making an online customer experience about more than just convenient access to loads of product options. In fact, when presented with too many options, customers tend to get what is sometimes called “analysis paralysis.” They find shopping decisions harder to make in the face of more options rather than fewer, leading to purchase anxiety over the number of decisions they have to make. For eCommerce businesses, this anxiety can often result in a rise in abandoned carts.
That’s why the next era of personalization is all about simplifying purchasing decisions for customers. Using technology to better understand customers and serve up hypertargeted experiences and products aligned to their needs is the future of personalization strategy.
Develop a relationship with customers
Truly understanding customers means seeing them as more than conversion targets. It’s about knowing what they want, their pain points, their concerns, and even their goals in order to provide goods and services that meet a need or improve their lives.
The most digitally savvy retailers are learning that information as directly as possible (and large companies are wise to take a page from their playbook). Direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies, for example, use profiling tools like surveys and quizzes to understand customers’ unique needs from the very start of the relationship. They then use those insights to fuel their sales funnel and develop a more personal relationship with their customers.
For example, subscription vitamin service Care/of built its business around personalization. Customers answer questions about their health and lifestyle so the company can deliver customized supplements, selected for detailed reasons, that meet customers’ specific needs. The company adapts its recommendations and delivery schedules based on ongoing feedback to assure customer satisfaction.
Other startups take similar approaches to leveraging customer insights up front.
Function of Beauty, for example, has new customers complete a quiz about their hair type and hair goals, then creates personalized hair-care products aligned to their needs. MM.LaFleur — a women’s wardrobe company whose mission is “to take the work out of dressing for work” — goes so far as to give customers the option to fill out a brief online survey, then head to a store or pop-up location to try on a curated selection based on their fit and style preferences.
Expanding from targeted online recommendations to in-person service offerings is a growing trend. Companies like Away, Casper, Glossier, and Allbirds have all launched brick-and-mortar locations that allow customers to interact with select products they’re likely to need. These stores act as showrooms for their online products, and as merchandising channels for goods that expand on the brands’ core offerings (like Casper offering not just mattresses but also other sleep products such as sheets, pillows, and duvets). The trend has brought the concept of a personal shopper full circle, but with a digital twist.
Serving up a curated selection of things customers are likely to buy, especially in an in-person environment, eliminates analysis paralysis while building on the brand-customer relationship. That kind of memorable experience helps drive the kind of loyalty that gets customers coming back time and again.
Provide buying options that make customers feel safe
Right now, a personalized experience for shoppers can also simply mean meeting them where they are — both physically and in terms of their shopping mindset. Since shoppers today have varying levels of comfort with how they are able to shop, providing options helps meet their needs as individuals. Some shoppers are more than happy to shop in a store, while others might prefer to buy online and pick up in store (BOPIS), or just order online. McKinsey recently reported that 79% of consumers intend to increase or continue using self-checkout or other forms of contactless payment.
That same McKinsey report found that 75% of U.S. consumers are new shopping methods, and 36% of consumers are trying new brands. Seventy-three percent of those shoppers that tried new brands are planning to incorporate those brands into their routine. This shows that customers are open right now, and that by incorporating more buying options, you’re more likely to attract those shoppers who are looking for new brands to build their loyalty with.
A tool like Square Messages not only helps you stay approachable, but it also provides a simple way to get paid. If you’re messaging a customer about an upcoming landscaping job or selling a new product at your salon, you can quickly create a payment link and send it over directly.
Nurture customer relationships
Ultimately, personalization strategies are essential to driving loyalty. Companies that use advanced personalization methods can realize an improvement of 20% or more in their net promoter scores, and incremental revenue growth of 10% or more (according to BCG research).
For more traditional retailers and other businesses, however, reaching the same degree of personalization as today’s D2C leaders is no easy feat. Since most operate both brick-and-mortar businesses and eCommerce websites, they tend to have separate payment ecosystems across channels (and thus separate, siloed ecosystems of customer information). With disconnected systems, it’s difficult to understand customer behavior holistically and develop personalized experiences.
Conquering those challenges now is essential to their future success, as customers’ personalization expectations are rising at an unprecedented pace. According to Epsilon, 80% of consumers want personalization from retailers, and stated that if a retailer got it wrong they may depart from that retailer.
Prioritizing personalization is not only a matter of setting yourself apart from competition but also essential for business today. According to McKinsey, personalization drives customer loyalty, which increases share-of-wallet among already loyal customers, which can lead to a reduced need for marketing costs by 10% to 20%.
Loyal customers also tend to be more engaged customers, which McKinsey found yields 20% higher customer satisfaction rates, which lead to a 10% to 15% boost in sales-conversion rates.
By optimizing with a more holistic payments solutions suite, companies can create better experiences from the ground up — using customer-driven profile tools and analytics to better understand what customers want, as well as how they browse, buy, and otherwise engage with the brand over time.
With that information, companies can develop better recommendations that make customers’ decisions easier (helping unlock better retention and more loyalty) and develop products that rise to their changing needs. Delivering products and services in a targeted way — based on information from strong customer relationships — will be key to success for traditional merchants and D2C companies alike.


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TORONTO, Oct. 18, 2017 /CNW/ - The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) is hosting a panel on the future of marketing in Canada at the World Marketing Summit (WMS), taking place on November 15 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The panel features Sabrina Geremia, recently appointed Country Director of Google Canada, Chris Stamper, Chair of the CMA Board of Directors and Senior Vice President – Metro East at TD, and Tony Johnstone, Chief Brand Officer at DDB Canada. The moderator for the discussion is CMA's John Wiltshire, President & Chief Executive Officer.
"Marketing serves as a critical function of business growth, yet marketing professionals are often challenged to prove marketing's value in an increasingly complex and data-driven landscape," said Wiltshire. "This panel will address the key challenges facing today's marketers and showcase future-forward ideas for the marketing profession of tomorrow."
As CMA is a Founding Partner, its members have access to an exclusive promo code to save $200 on registration: CMAWMS (registration only) and CMAVWMS (includes lunch and special session).
WMS arrives in Toronto to discuss with the Canadian marketing profession what a world with fast-pacing technology, platforms and disruption represents for companies trying to create value for customers. Created in 2012 by Professor Philip Kotler, WMS has travelled across the world, most recently in Japan for 2015 and 2016.
Professor Kotler recently stated, "I am looking forward to share some news ideas in marketing that are really disrupting the times and how you have to prepared to defend your company and expand your growth."
About the World Marketing Summit Toronto
When: November 15, 2017
Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre
World Marketing Summit was founded in 2011 by Professor Philip Kotler: The Father of Modern Marketing. As one of the most prestigious platforms for marketing professionals, World Marketing Summit aims at initiating global movements through marketing strategies that change human behavior leading to a positive impact on society for future generations. In our new world of innovation and disruption without precedents, 'What is the New Role of Marketing?
About the Canadian Marketing Association
The Canadian Marketing Association represents Canada's leading business sectors and all marketing disciplines, channels and technologies through thought leadership, growth, development and education. CMA is the largest Canadian marketing association educator, championing the Chartered Marketer designation, a nationally-recognized program that allows for the top marketing talent in Canada to invest in their career development. As the marketing profession's leading advocate on key public policy issues, CMA develops self-regulatory standards for its Members. For more information, please visit theCMA.ca.
Our thanks to our partner, Cision, for distributing this announcement.
SOURCE Canadian Marketing Association
For further information: Taylor Shea, [email protected], worldmarketingsummitgroup.org/toronto/; Tim Bishop, Vice President of Marketing & Member Engagement, Canadian Marketing Association, [email protected], 416.644.3738, theCMA.ca

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Here’s the video shown right before the Lexus RC F’s live reveal at yesterday’s press conference:
It’s not as wild as the videos from the IS & RC launches, but listen closely and you can hear the snarl and roar of that V8 engine — that’s the best way to introduce “The Next F”.
Great video. It is epic, I love it.
Lexus today, Lexus tomorrow, Lexus forever!
This picture says it all for those of us that may not like prominence of the Spindle Grille. My point is look at...
Featuring Scott Pruett.
Full V8 sound.
The chief engineer and chief designer weigh in.
Owner updates from Lexus Enthusiast editor Kevin Watts.


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Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: ABG)
The Duluth, Ga.-based auto dealer reported 10 percent profit growth in the second quarter, while setting some company records.
- Revenue: $1.1 billion, up 9 percent
- New Vehicle Revenue: $578.3 million, up 5.5 percent
- Used Vehicle Revenue: $322.7 million, up 15.3 percent
- Net Income: $14.2 million, up 10.9 percent
- Earnings Per Share: 43 cents, up 10.3 percent
Asbury President and CEO Craig T. Monaghan:
"We produced these excellent results through a dramatic 70 basis point improvement in our new vehicle margins, achieving a company record used-to-new ratio, and setting a company record increase in finance and insurance profit per vehicle retailed."
The company noted its Japanese car dealerships are experiencing the impact of inventory shortages following the major earthquake and tsunami that ravaged that nation. Looking forward, the company said third-quarter earnings could be adversely impacted in the range of between 5 cents or 10 cents a share as a result of disruptions in the market.


