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Xbox has a whole lot of irons in the fire between Xbox Series X, Project xCloud, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Game Studios, and more. Starting soon, Inside Xbox will be launching a new segment to keep players aware of what’s coming in the “next generation of gaming.” It’s called Xbox 20/20 and it kicks off with the Inside Xbox this week.
Xbox announced the new Xbox 20/20 showcase on May 5, 2020, just ahead of the Inside Xbox Series X reveals set to show off games for the new console later this week. According to Xbox, the new Xbox 20/20 segment is meant to keep players aware of the latest news and information on the many things Xbox has coming down the pipe in the future of its gaming pursuits.
“These monthly moments will take place throughout the rest of the year and will be a way for us to engage, connect and celebrate with you about what’s in store for the next generation of gaming,” Xbox wrote. “Including what’s next for Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Studios, Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud. Every month will bring something different.”
Boot up Xbox 20/20 with a new episode of #InsideXbox this Thursday, May 7 @ 8am PT for a First Look at Xbox Series X gameplay from our global developer partners.— Xbox (@Xbox) May 5, 2020
More info: https://t.co/ummOmjwjP9 pic.twitter.com/3tyac72s7W
Indeed, Xbox’s further out projects are a lot to keep track of. Between new game releases on Xbox Game Pass and its PC counterpart, the rollout of Project xCloud to further regions and players, and all of the remaining mysteries remaining Xbox Series X and what it will have for players at launch, Xbox 20/20 should be a good opportunity to catch up on everything the franchise is putting together as it looks towards the future.
Be sure to stay tuned on May 7, 2020 during the Inside Xbox X Series reveal when Xbox 20/20 launches for the very first time, sharing ongoing glimpses of what lies ahead for Xbox players.


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Increasing production and falling prices for larger thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display (TFT-LCD) panels means that more consumers may find 40-inch to 42-inch (101.6cm to 106.7cm) LCD TVs under their Christmas trees this year, iSuppli Corp predicts.
Pricing for low-end LCD TV panels in the 40-inch to 42-inch range declined to US$950 this month, the first time it has fell below the threshold of US$1,000, while average pricing for 40-inch and 42-inch LCD TV panels fell to US$1,125, down 7.5 percent from US$1,216 last month, iSuppli said in a report released on Thursday.
"This could result in the availability of 40-inch to 42-inch value-branded LCD TVs at prices as low as US$2,500 by the fourth quarter, boosting sales of these sets during the all-important holiday season," the El Segundo, California-based research house said.
ISuppli predicted that the prices of all large LCD TV panels will keep falling in the coming months, with the average price for 30-inch to 32-inch LCD TV panels, for instance, decreasing to US$558 by the start of the holiday buying season in October, down from US$607 in June.
The present price cuts are being driven by panel suppliers who hope to accelerate consumers' adoption of LCD TVs, as TFT-LCD makers are boosting the output at their fifth, sixth and seventh-generation fabs designed to produce larger panels suited for TV sets, the report said.
The price reductions are expected to be particularly pronounced for the 40-inch and 42-inch panels because of the start of production at Samsung Electronics Corp's first seventh-generation fab, which is jointly operated with Sony Corp, it said.
The research house predicted worldwide shipments of LCD TV panels to shoot up by 87 percent to 18.8 million units this year, from 10 million last year.
‘ACCORDING TO PLAN’: A company official said that it has set up production sites worldwide to provide services and that its Wisconsin project was going smoothly Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) smart manufacturing center in Wisconsin would begin trial manufacturing in the middle of this year, the company said yesterday, adding that it plans to build a research institute to develop key technologies to support growth over the next five years. Hon Hai, known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said in an annual report submitted to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that its planned Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology would conduct research into artificial intelligence, next-generation communications, quantum computing, cybersecurity and nano semiconductors in Taiwan. Hon Hai is to make products at the center
STAYING AHEAD: Fitch said that TSMC remains technologically ahead of others, but Samsung is building a new chip fab, while China is investing in its domestic industry As escalating US-China tensions and COVID-19-related production disruptions force US technology supply chains to transform, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) US$12 billion chip fabrication plant in Arizona would be key to spurring greater US production of core semiconductor components, Fitch Ratings said. “We view the US-TSMC alliance as a first step in building a more autonomous US technology supply chain, given high barriers to entry, specifically related to the significant capital and design capability required for leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing,” Fitch said in a statement on Tuesday. “By working with TSMC, US chipmakers will not face the financial burden of incremental investment
E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s sole supplier of e-paper displays for e-readers and shelf labels, posted its best quarterly net profit for the first quarter in nine years amid increased demand during a traditionally slow season. Net profit soared 80 percent to NT$787 million (US$26.23 million) in the quarter ended March 31, compared with NT$438 million a year earlier. That translated into earnings per share of NT$0.69, up from NT$0.39. E Ink posted lower royalty income of NT$371.23 million last quarter from NT$448.74 million a year earlier, a company financial statement showed. E Ink said that it expects royalty income to
The latest US government action against Huawei Technologies Co (華為) takes direct aim the company’s HiSilicon (海思) chip division — a business that in over the past few years has become central to China’s ambitions in semiconductor technology, but is now to lose access to tools that are central to its success. That could make it the most damaging measure by the US yet against a Chinese company. On Wednesday, US officials told reporters that the Huawei’s chip division functioned as a “tool of strategic influence” for the Chinese Communist Party. Huawei, for its part, denounced the US allegations and called the

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The bottom line
Apple has more than $250 billion in cash, an amount greater than the market value of Walmart and more than the foreign currency reserves of the United Kingdom and Canada combined. More than 90 percent of Apple’s cash is held outside the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal
The price of cobalt, which is used to make lithium-ion batteries that are in everything from smartphones to electric cars, has soared by almost 70_percent this year. The Democratic Republic of Congo holds more than 60_percent of the world’s cobalt reserves.
There were more than 850,000 new homeowners in the first three months of 2017, compared with 365,000 new renters. Although the U.S. homeownership rate of 63.6 percent is still near a historic low, the first quarter was the first time the number of homeowners has grown faster than renters since 2006.
The 25 U.S. companies with the best-paying summer internships each pay their interns at least $4,500 a month, equivalent to a $54,000 annual salary. By comparison, the median pay for a U.S. worker is $44,460 a year. Sixteen of those firms are in technology, including list-leader Facebook, where interns make a median of $8,000 a month. The next three on the list are Microsoft (which pays a median $7,100 a month), ExxonMobil ($6,507), and Salesforce ($6,450).
The Washington Post
Global revenue from streaming-music services like Spotify and Apple Music surged 60 percent last year, propelling the music industry to its fastest growth in nearly 20 years. Digital revenue now makes up 50 percent of global music sales.


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General Motors (GM) has pulled an ad in which a production line robot appears to commit suicide after losing his job with the company following a string of complaints.
The ad, which was first shown in front of 93 million people during the Super Bowl in the US on February 4, was part of a $60m (£31m) campaign to promote GM’s new five-year warranty.
It provoked public outcry from groups including the New York-based American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which claimed the ad was insensitive to people affected by suicide.
A spokeswoman for GM confirms that the ad has been taken off air and off the internet but says that a new version without the suicide scene is being worked on. "We are editing the ad as we speak and it will run again in the near future," she adds.
The ad, which was created by Interpublic Group’s Deutsch in Los Angeles, starts with the robot dropping a bolt while working on a GM assembly line and getting sacked.
He is then seen holding a "Condo for Sale" sign and working at a fast-food restaurant but jumps off a bridge because he finds not working for GM unbearable. The ad featured the strapline: "GM’s 100,000-mile warranty – it’s got everyone obsessed with quality".
Although it turns out to be a dream, the ad was considered inappropriate not only by suicide groups but also because thousands of GM workers have recently been made redundant as part of a huge cost-cutting drive at the company.


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“Apple today released the fifth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors.
“macOS Sierra beta 5 comes one week after the release of the fourth beta and approximately two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple’s 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference,” Clover reports. “Developers can download today’s beta update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center. ”
Clover reports, “macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s snappy!


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HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s Huawei, hit by crippling U.S. sanctions, could see shipments decline by as much as a quarter this year and faces the possibility that its smartphones will disappear from international markets, analysts said.
Smartphone shipments at Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone maker by volume, could tumble between 4% and 24% in 2019 if the ban stays put, according to Fubon Research and Strategy Analytics.
Several experts said they expect Huawei’s shipments to slide over the next six months but declined to give a hard estimate due to uncertainties surrounding the ban.
The U.S. Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying U.S. goods last week amid its escalating trade spat with China.
The ban applies to goods and services with 25% or more of U.S.-originated technology or materials, and may, therefore, affect non-American firms.
Tech companies including Google and SoftBank Group-owned chip designer ARM have said they will cease supplies…
Source news reuters.com, click here to read the full news.


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This holiday season, CB2 will continue the fight against hunger. Starting November 1, every interaction customers have with CB2 will provide a child in need access to a meal, with the goal of feeding 500,000 children throughout nationwide, according to the retailer.
Customers can visit CB2’s Facebook page and simply click “Like,” as well as tweet, tag, pin, review, sign up for brand emails, apply for a credit card, or make a purchase at any of CB2’s US store locations. Every interaction counts. There will be a “counter” on www.CB2.com that will update daily so that customers can see how the brand is progressing toward its goal
CB2 will be working with Share Our Strength to support its No Kid Hungry campaign. In previous years, each store donated directly to a local food bank and cb2.com donated to Share Our Strength. This year, CB2 and all US store locations decided to band together to initiate a large, national, overarching goal, working collectively to achieve 500,000 meals total, according to the retailer.


