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Today, Material Exchange is announcing it has raised €25 million in Series A funding. Material Exchange is a B2B SaaS-enabled marketplace for the apparel and footwear industry which is digitizing the material sourcing process and replacing the complex, fragmented relationships that exist between brands and suppliers—with the goal of driving sustainability and efficiency across the $2tn fashion supply chain.
Water and the apparel industry have been deeply intertwined since the production of apparel first began. For thousands of years, water has been used to dye handmade materials. Now, as a tribute to the value of water on this World Water Day, we thought we’d take a look at the latest when it comes to apparel, footwear, and H2O.
If you haven’t already started digitizing your materials and components, 2022 is the year to make it happen. The industry is increasingly moving toward the digital realm, and now is the time to join the movement. Find out why this transition is so important, and how you can easily digitize your own materials!
What do watchstrap maker Thomas Schori in Switzerland, watch designer Greg Verras in Detroit, and scientist-turned-plastic-salvager Dr. Michel Pardos in Thailand have in common? Find out in a recap of our Chief Sustainability Officer Kelly Burton’s presentation at last week’s Sustainability Summit hosted by Fashiondex and LIM College. Salvaging plastic has never been this exciting.
Sweden, Oct 21, 2021. Material Exchange is launching its digital Marketplace as a next-gen sourcing platform for the footwear and apparel industry, which represents trillions of dollars annually. The platform replaces fragmented analogue sourcing processes with streamlined data for transparency, increased efficiency for reduced cost, and less waste for sustainability.
Sweden, Oct 14, 2021. Today Material Exchange is announcing it has reached an agreement to acquire the agency division of Olah Inc., a multi-faceted New York-based firm focusing on the denim and sportswear industries, to support digital transformation in the material sourcing process. This decision expands their innovative digital platform beyond global digital sourcing into expert services.
Sweden, June 22, 2021. Material Exchange Ventures AB – a Stockholm based startup that is digitally revolutionizing material sourcing for footwear and apparel – has released their inaugural Annual Digital Sourcing Report to provide key data on the fundamental shifts occurring in material sourcing within footwear and apparel supply chains, and provide insights on what the future looks like for the sourcing industry in a new, digital age.
The “Exchanges” Unite to Drive Fashion Sustainability Sweden, April 26, 2021. Material Exchange Ventures AB, a Stockholm based startup and provider of Material Exchange has joined Textile Exchange, a global non-profit member organization committed to reducing the textiles industry’s impact on the environment. Material Exchange works collectively with fashion brands, retailers and suppliers to digitize the …


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A Shropshire-based company is supplying touchless car wash systems from the US.
According to Surfwash Ltd, it is the sole UK and European supplier for D&S Car Wash Equipment.
Director Steve Smith said: "I’ve run a car wash for 10 years, and I knew there was a better way to wash cars more efficiently. This is the future of car washing." The car wash uses Lustra car care products from the US, and the company will fit a car wash free on a 50/50 profit share basis on a site for six months, with an option to buy.
The machines cost about £90,000 each.

domain: news


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Wizards of the Coast, the company behind card game Magic: the Gathering, revealed last week that one of the characters in the newest set of cards is a trans woman. Say hello to Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, the game’s first canon trans character.
There is a strange and pervasive cultural myth that geek girls are like unicorns—we’re rare and mythical creatures who can’t possibly be real. This anxiety over gender is deeply tied to nerds’ concerns about the mainstreaming of geekdom.
Despite all the recent harassment, many people and groups are successfully changing the image of geek culture—including these "punk senshi" cosplayers at Geek Girl Con. (photo by Sarah Mirk)
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... geeks and nerds were relentlessly mocked and bullied. So they found communities through zines and the early internet and congregated in comic book stores and arcades—spaces where they could feel sheltered from the cruel taunts of jocks and buoyed by like-minded obsessives.


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Game news A Tomb Raider: Definitive Survivor trilogy on the run at Microsoft
Amid the 25th anniversary of the Tomb Raider license, Square Enix recently had to deal with a leak that appeared in the Microsoft Store.
Indeed, according to a page that is now inaccessible, Square Enix Announces Tomb Raider: Definitive Survivor Trilogy, a compilation of the last three titles of the license, namely Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, released in 2013, 2015 and 2018 respectively. will be released on March 18, and would contain all DLC released for the three opus. If we have to wait for confirmation from Microsoft or Square Enix, there is little doubt about the arrival of this collection, which did not have time to announce the price during the escape. Meanwhile, several things are planned, including a mobile game, Tomb Raider Reloaded, and a Netflix series.
To read too
By MalloDelic, Journalist jeuxvideo.com


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OCEAN REEF WITHDRAWS ITS BID TO BUY BEST PRODUCTS
Published: September 17, 1996
The Best Products Company said yesterday that Ocean Reef Management had withdrawn its unsolicited offer to buy the company for $2 a share, or a total of $63.2 million. Best Products said that Ocean Reef had concluded the takeover would require greater resources than originally thought. But it said that Ocean Reef wanted to continue talks in the hopes of reaching an alternative proposal. Best Products' stock plummeted more than 58 percent on the news, falling 62.5 cents a share to close at 43.75 cents in Nasdaq trading. Best Products, a catalogue retailer based in Richmond, emerged from bankruptcy-court protection in 1994. Ocean Reef is a closely held investment concern based in Miami.