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Anastasia will be participating in a hands-on advanced hair color workshop [Advanced Foil Placement – Hands-on Workshop] led by Andre Nizetich (that’s Nizetich, not Nietzsche), president of the American Board of Certified Haircolorists on April 26, 2010 at the International Beauty Show in Las Vegas.
Andre owns a salon specializing in haircoloring, and is the author of two standard books on hair color. He also co-founded the “International Haircolor Exchange,” a prominent group of haircolorists who meet annually to share ideas. Nizetich videos are [here
]. This is not a manufacturer-sponsored class, but a premier opportunity to learn from the best. Anastasia is thrilled for the opportunity.


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What if we were given the power to grant wishes and dreams this Christmas?
Lazada PH celebrated its ‘Shop with Heart‘ theme by granting various wishes of the heart of a few lucky individuals.
Last week, celebrities KC Concepcion, Karylle Tatlonghari-Yuzon, Iza Calzado, Cristalle Belo-Pitt, Divine Lee, Tessa Prieto, and Tim Yap, shared the love on Instagram by asking their followers to post their wishes this Christmas.
The aim was to grant wishes of people from across the country to celebrate the true meaning of this season. From granting basic supplies to those in need to reuniting families, Lazada brought a whole new meaning to shopping as it filled hearts with love.
The media also took part in the wish-granting spree by enabling them to donate to CRIBS Foundation with their Lazada Wallet. The press was able to purchase boxes of powdered milk, packs of toys and first-aid kits for the children’s foundation in Antipolo.
“Christmas has always been Filipino families’ favorite tradition. Sharing one’s blessings is what makes it most special and Lazada wants to be part of that tradition. Together with our brands and sellers, we offer items for one and all, through a shopping experience that is both fun and convenient, so every customer has more time to spend with their loved ones,” said Mila Jimenez, Head of Marketing for Lazada Philippines.
You, too, can do something special this Holiday Season. Shop with Heart today!


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*Data updated daily at 18:00 EAT
ThankUCash, a multi-merchant rewards platform, has raised USD 5.3 Mn in seed funding as it plans expansion into new markets and further product launches. The seed round was co-led by 500 Global and Unicorn Growth Capital, with participation from Expert Dojo, Predictive VC, SaaS Growth Ventures, Betatron, Accelerex Holding, former HSBC CEO Andrew Dell, Google director of strategy and operations Craig Fenton, and others.
ThankUCash offers cashback on purchases and deals from thousands of merchants, which in turn helps merchants retain customer loyalty, increase revenues, and grow. ThankUCash plans to use the funds to scale operations to other cities across the country and expand to Ghana and Kenya. It will also introduce two new products, a remittances service and a “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) infrastructure.


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We have already written that Samsung is preparing the flagship tablets Galaxy Tab S8, Tab S8 + and Tab S8 Ultra. Now interesting details have become known about the older Ultra model.
Earlier it was reported that like all of Samsung’s flagship tablets in recent years, the Galaxy Tab S8 lineup will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets. But now the Korean media write that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra can get a proprietary Exynos 2200 processor with AMD graphics.
It is possible, as is the case with the Galaxy S22 smartphones, there will be several versions of the model for different markets – with Snapdragon and Exynos 2200 processors. which of the upcoming Galaxy devices.
But if the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra does get an Exynos 2200 processor, it might well compete with the new iPad Pro with the Apple M1, as it should perform better than its predecessors. The tablet is also credited with a 14.6-inch screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 11,500 mAh battery.
According to rumors, the Galaxy Tab S8 lineup will be presented early next year.


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Business News›girish mathrubootham
Freshworks targets 18-19% annual revenue growth on back of winning large clients
During the June quarter, Freshworks had 855 customers providing it with annual recurring revenue (ARR) of more than $100,000, against 737 such customers in 2022 and 535 in 2021.
Freshworks appoints Johanna Jackman as Chief People Officer
Jackman joins the executive team and will report to Chief Executive Officer Girish Mathrubootham and President Dennis Woodside, said a press release.
More exits at Freshworks; HR, marketing heads quit
Chief human resources officer Suman Gopalan and chief marketing officer Stacey Epstein are leaving the firm, the company said in a statement on Monday. While Gopalan spent a little over 5 years with the firm, Epstein was with Freshworks for over nearly 2.5 years.
Together unveils new fund worth $150 million, to back opportunities in Gen AI space
The founder-led venture investor looks to back SaaS startups across themes of cybersecurity, devtools and healthcare, apart from AI, with the new fund.
Layoffs likely at product software company Freshworks amid reorganisation
A person aware of the reorganisation said Freshworks was trying to match skills to demand across teams and the exercise may lead to some employees getting impacted. “We are trying our best to see if we can accommodate folks whose skills can be better utilised in other teams. That is the effort going on now.”
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Freshworks Q3 revenue beats estimate, jumps 37% amid tightening macro conditionsFreshworks beat analyst estimates to report $128 million in revenue in the quarter-ended September 30, and held its annual guidance at $494-496 million, even as losses touched $3.1 million, up from $1.5 million last year
ET Startup Awards 2022: Value creation will matter more than valuationA startup’s founders, its leadership team, and the talent they attract will play a key role in turning its vision into a reality. That vision, combined with the startup’s ability to adapt to macro changes, turn a crisis into an opportunity, and build a competitive, resilient and sustainable business will differentiate it from the also-rans in a crowded field, say jury members.
Freshworks appoints Dennis Woodside as presidentThe company said Woodside will be responsible for leading Freshworks’s global business operations and strategy.
Freshworks pares annual revenue guidance; Q2 revenue jumps 40%Churn in SMBs higher but mid-market, enterprise segments showing resilience: CEO Girish Mathrubootham
Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham gets seven-year performance-linked stock awardThe Freshworks board had okayed the award in a pre-IPO decision in September last year, with a third of the nine million share award routed as Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) that began vesting with him beginning November last year.
Freshworks hits balance in customer mix amid growing mid-tier, enterprise rangeThe company will continue to hire aggressively across segments from engineering to marketing in key geographies this year, chief executive Girish Mathrubootham told ET after the quarterly results announcement.
Can’t throw money at problems when building a business, says Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham“There are funds that have raised a lot of money and India's seeing a lot of high-quality startups,” he said. “Early-stage valuations in India have not corrected. Maybe it will come down a little but right now, it's still quite expensive.”
Tiger Global leads $10.5 million funding round in IT security startup SecurdenSecurden will use the fresh capital for leadership hiring across North America, increasing headcount in India, and expanding product portfolio to explore adjacent opportunities in IT security
ET Entrepreneur of the Year 2021: Girish Mathrubootham - the man with a fresh approach to keeping both employees as well as customers happyMathrubootham attributed Freshworks’ success to employees at the company. “All the credit goes to my incredible Freshworks ‘kudumba’ (family) for all the hard work that has helped us get where we are today. The journey continues as we strive to build an iconic global product company out of India. I consider this an honour, a milestone in our dream of seeing India as a ‘product nation’ on the world stage,” he said.
Kunal Shah, Girish Mathrubootham invest in Chennai startup PickyourtrailPickyourtrail had raised its Series A of Rs 21 crore in 2019 from Vembu and other investors, utilizing the funds towards scaling its proprietary technology platform. With the current round, Pickyourtrail is all set to open its office in Dubai.
I am not a rockstar coder or an awesome product manager: Freshworks' Girish MathruboothamMathrubootham went on to add that India is seeing an explosion of developer tools coming from Indian startups in addition to early traction that he termed 'exciting' in Web3 and in the crypto space.
Freshworks’ Q4 revenue jumps 44% to $105.5 mnThe company said the number of customers contributing more than $5,000 in Annual Recurring Revenue was 14,814, an increase of 28% year over year.
Freshworks reports 44% spike in total revenue to touch $105.5 million in Q4“We had a strong finish to the year as we surpassed $100 million in quarterly revenue and achieved 44% year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter,” said Girish Mathrubootham, CEO and founder of Freshworks.
Recruitment startup Kula raises $2.7 million from Girish Mathrubootham’s fund, Venture Highway, othersThe company's focus with this infusion of funds will be on getting their product out and taking it to customers.
This is clearly a moment for Indian SaaS: Girish MathruboothamFreshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham India will see more large SaaS IPOs in the next 12-24 months, even as he warned of issues such as a talent shortage and excessive money being poured into the sector that’s causing some companies to exhibit “bad behaviour”
Tech takes a SaaSsy step out of BharatMove over Chennai and Bengaluru, a number of SaaS startups are springing up and creating global products out of Tier II and Tier III cities of India.
Freshworks loses $5.45 billion in market cap in one monthFreshworks had on Nov. 2 declared its September quarter results, its first since listing on the Nasdaq. Since then, the stock has dropped to $35.22 as of December 1, eroding its market cap by $5.45 billion.
RBI whitelist of good companies can ease payments woes: Freshworks' Girish Mathrubootham“For SaaS businesses where you have to have customers’ credit cards on file, there is some improvement that we could do with RBI payment infrastructure. The rules are not helping SaaS companies,” Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham said.
Freshworks initiates $500 million share sale to tap listing gainsThe move comes after the mandatory lock-in period post IPO ended, allowing all vested shareholders to sell up to 20% of their holding in the company, which Freshworks estimated made 58.2 million shares eligible for sale in the public market as on November 4.
Freshworks beats Q3 estimates; employees can encash 20% of their stock as Diwali giftFreshworks’ strong Q3 performance comes ahead of what company cofounder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham said was a “Happy Diwali” for employees, with some of them being able to sell up to 20% of their shares in the company starting Thursday.
Freshworks overtakes larger rival Zendesk in market capFreshworks’ market cap stood at $13.56 billion compared to Zendesk’s $12.1 billion — a decline of 16% since Oct. 28 when Zendesk announced the acquisition of Momentive Global, the makers of SurveyMonkey, for $4 billion in stock.
ETSA Alumni: Where are they now?The previous winners of the ET Startup Awards (ETSA) have stood out in a crowded startup ecosystem and gone on to become successful businesses. We look at a few of them from previous editions of the awards.Load More
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Apple’s multi-billion acquisition of Beats Electronics is reportedly still happening, but it’s not a certainty. According to a person with ties to both companies, there’s a 70% chance the papers are going to be signed, moving Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine in Apple’s domain as employees.
The tidbit goes like this: “A well-placed source has confirmed rumors that Apple’s acquisition of Beats ‘is happening’ but was close to falling apart multiple times. The source said with ‘70% certainty’ that Apple’s planned multi-billion-dollar acquisition of headphone maker Beats will go through. But Apple isn’t buying Beats for the technology; it’s buying the talent.”
A pessimistic take would be that the deal is 30% not happening, which you’ll agree is a fair number to consider the alternative. But 70 wins over 30, so the likelihood of Apple changing its mind is not something worth speculating too much. If the terms have already been reached and if Dre stops shooting “billionaire boys club” videos, everything should go smoothly from here.
Speaking of which, if the deal doesn’t go through, Dre will have made a fool of himself bragging about being a billionaire without actually being one. But let’s hope for everyone’s sake that such a thing won’t happen. Plus, Apple seems keen on acquiring the people, not the Beats gear or music service.
“They want Jimmy and they want Dre,” the source added. “He’s got fashion and culture completely locked up.”
It isn’t clear who the “he” in this remark was, but it’s probably reasonable to assume the source was referring to Dre. Iovine, however, is just as valuable. A record industry guru, he could well reignite Apple’s music business by signing new deals with record labels and even making a push for expanding Apple’s TV business.
As far as the Beats headphones are concerned, they’ve received mixed reviews but have been lauded as some of the best in their category. The Beats headphones are also superior to Apple’s own EarPods, something that might change soon as a result of the acquisition.
Apple could create new headphones designed with the help of Beats Electronics’ engineers and bundle them with iPhones and iPods. Strangely, one source was quoted as saying a while ago that Beats would continue to live under its original name even after getting engulfed by Apple. Which is certainly interesting, considering how careful Apple is associating its brand image with others.