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Affinnova Inc., a Waltham company that has repurposed algorithms devised for genetic research to address such consumer-product issues as how to design beer bottles and supermarket cereal aisles, claims that Mitt Romney may have missed an opportunity in not choosing a woman as a running mate.
Ditto for President Obama. If Hillary Clinton were to be his running mate, he’d have a good chance of connecting with swing voters, said Affinnova, which said it used its optimization software to sort through millions of combinations of vice presidents, platforms, slogans, and candidate images.
According to Affinnova’s analysis, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would have made for an excellent Romney running mate.
Typically, Affinnova uses its technology to help such companies as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Post Foods launch products and conduct consumer research. Those same analytical methods found that strong political women appeal to this year’s swing voters. Affinnova partly reached this conclusion by getting feedback from 1,000 swing voters in early August, and then a few days later, measuring the potential for success of Romney-Rice and Obama-Clinton tickets with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 likely voters.
Whether such technology is as applicable to politics as it is to consumer products is an open question.
One recent Affinnova project was helping to design a new bottle for Grimsbergen, a beer that can trace its history back nearly 900 years to an abbey in Belgium. Grimsbergen is now a Carlsberg Breweries brand. In helping Carlsberg reach its decision, Affinnova said its technology platform considered more than 6,500 combinations of bottle shapes, sizes, and label graphics.
Of course, using business techniques in political campaigns isn’t new. In “The Selling of the President, 1968,” author Joe McGinniss detailed how the campaign team of then-candidate Richard Nixon relied heavily on marketing techniques.
The technology and techniques that Affinnova uses didn’t start out with a business mission. But Noubar Afeyan and Kamal Malek, two Ph.D’s from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thought that technology developed for other purposes could be equally relevant for evaluating the challenges that face consumer products companies.
In 2000, the two founded Affinnova on the idea that computational advances would support using the “collective mind” of the Internet to determine the ideal design of new products.
If employee head count is any guide, Affinnova is growing smartly. It ended 2011 with 151 employees and is on pace to end 2012 with 186 employees, a projected increase of 23 percent, a company spokeswoman said.
Chris Reidy can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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BARCELONA — The Galaxy S5 is finished. Gone. Done in by peer pressure to adopt prevailing design trends.
Its twin, slim replacements, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and curved-screen Galaxy S6 Edge, finally ditch the utilitarian plastic build and removable battery of previous Samsung flagship phones. They arrive at the smartphone party dressed in sharp metal lines and plenty of glass.
The two new phones are nearly identical — both run Android 5.0 Lollipop with 5.1-inch high-resolution displays. But the Galaxy S6 Edge competes for the spotlight with two curved-glass edges, each wrapping the long side of the phone with a smooth, readable display.
Samsung unveiled the fraternal twins during its press conference at Mobile World Congress, the annual trade show here in Spain that has become arguably the most important global smartphone showcase. And while the phones won’t be available worldwide until April 10, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge must succeed, and quickly.
The phones were forged in the crucible of Samsung’s financial struggles as the company fights over phone profits with Apple’s latest megasuccessful iPhone models and an army of “good enough,” low-cost rivals from China-based manufacturers such as Lenovo, Xiaomi and Huawei.
Some of the new S6 features — upscale metal design, updated fingerprint scanner — play catch-up with the iPhone 6, which, last year, pursued Samsung’s pioneering large-screen phones. Samsung even used today’s press conference to announce an Apple Pay competitor that will debut on the S6 phones called — wait for it — Samsung Pay.
Other upgrades force uncomfortable tradeoffs. The S6 and S6 Edge lack a removable battery and a microSD card slot, not to mention the Galaxy S5’s waterproofing. Meanwhile, the curved strips of screen that make up the Edge’s borders do so little compared to the Note Edge’s screen that it’s hard to justify their existence other than giving you something to do with those curved edges. And Samsung’s own untested Exynos processor (versus the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 that will be found in most of its high-end Android rivals) is a performance wild card. (We’ll test it when we write our future full review.)
That said, the new Galaxy S6 models set some of their own Android trends. Both deliver built-in wireless charging support and compatibility with a new version of the Gear VR virtual reality accessory — two features you won’t find on the iPhone. And with the S6 phones’ new designs, Samsung has addressed the predominant critiques of 2014’s Galaxy S5, viewed by many as an uninspired doppelganger of the 2013 Galaxy S4.
The new phone pair has the looks and the specs of a flagship phone worth its salt, but it’s too early to know if that’s enough to reverse Samsung’s sagging smartphone sales — or dent the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus’ staggering revenue.


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Victoria Bitter and Linfox go green with electric truck deliveries
In a historic first, Victoria Bitter and Linfox are launching electric truck deliveries for the Big Cold Beer across Melbourne.
The Australian beer will be transported in a new Volvo FL all-electric truck, the first-ever EV in the Linfox fleet.
It will deliver beer like a regular diesel truck but in a sustainable way: transporting 100,000+ cans and stubbies each week from Asahi Beverages’ distribution centre in Melbourne’s west to bottleshops and consumers across the city.
The truck will also be powered entirely by 100% offset solar power drawn from Asahi Beverages’ solar farm near Mildura in northern Victoria.
Since last year, VB has been brewed with 100% offset solar electricity.
Robert Iervasi, Group CEO of Asahi Beverages, which purchased Carlton & United Breweries last year, said that with Linfox and VB’s over fifty-year long partnership, it’s fitting the two Australian icons are taking this major step towards a sustainable future together.
“This truck will deliver VB and our other beers in a sustainable, safe and efficient way, which makes sound commercial sense,” Iervasi said.
“It is the first of many electric trucks that will deliver our beer. Transitioning our deliveries to electric vehicles will help us achieve our ambitious sustainability goals of reducing our net carbon emissions across our entire supply chain by 30% by 2030 and to zero by 2050,” he said.
The VB truck is decked out in the brand’s famous green colour and can travel up to 250km before it needs recharging.
Linfox Executive Chairman Peter Fox said that Australia’s domestic freight task has doubled in the past decade and will continue to grow.
“To meet this demand, Australia’s road fleet will also grow and it is essential the fleet does this safely, efficiently and with reduced environmental impact,” Fox said.
“We are proud to introduce Volvo’s first electric vehicle in Australia to the Linfox fleet,” he said.
Linfox delivers hundreds of millions of litres of beer annually for Asahi Beverages.
“The majority of Linfox’s carbon emissions come from transportation tasks. As we continue our journey to act sustainably and achieve zero net emissions by 2030, the way we operate will change in response, with more electric vehicles planned for our fleet and increased use of rail transport where viable,” Fox revealed.
Volvo Group Australia President and CEO Martin Merrick said that the transport industry is transforming at a rapid rate.
“Electromobility is rapidly gaining traction as a transport solution and we are proud to partner with Linfox and Asahi Beverages on this exciting new journey,” Merrick said.
“Environmental care is a core value shared not only by Linfox and Volvo Trucks, but also by Asahi Beverages and we are proud of those shared values,” he said.
The VB truck is the first mass-produced electric truck of its size in Australia and the first Volvo FL all-electric in Australia.


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Wisebuddah directors launch new production company Listen Entertainment
Three directors from Wisebuddah have launched a new production company focusing on branded audio content.
Listen Entertainment will also acquire Wisebuddah's content production team, although the latter company will continue to operate.
As Variety reports, the new venture will be led by director of content Adam Uytman, director of commercial and client relations Josh Adley, and executive director Tim Hammond, all previously of Wisebuddah. The company's founder Mark Goodier will also become chair of Listen Entertainment's board.
Wisebuddah is well-known as the production company behind many podcast and radio content for the BBC, along with some commercial broadcasters.
Listen, meanwhile, will focus squarely on brands, building on Wisebuddah's existing work in the field such as Dan Wootton's podcast for The Sun, and the NHS's Couch To 5K project.
Commenting on the launch, Uytman told Variety: “The world of audio is on fire right now, and, in particular, podcasting is booming.
“The convergence of TV and audio – and the opportunities for TV companies in the audio space – are exploding, so we are there to help our clients navigate the future of this exciting medium.”


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All Posts Tagged Tag: ‘1938 Media’
A growing concern of today’s average citizen is the security of their data. With so many consumers making purchases online, as well as search engines looking to become more personalized by tracking a user’s web history and search trends, ensuring user privacy and protection is becoming increasingly important to a fast growing segment of the population.
Candidates for political office often run advertisements that portray opponents in a damaging light. Likewise, bloggers are beginning to take an increasing amount of liberty in their negative portrayal of certain individuals who are viewed as influential throughout the blogosphere.


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The recent idling of two refineries in southeastern Pennsylvania and previously announced plans to idle an additional refinery in the region by mid-2012 would, taken together, reduce operating refinery capacity along the entire East Coast by 27 percent. This reduction in refinery activity, if fully implemented and made permanent, looks set to reverse recent declines in U.S. gasoline imports even if end-user demand for gasoline continues to edge lower, as expected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). On its face, any short-term increase in aggregate East Coast import requirements that may result from the closures would not cause East Coast gasoline imports to exceed peak levels recorded in 2006. The need for alternate supply, however, may be felt most acutely in the region surrounding the idled plants, which is currently ill-equipped to handle larger product import volumes. Price increases relative to other markets could be required to overcome short-term logistical hurdles.
On the back of strong demand for products in Latin America and other emerging markets and sagging demand at home, U.S. exports of refined products surged to record levels in 2011, while imports fell to levels not seen since early last decade. As a result, U.S. exports of petroleum products exceeded imports in 2011 for the first time since at least 1949. The East Coast was no exception; total product imports into the region were lower (through October) than any annual average since 1999.
The sustainability of this trend is not assured, however, particularly on the East Coast. With the idling of ConocoPhillips' Trainer refinery and Sunoco's Marcus Hook refinery, East Coast refining capacity dropped by 27 percent since the end of September. Sunoco has said that, in the absence of a buyer, it would also shut its Philadelphia refinery by mid-2012. Increased imports would likely comprise a major portion of replacement product supplies, particularly for gasoline.
The East Coast is by far the largest gasoline market in the United States. Gasoline accounts for most product imports into the region. In 2010, the East Coast imported 760,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of gasoline, or 24 percent of all gasoline consumed regionally, but only 198,000 bbl/d of distillate fuel (17 percent of consumption) and 46,000 bbl/d of jet fuel (8 percent of consumption). However, products shipped by pipeline from the U.S. Gulf Coast provide the largest share of products consumed along the East Coast.