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DETROIT -- ArvinMeritor Inc. has hired former Chrysler group controller James Donlon to be the supplier's chief financial officer.
Donlon, 58, begins his new job on Friday, April 1.
He replaces Carl Soderstrom, who retired in September 2004, one month after Chip McClure became CEO.
Rakesh Sachdev, ArvinMeritor's controller who has handled the CFO duties during the search, is being given a new job as vice president of corporate strategy. The company is looking for a new controller.
Donlon joins ArvinMeritor from Kmart Corp., where he has been CFO since January 2004. Last week, Kmart completed its $12.3 billion takeover of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Donlon became a key figure as German executives took control of the Chrysler group following the creation of DaimlerChrysler in 1998. He was the only senior Chrysler executive to move to Stuttgart after the takeover. He became the automaker's corporate controller in February 1999.
After 19 months in Germany, Donlon returned to the Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters in September 2000 to help embattled Chrysler President James Holden. Holden was fired in November 2000.
ArvinMeritor, of Troy, Mich., ranked No. 18 on the Automotive News list of top 150 original equipment suppliers to North America with original equipment sales of $1.96 billion in 2003. The company makes drivetrain, chassis and emission components.
You may e-mail Dale Jewett at


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Designed by leaders in automotive design in India – DC Design, Harley-Davidson ‘Legend on Tour’ to be showcased at 4th India H.O.G. Rally and India Bike Week 2016
As part of its strategic expansion plans, Harley-Davidson India today unveiled its first mobile dealership on wheels – the ‘Legend on Tour’. This one-of-a-kind dealership has been designed by the world renowned Dilip Chhabria of DC Design.
The experiential zone will feature motorcycles from the 2016 Harley-Davidson India fleet and genuine Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts and accessories along with merchandise. The ‘Legend on Tour’ will commence on a tour of the country starting February end making its first pit-stop at Mumbai followed by Pune, Goa, Bangalore and Coimbatore in the month of March.
Commenting at the unveiling of ‘Legend on Tour’, Vikram Pawah, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India said, “At Harley-Davidson we are always looking for new ways to bring new riders to the brand and the sport of leisure motorcycling. We have an expansive portfolio of 13 motorcycles and ensuring the right motorcycle is available at the right place at the right time is crucial to a great customer experience. ‘Legend on Tour’ is a strategic step undertaken by us to expand the reach of our brand and we are delighted to have DC Design, design it for us.”
Chief Designer of ‘Legend on Tour’ Dilip Chhabria said, “Designing the ‘Legend on Tour’ for Harley-Davidson India has been an absolute pleasure. We wanted to create something that is at par with the Harley-Davidson dealership in terms of its look and feel. The brand’s rich heritage has been a source of inspiration for us while designing the mobile dealership”
Brand and motorcycle enthusiasts can check out the ‘Legend on Tour’ from February 18-20 at 4th India H.O.G. Rally and India Bike Week 2016


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This Chinese carmaker wants to take on Tesla
Опубликовано 12 января 2018, 16:37
Oprah Winfrey's ability to catapult others to stardom has been dubbed "The Oprah Effect." Here's a look at some of the careers that have been given a boost by the talk show queen.
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Earlier this week, I published a piece on how rail-hailing services like Uber and Lyft make getting around more accessible. Since that story ran, I decided to ditch Uber and use Lyft as my preferred ride-hailing service from now on.
This week’s episode of ATP features a great discussion on Uber’s problems, which I encourage everyone to listen to. The gist of the talk about alternatives to Uber is essentially that if you can find a reasonable alternative (i.e., Lyft), then you should. I’ll admit to being reticent to switching before yesterday because I was/am unsure how Lyft will survive Uber being the dominant player in this space. Still, the more that was reported on Uber’s toxic corporate culture made me grow even more leery of giving my dollars to a company so institutionally dysfunctional. However pleasant my personal experiences with Uber have been, I ultimately decided I couldn’t continue to support them in good conscience.
As the hosts rightfully pointed out on ATP, Lyft isn’t without its problems either. I use the hell out of my Amazon Prime subscription despite Amazon not being a pillar of morality. Amazon is just so damn convenient, and they’re it in terms of e-commerce. But Uber is a different animal—I can’t patronize a company with such deeply warped values. That Uber treats people so badly, particularly women, is antithetical to who I am as a person.
I wasn’t heavily invested in Uber as far as brand loyalty—my girlfriend prefers Lyft and we’ve taken many rides together—but Uber’s latest shitshow was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. I’ll be calling Lyft for rides from here on out.


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Home > News > Think big, think nano
December 18th, 2007
Think big, think nano
In an exclusive interview, Professor Niels Christian Nielsen, winner of this year's Danisco Award, shared his thoughts with Stephen Daniells on the rise of nanotechnology and gave insight on this fascinating new area of the food industry.
Nanotechnology is already seen by many as a key source of innovation for food products. Indeed, more 600 nanofood products are already available on the global market, according to new data from the Helmut Kaiser Consultancy (HKC).
Moreover, HKC predicts a change of 40 to 60 per cent in the food industry by 2015 as a result of nanotechnology.
And, with players such as Danisco and Arla Foods onboard, Denmark's NanoFood consortium is making big noises with nanotechnology. While still limited to Denmark, Prof. Nielsen admits to having a larger ambition. "Obviously we want to be international," he said.
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers
NMTI announces breakthrough solutions for HAMR nanoantenna for next-generation ultra-high density magnetic storage November 21st, 2014
Quantum mechanical calculations reveal the hidden states of enzyme active sites November 20th, 2014
UO-industry collaboration points to improved nanomaterials: University of Oregon microscope puts spotlight on the surface structure of quantum dots for designing new solar devices November 20th, 2014
Silver Nanoparticles Produced in Iran from Forest Plants Extract November 20th, 2014
Production of Biodegradable Nanocomposites of Wheat Gluten in Iran November 6th, 2014
New tool could help reshape the limits of synthetic biology: The 'telomerator' reshapes synthetic yeast chromosome into more flexible, realistic form, redefining what geneticists can build November 3rd, 2014
Nanoparticles Display Ability to Improve Efficiency of Filters October 28th, 2014
Smallest world record has 'endless possibilities' for bio-nanotechnology October 8th, 2014