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Le 24 mai 2016, 07:15 dans Humeurs • 0
Jordan 2016 will officially open doors to Trophy Room Store Jordan-only concept store inspired by father Michael's trophy room inside his Chicago mansion. Releasing on Monday is a limited edition Air Jordan XX3 limited to just 523 pairs worldwide, as well as a selection of Jordan restocks like the Wings 12s, Just Don 2s, and a few more. Today, Trophy Room Store unveiled release and attendance procedures for the grand opening, which can be detailed below.
The Jordans 10 chicago has been well-represented throughout these NBA playoffs thanks to the likes of Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, LeMarcus Aldridge and more. Now Russ is the last to don the most recent Jordan Brand signature model, and we'll see plenty of it with the start of what's poised to be an insanely competitive Western Conference Finals tonight. PEs aside, the Jumpman is slated to return to the brand's roots with this Air Jordan 30 "Chicago Bulls" colorway featuring the timeless combination of Gym Red and Black throughout the woven upper.
Many fans of the Jordan 11 All Black were excited to see that the "Melo" colorway was returning. But it turns out that there's a catch. The white and light blue colorway that originally released in 2004 and was worn by Carmelo Anthony in personalized PE editions will only be returning in Gradeschool Girls sizing. All the large-footed collectors that were expecting to be able to grab a fresh pair are unfortunately left out in the cold, but they'll be a special treat indeed for the young ladies this weekend when they hit select Jordan Brand retailers like Sneaker Politics.


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High Formaldehyde Levels Found In Baby Furniture
Back in the day, cribs were made of metal and babies got lots of fresh air and sunshine. Now, most kids get put in shiny new cribs from Wal-Mart or Babies R Us, and guess what; they are made from particle board and are full of formaldehyde. Environment California found a half dozen products – out of 21 nursery furnishings it tested – emitted formaldehyde at levels high enough to trigger allergy and asthma attacks in children.. The regulators are all over cribs for safety, space between bars and little pieces, but not a word about formaldehyde; it is not even checked.
The Sacramento Bee notes that California officials have classified formaldehyde as an air contaminant since 1992. It's also considered a human carcinogen. A branch of the California Environmental Protection Agency has "basically said there's no safe level."
We have already suggested that the building industry should ban formaldehyde; it is hard to believe that it is allowed in childrens' furniture.::Sacramento Bee
More on formaldehyde in TreeHugger:
Big Steps In Building: Ban Formaldehyde
FEMA Trailers Optimizing Formaldehyde Exposure
How CDC bungled FEMA Formaldehyde
image: Hulton Archives, Getty images


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An empty building in Terang’s CBD will be redeveloped into a cafe and retail shop under a plan from the town’s disability services provider.
Cooinda Terang will upgrade the former maternal child health centre in High Street to create a sit-down cafe and shop space.
Corangamite Shire councillors approved the development at their meeting on Tuesday, also voting to reduce rent on the building to help ensure its success and offset costs associated with renovating the building.
Cooinda chief executive officer Janice Harris said the cafe would provide opportunities for the organisation’s clients and benefit the wider Terang community.
“It’s a great opportunity for real community inclusion and for valued roles in the community,” she said.
“We will have staff supporting the project and two to three participants from Cooinda as wait staff and preparing meals.”
The cafe will offer healthy meal choices and its location on the highway next to a playground aims to capitilise on passing traffic.
Ms Harris said the after an extensive fit-out the cafe should be open for business by October. It will also include a retail space selling pottery and art created by Cooinda participants.
Corangamite Shire councillor Chris O’Connor said the project was a win-win for Cooinda and the wider community.
“I think it would be a great training venue for some of the kids, I think they would have a lot of fun being part of the community and up with the action and I think it should be a terrific business,” he said.
“I really look forward to it… becoming a popular business in Terang and a great asset for some of these children, young adults and adults at Cooinda to help them grow within themselves and also within the community.”
Councillor Ruth Gstrein said Warrnambool-based Tasty Plate and the Botanic Cafe in Colac showed how successful similar enterprises had been.
“I think there is amazing benefit for the community of Terang and the community of Cooinda clients,” she said.
“There are limited opportunities in smaller country towns for people with a disability to gain employment and experience and integrate into the community.
“I’m absolutely delighted that Cooinda and their clients will be taking this opportunity up.”
Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.


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Micromax has officially announced the launch of its Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich-based Funbook Pro tablet PC in India. Sporting a larger 10.1-inch display, the Funbook Pro is said to be an improved version of the original Funbook tablet, which was launched earlier this year. The Funbook Pro has been priced at Rs. 9,999.
The Micromax Funbook Pro recently went up for grabs via online shopping website Snapdeal. Touted as the 'edutainment device', the Funbook Pro is powered by a Cortex A8 1.2GHz processor. It has 1GB of RAM, and a 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 600 pixels resolution.
Other specs of the Funbook Pro include a VGA front facing camera, 8GB built-in storage and microSD card slot that supports storage up to 32GB. For connectivity, the device supports 3G via USB, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, and USB 2.0. It also has a HDMI port. The device comes with a massive 5,600 mAh battery.
The Funbook Pro comes pre-loaded with various apps such as Zip, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Text Editor, YouTube and more.
Micromax is also offering a Tata Docomo Photon data card along with Funbook Pro tablet. It's notable that activation and delivery of Tata Docomo Photon postpaid connection will be available via Tata Teleservices stores/call centre at a fee of Rs. 500 for processing and handling, which is to be borne by the customer. Also, the Photon data card is available in circles only where Tata Docomo Photon Plus Services are available. To know more about the offer, click here.
Announcing the launch of the Funbook Pro, CEO Micromax Informatics Ltd. Deepak Mehrotra says, “Today’s youth are tech savvy, but at the same time restless; they want to buy and experience new innovations that make their life easier but in a matter of a few clicks. Inspired by the huge response for 7" Funbook on Snapdeal, we are glad to continue this relationship with them for the new 10" Funbook Pro to provide a simpler way to the restless young heads for owning the device.”
Micromax, which has launched a slew of budget Android smartphones in India, heated up the budget tablet space with the Funbook's launch earlier this year. Priced at Rs. 6,499, the Funbook is amongst the first few devices to come with Android v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich straight out of the box. The device has a powerful 1.2GHz processor and supported 1080p MP4 playback. To know more about the device, read our detailed review.
The budget tablet market is definitely pretty crowded in India, with more new manufacturers such as Zen Mobile and Karbonn joining the bandwagon. Undoubtedly, the Funbook Pro is set to square off against some serious competition. However, the device's larger screen and other improved features may be enough to help the device claim its stake for itself in the country's burgeoning budget tablet market.
What do you think of the new Micromax Funbook Pro? Let us know in the comments section below.