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Get the game at an early discount
Daylight has been delayed slightly, and will now be coming out on April 29 instead of on April 8. Why the delay? So Atlus and developers Zombie Studios can fine tune the scariness. Atlus released this statement on the exact reasons they had to push things back a little.
“Here’s the thing: the way Daylight is developed is completely different because of its procedural generation. In a lot of ways it really helped the team by streamlining the environment creation, but it’s taken extra time to make sure all the scare cues are properly implemented for maximum player effect.”
For those of you interested in picking this one up, you can pre-order the PC version and get it for $9.99. PS Plus subscribers can also get it for that price too on the PlayStation 4, and non-subscribers can pick it up for $11.99 otherwise. Daylight will then run for $14.99 once the promotional period ends.


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Digital advertising and marketing company, ValueClick Media, is looking to offload a segment of its business as it does not ‘advance’ its wider business strategy.
This week the company’s CEO, John Giuliani, announced the intent to pursue the divestiture of its ‘Owned & Operated Websites (O&O) Division’ – which operates sites including Investopedia, PriceRunner, Smarter.com, SymptomFind and CouponMountain.
“While we have a strong set of businesses within our O&O segment, we have concluded that they do not align with our ‘One ValueClick’ strategy of leveraging our broad set of unique data assets and differentiated technology platforms, to connect consumers and brands through personalised one-to-one marketing at scale,” Giuliani said.
California-based ValueClick, which was founded in 1998 and is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, offers online media solutions in areas such as display advertising, lead generation marketing and email marketing. It owns the well-known global affiliate marketing network, Commission Junction.
“Being able to focus entirely on our core media and affiliate marketing segments, which together currently represent more than 90% of our profitability, will allow us to direct management attention and capital resources to better serve our clients, employees and shareholders,” Giuliani added.
ValueClick, which also plans on building its own demand-side-platform (DSP), will continue to operate the O&O segment during the process of pursuing a sale, with no anticipated changes to day-to-day operations.
The decision to ditch the segment came ahead of the company’s third quarter results, for the period ended September 30, 2013.
The O&O segment, which was presented as a ‘discontinued operation’ in Q3, meant that its current and historical operating results were excluded from its Q3 results.
Affiliate marketing growth
Revenue for the Q3 period came in at the low end of adjusted guidance at $134.1 million, which is an increase of 2% compared to Q3 2012.
Affiliate marketing revenue was $38.9 million, an increase of 11% – no doubt helped by the addition of the now defunct ex-Google Affiliate Network clients that subsequently joined Commission Junction.
“Our best-in-class affiliate marketing solution, our second largest revenue stream behind CRM, had its strongest quarter of growth in more than two years,” Giuliani said.
“Our on-boarding and ramping up of new clients is on track of what we outlined last quarter, and we expect Q4 growth to be even stronger than Q3. I believe we can further enhance our leadership position in affiliate as we rollout affiliate personalisation in the coming quarters.”
In the company’s media segment, revenues were $95.3 million, a decrease of 1% year-over-year.
ValueClick’s chief financial officer and principal accounting officer, John Pitstick, said the weakness in display was largely offset by solid growth in CRM, mobile, video and its cross-device solutions.
Total adjusted EBITDA in Q3 was $50.2 million, an increase of 15% year-over-year.
Year-to-date, ValueClick has generated $101 million of free cash flow, an increase of 10% compared to the year-ago period.
Total debt outstanding as of the quarter end was $195 million. During Q3 the company also amended its credit agreement, nearly doubling it to $400 million and extending the maturity date to 2018.
“We believe the combination of our strong free cash flow, our flexible and low-cost credit facility and proceeds from the sale of O&O provides us ample resources to continue to fund our buybacks as well as invest in organic initiatives,” Pitstick said.
Tax benefits to come
Regarding the planned O&O divestiture, in addition to the ultimate sale proceeds, ValueClick also expects to achieve significant tax benefits, as well as being able to access cash currently held by our international O&O entities.
During the Q3 earnings call, Giuliani, who joined ValueClick last December, said early results also demonstrate that the company’s cross-device advertising campaign ‘significantly increased consumer engagement’, which in many cases, he said leads to generating conversion rates that are up to five times higher than the result of single-channel campaigns.
He said the company made progress in unifying its interfaces with the various ad exchanges, into a single bidding platform.
“These efforts consolidate ValueClick’s relationships and buying power for real-time bidding and they’ve already earned us higher levels of strategic attention and product support among key partners,” he explained.
“As a result of organisational changes and product investments in tag management, we are now launching multiple product lines with a single implementation team that streamline the client’s on-boarding process and facilitates the implementation of additional ValueClick solutions with these clients down the road.”
Giuliani said in the coming months ValueClick also plans on pushing through a worldwide company rebrand, changing its name and aligning its identity.
“A name change is pretty intricate from the standpoint of all the legal things you have to do and all the things you have to change – from internal URLs, emails and invoices, right down to the coffee mugs and fleeces and T-shirts – this will all have to reflect that,” he said.
“We’re going to do a lot of marketing behind it because we think one of the things we haven’t done as a company is market ourselves well,” Giuliani divulged.
“We think that’s somewhat reflective in some of our performance. And so we think this is an excellent opportunity, but we want to do it really right.”
On Q4 guidance, ValueClick expects consolidated revenue to be in the range of $166 million to $171 million. This guidance includes $117 million to $120 million in Media revenue and $49 million to $51 million in affiliate marketing revenue. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $69 million to $72 million, representing a margin of 41.8% at the midpoint.
In other Q3 news, revenue acquisition management platform, Marin Software, has recorded third quarter net revenues of $20.1 million – up 30% year-over-year.
This was also the New York Stock Exchange-listed company’s eighteenth consecutive quarter of sequential quarterly revenue growth.
Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of ($5.9) million, as compared to a loss of ($5.2) million for the third quarter of 2012.
GAAP gross profit was $12.2 million, resulting in gross margin of 61%, compared to GAAP gross margin of 58% during the third quarter of 2012. GAAP loss from operations was ($7.9) million, compared to ($6.4) million for the third quarter of 2012.
Third quarter 2013 business highlights include an increase the number of active advertisers leveraging the Marin platform.
During the third quarter, 610 active advertisers utilised this, compared to 502 during the third quarter of 2012. Marin defines active advertisers as an advertiser from whom Marin recognised revenues in excess of $2,000 in at least one month during the quarter
Financial services growth
California-headquartered internet performance marketing and media company, QuinStreet, has this week reported Q1 2014 revenue of $77 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $9.6 million, or 13% of revenue.
The $77 million net revenue showed a 2% decline compared to the same quarter last year.
QuinStreet CEO, Doug Valenti, said the company is continuing to work through challenges and he touched on how the financial services client vertical grew year-over-year in the quarter, fuelled by insurance and mortgage.
He said mortgage clicks were up 67% year-over-year in the quarter, and are now generating more than $5 million in revenue per quarter. He also stressed the big market opportunity for the education vertical.
“Revenue in the quarter was almost flat with last year, and was the best year over year performance in eight quarters,” Valenti said.
“We continue to invest in initiatives that we believe will return us to growth. Our balance sheet remains strong, and we continue to deliver good free cash flow and EBITDA margin even while spending aggressively on new initiatives.”
For the quarter, adjusted net income was $4.4 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, and GAAP net loss was $0.9 million, or $0.02 per share.
Normalised free cash flow for the first quarter was $6.9 million, and the company closed the quarter with $127 million in cash and marketable securities and $37 million in net cash.
Reconciliations of adjusted net income to net loss, adjusted EBITDA to net loss and normalised free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities are included in the accompanying tables.
“For the December quarter, our seasonally most difficult quarter, we expect revenue in the range of $67 to $70 million, in line with historic seasonality,” Valenti added.
“Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be approximately 10%, down from last quarter by the amount predicted by the seasonal revenue decline and resulting loss of top line leverage.”


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It’s not Black History Month anymore, but it’s always the right time to learn from talented up-and-coming Black creatives. I had the pleasure of giving my 2 cents for a Forbes piece on branding written by the talented Goldie Chan.
As Shavone Charles, Founder of Magic In Her Melanin, musician and tech leader, states, “It’s critical to highlight the voices of those creating access and building legacy in spaces that need more inclusivity and representation from creatives of color. Forbes also asked many other Black creatives from various creative fields to share seven crucial tips for building a brand in any industry.
Read the article for a good read and great advice from other creatives.