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NEW YORK — "The purpose is the purpose, the values are the values. Everything else is open to debate and may change."
That was the heady advice from Walmart CEO Doug McMillon at the Nation Retail Federation's Big Show on Sunday. The world's largest retailer has recently changed much in terms of internal policies and external acquisitions, but McMillon stressed the core values underlying the company's promise have remained the same.
One big change at Walmart has been its focus on store-level employees. Last week, the company announced a new, higher starting minimum wage of $11 per hour, expanded benefits and a $1,000 cash bonus for qualifying employees. With the creation of training academies, Walmart isn't just improving employee programs, it's talking about it publicly — another shift for the retailer.
"At some point, Walmart became big and societal expectations changed, and we missed the memo."
"At some point, Walmart became big and societal expectations changed, and we missed the memo," McMillon said. "In the early years, when people would write good things about Walmart, Sam [Walton] would say, 'Ignore it and don't let it go to your head.' When they started to say bad things, we ignored that, too."
Walmart has been working hard to address these issues — both the consumer perception and the policies needed to fix things. This shift has produced initiatives to reduce Walmart's greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint. Some divisions are already 90% to their goal of achieving 0% waste.
Changes are being made to not just employee benefits and training initiatives, but also by embracing technology to support the company's transformation. One of the biggest changes, of course, was the $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com. The deal brought Marc Lore to Walmart as well as a renewed focus on technology investment to support innovation.
"Marc is a merchant first, not a technologist. That really clicked for us. We really felt we had kindred spirit there," said McMillon. "We also loved smart cart and what they did there."
Jet's smart cart technology allows shoppers to reduce the cost of goods by selecting from a variety of shipping options — and a longer shipping window will reduce the price on an item. "You do that," he said, "and the retailer ends up with a bigger basket."
Technology is helping Walmart move toward this goal, and quickly. One of the biggest tasks for Store No. 8, Walmart's startup incubator, is to accelerate development and adoption of new technologies, Lori Flees, senior vice president of next-gen retail and principal for Store No. 8, told conference attendees on Monday.
The goals of Store No. 8 are to find new talent or technology, set it up within the larger organization to speed it to market and make sure there's dedicated budget to make that happen. It's a unique proposition for a company the size of Walmart and it speaks to the company's willingness to embrace change. While Walmart must remain focused on the now — or at least the next fiscal quarter — Store No. 8 is looking three-to-five years out, Flees said.
"We need to be disrupting ourselves and our business — to lean into these disruptions earlier rather than later."
Senior Vice President of Next-Gen Retail and Principal for Store No. 8, Walmart
"We need to be disrupting ourselves and our business — to lean into these disruptions earlier rather than later," she said. "To have the vision and invest in pieces and keep them separate, so they're not distracted by the core business."
Walmart is "becoming a different type of technology company — we've been one for a long time, but we've become a different type of one," said McMillon. "One that supports change."
McMillon may be the last Walmart CEO to have known and worked with its founder Sam Walton. He spoke of the company's core principals and need to serve the customer, above all else.
"It's job number one," he said. "We need to not get comfortable. We have a lot of work to do. You can't slow down change."


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Bitfinex's Chief Strategy Officer Leaves Crypto Exchange
Crypto exchange Bitfinex's chief strategy officer Phil Potter is leaving the firm, Reuters reported Friday.
Phil Potter, chief strategy officer for cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, has reportedly left the company.
reported Friday that Potter, who is also a director of the 'stablecoin' issuing company Tether, will be temporarily replaced by Jan Ludovicus van der Velde, Bitfinex's CEO.
Following the publication of this article, a representative for Bitfinex provided CoinDesk with a statement from Potter.
According to data from Coinhills, Bitfinex is the fourth-largest exchange by trade volume, sporting roughly 121,000 BTC or roughly $750 million in volume over the past 24 hours.
The exchange has been at the center of controversy for some time, largely due to its close links to Tether. Just this week, law firm Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan LLP released a report attesting that Tether's USDT token is fully backed by more than $2 billion in reserves. Yet some quarters of the cryptocurrency community remain unconvinced, with the report sparking a fresh round of allegations that USDT has been used to inflate the price of bitcoin.
This article has been amended for clarity and updated with a statement from Phil Potter.
Exit sign image via Shutterstock
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


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The new year i.e. will be linked from the mobile number base sitting from 1 January. For this, the customers will not have to turn around the telecom companies. According to the Department of Telecommunications, now customers can link their mobile number to Aadhaar card while sitting at home via OTPi. The customers will not have to resort to the outlets of various telecom companies.
Through the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, customers will also be able to complete this process. Companies have been instructed to use the number 14546 as OTP code only.
Source by:- news18


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According to prominent on-chain crypto analyst Willy Woo, Bitcoin is currently growing faster than the internet, and it will have roughly one billion users by 2025.
Woo says that, in terms of adoption, Bitcoin has roughly the same users as the internet had in 1997, and if it stays on its current path, it will have around one billion people within the next four years.
Other analysts have reported that Bitcoin is in a similarly early phase of adoption, with massive growth expected to occur over the next several years.
Last August, Tyler Winklevoss, Co-Founder and CEO of crypto exchange Gemini, said that it is still very early days for Bitcoin.
Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pixabay.com


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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Investors grabbed profits from Wal-Mart in the final hours of the first half to leave the world's largest retailer lighter by almost 5 percent and the sector in a down mode.
With a whopping 16.2 million shares changing hands - nearly double the three-month daily average - investors took out $2.69 to leave Wal-Mart
That proved to be quite a heavy weight on the sector, which dropped relatively sharply. The S&P Retail Index $RLX collapsed by better than 2 percent to end at 324.07.
Also seeing lower ground was electronics giant Best Buy
Late Thursday, Nike
Kmart KM managed to step over the $1 level to end the session at $1.03, up by 10 cents - a relatively huge 11 percent gain for the bankrupt retailer.