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The momentum for Integrated is continuing, following its positive full-year earnings result. Its stock jumped 11.63 per cent to 42¢ on Friday despite a higher Australian dollar and a slowing global economy. The software company in November reported a 38 per cent increase in net profit after tax to $7.5 million for the year ending June 30. The result was helped by an increase in revenue coming in from the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Integrated said the financial results were buoyed by strong growth in sales for IP telephony licences, which were up 52 per cent over the previous year. In addition, licence revenue from the company’s HP NonStop market grew by 26 per cent, representing a strong rebound in customer spending patterns. Revenue from consulting services also increased but maintenance services revenue was down slightly. Shares are up 92 per cent since its June 2011 lows but still well below their float price of $1.70.
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POLITICO's Patrick Gavin talks to the Sunday show hosts.
Al Gore says believes TV is hurting democracy.
Roger Ailes bio sparks an Internet shopping spree.
It's not easy for anyone to buy the New York Times.
Nate Silver prefers a Bayesian approach.
Twitter puts modesty before inflated values.
And Super Bowl advertisers reveal more plans.


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Manufactured in 1736 by the respected Italian luthier Giuseppe Guarneri, it is owned by the virtuoso Regis Pasquier and its sound has graced concert halls around the world.
“There are many violins, but this one is like selling a Rembrandt, a Goya or even a painting by Leonardo da Vinci,” said Sophie Perrine of Aguttes auction house near Paris.
The violin on display during a media preview at auction house Aguttes. Credit: Benoit Tessier/Reuters
The maple-backed instrument is one of about 150 made by Guarneri, whose quality and longevity rival those of Antonio Stradivari, but was much less productive than its compatriot and contemporary.
Created at the peak of Guarneri’s career, it was bought more than 20 years ago by Pasquier, who gave a concert with it the next day without even practicing on it, Perrine said. “For him, this instrument was perfect.”
Since then, he has performed it on prestigious venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Opera Garnier in Paris.
Related video: How do art auctions really work?
The violin will be auctioned on June 3 after a three-day viewing. The base price estimate is 4 to 4.5 million euros, but Perrine said it could sell for up to 10 million.
“It’s something very old as well as something very current and alive,” she said. “And this little thing will continue to let people hear of its exceptional sound for years to come.”
Top image caption: The rare 1736 violin is displayed during a media preview at Aguttes auction house ahead of the violin auction in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France, April 26, 2022.


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Chicago/Washington: A gauge of global cargo demand is signalling record-breaking economic growth even as US imports slow, suggesting that emerging powerhouses China and India are pulling enough weight to counterbalance a downturn in the world’s biggest economy.
The Baltic Exchange’s dry sea freight index, popular among economists because it is considered a good proxy for world growth and excludes volatile oil, has soared nearly 150% this year despite worries about the US economy.
In 2001, the year of the most recent US recession, the index lost nearly half of its value as demand ebbed. Now, China and India appear to be taking up the slack, buying up boatloads of food, coal and other raw materials to fuel their explosive growth, and the demand looks likely to last.
“For some time, the conventional wisdom has been that the global economy has two engines,” said Simon Rose, co-founder and chief executive officer of boutique investment bank Dahlman Rose.
“Europe is one engine, but the main engine has been the US. Now, we have a third engine in China and India.”
From the seaport in Long Beach, California, to the inland rail terminals in Kansas City and Chicago, shipments appear to be cooling as the US economy trudges through a housing downturn, credit contraction and steep oil prices.
At Long Beach, one of the world’s busiest ports, inbound shipments were down 3.7% in October, and year-to-date imports are little changed from 2006.
The latest reading on the Freight Transportation Services Index, compiled by the US department of transportation, was the lowest since January 2004. The index tracks data from trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.
But the global picture looks decidedly different. The Baltic Exchange’s index, which hit an all-time high this month, reflects huge demand along major trade routes for coal, iron ore, cement and grains.
Exports from Long Beach were up a whopping 32.5% in October and 20% higher for the year to date, evidence of the stellar global demand as well as the weak dollar, which makes US goods more affordable abroad.
Freight rates to ship grains and soya beans from the US, Europe and South America have doubled and in some cases tripled from a year ago as demand soars.
In a clear sign of the rise of emerging markets, the International Monetary Fund had said earlier this year that for the first time China was the biggest contributor to global growth on a market exchange rate basis. Together, China, Russia and India will likely account for more than half of 2007 growth.
The question is, can emerging markets withstand a severe US economic downturn?
While some analysts question whether China’s hunger for raw materials will outlast the Olympics, Dahlman Rose’s CEO Rose said the next phase in the country’s growth—plus that of India, which he described as an overlooked “wild card”—will be driven by internal consumption as their people grow richer. REUTERS


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The U.S. non-manufacturing sector expanded for the 36th straight month in December, and the sector grew at a quicker pace than in November, a widely recognized U.S. private survey revealed on Friday.
The Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI), which measures activity in the U.S. service sector, rose to 56.1 percent in December from 54. 7 percent in November, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said in its monthly survey.
The NMI survey covers all sectors outside of manufacturing. A reading above 50 indicates expansion of the service sector.
The index showed that new orders, a signal of future business, increased last month to 59.3 from 58.1 in November. The survey's employment index jumped to 56.3 in December, said the ISM.
A total number of 13 industries reported expansion last month including retail trade and real estate, while five other industries including wholesale trade reported contraction.
The NMI index is closely watched because the service sector absorbs about 90 percent the U.S. workforce, and is a key indicator for the overall health of the economic recovery.
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A Rodin bronze of “The Kiss” has been snapped up at the Masterpiece London fair as dealers and auction houses offer more than $313 million of works in the final week of summer art sales in the U.K. capital.
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A recent study said that electronic cigarette was not healthy, because its flavored vapor can cause irritation of mucous, although the FDA has approved its steam consumption. Thus the conclusion of the study was written by James F.Pankow, a professor of chemistry and civil engineering and environment at Portland State University. James explained that the aldehyde chemical vapor contained in the e-cigarette may be safe if eaten but not if inhaled. James and his team tested the chemicals contained in the thirty kinds of e-cigarette. He and his team called for the issuance of new rules to regulate it.
The new study is authored by James F. Pankow, a professor of chemistry and civil & environmental engineering at Portland State University. Details of the finding are published in Tobacco Control online journal on April 15.
He writes, the manufacturers of such electronic cigarettes say the chemicals used in e-cigarettes are food-like. This mean they are talking the use of such flavors is like using them in food too.
Pankow mentions that these food-like products is not being ingested, but it is being inhaled, and why not FDA is listing the ingredients used in it as it does for other food products. In fact these things have never been tested for safety.
“Many folks believe that daily use of e-cigarettes is less dangerous than smoking cigarettes. But no one really knows how safe chronic use of e-cigarettes is. It is also certainly true that there are more and less safe ways to ‘vape’ – and maybe even true that some ways of vaping are quite unsafe,” explains Pankow. “The bottom line is that if I had to vape, I would definitely avoid high levels of flavor chemicals – particularly aldehyde flavor chemicals such as vanillin. The trouble is, there is no way for consumers to make informed decisions.”
Pankow and his team tested level types of flavoring chemicals which are used in thirty e-cigarette fluids. Some tested like bubble gum, some like cotton candy, some like grape and also like cherry. They found in some of the brands the levels of chemicals exceeded the recommended exposure limits.
He writes in his study that some of the chemicals used in e-cigarettes may cause respiratory irritants. He also called for new regulations on the product to reveal mandatory listing of ingredients and their limits on levels.


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The disinfecting cabinet, which costs £199, is designed to be set on a hallway table. The appliance (pictured below) looks a lot like a microwave, but instead of microwaves, it uses UV-C rays to sanitise items placed inside.
When you come home, you stick whatever you’ve brought in from the great outdoors into the cabinet and the rays will get to work. The cabinet will clean your keys, phone and wallet, kids’ toys, food packaging and more. A disinfecting cycle takes about 20-40 minutes.
Beko’s newly launched product line wasn’t designed as part of a longer-term plan. Rather, it was created and engineered to address consumer concerns about home hygiene.
When 2020 took a sideways turn, Beko carried out consumer research to find out what people wanted from home appliances. The survey results were loud and clear: people wanted peace of mind in their homes.
Unsurprisingly, daily exposure to safety campaigns about hand washing and mask wearing has made people hyper-aware of the bacteria and viruses they’re bringing into and spreading around their homes. We’re worrying more often and cleaning more often and want products to help ease the strain.
As a result, Beko focused its engineering capabilities on creating a line of products for customers in a pandemic-conscious world.
The Hygiene Shield range comprises seven major home appliances, each of which has sanitising and disinfecting capabilities, effective against over 99% of bacteria and viruses, including coronavirus. The appliances can be used to disinfect everything from food packaging to keys and wallets, clothing and bedding.
The range was built to be affordable, with the hygiene tech adding less than 10% to the price of the appliances, with a similar bump in the amount of energy they use to run.
The appliances use either UV-C light, heat, steam or a mix of technologies to clean and disinfect items to professional levels. CEO Hakan Bulgurlu of parent company Arçelik said: “The products have been tailored to help consumers achieve professional levels of hygiene at home and protect them from infections and diseases. Our technologies are being independently tested by Airmid Health Group, a respected biomedical research organization.”
Apart from the cabinet, there’s a dishwasher, an oven, a washing machine, a washer-dryer, a tumble dryer and a fridge.
The combi-fridge is equipped with a disinfection drawer. Packaged food can be placed inside and UV rays will disinfect it in 40 minutes.
The inbuilt oven has two heat and steam disinfection programmes: one at 70°C and one at 120°C. You can use them to sanitise packaged products and baked goods in 15 minutes, without affecting the taste or structure of food.
The dishwasher uses higher, sustained temperatures – 60°C for the main wash and 70°C for a hot rinse – to disinfect kitchen items.
There’s also a washing machine, a washer-dryer and a tumble dryer. The washing machine and washer dryer have a steam function that fills the drum, keeping clothes at a high enough temperature for long enough to disinfect them – without using a lot of water. This is a more environmentally friendly solution that washing your garments at 60°C, and is gentler on clothing than a hot wash.
Meanwhile, the tumble dryer has UV technology that you can use to sanitise fabrics. It’s especially useful for clothes that need to be washed at low temperatures.
The products will be rolling out from the end of 2020 and into the first quarter of 2021. We’ll have more details as the products become available.
If you read the start of the article and thought: Wait, what? I’m supposed to be disinfecting my keys? – you’re not alone. For the record, I don’t, and I don’t know anyone who does.
But should you be? Recent evidence, including
a paper in medical journal The Lancet, suggest that early concerns about surface transmission of COVID-19 were perhaps overstated. The current focus of virus protection is on droplet transmission, which means mask-wearing, keeping your distance from other people and, of course, hand washing.
Beko insists that the Hygiene Shield line isn’t an attempt to capitalise on people’s fears. It’s a response to customer demand. And it’s certainly true that this year has seen a spike in sales of sanitising products such as steam cleaners.
What we can say is that these are affordable appliances with science-based technologies. They could help people in frontline jobs ensure that they’re not bringing anything extra home from work and provide peace of mind and agency to anyone worrying about home hygiene.
If you’re interested in other home appliances that can sanitise clothes, bedding, children’s toys and more, read our
hands-on review of the Styler, LG’s steam wardrobe.