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Tata Motors has unveiled the electric Nexon, its second offering in the EV space. The E-SUV is expected to be priced around Rs 15 Lakhs.
Advancing into the electric vehicle space, Tata Motors now brings its second EV in India. Tata has finally taken the wraps off the Electric Nexon. As of now, the manufacturer has just unveiled the E-SUV and the launch is scheduled to happen very soon. The bookings for the Nexon EV will commence on 20th December.
Electric Tata Nexon uses the new Ziptron EV technology that will also come on Tata’s future electric vehicles. It gets a 30.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack which is placed under the floor, to maintain the perfect centre of gravity.
The electric motor is capable of producing 95 kW (129 BHP) and 245 Nm of peak torque, with a single-speed transmission. You can select the different driving modes like Drive and Sport through the rotary knob in the centre console. The Sport mode offers a power boost of up to 60%.
Electric Tata Nexon will offer a claimed driving range of more than 300 kms. Tata Motors will provide a standard AC charger with the car and the Nexon is also adaptable to fast chargers. DC fast chargers can charge the EV up to 80% in just an hour. The normal AC chargers will take around 8-9 hours to charge the EV fully.
The Nexon EV is available in three variants – XM, XZ and XZ+ Luxury. Features onboard include hill assist function, Automatic LED headlamps with LED DRLs, electric sunroof, Push Start Button, Wearable Key, Rain Sensing Wipers, Touchscreen Infotainment system by Harmon Kardon, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and Brake Energy Regeneration.
The safety features list of the Nexon EV is the same that comes on regular Nexon. It gets dual front airbags, rear parking sensors, rear parking camera, Speed Alert System and Seat Belt Reminder. For the safety of the battery pack, it comes with IP67 rating, adaptive to dust, moisture and water.
As said earlier, the prices will be announced soon, expected by next month. It would most likely undercut the prices of Hyundai Kona and MG ZS electric SUV by nearly Rs 10 Lakhs. By next year, Mahindra is also expected to unveil the electric XUV300, which will be launched in 2021.


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The New York Times is reporting that Amazon has plans concerning an in-house made mobile phone and a bunch of other gadgets, too. They want to expand from the Kindle e-reader reaching out to more hardware segments and enabling their users to view content relying on their own products.
The famous online retailer would use said devices to allow customers to purchase Amazon content, specially digital books, music, movies and more. The company’s Lab 126 division is the one focused on Kindle development and we learn that it’ll lend a few specialists to the mobile phone project, plus hire a few new ones.
As far as the handset is concerned, it’s supposed to rival the Apple and Google products and we’re really curious to see what OS it would be running.
[via cellular news]


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BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)
The White Helmet performing at a recent show.
The iconic motorcycles used by the disbanded White Helmets are to be auctioned - but it is feared none of the riders will be able to afford to buy their beloved bikes.
After the famous Army daredevil display team performed their last ever event in August, their 30 Triumph bikes were split up.
The Army has given permission for six of them to be sold to the public at an auction in Sherborne, Dorset.
Although the famous machines have been given pre-sale estimates of £6,000 each they are likely to fetch double if not treble that figure.


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Chinese model and actress Candy Lo has caused a stir for her age-defying looks.
Be prepared to feel every wrinkle, line and age spot you have – because this model and actress is causing a stir thanks to her youthful, unlined complexion.
After releasing a series of images from her new book Timeless, which show her posing in bikinis and glamorous gowns, it’s hard to believe that Candy Lo is 50.
And thanks to her stunning pictures, the mum-of-three is said to have already sold over 300,000 copies.
Candy won the Miss Asia pageant in 1991, but took a break from her career to concentrate on bringing up her young family.
Now the divorcée has made a return to modelling and shared a sneak peek of the book with her Instagram fans – who can’t believe the actress’s age.
And it’s clear to see why. She looks sensational as she poses in an on-trend maroon strappy bikini, uber-glam in a floor-length evening dress and gorgeous in a candid backstage shot.
Candy has pledged that some of the proceeds from the sales of the book will towards a charity for domestic violence victims and a children’s charity.
Photo credits: Instagram / Candy Lo


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To help you keep on top of a busy news cycle and the latest hot topics in mobile gaming, each week we round up the five most-read stories on PocketGamer.biz.
Want to take a look at the rest of the industry? Check out our games industry roundup here with articles on blockchain, PC and the world of influencers.
Want to get the lowdown on news coming out of Eastern markets? Look no further than our East Meets West roundup.
Supercell's hit mobile game made approximately $76 million across the App Store and Google Play from worldwide spending last month.
The new French studio aims to use the investment to scale up its team and fund the marketing campaign for its debut strategy game Million Lords.
Azerion has picked up the game and its team of developers from a group of shareholders led by Telesystem for an undisclosed fee. 26 staff working on the title will now join the Dutch firm.
Google's upcoming streaming platform Stadia is proving popular with developers, according to the company's technical account manager Sam Corcoran
For this entry in our regular Jobs in Games series, we caught up with East Side Games producer Elin Jonsson to discuss her job and how she got into the industry.


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Thomas Cook UK & Ireland has appointed Mike Hoban to the new role of director of marketing, brand and customer insight.
Hoban will join Thomas Cook in October 1 and will be based at its head office in Peterborough.
He will be responsible for all marketing across Thomas Cook’s brands and for customer insight and research.
As the former chief marketing office for confused.com, Hoban has also held senior marketing positions with WH Smith, British Airways and Barclaycard.
Thomas Cook UK chief executive for mainstream Ian Ailles said: “Mike has a strong reputation in his field, having a proven track record of helping companies build and revitalise strong brands and deliver commercial growth through best-practice marketing.”
“He is very enthusiastic about taking on this new role and having the opportunity to work with such a strong portfolio of brands and I very much look forward to welcoming him to the team.”


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On 25th March, Newborn Town Inc. (09911.HK) (the Company) held an online conference introducing the Company’s financial and operational performance in 2020 and strategy of development in 2021, and answering questions from shareholders and investors. The top management including Mr. Liu Chunhe, the Chairman and CEO, and Mr. Li Ping, the President, were present at the conference.
Newborn Town Inc. is a going-global internet company from China, whose core business is video and voice-chat social networking applications. The Company also explores mobile game app development. Its market coverage continues to expand all over the globe.
On the conference, Mr. Liu Chunhe introduced the main financial performance of Newborn Town Inc. in 2020: As of 31 December 2020, its total revenue reached RMB1,181.6 million, with a year-on-year growth of 203.2%.
Thereinto, revenue of in-app purchase was RMB657.5 million, with over 55-fold increase year-on-year, accounting for 55.6% of total revenue. Revenue of in-app traffic monetization business was RMB511.2 million, with a year-on-year growth of 120.3%, accounting for 43.3% of total revenue.
Profit for the year reached RMB114.3 million, with a year-on-year increase of 67.1%. And the adjusted net profit amounted to RMB154.9 million, with a year-on-year increase of 41.5%. During the year 2020, Newborn Town had outstanding financial performance, with both revenue and profit recording rapid growth.
As known, Newborn Town Inc. took the Middle East, North America, India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia as its main markets of social networking business. Since 2020, the Company expanded its target market to Europe, Japan and Korea, which have high potential of users’ value. Now, Newborn Town has a stable presence in the top 3 going-global social networking platforms of China.
There are three core social networking applications launched by the Company, a video communication app named Yiyo, a live streaming social networking app named MICO and a voice-chat social networking app named YoHo.
Yiyo is known as ‘a video version of Tinder’, which has accumulated over 50 million of downloads since launched and successfully entered the top 20 most downloaded social networking applications on Google Play. MICO has got the first place in 71 countries and regions in social networking applications downloads ranking of App Store, and entered top 10 in 84 countries and regions in that ranking of Google Play. YoHo has become the top 2 voice-chat social networking platforms in the Middle East region, and the top 10 best-selling social networking applications on Google Play in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
During 2020, the Company’s investment in R&D reached 58.53 million, with a year-on-year growth of 188.8%. Mr. Liu Chunhe said on the conference, Newborn Town would continue to raise input in products development, and the investment in R&D would be doubled in the year 2021. He also affirmed that the Company would keep digging deep in the global social networking field, making combination of its products and video and audio interacting forms, launching more diversified applications for global users.
In the year of 2020, the average monthly active users of the Company’s social networking applications reached 11.36 million, while the average monthly active users of its game applications reached 11.51 million.
On the conference, Mr. Liu Chunhe emphasized that Newborn Town would maintain its firm foothold in the global market and focus on social networking business. He said the total number of monthly active users of the Company’s products was expected to be doubled in the year of 2021.


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KFC storage hub not registered; BUSINESS IN BRIEF.
THE new storage hub at the centre of KFC's chicken delivery problems has not yet been granted the registration it legally requires to operate, the local council has confirmed.
Rugby Borough Council said the cold storage facility used by DHL, which took over KFC deliveries last week, had been operating since February 14 and the council was hoping to issue conditional approval today.
A council spokeswoman said: "There is no requirement for the DHL cold-storage facility to be licensed, but it does need to be registered. We have now received the relevant documentation and expect to be able to issue conditional approval tomorrow.
"Officers visited the facility yesterday afternoon and were satisfied with all of DHL's food safety processes including temperature control, date coding, and food handling."