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MSI-ECS has partnered with DJI to become an authorized distributor of their civilian drones and aerial imaging technology in the Philippines.
MSI-ECS will carry an array of DJI products, including the smallest, most compact, foldable drone, the Mavic Pro, the iconic Phantom drone series, the ready to fly professional platform for filmmakers the Inspire 2, as well as handheld gimbals from the Osmo series. DJI products will be on shelves in more than 50 retail outlets in the consumer electronics, photography, hobbyist and lifestyle channels across the Philippines.
“As digital lifestyle continues to evolve, MSI-ECS is committed to being at the forefront of the world’s latest and most innovative products, solutions, and services, which will allow us to better serve the changing needs of the market,” said Jimmy Go, President and CEO, MSI-ECS Phils. Inc. “In a recent industry report released by Gartner, production of drones for personal and commercial use is growing rapidly, with global market revenue expected to reach more than $6 billion in 2017 and grow to more than $11.2 billion by 2020. Up to three million drones will be produced in 2017, 39% more than in 2016.”
“In the Philippines, the interest and usage of civilian drones have also grown dramatically and we are confident that its use for commercial purposes will also gain momentum. The addition of drones to our impressive portfolio will not only boost our offerings but also enable us to anticipate market changes, especially as technological advances continue to blur the lines between personal and commercial applications,” he added.
Just last week, DJI added a new addition to the Phantom family, which is now available for pre-orders in the Philippines. The Phantom 4 Advanced offers creators an affordable way to capture amazing aerial imagery with a more powerful camera. The new model improves on the original Phantom 4, giving photographers a 1-inch, 20-megapixel sensor and a mechanical shutter. It is also equipped with many of the intelligent features offered on the Phantom 4 Pro, including Draw, ActiveTrack, TapFly, Gesture, Tripod and the FlightAutonomy system.


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Hewlett-Packard has announced a new version of its PA-RISC chip, one of at least four new generations HP will sell on its own while phasing in new high-end chips developed in tandem with Intel.
Running at 550MHz, the PA-RISC 8600 is due to appear in high-end systems during the first quarter of 2000.
The 8600 uses the same core as the current 8500, and employs the same supporting electronics so it can be dropped into existing 8500 systems.
HP also is developing the 8700, 8800, and 8900 versions of the Precision Architecture RISC line. According to a recent HP chip road map, the 8700 is scheduled to debut at about the same time as Intel’s second IA-64 chip, the “McKinley,” which is expected by the end of 2001. The 8700 is intended to run at a speed of 700MHz.
The 8800 is scheduled to debut at 900MHz near the time Intel’s third-generation “Madison” and “Deerfield” IA-64 chips arrive. The 8900 is expected to run at a speed of 1.2GHz.
The story is online at www.news.com.


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Bah Humbug! Amazon Echo, Echo Dot Sell Out Online During Lead Up To Christmas
The Echo won’t be back in stock until December 30 for white models, and January 17 for the black variant. The battery-powered Tap won’t be in stock until December 27, while the Echo Dot is also listed as being available on December 27.
The devices have even disappeared from the Prime Now service, which delivers products to your home or business within one to two hours for Amazon Prime members. And finding stock at third-party retailers like Best Buy, Walmart and Staples isn’t much better. BestBuy.com tells customers to “Check Stores” — I checked the Raleigh, NC area and couldn’t find an Echo in-store within a 250-mile radius. And Staples simply says “Out of Stock.”
The dearth of Alexa-powered Amazon hardware can partly be explained by higher than expected demand following price cuts that knocked 20 percent off the price of the devices (you could pick up the entry-level Echo Dot for $39.99 after Thanksgiving).
“Due to demand, we encourage customers to purchase an Echo if they see it available,” said an Amazon spokesperson to the Wall Street Journal.
Your best bet now on getting an Echo is to check out Amazon’s brick and mortar bookstores or one of its nearly three-dozen pop-up stores in malls across the country.