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Xbox exclusive is expected to break records as thousands queue
One of London’s popular music festivals, Lovebox, will be broadcast live into living rooms across Europe. Xbox LIVE will be streaming the event in several countries including the UK. Click here to check out the video of whats in store.
Microsoft announces launch details, pricing, reserve program, a special commemorative bundle and accessories for one of the most anticipated consumer products of the year
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Apple is ramping up its options for future product development, with yet another filing raising speculation of new goodies ahead for the Mac world. MacNN notes that Apple has filed a patent application that...
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Nantero, Inc. announced today that it is teaming with LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE: LSI) to develop semiconductor process technology, expediting the effective utilization of carbon nanotubes in CMOS fabrication. The joint development project...


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3D vision systems help food manufacturers adapt to unpredictable markets
The food industry has faced huge challenges in the last year as COVID-19 has changed consumer demands, limited workers’ movements and put financial pressures on food supply chains. Food manufacturers must adapt to these changes in order to survive, but how? Here, Nigel Smith, CEO of TM Robotics, explains why 3D vision systems hold the key.
The food industry remains slow to embrace automation. In BCI’s Supply Chain Resilience Report 2021 , 41.6 per cent of organisations answered “no” when asked if they have increased their use of technology to map supply chain disruption as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, why the reluctance?
As Food Processing previously reported , some manufacturers are wary of change. There are cultural expenses, in terms of adapting your workers and management team to new Industry 4.0 systems. And there are opportunity costs, or the likelihood that new digitalised systems will slow things down before speeding things up and properly yielding a return on investment (ROI).
Aside from internal resistance, manufacturers also face external pressures. They include an increase in the cost of raw material and energy, and pressure from retailers for cheaper, faster production. There are also regulations.
“The food and beverage sector in general is well-known for having some of the most stringent manufacturing and control regulations in industry,” says Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director at industrial parts supplier EU Automation . “This is part of the reason why UK manufacturers have been relatively slow in the uptake in automation. However, this guarded attitude is slowly starting to change.”
Many food manufacturers understand that automation is the only way forward. According to research by Gartner , 79 per cent of supply chain leaders think that an internet- or platform-based approach is the most critical new business model to support post-pandemic recovery. But, for manufacturers to take the Industry 4.0 plunge, these systems must demonstrate ROI and compatibility with existing systems and processes.
Open the blinds
It should be noted that resistance to change among food manufacturers isn’t a weakness in relation to Industry 4.0. Actually, it’s a strength. For instance, when selecting the type of machine to introduce to your facility, considering the actual needs of your facility and processes will result in a more cost effective and appropriate machine being installed, boosting your potential ROI. It’s also crucial for manufacturers to consider what kind of objects the robot will be interacting with.
This is where machine vision systems can play a vital role alongside automation systems, cobots and other Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices. Vision systems do more than just scan food. With tireless automatic monitoring, they can help ensure products meet the high standards of food associations.
Whereas blind industrial robots, or those without vision systems, can complete simple repetitive tasks, robots with machine vision can react to their surroundings intuitively. Indeed, traditional IIoT systems in general can suffer from blind spots when physically executing processes in a 3D plant environment, leaving human workers to diagnose process bottlenecks or malfunctions.
2D or 3D vision systems can counter this blindness to better monitor production environments, in combination with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. 2D vision is better suited for situations where colour or texture of the target object is important, like barcode detection.
Any task where shape or position are important, like bin picking, is better served by 3D machine vision that evolved from the idea of spatial computing first developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2003. In 3D vision , multiple cameras are used to create a 3D model of the target object.
Shibaura Machine’s TSVision3D system operates in this way. As a result, it doesn’t require complex CAD data to recognise objects. Instead, two integrated and high-speed stereo cameras capture continuous, real-time 3D images.
The software can recognise any object that’s positioned in its field of vision, even for non-uniform products, like bananas or mangoes for instance. Not only can vision systems fit more flexibly into food manufacturers’ production lines, the technology is emerging as an effective and profitable way for manufacturers to their streamline production, improve quality checking and keep consumers safe from product contamination.
Such visibility would have greatly helped the industry in 2018, when the United States saw a massive recall of all romaine lettuce. Fortunately, should another incident occur, manufacturers can benefit from the visibility, planning and response advantages that vision systems provide. In doing so, they can adapt to changes in the supply chain in ways that will be essential for their survival.


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One of the biggest recent stories in the auto business—at least until the global recession hit the industry—was the remarkable recovery of Italy’s Fiat. And for Canadians, the story has had a special resonance: the turnaround in Turin was orchestrated by Toronto-raised Sergio Marchionne, who earned his law degree at York University’s Osgoode Hall. But today brings a an unexpected bit of bad news Marchionne, as Fiat stock fell on the announcement that Luca De Meo, the star marketing chief behind the revival of Fiat’s sexy Alfa Romeo line, is resigning. Marchionne admitted his disappointment.
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KUCHING: Sarawak log prices have surged due to higher demand, thanks to neighbouring Sabah, which banned timber exports since May this year.
“Japan relied on Sabah logs recently.
“Actually, over 10,000 cubic metres (cu m) of Sabah logs were imported in January, February and May, and the total of Sabah logs were 30% more than 2017.
“There have been no logs from Sabah since June.
“Without Sabah logs, log buyers go to Sarawak,” according to the Japanese Lumber Reports (JLR), a bi-monthly trade journal that provides information on the Japanese timber market, in its latest publication.
Japanese buyers also shifted to Papua New Guinea (PNG) as the other key alternative source of tropical timber.
“Meranti regular log prices in Sarawak had been about US$300 per cu m FOB (free on board) but now the prices climbed to US$320 per cu m after Sabah logs became unavailable,” said JLR, its publication of which was reproduced by International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) in its latest issue of tropical timber market report (Oct 1-15).
Meranti is Sarawak’s top export species,which accounted for 58,940 cu m out of the state’s total log export of 2.24 million cu m last year.
The report said the Japanese plywood mills intend to continue buying mersawa species from PNG although the prices are higher than meranti.
“Prices of mersawa from PNG shot up temporarily but levelled off after China (PNG’s main log buyer) slowed down the purchase after general economy peaked off.
“Keruing for lumber is short with very little log supply.
“The buyers in Japan keep buying lumber from South East Asian countries but the supply is unstable.”
Keruing is one of the main log species exported by Sarawak.
According to JLR, imported volume of Sarawak logs is limited due to the state’s harvest restrictions because of environmental reasons and increased duty.
In July 2017, Sarawak raised the premium for hill timber to RM50 per cu m from 80sen in its first review after more than 30 years
The premium is chargeable on all species of logs harvested from hill forests and logs of hill species from agri-conversion areas.
Sarawak has drastically cut log production in recent years in line with its sustainable forest management policy.
State Forest Department’s figures revealed that last year’s log output was 7.11 million cu m, down from 8.67 million cu m in 2016.
In the first eight months this year,production stood at 4.23 million cu m.
At the peaks in the early 1990’s Sarawak recorded log production as high as 19 million cu m a year.
Last year, the state authorities further reduced log export quota to 20% from 30% to enable more logs to be reserved for the local downstream processing mills.
A tighter log supply situation due to reduced annual production from natural forest has kept Sarawak logs prices robust for several years.
Tropical log prices in the international market were pushed up after Myanmar banned logs exports in 2014 to curb smuggling activities and conserve its forest.Myanmar was reported to be the world’s fifth largest tropical log producer (5.59 million cu m in 2012) and exported some 42% of its total production.
According to JLR, Japan importers purchased large volume of Sarawak logs when India slowed down the imports from Sarawak after that country’s raised the goods and services tax (GST) in July last year.
Ahead of the GST, India bought large volume of logs from Sarawak.
As the Japan’s orders from Sarawak were delivered early this year,this pushed the country’s imports of tropical logs by 31.1% to 80,657 cu m in the first six months as compared to the same period in 2017.
“Japanese plywood mills carry ample log inventories now with large arrivals in the first half.
“Log import for the second half (2018) would decrease considerably,” said JLR.
Last month, Japan,Malaysia and Indonesia plywood manufacturers discussed raw material problem,trend of trade and related matters during a plywood conference in Tokyo.
“Japan explained that majority of raw material of plywood is now domestic wood and 52% of plywood supply is domestic but 48% is imports,which is indispensable materials for such items,like floor base and concrete forming panel.
“Domestic manufacturers mainly produce structural panel but they are now trying to produce non-structural products,like floor base and concrete forming panel with softwood.
“But the volume is limited and it is far from replacing imports,” added JLR.
Japan is Sarawak’s key plywood buyers.
The ITTO report said some 3,000 plywood mills in China were closed last year following the country’s massive restructuring efforts to eliminate outdated and polluting wood processing mills.
Besides, 621 fibreboard production lines were dismantled, eliminating over 20 million cu m of production capacity.
Also affected were over 900 particleboard production lines which were either closed or relocated, resulting in a reduction in installed production capacity of 17 million cu m.
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AT&T this morning announced that its version of the LG G3 will be available for preorder July 8 — yes, tomorrow — and hit stores July 11. It'll cost $199 up front if you do a two-year deal, or you'll be able to get it for $24.17 a month with zero down payment on AT&T Next 18. AT&T Next 12 takes it to $29 a month.
The LG G3, as you'll recall, features a 5.5-inch QHD IPS display at a whopping (but occasionally wonky) 2560x1440 resolution. It's got a 3,000 mAh battery and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor.