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Yesterday, on March 6, the global cryptocurrency market moved closer to the $500 billion mark, as it peaked at $475 billion. Today, the market dropped by nearly $30 billion in value, as major cryptocurrencies recorded losses. On March 5, the price of Ripple gained momentum due to unverified rumors which claimed Coinbase, the world’s largest cryptocurrency brokerage and wallet platform, will integrate Ripple this week. The price of the cryptocurrency could fall by large margins. Over the past 24 hours, almost immediately after Coinbase released an official announcement that clarified the company’s plans to not add any new asset on the Coinbase trading platform or GDAX in the short-term, the price of Ripple fell by more than 11 percent. The official statement of Coinbase read, “our January 4th, 2018 statement continues to stand: we have made no decision to add additional assets to either GDAX or Coinbase. Any statement to the contrary is untrue and not authorized by the company.”
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple — a US-based payment network and protocol company — spoke with Cointelegraph at the Blockchain Connect conference in San Francisco earlier this year about what problems Ripple can solve in the global marketplace, and the company’s approach to government regulation and traditional finance. Garlinghouse, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously worked at various positions at Yahoo!, including Senior Vice President, and AOL, where he was President of Consumer Applications. Garlinghouse has also served on the board of Ancestry.com, Tonic Health, and Animoto. Ripple, whose native currency is XRP, has partnered with over 100 companies and financial institutions to send money worldwide using Ripple’s Blockchain-based technology.
IndusInd Bank, which is based in India, announced its partnership with Ripple, the enterprise blockchain solution for Global Payments, to facilitate payments into and out of India. With this affiliation, RippleNet can now provide instant access in emerging markets such as India, Brazil and China.
IndusInd Bank plans to leverage the Ripple technology to build further on its existing payments business, because blockchain technology for payments reduces both cost and transfer time significantly. In 2017, India saw a total of $65 billion move into the country and IndusInd Bank, which has significant interests in cross border remittances, plans to harness the power of Blockchain technology for facilitating global payments. By joining RippleNet, banks can also communicate information about a payment between each other, and settle payments immediately. Continue reading IndusInd Bank ties up with Ripple for Global Payments


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A 24-YEAR-OLD woman who has a net worth of £240k has revealed the six easy habits that helped her double her finances.
Queenie Tan, a marketing manager from Sydney, Australia, has been actively saving and investing since she was 19 and now shares money tips and advice on her YouTube channel.
In her latest clip, she reveals the very simple habits that transformed her net worth – and how anybody can apply them to their own lives.
TRACK YOUR EXPENSES
Queenie says that she lives by the quote ‘what gets measured gets managed.’
She says: “Pablo (her partner) and I go through my expenses every month to see what we’ve spent our money on.
“Last month when we were going through out expenses we had a look at our electricity bill and it’s more than what we usually pay.
“So in the last month I’ve been a lot more mindful about switching off lights when I’m not using them and sure enough our electricity bill has decreased.
WATCH OUT FOR MARK-UPS
She says: “Another thing that can really save you money is to consider price mark-ups.
“The other night Pablo and I realised just how much popcorn can be marked up when it’s packaged in different ways.”
She explained that would often buy ready-to-eat popcorn for £1.50 and while it might seem like a good deal, but you can buy the exact same weight in popcorn kernels for less than 20p and make it yourself.
This meant that she and Pablo were spending over 8x the price just for convenience and they immediately switched.
Eating out can cost a fortune so Queenie highly recommends meal prep.
“We look up the recipes that we’d like to make each week,” she says, “And then we buy the groceries for those recipes.
“On average restaurants mark up their food and wine by three times so by making a lot of our food at home we’re saving quite a bit of money on our food costs.
“And it makes the experience of ordering take out or going to a restaurant a lot more enjoyable.”
SPEAK TO AN ACCOUNTANT
Queenie recommends speaking to an accountant if you are hoping to save money.
“We give as much information to our accountant as possible so they can get more ideas on how they can help us,” she says.
“In the future we will be asking them about planning for kids, retirement and also about investment and investment properties.”
LOOK AT YOUR BUSINESS INCOME
Since leaving their jobs and becoming full time YouTubers, Queenie and Pablo now rely on a business income meaning they must track it much more diligently.
She explains: “We see what our business income is and what our business expenses are and we make sure that all of our invoices have been paid.
“If we can, we’ll reduce any of our business expenses so that we can save more money.
“We also go through our credit card statements every single month and make sure we pay off our credit cards in full and on time.
“So we don’t get charged any interest.”
Queenie also invests a certain percentage of her wage each month.
CALCULATE YOUR NET WORTH
Queenie and Pablo like to calculate their net worth every few months.
“This is a bit of a financial health check to see what our progress has been,” she says.
“This is something that has really helped us because sometimes we feel like we’re not getting very far in our financial journey.
“But when we track our net worth we realise that we’ve actually come a long way.
“I think it’s so important to celebrate those money wins, no matter how small they are.”


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'Tis the season to be jolly -- that is, if you're a retailer. Most kids are headed back to school this month, and that means back-to-school shopping. In 17 states, retailers in brick-and-mortar stores get a boost and consumers get a sales-tax break on back-to-school necessities -- from clothing and pencils to, in a few states, computers. The holidays are wildly popular with moms and dads. They save anywhere from 4 percent to 8 percent on their purchases, and politicians get thanked for offering the largesse.
But is it good policy?
Before we get to that, let's take a quick look at tax holiday history. New York state, which has relatively high sales taxes, got the trend rolling in 1997 as a way to keep its consumers from shopping in neighboring states. It no longer offers the holiday. Georgia also stepped back from its tax holiday two years ago. Legislators were swayed by the size of the state's budget shortfall -- between $1.5 billion and $2 billion -- and the projected loss of $13 million in revenue if the tax holiday was enacted. Still, in 2010 the number of states offering the break was up to 19.
The Tax Foundation, which is generally in favor of lower taxes, has been steadfastly against the back-to-school tax holiday. Among its reasons: the holidays don't promote economic growth, they create complexity for tax code compliance, and they involve politicians in picking products and industries to favor with an exemption.
To explore these and other issues involved in back-to-school tax holidays, I talked to Richard Hawkins, an associate professor of economics at the University of West Florida, in this edited transcript.
How do you as an economist view the back-to-school sales tax holiday?
Back-to-school is always a big shopping time. To many economists, that makes the concept a bit hard to understand. People are buying plenty whether there's a sales tax holiday or not. So you're rewarding households for doing something they would do anyway. In the past, Florida enacted hurricane preparation sales tax holidays. The state exempted from the sales tax items people should stock up on in June, before the hurricane season hits. With a hurricane preparation exemption, you're encouraging people to do something they might not do, whereas with back-to-school clothing, they're going to do it anyway.
Are consumers getting a bargain?
That's something we examined in 2003 and found the answer to be generally "yes" -- consumers receive 90 percent of the relief. But holidays are not necessarily a bargain. In the study, we found that retailers are slightly less likely to markdown items. A prudent shopper who doesn't have high transaction costs should shop the holiday for some things and then shop again after the holiday. I've come to believe -- but have not examined formally -- that end-of-the-season items are an area where the holiday might be the worse time to buy. New fall items, on the other hand, are a good value during a holiday.
What are the revenue losses for the state?
That's a source of great contention. It's extremely difficult to state the revenue effect. I have no confidence at this point in any estimates that can isolate that particular number as opposed to other revenue trends.
There's evidence in some of the literature that the holidays are a revenue enhancer. The idea is that the holidays encourage people to spend and that they spend on exempt and non-exempt items. That finding has not been published in refereed [or peer-reviewed] journals, so I can't express confidence in it.
The holidays are popular with legislators, despite the possible revenue losses. Why do they like them so much?
They have to be enacted every year. Legislators can say, "I voted for your tax cut," and then they can come and say the same thing the next year. Politically, it's very convenient.
Some states backed away from the holiday this year. Is that the beginning of a trend?
The popularity of the holidays wanes sometimes. But I'm afraid they'll keep coming back.
Are retailers the big winners?
They love them, and the reward for consumers is so small. Outside of sales tax holidays, I'm not aware of any advance advertisements retailers run for a 6 percent reduction in prices. But that's what a holiday season ad in Florida announces: 6 percent off. In terms of numbers alone, holidays don't make sense from a marketing perspective. Yet, they are popular and are featured in seasonal advertising. What doesn't work 11 months a year somehow works in August.
If the discount is so small, does the appeal for consumers lie in getting a tax break?
Some consumers are going to see retailer's money and tax collector's money as different. Overall, the price falls by a little. But the tax collectors price is a 100 percent loss -- they get nothing. The retailer receives the full retail price. If the consumer sees that distinction, it might make a big difference. We did some surveys about sales taxes among parents in Pensacola. The one wow factor we found was that people who considered the sales tax as the best form of government revenue also liked the holiday.
Do these holidays help level the playing field between brick-and-mortar stores and Internet retailers?
That's yet to be determined. To what degree will it help independent local retailers in a holiday period versus the rest of year? Does it change a shopper's mind set? I'm not aware of any research on this issue.
What about the border-shopping issue?
If a state is small enough and the neighboring states are not enacting holidays, one could try to lure their shoppers. It depends on geography. One thing that is interesting with the border effect is that the timing becomes very important. If a community or state is trying to lure shoppers, it needs to monitor the school schedules. There's a season, and it depends on school openings.


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Square Enix has yet another mobile release lined up for later this year.
This continues a theme of phone games by Square Enix, with Chocobo Panic and Chaos Rings and re-releasing Final Fantasy I and II for iOS devices just in the last year alone.
Early screenshots may provide a trip down memory lane for FF veterans, with graphics reminiscentof the 2D 16-bit games of old.
In typical Final Fantasy style, the game involves a young boy trapped in a conflict for powerful, mystical crystals.
Square Enix expects the game to be available in Japan from September, and will be freely downloadable, with added installments ranging in price from ¥315 and ¥525 each (~$4.50).
So far there is no mention of a western release, but if Square follow their normal trend it should be hitting the US and UK sometime next year.


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Pepe Jeans marketing chief for northern Europe, Neil Stevens, has left the company following the jeans manufacturer’s decision to relocate the bulk of its business from Amsterdam to Madrid, where the company’s owner Carlos Ortega is based.
Stevens, based in Amsterdam, has decided not to move to Madrid. He held the title of director of communications and was responsible for marketing in northern Europe. It is not known whether he has a job to go to.
Pepe will not be replacing Stevens directly and his responsibilities will be divided between the UK and Madrid offices. UK sales and marketing director Terry Pearman, appointed last year (MW December 19, 2002), will oversee the brand’s UK activity. The rest of northern Europe will be controlled from Madrid.
The reorganisation of the two offices forms part of Pepe’s strategy to improve customer focus in the UK.
Pepe is planning to launch a consumer press and poster campaign in April. Pepe also opened a branded outlet in Covent Garden last December, two years after it closed its flagship store in the area.
The move marks a return to the structure of the company before a major rejig during 2000, when control of its creative and strategic marketing was centralised and moved to Amsterdam.
Last month, Pepe appointed Zenith Optimedia to its pan-European media account. The agency’s Spanish and London offices will work on the account.