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And so, at long last, 2015 draws to a close. It's been an incredibly busy year, with a deluge of exciting new devices, policy twists and tribulations, and freshly minted startup unicorns. December was a quiet month, though: there was a big ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, and some interesting acquisitions, but mostly everyone seems to be biding their time for the new year. CES in Las Vegas and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona are now just around the corner!
Here's the top tech news from December 2015.
GoPro has quietly acquired Zurich-based Skybotix, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The company created—and has now discontinued—the “Visual-Inertial (VI) sensor,” which was meant to be used in unmanned vehicles and robotic devices to help save lives during crises and emergencies. It was also able to direct drones in complex flying environments. Given that GoPro is working on a drone of its own, it’s the most likely reason behind the deal.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that blanket surveillance is a violation. Although the case was about mobile network operators in Russia, it also applies to the UK, and could be used as ammunition against the new Investigative Powers Bill. The bill, also known as Snooper’s Charter, currently calls for a major extension of surveillance powers. Senior figures from British ISPs and telcos told MPs that the bill’s proposals are “so technically complex that it is not yet possible to make any meaningful estimate of the costs involved or whether they are technically possible.” Apple joined the ranks of critics of the initiative and called upon the UK government to rethink and scale down the draft law.
Finnish mobile device and software company Jolla has announced that it’s back in business after some financial turbulence. After an unexpected delay, Jolla says it has now finished its latest funding round, securing “solid new financing to the company.” It is still unclear, however, when the company will ship the Jolla Tablet to crowdfunding backers.
Dropbox has joined other cloud providers in announcing new storage options within the European Union. The US-based company will also add two European offices in Hamburg and Amsterdam in 2016. The step is explained by the fact that “customer requirements in the region have evolved” and seems logical after the EU's top court struck down the US-EU Safe Harbour agreement in October.
Volkswagen Group said that German regulators approved its proposed fixes to vehicles with diesel engines that include defeat devices that released illegal amounts of nitrogen oxides (NOx) while the vehicles were being driven under normal conditions. The 1.2 and 1.0 litre engines will only require a software update, which takes “under half an hour,” according to Volkswagen Group. The 1.6 litre engines will also need to be fitted with a “flow rectifier,” which could take a mechanic “under an hour.”
Ukrainian startup XE claims to have solved long-range wireless charging. The wireless power delivery tech uses the same principle as a crystal radio. The productised version of the technology will consist of a base charging station of about 15×15×40cm and a 3mm thick smartphone case. It’s claimed to be able to transfer electricity simultaneously to up to four devices that are up to five metres (16ft) away.
Vandals have damaged a building housing Facebook's offices in Hamburg. They smashed glass, threw paint, and sprayed "Facebook dislike" on a wall. One of the reasons of the attack could be Facebook’s failure to quickly remove racist posts from the website. In a related news, the German government later struck a deal with Facebook, Twitter, and Google, whereby they promised to remove hate speech within 24 hours.
The European Commission has unveiled a new "modern, more European" copyright framework, which ruled out a tax on hyperlinks but could still lead to the introduction of a Europe-wide ancillary copyright, also known as “the Google tax.” It would require people to pay a licensing fee for the use of short snippets online. There have been previous attempts at introducing this kind of tax in Spain and Germany, but they failed miserably.
An Oxford, England company is now selling endohedral fullerenes for £110 million per gram. This valuation likely makes the material the second most valuable on Earth, preceded only by antimatter. Endofullerenes could be used in miniature atomic clocks for super-accurate GPS. One of the potential use cases is in driverless cars that need to be positioned on the road as accurately as possible.
London startup Blaze will have its Laserlight technology integrated into 11,500 Boris bikes across London. Blaze’s laser-based device projects a green image about five metres (16ft) in front of the cyclist in order to make them visible to other road users. In September, Laserlight had been trialled on 250 Santander cycles. It’s unclear how many of Blaze’s devices have been sold through usual retail channels: at £125 per piece they're much more expensive than a traditional bike light.
A top-secret document revealed that UK spy agency GCHQ exploited vulnerabilities in Juniper firewalls. Dated February 2011, it also makes clear that the exploitation went on with the knowledge and apparent cooperation of the NSA. The security vulnerabilities in 13 different models of firewalls made by Juniper Networks were disclosed earlier in December and contained a backdoor disguised to look like debug code.
German startup FeelSpace uses a belt made of vibrating motors to help the blind feel the right direction. The team of researchers from Osnabrück has developed a prototype of the device that can connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth and translate turn-by-turn navigation information into vibrations on the corresponding side of the belt. The initial price of the belt is expected to be about €800 (£590), however actual users will need to pay much less as the device’s cost will be covered fully or partially by their health insurance.
A Belgian startup called Fleye has built a drone that won't hurt you if you accidentally come into contact with it. The company has launched a €175,000 Kickstarter campaign and, at the time of publishing, has just hit its goal. In early December, a British toddler had his right eye sliced in half after a neighbour's drone clipped a tree and "spun out of control"—the kind of incident that the Fleye hopes to prevent in the future.
Google Ventures has discontinued its $125 million (£84 million) European fund. In a statement, Google Ventures said that “starting in January we’ll operate as a global fund, rather than running separate US and European funds. This gives us more flexibility and dollars to invest in the best founders and companies, regardless of where they are based, and reduces limitations of a specific fund size. Aside from this, it’s business as usual for the team in London—nothing else changes.”


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A lady outlets for footwear within the Nike Manufacturing facility Retailer on the Outlet Shoppes at El Paso, in El Paso, Texas on November 26, 2021.
Paul Ratje | AFP | Getty Pictures
Nike on Thursday stated it had a powerful first fiscal quarter regardless of provide chain points, in addition to declining gross sales in Better China, its third greatest market by income.
Like different retailers, Nike has been dealing with provide chain headwinds, reminiscent of an increase in each transport prices and transport occasions in latest quarters. The corporate stated its stock ranges swelled through the quarter in comparison with the year-ago interval.
The corporate’s shares dropped about 5% in after-hours buying and selling.
Here is how Nike did in its first fiscal quarter in contrast with what Wall Road was anticipating, primarily based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: 93 cents vs. 92 cents anticipated
- Income: $12.69 billion vs. $12.27 billion anticipated
Nike reported web earnings for the three-month interval ended Aug. 31 fell 22% to $1.5 billion, or 93 cents per share, in contrast with $1.87 billion, or $1.18 per share, a 12 months earlier.
Income through the interval was up 4% to $12.7 billion, in contrast with $12.2 billion a 12 months earlier.
Lately, Nike has been shifting its technique and seeking to promote its sneakers and different merchandise on to clients and cut back on what’s bought by wholesale companions like Foot Locker. The corporate stated on Thursday its direct gross sales grew by 8% to $5.1 billion, and gross sales for its digital-brand rose 16%. On the flip aspect, gross sales for Nike’s wholesale enterprise gross sales elevated by 1%.
In its first fiscal quarter, Nike stated its stock rose 44% to $9.7 billion on its stability sheet from the identical interval final 12 months, which the corporate stated was pushed by provide chain points and partially offset by sturdy client demand.
Complete gross sales in Better China had been down 16% to about $1.7 billion, in contrast with practically $2 billion a 12 months earlier. The corporate has confronted disruption in its enterprise within the area, the place Covid lockdowns have affected its enterprise. Nike had stated within the earlier quarter it anticipated points in Better China to weigh on its enterprise.
In the meantime, whole gross sales in North America, Nike’s largest market, elevated 13% to $5.5 billion within the first fiscal quarter, in contrast with roughly $4.9 billion in the identical interval final 12 months. The sneaker big has constantly stated client demand, particularly within the U.S. market, hasn’t waned regardless of inflation.
Learn the corporate’s earnings launch here.
This story is creating. Please verify again for updates.