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2013 Chevrolet Malibu the first global version of the popular mid-size Chevy, has finally been revealed in 2011 New York Auto Show. 2013 Chevrolet Malibu was revealed one day before at 2011 Shanghai Auto Show. The 2013 Chevrolet Malibu concept will take all of modernism of car design include exterior and interior of the car. Like 2012 Dodge Avenger R/T in New York 2011 Auto Show, the Chevy got many eyes look on its beautiful modern design style. The new Malibu is 4.5 inches smaller in wheelbase at 107.8 inches, and it’s 191.3 inches long–but an inch wider.
Behind Audi completely new ideology behind this electric R8 and the normal gasoline version, they serious about bringing this Audi R8 E-Tron to the market. And after the E-tron Detroit Show car, Audi has brought us the e-tron technology platform based on the 2013 Audi R8 E-Tron. The supercar form of R8 was made an easier job for the Audi engineers to develop an electric version of this Audi R8 E-Tron. Mid-engine design of the 2013 Audi R8 with E-Tron technologies provides the perfect location to store heavy batteries without distorting the weight balance that Audi wanted to achieve.
The brand new 2013 Nissan GTR was get its new engine which powered 560 Horse Power. As like oldest one, this 2013 Nissan GTR gets better and better every year and will no exception fot this one. As we know the first version of GTR was launched in 2007 at the Tokyo Motor Show delivered a total of 473 HP. The 2012 models was got impressive 530 HP and things aren’t slowing down for the Japanese automaker which prepare the next model year (2012 in Japan, 2013 in USA) will deliver an impressive 2013 Nissan GTR 560 HP.
On New York 2011 auto show, Dodge was revealed the new 2012 Dodge Avenger R/T. The 2012 Dodge Avenger R/T models will be distinguished by the rest of the Avenger type of Dodge cars. 2012 Dodge Avenger R/T will show its future sporty design with a sportier look that includes a unique body-color grille with the Dodge badge, menacing black headlamp background, the war paint motif R/T decal on the front quarter panel, a rear spoiler, the R/T badge, and a new set of 18 inch aluminum wheels. Like Dark Blue 2011 302 Ford Mustang Unveiled by SMS Supercars, this car show the latest sporty style to its fans.
Today without being noticed by many people in the world, Suzuki was design a concept of their new mid-size sedan, Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge they named it. The Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge was adapted eco green concept which will be a future technologies. Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge was featured in Suzuki’s first-ever Super Bowl ad, a modified version set a Bonneville speed record and the stock car traveled a grueling trail from Tokyo to Los Angeles. Like 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Show Off at New York Auto Show, this car is only a concept for today but for tommorow its a hope.
Related Auto Show & Car Showoff for york pa car show 2013 at AutoCarShowOff.com
2012 Mazda3 is the brand new little compact car from Mazda that showed off at New York 2011 Auto Show. This 2012 Mazda3 coming with a mid cycle refresh that not only provides a refined exterior and interior. 2012 Mazda3 performance is dishes out a new engine that utilizes Mazda’s innovative SKYACTIV fuel saving and [...]
Xplore has coming with the latest family pieces, the Jeep Xplore Grand Cherokee from the Xplore FJ Cruiser at SEMA and Xplore Wrangler in Moab. Some people said this Jeep Xplore Grand Cherokee is a Trail Rated car. The official spesification of this Jeep Xplore Grand Cherokee is not yet published but the past Xplore [...]
Scion FRS was released the official specs for their brand new sport coupe concept in New York 2011 Auto Show. This new Scion FRS was adapted the stunning two-door is the latest iteration from the oldest models. Scion FRS name is taken from its dutation, Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, and Sport. Like 2012 Mazda3 Little Compact [...]
After released the concept of 2012 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR at Los Angeles Auto Show in 2007, today Dodge was give the full review of this brand new sport cars. They say this 2012 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR bringing what would essentially be the last model presented before a whole new breed of Viper comes [...]
Todays europe supercars is commonly dominated by Germany, Italy, and the UK. But today you must mix the World First Polish Supercar which showed up by Arrinera Automotive. The growing of high technology cars is make producers of this World First Polish Supercar joined in the supercar arms race by Sweden, Denmark, and Spain, among [...]
The future volkswagen beetle was revealed on New York 2011 auto show which become another icon that gone under the knife and emerged, well, only slightly differently iconic. The future volkswagen beetle was made superficially slight by its producers. This future volkswagen beetle was revealed simultaneously in New York, Berlin and Shanghai. Just like 2011 [...]
SR Auto Group was releasing their brand new tuning concept name Project Zeus. This project was completely awesome which more promising with some powerful and aggressive tuned cars. This project used a 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia and once they called the Father Gods and Men like who Zeus are. This 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia offers [...]
The stealthy upgrade of the 2011 Ford Focus RS which developed by Anderson Germany was stabbed their own program by another German Company for the American hot hatch. MR Car Design was developed the another 2011 Ford Focus RS design which to be the latest in a long line of performance kits for the Focus [...]
Expanding the new 2012 Chrysler 300S showed up the Chrysler 300 line up with thie new edition. They offered this new 2012 Chrysler 300S in both V6 and V8 engine versions. According to Chrysler they will ship this new 2012 Chrysler 300S car in fall 2011. With no chrome, no wood, matte carbon fiber finishes, [...]
Unveiling their old 326 series car which has been modernism to 2011 BMW 328 Hommage and got the best looking sport car concept make BMW so proud of it. The systematic design of this BMW 328 Hommage was make its successful at the world of sport car. The BMW 328 Hommage success was given by [...]


text: Southern China’s Hainan province will raise its cap on tourists’ duty-free purchases, doubling it to 16,000 yuan (HK$19,000), to boost spending on the resort island. Starting from February 1, visitors will be able to buy up to 16,000 yuan of goods duty-free on the island each year, Wang Huiping, deputy director of the province’s department of finance said on Friday. The present limit is 8,000 yuan a year. Restrictions limiting residents to shopping at duty-free outlets only once a year and tourists twice a year would also be scrapped from February, Wang said. READ MORE: Shoppers’ paradise on Hainan Island gives Hong Kong a run for its money Hainan’s offshore duty-free programme, launched in April 2011, allows individual tourists and residents aged at least 16 to buy certain types of imported goods duty-free. The goods include luxury watches, cosmetics and perfumes, as well as baby formula and coffee. Hainan has two duty-free shops, one in the capital of Haikou and the other in the popular resort city of Sanya. Wang said the two shops would offer online shopping, so that consumers would be able to buy their duty-free goods online and pick them up at the airport by presenting their identity cards and boarding passes. The new feature would make it more convenient for people to shop and travel in the province, he said. Last year, sales at both duty-free stores reached 5.54 billion yuan, with 6.49 million items sold, according to data from the Haikou customs. The stores saw 1.64 million customers. David Lung, managing partner of consulting firm Deloitte’s China consumer products and retail sector, said the relaxation of the rules would help boost luxury consumption in Hainan. But the effect would be limited, he said. “The measure is also unlikely to drive the overall domestic luxury consumption in the country as mainlanders can also buy overseas when travelling and through online shopping,” Lung said. Hainan was unlikely to compete with Hong Kong in attracting mainland Chinese shoppers as they were two different markets, he added.