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Whether or not you think it’s too early, the holiday season is upon is — and Oprah Winfrey is officially ringing it in with her 2019 list of favorite things!
The media queen has released her annual list of must get items for the 23rd year in a row, sharing with consumers a gaggle of budget friendly gifts (from $12) and a few extravagant prezzies (for almost $2,000) they can give to their loved ones — or themselves!
In a press release, the Big O said about this year’s picks:
“You know it’s Favorite Things time when the O team starts taste-testing (among many other treats) chocolate babka, tomato pie, gravlax, peanut butter cups, salami, and truffle mustard. I’m pleased to report we survived to touch, try on, sniff, fall in love with, and narrow down a vast array of goodies…


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Shares in electric car firm Tesla have fallen below their offer price, a week after trading began in New York.
The shares hit a low of $15.83 during Tuesday's trading, dipping under the offer price of $17 for the first time since their debut on 29 June.
The loss-making producer of the $100,000 Roadster enjoyed a strong start last week.
Shares proved popular with investors, hitting a high of $23.89 on the first day.
Analysts put the fall in the niche firm's shares down to persistent nervousness about the faltering nature of economic recovery around the world.
Its initial sale of shares raised $226m (£150m) from investors, $40m more than had been predicted.
It was the first US car company to float since Ford went public in 1956.


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Samsungs new domain tgeltaayexhxnx.com leaves no surprises here. The anagram of The Next Galaxy takes us to a holding page where a clock has begin its countdown to the next steps.
3 May 2012 will be the announcement day for the new Samsung Mobile.
Leaks have been thrown around about what the new device might contain from it being an official olympic device with specialised applications to its being a new tablet.
However, we have seen these countdown pages before, so it is not very enlightening or exciting from my perspective. However, I guess it can be hard to be innovative these days but I do hope that the new Samsung device does break the mold and brings something different to the industry.


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hot water after it was discovered that its Google Street View cars had inadvertently gathered personal information from WiFi networks as it canvassed streets.Last April, Google found itself in
Today, the Canadian government found that the company had breached privacy laws.
Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart told the CBC that "Google did capture personal information - and, in some cases, highly sensitive personal information such as complete e-mails." Stoddart went on to call the incident "a serious violation of Canadiens' privacy rights."
According to the article, information included email addresses, user names, passwords, names and telephone numbers, addresses and even health details. Google has until February 1 to delete all of the information.
A report by Stoddart found that a Google engineer was responsible for the inadvertent collection of personal data when the engineer failed to follow company procedures involving legal review of code.


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Razorfish and Adobe’s “The State of Always-On Marketing Study” found striking contrasts between how industry professionals perceive their data-driven marketing capabilities and actual performance.
Razorfish defines always-on marketing (AOM) as “data-driven, content-led experiences, delivered across channels and devices in real time.” A broad survey of marketing, technology and business professionals revealed a major disconnect between segmentation development and digital execution.
Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents considered themselves strong at targeting specific experiences to segmented groups. But only 38 percent of those interviewed are capable of targeting a new customer versus a returning customer.
“Contrary to their executives’ self-assessments, very few businesses are equipped to compete in real time, and most struggle with the most basic technology and marketing programs,” said Razorfish.
Additional findings include:
Most lack the ability to use critical behavioral data.
• Seventy-six percent of marketers are failing to use behavioral data in segmentation analysis and targeting execution.
• While the vast majority of them are only utilizing CRM, demographic and historic sales data, marketers are missing out on high frequency, real-time data that is only made possible by integrating behavioral data.
Segmentation and measurement aren’t informing digital execution.
• While execs consider themselves strong at targeting experiences to segmented groups, only 13 percent are delivering segmented experiences and measuring the results.
Very few are capable of delivering real-time analytics and experiences.
• Less than five percent are actually able to manage experiences in an Always-On manner by using technology, creative execution/processes and integrated data to deliver a targeted experience to a recognized customer across channels.
The study presents Razorfish’s PACE framework (platform, analytics, channels and experience design), which is used to determine client AOM readiness. The report discusses how to bring together those elements for AOM and how to close the gap between reality and perception.
Download the study here.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.


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The MacBook Pro 14-inch is $400 off on Amazon in an early Black Friday deal that should not be missed
We compared the Pixel 7 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max cameras in a wide range of scenarios in low light with both Night mode on and off to see which camera phone wins.
The Powerbeats Pro just hit an all-time low on Amazon and are easily one of the best workout headphones to own.
The Pixel 7 Pro's superior cameras and much lower price make it a no-brainer versus the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The first wave of Surface Pro 9 reviews show that Microsoft is still way behind Apple when it comes to ARM computing.
The new iPad 2022 is one sleek tablet, but it has some drawbacks. Here's the pros and cons for Apple's latest tablet.
The iPad (10th gen) offers a bigger display, more power and a better keyboard along with great battery life, but the price is steep and the Apple Pencil is awkward.
Apple could have another iPhone SE with a new look in the pipeline. Here's what we've heard so far about iPhone SE 4 rumors.
The new iPad 2022 supports only the old 1st gen Apple Pencil — and that's a problem for Apple's new tablet.
The iPhone 14 is the best iPhone value and offers improved cameras and performance, but it’s not much of a leap from the iPhone 13.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max’s clever Dynamic Island, powerful cameras, always-on display and super long battery life make it the best phone money can buy.
The iPhone 14 Plus delivers an immersive 6.7-inch display and extra-long battery life in a refreshingly lightweight design.
The iPhone 13’s brighter display, longer battery life and powerful cameras make it the best iPhone value at its reduced price.
The new iPad 2022 costs $449 in the US, which is a big jump from last year's $329 starting price. Here's what you get for the money.
Our iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 13 comparison looks at how the latest phone from Apple compares to last year's model in terms of specs, price, features and more.
We put the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max through the Tom's Guide battery test to see how long they last on a charge.
Our iPhone 14 Plus vs iPhone 14 Pro Max comparison will help you figure out which big-screen iPhone is better for your needs and budget.
Here's all the big news from the Pixel event, including the new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel Watch and Pixel Tablet.
The Pixel 7 Pro offers a much more powerful and steady zoom than the iPhone 14 Pro, and it's all because of Tensor G2.


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Defy is preparing to launch its first ever Smartwatch in india goes by name “Defy SpaceFit Smartwatch”. Recently we have told you about that multiple defy Smartwatches clears their inclusion process in BIS india, Among them Space Fit smartwatch is ready for launch. We at Passionategeekz are giving you first and exclusive look at smartwatch from front with features and specifications.
Defy SpaceFit Smartwatch Specification
Defy SpaceFit Smartwatch comes with True HD display features more than 20+ sports mode with additional features like Live Cricket scores tracking, Blood oxygen monitoring, water reminder, Multiple watch faces , call alerts , gets notification and auto temperature monitoring, Rest features are same as other Smartwatches. However official announcement has not been made but we can expect the launch this month. Defy was launched via Flipkart now we can expect the same to be happened again. defy SpaceFit Smartwatch will be launched via Flipkart this month Expected.
Defy SpaceFit App
Defy will also launch defy SpaceFit App, App will help you to track your fitness activities and other features like pairing device, new updates, control notifications, watch faces and much more. We have covered you with some apps screenshots here, Defy app is fully styled with black and red color combination.
Talking about pricing, Defy SpaceFit Smartwatch could launch at ₹3999 via Flipkart. After that defy could also brings some Defy bands and other audio products.
Thanks for reading till the end of this article. For more tech Leaks and Upcoming gadgets, head over to our Twitter Handle, and hit the follow button. For more informative and exclusive tech content, head over to our Facebook page.


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This year Hungary will boast two wonderful new luxury hotels: Lake Balaton and the most famous Hungarian wine region will both get a new five-star hotel.
The two lucky towns will be Szántód, a settlement on the shores of Lake Balaton, and Tokaj, the centre of one of the world’s most famous wine regions. The total value of the two investments is estimated at EUR 78 million (HUF 31 billion).
Hospitality group Accor and Hungarian tourism property development group Dreamland Holding have signed a partnership agreement to operate 2 five-star hotels, which will open in the last quarter of this year, napi.hu reports.
As stated in the press release presenting the developments, the Mövenpick hotel brand will make its debut in Hungary with the Mövenpick BalaLand Resort and FamilyPark in Sledon, while the Minaro Hotel MGallery in Tokaj will be the brand’s first hotel outside Budapest.
The luxury hotel in Tokay
According to Magyar Építők, the luxury hotel investment aims to become the leading upscale resort in the region. The new resort will target mainly couples and small to medium-sized events, with exclusive gastronomy and a special wine selection from the Tokaj region, especially for adults.
The hotel’s design will combine the “liquid gold of Tokaj” with an “Eldorado” theme, reminiscent of South America.
The 100-room, five-star Minaro Hotel in Tokaj will open with an adjacent event centre.
The luxury hotel in Szántód
The resort, to be completed in Szántód, on the shores of Lake Balaton, will be the first truly comprehensive resort development around Lake Balaton. It will comprise an indoor and outdoor water park and adventure park, and more than 5,000 square metres of indoor facilities – also operated by Accor – in addition to the residential park.
“We are delighted to be working with one of Hungary’s leading tourism property investors. It provides an opportunity to expand Accor’s rural network and strengthen our leading position in the hospitality industry in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe,”
said Dilek Sezer, Accor’s Director of Development for South East Europe, as Magyar Építők reported.
“Both locations have a growing international appeal: Lake Balaton is the country’s most popular leisure destination, and Tokaj is the world-renowned Hungarian wine region,”
Read alsoHungarians made a fortune with period panties – PHOTOS
Source: Magyar Építők, napi.hu, Facebook
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One of the brands who created some of Target’s Pride collection says their items have been yanked from brick-and-mortar stores … and they’re blaming “threats from domestic terrorists.”
The brand, Ash+Chess, says the majority of their products have been removed from Target stores following backlash.
The New York-based brand, which says it is “queer + trans owned,” says it’s saddened by what’s going down at some Target stores … where folks are destroying Pride displays.
Ash+Chess says … “Emotionally, we do not currently have the bandwidth to comment further on this. We appreciate your support and love. Queer and trans people exist in the past, present, and future, and we are stronger together. We love you all.”
While Target apparently yanked the brand’s products from storefronts, the collection is still available online as of this post.
Some of the Pride items from Ash+Chess include beanies, cards, shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, hoodies, posters and calendars … and they mostly celebrate being queer and trans.
As you know, there’s a boycott targeting the nationwide chain over its decision to feature LGBTQ apparel and other items, a boycott that’s cost Target $9 billion and counting.