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Dell Calls Down the 4.1-inch ‘Thunder’ with Android 2.1, Flash 10.1, and Hulu!
Okay Dell, we get it. You do have some rather serious plans for Android. Engadget has scored a doozy of an exclusive this evening by leaking a new Android-based handset from Dell. Called the Thunder, it’s a counterpart to the forthcoming Windows-Mobile based Lightning. You’ll have to forgive us if we get drool all over this post.
Cutting to the chase, here’s what you can expect from Dell’s first super phone. For starters it’s packing Android 2.1 under the dashboard with a new custom UI called Stage. Judging by the picture tied to the Engadget article it appears to be very stylish and clean. The Thunder boasts a 4.1-inch WVGA OLED touch screen with curved glass, an 8-megapixel camera, and (wait for it) Flash 10.1 with an integrated Hulu app. SCORE!
Other features include twitter and Facebook integration, Swype keyboard, and HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity. According to Engadget, this phone will be sold on AT&T later this year with world-friendly HSDPA versions as well. An LTE version is slated for “near the end of 2011″. Boy that sure seems like a far way off. Let’s hope that they were mistaken with that!
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We’re huge fans of changing the home screen around a bit and creating a new user experience for our Android. So much so that we present this weekly series of
Just a few days ago, Samsung officially announced the flexible display and a Samsung executive said that a smartphone with curved display will be announced in October, and now it


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BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's dazzling performance in tourism development have strongly propelled travel-related industries in Asia-Pacific region and around the world in recent years, China Daily reported Thursday.
In 2017, the number of inbound travelers staying overnight in China had gone up 2.5 percent compared with 2016, reaching 60.7 million, and Chinese travelers have made 140 million outbound trips in 2018, a 11 million increase from 2017, said the newspaper, citing a report by the China Tourism Academy.
It said that international visitors bound for China accounted for nearly 20 percent of all travelers and 8.4 percent of the tourism revenue generated in the Asia-Pacific region.
China have provided strong support to the development of tourism in other countries in the region. For example, almost 60 percent of the 4.7 billion U.S. dollars Cambodia received in the first nine months of 2018 to develop its tourism came from China.
Based on the statistics, the academy projected that tourism around the world will grow steadily in 2019, with the Asia-Pacific area sees the fastest growth in inbound tourism.
According to the report, China has been powering the world's tourism development since the Belt and Road Initiative was announced in 2013. Booming mobile payment services in China have also contributed to the growth of tourism industry substantially.


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By Spencer Cain, StyleCaster
Let's face it: When it comes to baby names, celebrities aren't just like us. Whether it's for media attention or they simply have a taste for quirkier things, it seems that stars are consistently calling their children the most bizarre names imaginable. While this trend was definitely brought to the forefront of modern pop culture by Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (who named their two kids Apple and Moses), it's been happening for awhile now (rocker Frank Zappa famously named his daughter Moon Unit in 1967)-and definitely isn't slowing down.
In recent weeks, we've had two new additions to the ever-growing list of weird A-list baby names: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's spawn North West (get it?), and Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson's new son Ace Knute. In honor of these gems, we decided to round up some of the weirdest of all time-so click through the slideshow aboveRead More »from The Most, Um, Unique Celebrity Baby Names of All Time


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This notice was contained in a statement issued by the Head of Administration (Bildiamo Limited), Ayodele Sasa:
"In response to the recent developments around the world concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, and in line with the directives of the Lagos State Government, a decision has been taken to temporarily close Sky Mall as a precautionary measure, until further notice.
To ensure that customers in our community have access to essential supplies, Skymart will remain open throughout this period, while Rosticks will be open for food take-aways and online orders for home deliveries. Sky Cinemas and Skybay will remain fully closed.
We wish all our customers, tenants and staff good health, and we enjoin everyone to Stay Safe."


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Fincash.com, an online mutual fund distributor has raised Rs.1 crore from angel investors in its second round of funding, said the company in a press release today.
The distributor plans to grow its business by expanding the team and technology. “We plan to utilize this for team and product line expansion coupled with marketing,” the company said.
They plan to expand their existing product solutions namely SmartSIP, SavingsPlus, and TaxSaver. “There will be new categories within these solutions that will help customers to invest as per their financial goals and time frames. Investors will get wide choices to invest in different time frames, right from very short, short, mid to long duration, as per their investment needs & risk-appetite. They can simply make a goal-wise investment via these solutions,” Gaurav Perti, CEO, Fincash.com.
Fincash launched in 2016 has raised a total Rs.1.6 crore funding to fund its business expansion so far. It had raised around Rs.60 lakh from its first round of funding in June 2017. Few of their angel investors are Mohammed Khan, founder of Rediffusion and Sameer Narayan, ex-fund manager of BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.


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WASHINGTON — Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois has raised concerns with the Food and Drug Administration about baked goods containing neurohormone melatonin that, because they are marketed as dietary supplements, do not require approval by the F.D.A. for use as additives in food. In a May 18 letter to Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the F.D.A., Mr. Durbin asked the F.D.A. to clarify its authority to regulate foods that contain additives, such as baked foods that contain high doses of melatonin.
The action taken by Mr. Durbin comes as media attention in recent weeks has grown surrounding Lazy Cakes, a product made by Memphis-based HBB, L.L.C. and marketed as a “relaxation brownie” that contains melatonin.
“Products with names such as Lazy Cakes, Kush Cakes, and Lulla Pies are marketed as dietary supplements that claim to provide a harmless way to promote relaxation, alleviate stress and ease sleep deprivation,” Mr. Durbin wrote. “The web site for Lazy Cakes claims their product is, ‘a delicious, chocolate alternative to medication and harmful narcotics to help you safely relax and fall asleep.’ These products appear to be promoting themselves as therapeutic alternatives to medications. As such, the products may be marketed in ways that are inconsistent with federal law.”
There is currently no recommended dose for melatonin supplements, but according to the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database the typical dose should be between 0.3 mg and 5 mg. Generally each brownie and cookie contains roughly 8 mg of melatonin — almost double the upper limit of a typical dose.
“The inclusion of melatonin in baked goods raises numerous health concerns,” Mr. Durbin said. “The sweet, chocolaty taste may encourage consumers to eat well over a recommended quantity of melatonin. Furthermore, consumers eating these baked goods may not recognize they are consuming a neurohormone, that they should consult a doctor before eating it, and that it may not be appropriate for children, people with auto-immune diseases, or women who are pregnant or breast-feeding.”
In addition to Mr. Durbin’s call to the F.D.A. to regulate additives in food, the Arkansas Department of Health on May 19 recalled all Lazy Cakes, saying the product contains melatonin, “which has not been approved for general food use.”
“The A.D.H. is prohibiting the sale of this product in Arkansas and will be working with food vendors to recall Lazy Cakes,” the A.D.H. said.
The A.D.H. said it believes the product “poses a potential health risk to consumers, especially young children,” and has received complaints about the product being sold in food stores (mainly convenience stores) “without prominent labeling and easily accessible to children.”
Mayors in several other cities in which Lazy Cakes are sold also are trying to get the product removed from shelves.
On its web site, HBB, L.L.C. notes that Lazy Cakes “are recommended for adults only!”
“Although perfectly safe for adults, these are NOT a snack for children,” the web site said. “These are meant as a dietary supplement to aid adults who lead a stressful, energy drink fueled lifestyle to wind down and relax. As with any product, it is highly recommended that you read the labels.”
Mr. Durbin said this is not the first time the F.D.A. has been asked to clarify its authority to regulate certain dietary supplements and food additives. In January 2000, the F.D.A. issued a 10-year plan to implement the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which identified the need to clarify the distinction between conventional foods and dietary supplements. Moreover, U.S. General Accountability Office reports in July 11, 2000, and Jan. 29, 2009, recommended the F.D.A. clarify the boundary.