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Two things are plaguing YouTube creators as of late: so-called “adpocalyse,” where YouTube stars have either seen a sharp decline in video monetization and, in some cases, videos have been completely stripped of their ads.
Building off this, YouTube tends to point creators to Patreon, a young service that allows fans to pay a monthly stipend to their favorite internet stars.
Heather Wilder, Head of Creator Care (great title) at Patreon, believes this model is the future of monetization for digital content.
“What Patreon solves is what ad revenue doesn’t — it’s valuing that connection between fans and audience,” said Wilder at VidCon 2017.
Founded in 2013 by musician Jack Conte, Patreon is especially appealing to creators who worry about their content being too brash for YouTube monetization.
Stondie, a 23-year-old YouTuber from North Carolina making “comedy rap” videos, told TheWrap he’s turned to Patreon recently because “I don’t make the most family-friendly content.” Freeing themselves of the burden of falling in line with YouTube monetization policies has pushed creators towards the service.
With Patreon filling the ad void, the company is platform agnostic — it doesn’t care where its members share their content.
“That’s one of the great things from my perspective, you can be a creator on Patreon and build your membership platform, but you can put your work and your content wherever it reaches your fans,” said Wilder. “We don’t value one [platform] over another.”
The bottom line for its members is to have a “diverse portfolio,” as Wilder put it. Patreon takes 5 percent of payments, so the wider the net its users cast, the better off it is.
And with the company set to shell out $150 million to creators by the end of 2017, it’s clear that fans are willing to pay for their favorite content.


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Dear Client: The tie-up between Craft Brew Alliance and Anheuser-Busch is one step closer to coming to fruition. CBA shareholders held a vote today on the “expanded partnership” with A-B, in which A-B has agreed “to purchase the remaining CBA shares it does not already own in a merger transaction for $16.50 per share, in … Continue reading "CBA Shareholders Vote in “Overwhelming Support” of Merger with A-B"
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When Phil Harrison, head of worldwide studios for Sony PlayStation, introduced his concept of "Game 3.0" to an audience of reporters at the Game Developers Conference this past March, he was embracing the idea that store-bought game systems and games could change weeks, months and years after someone buys them.
So it was appropriate that two weeks ago, just two days before Thanksgiving, the PlayStation Portable took a quiet step toward turning into the iPod of video games that many expected it to be when it launched in late 2004.
The PSP PC store allows owners of Sony's handheld system to plug their PSP into a computer to download background themes and games — both small original titles, emulated games made for the first PlayStation, and larger games formerly only released on disc for the PSP. Eric Lempel, director of network operations for Sony's American PlayStation division, told GameFile that sometime after New Year's, the store will also let users download TV shows and movies. Functionality for downloading music is in place as well. With all that, the PSP isn't just a device for playing content from store-bought discs anymore.
"It's something we always wanted to do," Lempel said of the whole downloading setup. "Technically we didn't have the ability in the past with some of our hardware. But now that we do, we want to start opening up some of these channels and getting consumers used to that and experimenting with it. I would say it's a glimpse towards the future. Definitely just by releasing a [Universal Media Disc] title in the store, it definitely puts ideas in people's heads, but no, I wouldn't categorize this as a shift in [our] business model at this point."
The store launched quietly, by design, Lempel said. "We felt like if we made a big splash, there might not be enough there to make everybody happy now. We're going to ramp up slowly."
But the store is growing, and this week will add one very iPod-style game to its library: a single- and multiplayer music game called "Beats." The game follows the traditional rhythm-game pattern, requiring players to tap buttons (and, in this case, also move the PSP's analog stick) in sync with musically timed icons that float across the screen. The game comes with some original songs but is primarily engineered for gamers to import their own MP3s and let the PSP generate playable "Beats" levels based on them. It's a setup that Daimion Pinnock, the game's producer at Sony Computer Entertainment America, agreed is "very, very similar" to the iPod game "Phase," which was released in November and made by the MTV-owned "Rock Band" developer Harmonix. Pinnock noted that he hadn't played "Phase."
"Beats" actually started as something a little different. Development began in the first couple of months of 2007 by about five people at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's London studio. "Originally, we were going to have it as a UMD [PSP disc-based] title, but as plans for the PlayStation Store developed, we decided to change over and make it downloadable," Pinnock said. It also was going to have different music. Early on, the Sony team considered including licensed music in the game, possibly by the British pop band Sugababes. "We were going to have their videos playing in the background, but we didn't really feel like it added much to the game itself." So Sony went with original music instead and a programming push for users to play the game to their own songs.
"Beats" was released for the European version of the PSP PC store two weeks ago. It will be out for U.S. owners Thursday for $4.99, making it the second original game made for the downloadable store, alongside the $9.99 "Syphon Filter: Combat Ops."
Lempel said the game fits part of the new PSP online-store initiative, which he promised will eventually offer a steady flow of old and new games. He said some will be as quirky as the PS3 downloadable games "flOw" and "Everday Shooter," two games he'd like to see ported to the PSP store. "But we're also looking at original content that isn't exactly in that genre but stuff like the "Syphon Filter" game we released and other long-form established franchises from first and third parties. It'll be a little bit of both."
On the to-do list are also things like introducing iPod/iTunes-style automatic syncing functionality and compatibility with Mac computers ("We do hope to support them"). Where the plans currently seem to diverge from the iTunes model are in the timing of releases for games that, unlike the online-only "Syphon Filter: Combat Ops" or "Beats," are made on disc but also appear as downloadables in the online store. Such releases are not planned to happen at the same time, giving retail stores a jump on sales. "Right now it won't be day-and-date for those titles, just to avoid any retail conflict," Lempel said. "We appreciate what the retailers do for us. We know this would create some challenges for them."
Sony hasn't released any numbers yet to show how the store is doing. "We are happy with the launch," Lempel said. "So far, so good. The key thing is to get people to learn about this."
(For the full interview with Lempel, check out our Multiplayer blog.)
More from the world of video games:
Finalists for the 2008 Independent Games Festival have been announced. Nominees for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize are "Audiosurf" by Invisible Handlebar LLC, "Crayon Physics Deluxe" by Kloonigames, "Hammerfall" by GKosh, "Noitu Love 2: Devolution" by Konjak and "World of Goo" by 2D Boy. Your GameFile writer was one of the judges, giving both "Crayon Physics Deluxe" and "Hammerfall" high scores in the first round of judging. The former is a PC game that turns a mouse-pointer into a virtual crayon and requires the player to draw shapes that tumble and balance with realistic physics in order to get a ball through a goal. "Hammerfall" is a fantasy game that makes the mouse the swiveling motion-controller of an onscreen swinging mace or sword attached to a flying ship that has to hack through hordes of enemies. The winners of the grand prize and of more specific graphics, design, audio and other awards will be announced as part of the Independent Games Festival awards ceremony February 20 in San Francisco. (A full list of finalists can be found here.) ...
It was the best-reviewed game of the year before "Super Mario Galaxy" knocked it down a peg, but the PC and Xbox 360 title "BioShock" is now getting some free improvements. Publisher 2K Games announced Tuesday (December 4) that some new content is now available, including a new "sonic boom" plasmid power and a "vending expert" tonic that reduces prices in vending machines. The game will also sport an improved widescreen mode (given that fans complained that the original one cropped important parts of the top and bottom of the game's graphics from view). Xbox 360 owners can also vie for a new Achievement that rewards players 100 points for finishing the game on its hardest difficulty without dying. The new content will be automatically downloaded to Xbox 360 owners who start up their copies of "BioShock." For PC owners, a patch can be downloaded here. ...
How little does Nintendo's star designer Shigeru Miyamoto like stories in video games? Wired's interview with "Super Mario Galaxy" director Yoshiaki Koizumi reveals that from as far back as his work on the 1993 Game Boy "Zelda" game "Link's Awakening," his Nintendo colleagues were downplaying his interest in telling stories. "I felt like I came up with this entire scenario and a back-story for Link, but nobody really seemed to care. They were always saying, 'Let's not try to push the story forward too much.' So I would sort of try to find sneaky ways to get it in without them noticing too much. For example, I always liked the idea of you coming upon another character and hearing little bits of conversation that slowly begin to reveal different parts of the story. And that was the way that I tried to work on 'Ocarina of Time' and 'Majora's Mask.' A lot of the [Miyamoto-led Nintendo studio's] games that do seem to have a lot of story, a lot of that came from my influence. But those are aspects of the games that Miyamoto wasn't nearly as fond of and occasionally didn't like." Go here for the full interview.
Recent video game stories from MTV News:
For much more gaming coverage, including the latest on the merger of massive game publishers Activision and Vivendi Games as well as the controversial dismissal of Gamespot's lead reviewer, check out Multiplayer.MTV.com.