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Don't-Miss Entertainment software Stories
Amazon teases its tablet intentions, the House of Representatives puts the iPad to a vote, and the real reason publishers are all over subscriptions like marmalade on toast.
DoubleTwist, an Android app, now offers support for streaming music and video to the Apple TV.
Rumors about Apple's distribution methods for both Lion and future versions of iOS are flying like recriminations at a family reunion. Meanwhile, AT&T's got its eye on tethering abusers, and The Daily has lost some serious dough since its launch.
Comic Life, the software for turning your photographs into comics, is now available for the iPad.
Print subscribers to Sports Illustrated, Time, and Fortune can now access those magazines' content for free in their respective iPad apps, thanks to an apparent Apple policy change.
The latest version of the video game service's mobile app lets users create a profile and follow other like-minded gamers.
HBO has finally released its long-awaited HBO Go app, which brings movie and television content from the premium channel to your iOS device.
Other video services may be raking in the eyeballs and subscription dollars with their movie and TV offerings for the iPhone and iPad, but Sony's new Crackle app may become master of its domain for one simple reason: It has Seinfeld.
mSpot is a video-streaming service aiming to beat Netflix and Hulu at their market-leading game by providing iPhone and iPad users something those two services can't: brand-new movies streamed directly to their devices.
Adobe debuts mid-cycle upgrades for Creative Suite and lengthens the time span for major releases.
Microsoft has brought its "decision engine" and its many integrated features to the iPad. You can now search the Web, movie listings, and your local area using Microsoft's services, as well as view the latest news and trending topics in magazine-inspired layouts.
Cartoonatic, a video effects iPhone app from MacPhun, debuted Tuesday in the App Store. The app features nine filters to make iPhone videos look like live-action cartoons.
Major League Baseball's video and audio streams come from a high-tech startup in Manhattan. Jason Snell visited it and has this Opening Day report.


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Entries in 'Xbox One' (1065)
Publishers and platform holders no longer have to ignore one of the world’s biggest video games markets. China is open for business.
Former The Witcher dev Tomasz Gop has admitted that he at one stage struggled to deal with the constant comparisons between his upcoming game Lords of the Fallen and Dark ...
Insomniac's Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive has been shown off in a new gameplay video.
Techland's Dying light won't arrive in 2014 after all.
Bethesda has confirmed that the PS4 and Xbox One versions of The Elder Scrolls Online have been delayed by around six months.
A now-removed update to Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls Online FAQ has claimed that the console version of the MMO has suffered a big delay.
Microsoft will take control of the next-gen race in North America if it releases a cut price Xbox One without Kinect, analyst IDC has claimed.
The beta release of Bungie's Destiny is now set for July, Activision Blizzard revealed during its quarterly financial report.
Games such as The Swapper, MouseCraft and Titan Attacks won’t be released on Xbox One.
Activision has said that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be released physically on Xbox One in the UK some time in early May.
The next Call of Duty won’t be released on Wii U, it seems.
The next title in the Call of Duty franchise will be unveiled this Sunday, according to a new teaser page for the game.
Techland’s fantasy battler Hellraid has officially gone next-gen.
Developer American McGee has described Microsoft’s decision to release Xbox in China as a ‘blunder’.
With a decent line-up of exclusive games both already available and on the way, it’s perhaps no surprise, of course.
Phil Spencer has said that the virtual reality revolution may indeed finally be upon us.
A bank holiday trade-in deal at GAME is offering either PS4 or Xbox One at a discount.
Disney has officially announced Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes as the next iteration of the company's popular toy and game hybrid franchise.
Microsoft has confirmed that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is now officially available on both Xbox consoles in the US.
Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox One will launch in China this September.
Blizzard’s epically popular PC, Mac and iPad title Hearthstone is unlikely to appear on consoles in the near future.
Despite supposedly being delayed indefinitely on Xbox One, Activision’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 has suddenly been made available to download in the US.
The latest installment of EA's Madden NFL franchise will launch this August in North America and Europe, the publisher has announced.
BioWare’s Mass Effect could be the next IP in line for a next-gen re-release.
Mad Max now won’t be released this year.


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A review of the literature on the benefits of vitamin supplements for older people shows that when it comes to vitamin D and calcium, there is no evidence that supplements help.
“The routine use of these supplements is unnecessary in community-dwelling older people,” said lead researcher Dr. Jia-Guo Zhao, an orthopedic surgeon with Tianjin Hospital in China. “I think that it is time to stop taking calcium and vitamin D supplements.”
Some experts disagree with this conclusion, however. Dr. Daniel Smith, assistant professor of orthopedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai hospital in New York says the study took a “bold leap.”
“The big picture, which seems to be lost in this study, is that the personal health cost of a hip fracture can be catastrophic,” said Smith.
“The potential benefit of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in preventing even a small number of hip fractures far outweighs the otherwise minimum risks associated with routine calcium and vitamin D supplementation in at-risk populations,” Smith also said.
The practice of giving seniors vitamin D and calcium supplements to strengthen their bones has been almost taken for granted as efficacious. The bones and teeth store about 99% of all the calcium in the body. Since the body cannot produce its own calcium, it has been thought that supplementing the diet with calcium would assure enough of the mineral for healthy bones and teeth and prevent osteoporosis. Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption by the body.
The researchers probed the medical literature looking for studies which tested the usefulness of calcium and vitamin D supplements. They found 33 clinical trials that examined over 51,000 people, all of them older than 50 and living on their own. The data showed no significant connection between calcium or vitamin D supplements and the risk of hip fractures or other broken bones.
Dr. Zhao said emphasized that calcium and Vitamin D are essential components of bone health, but you should get those things from diet and not supplements.
“Dietary calcium is irreplaceable for skeletal health. Milk, vegetable, fruit and bean products are the most important food sources of calcium. Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin in response to ultraviolet-B radiation in sunlight, and dietary sources of vitamin D are limited,” Zhao said.
Exercising during the day should provide all the vitamin D a person needs.


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During the Spring Festival,los angelesA lively atmosphere began in the county. As a legal holiday in California, the Spring Festival attracts more attention. New Year celebrations are held at many locations, including the Huntington Library, Los Angeles CountyBotanical Garden(LA County Arboretum) and other famous places, many places are crowded with people.
The Los Angeles County Arboretum features an amazing lion dance performance and a red wishing tree on New Year’s Day. The garden has plenty ofSugarDressed in red clothes or simple Tang suits, hanging out with relatives and friends, the scene is lively. Ms. Lin, a Chinese, specially made an appointment with her friends to experience yoga with goats at the Botanical Garden. She said she wants to start the new year with a healthy outlook. Ms. Lin said she was surprised that many foreigners doing yoga together also wished each other “Happy New Year”, which made her realize that the Spring Festival has received more attention and love in California, and among different ethnic groups. Will celebrate spontaneously. ,
In addition to natural attractions, Los Angeles County also has many milk tea shops and hot pot restaurants that are crowded and popular. Many milk tea shops have seen a surge in food and takeout orders, with queues lasting half an hour to an hour. Sunright Tea Studio in Arcadia has suspended online orders due to good store business; San Miao tea is even more popular in San Gabriel, where the store is packed with customers and the tea pick-up area is also crowded. One customer, Mr. Lee, said his takeout order was supposed to be picked up an hour earlier, but it was not ready after an hour. He had to cancel the order because he was in a hurry. Another customer, Ms Wang, said she especially wanted to drink milk tea on New Year’s Day. She went to several milk tea shops and had to wait in line. Eventually they decided to wait slowly and savor the delicious food.
The arrival of the Spring Festival has filled the Chinese community in Los Angeles County with a festive atmosphere. Various celebrations and food and cultural exchanges have also added a lot of color to the local area.
Los Angeles(TagstoTranslate)Los Angeles(T)Botanical Garden(T)Chinese