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A passion for the environment and a desire to reduce plastic waste polluting the world’s waterways and oceans is driving Citywide Tree Auditor Brent McBrien to change consumer habits towards using recyclable drinks packaging.
Last year, Brent – who monitors thousands of tree assets for the City of Port Phillip – launched a sideline start-up business H2O In A Carton, utilising environmentally friendly and biodegradeable packaging.
“Whilst travelling a few years ago I came across a unique packaging idea for boxed water Australia. Since then it’s been a long road to bring the product to market in Australia,” says Brent.
“Being able to live in this great country we call home means we get to enjoy the great environmental wonders not far from our doorstep.
“Beaches and rainforests are part of our lifestyle. Unfortunately, many of us are forgetting that with privilege comes responsibility and we are finding that this is starting to affect the environment we call home.
“Now is the time we as a community need to start acting before it becomes to late.”
Using locally sourced water, H2O In A Carton products are BPA-free, recyclable packaging that is made from renewable resources and is largely biodegradable.
For more info, visit: www.H2Oinacarton.com.au
Published on CityWide – Shaping Livable Cities
(Main image: Pixabay via CCL)


text: On Sunday, Special correspondent Karla Murthy reports on new potential uses of 'crowdfunding' - raising a large pool of money from many small contributions online. Thanks to the bipartisan Jobs Act, signed by President Obama last spring, entrepreneurs will soon be able to use this method to raise investment capital. Supporters think the provision could be a key to spurring more entrepreneurship, economic growth, and job creation. But is it a good idea for investors? That, and the weekend's news, online and on-air.


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has been modding for 7 years now, the wonder of PC customisation has only recently spread to China. This year will see a huge explosion in the Chinese modding community and Intel China is doing a lot to raise awareness within its domestic market.
It wanted to showcase the world's best case mods to the local modders to inspire them to create the next generation of Chinese case mod designs. Of course, when they asked the question "who has the best case mods in the world?" there was only one answer: bit-tech.net
We are here in Beijing today with some of the best mods we have published over the years, as well as their creators:
- Magnus Persson ([WP@]WOLVERINE) - Puzzlebox 2.0
- Gert Swolfs (Joungne) - Hypercube
- Nicholas Falzone (greensabbath) - Sangaku
- Mikael Gustafsson (GoTaLL) - Dragon Head, and a custom-painted Intel laptop.
Also joining this group are two of the best Asian modders: Li Yiqi, and and Zong Sanchuan. A Chinese design firm, eazo studio, is also present.
Gathering for the press conference this afternoon is the who's who of Chinese media, including more than a dozen newspapers, local variants of FHM and T3 magazines as well as all the top technical and gaming press. Also present are no fewer than four TV crews including CCTV9. Western media includes Dow Jones News Wires, Bloomberg and of course, bit-tech.net
Our modders will talk about both their individual mods and what modding means in general to them, as well as some of their experiences. Intel is using the event not only to showcase modding and its Core microarchitecture to China, but also to announce its support for the art and industry of modding in general. This marks probably the largest company to date that has stepped into the modding ring, and we welcome the support - we can't wait to see the impact that such a large company (and country) can bring to our favourite hobby.
Of course, I'll be covering the event in more detail with a recap at the end of our week-long trip. Until then, feel free to post your thoughts on the progress of modding worldwide and Intel's recognition of it here in our forums


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Yesterday morning, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced plans to increase the size of its domestic workforce by an added 100,000 full-time jobs by the middle of 2018, putting the company’s workforce at over 280,000 employees within the next 1.5 years. Top analyst Colin Sebastian at Baird views the hiring push as a “positive signal” and reiterates an Outperform rating on shares of AMZN with an $850 price target, which represents a 4% increase from where the stock is currently trading.
Sebastian believes, “As the growth in Amazon hiring appears to be accelerating, we view this announcement positively in terms of the current trajectory of Amazon’s businesses, as well as management’s confidence in the long-term outlook. We also note that hiring is consistent with our view that Amazon will continue to invest aggressively in its retail, media, technology and logistics businesses, rather than focusing on margin improvement.”
Regarding the potential Trump factor to take in account, the analyst remains unfazed, explaining, “While there may be some ‘political capital’ involved with the timing and details of Amazon’s announcement given the President-elect’s negative comments regarding Amazon during the campaign, we suspect there is little, if any, shift of employment at Amazon from international locations to the U.S. Moreover, we expect the pace of hiring internationally to accelerate as well.”
As the e-commerce and online auction leader continues its “commitment” to cloud technology and machine learning, Sebastian concludes by underscoring technology’s dominance over the roles available. With Amazon’s growth accelerating, this top analyst remains bullish on the stock’s prospects.
As usual, we like to include the analyst’s track record when reporting on new analyst notes to give a perspective on the effect it has on stock performance. According to TipRanks, top five-star analyst Colin Sebastian has achieved a high ranking of #22 out of 4,340 analysts. Sebastian upholds a 74% success rate and garners 17.2% in his annual returns. When recommending AMZN, Sebastian gains 37.4% in average profits on the stock.
TipRanks analytics exhibit AMZN as a Strong Buy. Out of 32 analysts polled by TipRanks in the last 3 months, 30 are bullish on Amazon stock, while 2 remain sidelined. With a return potential of 17%, the stock’s consensus target price stands at $953.48.