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In days gone by, channel surfing was the biggest barrier to audience engagement with TV commercials, today, advertisers are competing with phones, tablets, and laptops for visual attention. But is TV advertising really a waste of money? Definitely not! But that's not to say the same formula that worked a decade ago will still resonate.
Our research team, Tobii Pro Insight, conducted an eye tracking study examining the natural viewing behavior of people in 150 homes across 7 U.S. cities. The results from this research are designed to help advertisers and marketers understand the changing way viewers interact with TV ads and other content so they can create successful and effecting advertising campaigns which give greater returns on investment.
Participants across multiple demographics were exposed to more than 3,000 television commercials while wearing eye tracking glasses. Unlike other research methods, eye tracking provides clear and accurate answers on exactly what viewers are looking at, which ads they see, how long they watch them and what elements visually appeal to them. As an advertiser you can harness this information to guide not only when and where to buy your ad space, but also how to produce your commercial for maximum impact.
There's no denying TV habits are in the midst of rapid changes – from 2016 to 2018 around 11-million people cut the cord on their traditional network TV service in the U.S. alone. TV ad spending over the same period dropped 3 percent, with another 4 percent decline forecast for the next three years – however TV advertising still accounts for the majority of all advertising dollars spent – in the U.S. that's 33% of all ad spending.
To see the full study and statistical breakdown download a copy of the report here. The study was conducted by eye tracking researchers from Tobii Pro Insight – the consultancy branch of Tobii Pro


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Smokers and drinkers to be hit by tax rises
Smokers and drinkers will have to pay extra sin taxes, it was revealed on Friday.
Wayne Furbert, the junior finance minister, said duty on tobacco, wine, spirits and beer will all be increased.
He added that the higher taxes were expected to generate an extra $1.5 million to $2.5 million in revenue.
One of the major increases will be on loose tobacco, where duty will jump $200 to $500 a kilogram.
Mr Furbert said the hike on loose tobacco was “to achieve effective duty parity with the rate for cigarettes”.
He explained there had been a loophole for loose tobacco which resulted in a loss of revenue of between $3 million and $5 million.
Duty on cigarettes will increase by three cents per cigarette — up from 37 cents to 40 cents.
Importers will now pay $80 per carton of 200 cigarettes.
Duty on beers and ciders will increase by ten cents from $1.26 to $1.36 a litre.
Wines will increase from $5 a litre to $6 per litre and spirits will go up from $31.35 per litre to $32.
However, Mr Furbert said several goods would get duty relief.
Farmers will be allowed to import goods for commercial food preparation duty-free.
Mr Furbert said the move would “help to reduce local food production cost allowing local farmers to better compete with cheaper overseas imports”.
Mr Furbert was speaking as he presented proposed changes to customs tariff legislation.
Mr Furbert said that to help cut the cost for school maintenance, the duty-free list of school supplies had been expanded.
The list of items for schools which will attract no fees includes light fittings, security cameras, plumbing and drywall supplies, computer network equipment, and cabling, doors, windows and telephones.
Mr Furbert said legislation, which gave duty relief for chemicals and equipment to tackle oil pollution would also be expanded to allow all materials designed to combat pollution into the country duty free.
The environmental engineer in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will certify the goods eligible for this relief.
The legislation was also amended to allow duty-free import of medical supplies and goods used to help people with mental, physical or learning disabilities.
There will be no duty on walking canes, medical therapy braces, artificial limbs and oxygen cylinders and regulators.
Aids to vision and hearing will also be duty-free.
There will also be a decrease in duty on footwear from 12.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
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VIVO unveiled its two smartphone VIVO Nex S and VIVO Nex A in China on June 12. Chinese mobile manufacturer was set to launch the VIVO Nex S in India an event July 19. And come in two variants 128 GB and 256 GB storage. It was spotted by the online platform MySmartPrice on Amazon India website with the price of Rs 48,990. It is the world’s first bezel-less smartphone with modular camera design that slides out when the front camera is required.
just like VIVO X21 which made new with unique and industry first feature of under the screen fingerprint sensor, the Nex will probably and up creating a buzz its unique bezel-less screen and selfie camera that pops up when required.
VIVO Nex S features a 6.59 inch Full HD with Super AMOLED ultra bezel less display with resolution of 2316*1080 pixels. The screen’s aspect ratio of 19.3:9 and Screen to body ratio of 91.24 percent.
The smartphone has dual camera setup of 12 mega pixel primary camera. The device will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC processor.
It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo based FuTouchOS 4.0 operating system. And has 8GB RAM and powered by 4,000mAh battery.
There are other various feature like in Display fingerprint scanner, Screen Sound casting technology and VIVO’s own a smart assistant called Jovi.
VIVO Nex S houses dual camera on the rear wherein the primary lens a f/1.8 aperture while other has a f/2.4 aperture. Of course , will get to know how much impact in the industry once arrives. A few new features that no other phone right now has in the Indian Market. This futuristic phone and it launch is set for July 19.
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It was time that someone stood up and crush all hopes related to cheaper titles and Electronic Arts senior director of in-game advertising Shelby Cox was just the person to do it:
"Advertising is not going to be that silver bullet to make everything okay," Cox told NextGen during a phone interview. "We’re looking at a lot of different things to offset these rising dev costs. Next-gen dev costs are astronomical. We’re looking for any way to try and offset that, and in-game advertising is one of those things."
And, if things weren’t already clear enough, she stressed out one more time:
"[…]do I think in-game advertising is going to bring the price of games down in the next year or so? Definitely not. We’ve got to find new ways to make money off of those packaged goods and our content."
To give you the worst of news, NPD already reported software sales going up, a clear sing that most buyers are eager to spend on games. Therefore, there’s no business reason to cut down on prices, at least for the time being.


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When on the subject of fintech, a lot of the talk revolves around how disruptive it is. Now, I feel “disruption” is one of the most overused words within the startup ecosystem – right up there with “ecosystem,” really. But fintech has jolted the baking industry awake, that’s true enough.
It’s not going to bring banks down, nor is it going to automatically make rich people out of the poor. What it has been able to do is kickstart much-needed innovation and shake up the status quo when it comes to individuals’ relationship with things like remittances, lending, and ecommerce. Viewed through this lens, here are five fintech startups that had a particularly good year. The list is obviously meant to be indicative rather than exhaustive, and the startups are listed in no particular order.
The Singaporean startup makes an API for online payments made within Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and SMS. Fastacash has also worked with banks and credit card companies to enable these kinds of transactions – the results can be seen in products like Singaporean bank DBS’ Paylah app.
If quick and easy ways to transfer money online are to become the norm, successful integration into services we use every day is going to be key.
Thailand’s Omise is a payment methods provider for ecommerce websites. Its product allows ecommerce merchants to accept credit card payments via a mobile and web interface and suite of APIs.
As Southeast Asia comes increasingly online and ecommerce becomes a force to be reckoned with, particularly in the region’s developing economies, offerings like this will be especially valuable to newly-minted online merchants.
Omise’s latest funding round came in October. The amount remains undisclosed, but the startup says it’s one of Golden Gate Ventures’ largest investments in Southeast Asia to date.
The Indian online payments service has had a stellar 2015. Not only was One97, the startup that makes Paytm, backed by the likes of Alibaba and Ratan Tata this year, it’s one of Asia’s newly-minted unicorns with a US$2 billion valuation. In fact, it’s the top-funded Indian startup operating in the ecommerce space in 2015, with a total disclosed funding of US$890 million.
Shanghai-based Dianrong is a peer-to-peer lending platform, crowdsourcing loans from individuals to satisfy the lending needs of other individuals and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The space has been exploding in China, as startups are looking to fulfill a market need that banks aren’t interested in. Dianrong, however, has managed to secure by far the most funding in this space in the country, with a series C round worth US$207 million in August, led by Standard Chartered and China Fintech Fund.
The man behind Dianrong, Soul Htite, has plenty of experience in this space as he was a co-founder of US-based Lending Club, the model for a lot of P2P lending startups in Asia.
Moving money around is a huge deal in the Philippines, where a large portion of the population is unbanked – and that’s even without taking into account its millions of workers abroad. Coins.ph uses bitcoin and the blockchain to operate its ewallet service. Your bitcoin ewallet is topped up by other individual users or small retailers who act as bank tellers. They take your cash payment, convert the funds into bitcoin and transfer them into your wallet, and keep a commission. You can then use your ewallet to remit funds to anyone you choose to.
Coins.ph surpassed 1,000 repeat customers in the country in July. While that number sounds small, especially for a market the size of the Philippines, it has to be looked at through the lenses of slow but rising bitcoin adoption – along with steadily increasing smartphone usage.
This post 5 exciting fintech startups we saw in Asia in 2015 appeared first on Tech in Asia.
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The brand will offer a loyalty benefit programme for the customers of iQube who have booked the vehicle till May 20, 2023, for a limited period
TVS Motor Company has today released a statement confirming that it continues to demonstrate commitment towards sustainable future mobility solutions. It is in line with Indian Government’s vision to promote e-mobility and the Hosur-based brand’s endeavour to support the initiative to enable faster adoption and development of the overall EV ecosystem.
KN Radhakrishnan, Director and CEO, TVS Motor Company, said, “TVS Motor is spearheading the EV transformation narrative in the country. Backed by this electrification journey, TVS iQube recorded a sales milestone of 1,00,000 units for its range of scooters in the last financial year, which is a testament of its strong community of happy customers. In May 2023, TVS iQube crossed 20,000 units of retails and continues to have a healthy booking pipeline of over 30,000 units.”
In the last fiscal, TVS’ iQube electric scooter reached a milestone of over one lakh units. In just the month of May 2023, the iQube went past the 20,000 unit sales mark and it has a healthy reservation pipeline of more than 30,000 units as it has been well received by customers. Over the next few quarters, Fame II will gradually reduce.
TVS has further confirmed that it will continue to offer different product options. The brand will offer a loyalty benefit programme for the customers of iQube who have booked the vehicle till May 20, 2023, for a limited period “to ease the cost burden post the revision in FAME II subsidy.” In addition, new consumers can also avail new prices without having to bear the full burden of FAME II revision on booking the vehicle starting today.
The prices of the TVS iQube have been increased between Rs. 17,000 and Rs. 22,000 depending on the variant from June 1, 2023. Currently, the zero-emission scooter is available in 140 cities across the country. TVS is expected to launch a brand new motorcycle based on the same platform as the flagship Apache RR310 next.
It could be a naked streetfighter drawing design inspiration from the Draken concept and it will more likely be equipped with a 310 cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine, paired with a six-speed transmission. The features list could comprise all LED lighting, TFT cluster, ride modes, dual-channel ABS, slipper clutch and much more.