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DETROIT — Detroit’s imaginative and prescient for the way it can compete towards Silicon Valley is beginning to come into focus — and Wall Road lastly could also be taking discover.
Common Motors final week revealed plans to launch 20 new electrical or gas cell autos by 2023 as a part of CEO Mary Barra’s push towards an autonomous, zero-emission future. Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Hackett, in the meantime, spelled out drastic cost-cutting measures to enhance the automaker’s skill to compete now and in an unsure future for the business.
The strikes have been meant to reassure skeptical buyers who’ve saved each corporations’ inventory costs in impartial, as an alternative favoring the disruptive enterprise fashions and new-age know-how of Tesla and Google.
They could have labored.
GM’s shares hit a brand new excessive day-after-day final week as bullish analysts upgraded its inventory, and there’s rising hypothesis that GM may spin off its mobility enterprise right into a separate firm. Ford acquired a small bump earlier than its inventory value leveled off, and a number of other analysts issued experiences saying the Blue Oval has the precise constructing blocks in place for achievement, although it could take a while.
“At this level within the cycle [both in the U.S. and globally], this can be very troublesome to sustainably push earnings expectations to new highs,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas stated in a observe to buyers final week. “We aren’t shocked to see auto corporations spend higher parts of their displays targeted on a considerate pivot to Auto 2.zero.”
That pivot — for each Ford and GM — consists of transferring away from the standard inner combustion engine to zero-emission propulsion programs.
Reuss: “Far alongside” in plan
“Common Motors believes the long run is all-electric. A world freed from automotive emissions,” product chief Mark Reuss stated final week. “These aren’t simply phrases in a conflict of press releases. We’re far alongside in our plan to paved the way to that future world.”
By the numbers
- $14 billion: Quantity Ford plans to cut back materials and engineering prices by 2022
- $7 billion: Product growth funding Ford is reallocating from vehicles to mild vans
- 20: Variety of electrical or gas cell autos GM will deliver to market by 2023
- 100%: How a lot of its U.S. lineup Ford plans to make related by finish of 2019
- 6 million-plus: Variety of GM autos in North America now outfitted with 4G LTE
Supply: GM, FordBy the numbers
Not less than the primary two of the 20 new autos shall be primarily based on the present Chevrolet Bolt EV, whereas future ones will characteristic an “all-new battery system” and structure, GM stated. The primary two autos are anticipated to launch within the subsequent 18 months.
GM declined to supply specifics in regards to the next-generation propulsion system or what autos it should electrify. Nevertheless, it previewed three clay fashions of autos designed for the propulsion system: a Buick crossover, a Cadillac wagon and a pod-looking automobile with “Bolt EV” badging. Their underlying structure can accommodate two totally different heights of cells for the battery pack.
Reuss promised the autos could be worthwhile, however he wouldn’t elaborate on a time-frame for that or say when the automaker may supply zero-emission autos solely.
Ford additionally intends to function a “sustainably worthwhile” battery-electric automobile enterprise, stated Jim Farley, the corporate’s president of worldwide markets.
Whereas Ford provided even fewer particulars than GM, Hackett stated the automaker would slash spending on inner combustion engines by almost one-third within the subsequent 5 years. The $500 million in financial savings shall be reallocated to electric-vehicle growth.
Ford is the nation’s No. 2 vendor of electrified autos, in keeping with the automaker, however lags in gross sales and growth of battery-electric autos. It plans an EV crossover with a 300-mile vary by 2020 and stated final week that it might add an unspecified variety of battery-electric autos “submit 2020.” It has devoted an inner staff, dubbed Workforce Edison, to review and develop battery know-how.
Hackett introduced plans final week to construct modem connectivity into Ford’s full U.S. lineup inside two years.
About 55 % of Ford’s lineup is related immediately. The automaker nonetheless is exploring the way it will commoditize that connectivity and what companies it may supply.
“I do not really feel that the place we’re competitively is the place we ought to be,” Hackett stated, including he felt that may very well be resolved reasonably rapidly.
GM’s autos have been related by OnStar for the reason that subsidiary was based in 1996. It started including 4G LTE Web to autos in 2014. Greater than 6 million GM autos are actually outfitted with 4G LTE in North America.
Connectivity is a key a part of the event and deployment of autonomous autos. Completely different paths
GM and Ford have been testing self-driving autos on public roads, although the 2 have taken totally different paths.
GM is on what it calls its third era of the self-driving Chevrolet Bolts it is creating by Cruise Automation, which it purchased in 2016. The corporate has roughly tripled its California take a look at fleet of self-driving vehicles since July and goals to turn out to be the primary automaker to deploy them for ride-sharing and ride-hailing functions by a partnership with Lyft.
Ford, which is testing self-driving Fusion sedans, additionally shaped a partnership with Lyft final month. It is planning to launch a Degree four self-driving automobile for industrial use in 2021. Ford has stated it needs excessive utilization charges to make it as worthwhile as attainable.
“The perfect mannequin to try this is to have a various group of companies and companies to make the most of the automobile all day lengthy,” Farley stated.
To arrange itself for such a future, Ford is embarking on a routine to enhance its health, which is a favourite time period of Hackett.
The corporate plans to cut back the speed of development in automotive prices by half by 2022. It is vowing to chop $10 billion in incremental materials prices and $four billion in engineering bills over the following 5 years. It hopes to realize that by extra widespread components and design know-how that requires constructing fewer prototypes.
Ford stated it is reallocating $7 billion of capital from vehicles to mild vans. This yr, it determined to maneuver manufacturing of the next-generation Focus from North America to China to save cash. It additionally has been chasing GM and different rivals in scorching segments equivalent to midsize pickups and compact crossovers.
The automaker stated that shift in spending on light-vehicle growth would end in fewer automobile nameplates however didn’t present specifics.
These strikes are supposed to bolster revenue margins, an space Hackett has admitted Ford lags GM and needs to repair.
Ford’s second-quarter revenue margin of 5.9 % was down from 7.7 % a yr in the past and properly beneath the 10 % margin that Common Motors reported for a similar interval. The 2 corporations are scheduled to launch third-quarter outcomes this month.
Hackett stated Ford nonetheless has a long-term aim of an eight % working margin on the core automotive enterprise because it seems to be to spice up general profitability.
Some analysts, although, nonetheless need Ford to supply many extra particulars and reply extra questions earlier than shopping for into the corporate’s plans below Hackett.
“Whereas the constructing blocks could also be in place, it should take fairly a while for advantages to be clear and certain for buyers to provide credit score,” Barclays analyst Brian Johnson wrote in a observe to buyers. “Thus in the interim, investor give attention to Ford shall be round quarterly earnings and ’18 steerage — the place we do not see a lot optimistic shock.”


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Microsoft is working on updating the icons from Windows 95 after a long time.
The company has been working on enhancing the icons on Windows 10, and this update is part of a “sweeping visual rejuvenation” that will be released later this year.
In March of this year, a range of new device icons were discovered, including new icons for the File Explorer, folders, Recycle Bin, disc drive, and so on.
The company is now working to update the majority of the Windows 95-era icons that can be found in Windows 10.
Microsoft is fully redesigning icons from the Windows 95 era (part of the Sun Valley Update), according to WindowsLatest, and the new icons will be more in line with the visual language of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Launcher.
This change was noticed in the current Windows 10 preview build, where a new collection of modern icons for directories, options, and buttons were discovered within the Shell32.DLL main shell module.
Hibernation mode, the globe, networking, and floppy discs are among the symbols that will be replaced.
The newest choices are supposed to be brighter, more modern, and more in line with the visual overhaul planned for the fall update.
There are still a few old icons that haven’t been updated, such as an old tree icon for WinDirStat in the preview version.
Before the Sun Valley update is ready to launch, Microsoft will most likely change this, as well as other icons in the OS.
The ‘Sun Valley’ UI redesign for Windows 10 is said to include new design elements for the File Explorer, Start Menu, and even Action Center.
These components will be updated to include improved animations, more modern styles, and possibly new features.
This forthcoming Windows 10 update is scheduled to be released during the 2021 holiday season.
Microsoft’s last major interface overhaul occurred five years ago with the announcement of the first Windows 10 update.
Since then, the organization has made a few tweaks, but no major changes have been made.
Latest in Cybersecurity: Moriya Windows rootkit exploited in wild for highly targeted attacks


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WASHINGTON – United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai today spoke with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis on a number of important issues, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, the upcoming G-7 and G-20 meetings, WTO reform, food security, respective engagements with third countries, and non-market economic policies and practices.
Ambassador Tai and Executive Vice President Dombrovskis both committed to continue working on concrete deliverables ahead of the next Trade and Technology Council Ministerial. They also discussed issues related to the EU cybersecurity scheme and the electric vehicle tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. Ambassador Tai noted the shared need to increase investments in clean energy technologies to seriously combat the climate crisis, as well as to address supply chain and security vulnerabilities. Ambassador Tai and Executive Vice President Dombrovskis agreed to stay in close contact on these topics over the course of a number of likely bilateral meetings throughout the rest of the year.


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ZDNet UK: Compaq issues a 'Geek' warning over LinuxOct 09, 2000, 14:03 (6 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Martin Veitch)
"Compaq last week admitted that Linux needs to establish more enterprise deployments and must gain additional software vendor support if it is to become more than a niche operating system. The firm is a major backer of Linux across Intel and Alpha-based systems."
"We're definitely at the stage where we need reference sites," said Judy Chavis, Compaq's Linux/Unix product marketing manager. "Otherwise we'll be in danger of losing all this momentum and it becomes one of those 'just for geeks' things."
"Chavis said that the Linux 2.4 kernel, Linux 64 project and a larger skills base would help Linux to prosper. She added that Compaq expects to report some significant deals over the next six months, including a worldwide e-commerce site that will use Linux for Internet infrastructure services. "The e-commerce site's decision was based on cost and the internal skills base, and it felt that Linux was ultimately more reliable than Windows," Chavis said."


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Trion Worlds CEO Lars Buttler has to say about his company's flagship game on the eve of RIFT's official launch.
Speaking with Gamasutra, Buttler walks a fine line between expressing confidence in and overselling RIFT's qualities. "This is the most social game in the history of gaming," he declared, pointing out how the game interacts with Twitter and open grouping to pull a myriad of players together.
What's the formula for a successful MMO in Buttler's opinion? "We took the time to try to get it right. We built the right technology first, we built an entire new platform architecture first, we then recruited the best team on the planet, and then we took a lot of time to build a complete and polished game, and then also focused very very strongly on slightly improving the things that are already great in MMORPGs, and introducing a lot of things that we and many gamers think are missing."
Buttler also hopes that RIFT will be one of a coming wave of MMOs that will usher in a more widespread acceptance of the genre as an entertainment staple, not just a fringe activity. He predicts that the revolution that happened with casual gaming will now spread to core games and break down barriers.