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T-Mobile will close Sprint merger, after the two-year-battle – CNET
It is some time, but T-Mobile is finally ready to close the Sprint deal.
Two years after thewith Sprint, T-Mobile is willing to work on the Integration of the two companies. On Wednesday, the carrier announced that it closed the deal to begin with, the combination of the third and fourth largest U.S. wireless provider.
Both companies claim the merger will let them better compete with the industry giants Verizon and AT&T. The is to sell T-Mobile Sprint Boost prepaid brand and range in the bowl, which will occur on the market as a new fourth carrier. The court, headed by Charlie Ergen, has years spent and billions of dollars to accumulate their own wireless spectrum, and was previously in the framework of a period of time, the use of the Federal Communications Commission, some of its spectrum treasure trove to that of March of this year, or risk losing it.
As part of the deal, court additional time for the fulfillment of those obligations and can use in the meantime, T-Mobile and Sprint combined network to begin offering the service to customers.
These movements may be a remake, like the Americans, their wireless get service in the coming years. T-Mobile and Sprint combined to optimize assets, their ambitions for the roll-out 5G across the country, and the merged company a larger presence will allow it to compete better with larger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T. shell, in the meantime, a new low-cost alternative when it rolls out its service.
Wednesday, the announcement is not the full completion of the transaction, which is still both a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission and clearance under the federal antitrust Tunney Act requires.
But these hurdles are the formalities should. After a long legal battle with more than a dozen attorneys General, led by New York and California, the CPUC, with the, has already said that it will allow the deal.
previously, the transaction is approved.
“During this extraordinary time, it has become abundantly clear how important a strong and reliable network is the world in which we live,” said Mike Sievert, President and CEO of T-Mobile, in a press release announcing the completion of the deal. “The New T-Mobile-commitment to the provision of a TRANS-5G-network is more important and more needed than ever before, and what we build, is a formative breadth and depth nationwide is an important component for the consumer.
“T-Mobile is the wireless change-for good-and now we want to do it to a whole new level!”
As part of the announcement, the Sievert takes over as head of T-Mobile a month early, to replace John Legere, theon 1. May. Legere will remain with the company as a member of the T-Mobile Board of Directors at the conclusion of his term of office, which ends in June.
The process has already begun
As part of its response to the, T-Mobile has already started, some of the processes of what you need to do, as soon as the merger is completed, including the Sprint user to move freely on your network.
A Sprint spokeswoman said to CNET in February said that once the merger was completed “more than half of the Sprint-branded customer base, or about 20 million users, the devices are already compatible with T-Mobile network.” All of the mobile phones is a software in need of update.
T-Mobile was also increase in the case of 600 MHz spectrum of the court, its 4G and 5G capacity during the pandemic, with a bowl of a similar spectrum offers a boost with AT&T and Verizon to help their respective networks for the next 60 days.
For T-Mobile, but the provision of bowl 600 MHz spectrum could also rent a little bit of a lead, to some of its post-merger plans, as the airwaves are something that would have had the opportunity to, from the shell, as soon as the deal is closed.
As part of another of the carrier’s promise to help the merger is approved, T-Mobile rolled out in March its. Quote and is not expected to arrive until after the merger closed, the new plans start at $15 per month for 2 GB of data with high speed and unlimited talk and text.
Other promises do not belong to rising interest rates, for at least three years, providing free services for first-responders, and the promotion of the deployment of 5G, with Sprint midband spectrum.
dish Ergen, meanwhile, said a Federal judge in December that his company will offer wireless service within 30 days of the business.
T-Mobile has not announced when the process of merging the two networks will be completed.
Released on Thu, 01 Apr 2020 13:27:00 +0000


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The property formerly known as Westfield Southgate has a new name.
The Australia-based Westfield late last month rebranded its property at U.S. 41 and Siesta Drive as Westfield Siesta Key. New signs are up at the shopping center and the company is sporting the new name on its website and social media pages.
The long-anticipated name change comes on the cusp of the indoor mall’s transition into a lifestyle and entertainment center. Naples Flatbread and Wine Bar, Metro Diner, Connors Steak and Seafood and a new concept from Bravo-Brio Restaurant Group are all slated to open at the mall in the coming months. Metro Diner already has its facade up and has set up a hiring center inside the mall.
The upscale shopping mall also welcomed LA Fitness to the old Dillard’s anchor in April and a Lucky’s Market is also under construction in that space. CineBistro, a luxury movie and dining concept, has been operating in the former Saks Fifth Avenue space since early 2016.
— Maggie Menderski, the Herald-Tribune’s retail and tourism reporter, can be reached at 941-361-4951 or at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaggieMenderski and Instagram @MaggieMenderski. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Saks announced last year that it would close its 40,000-square-foot department store in Southgate Mall once the new Mall at University Town Center opens on Oct. 16. The department store’s last day in Southgate Mall is Wednesday, Oct. 8. The store will shutter for good at 6 p.m. Saks Fifth Avenue’s new space inside the $315 million Mall at University Town Center is double in size over two stories, and includes an in-house upscale restaurant concept, Sophie’s.
Last year, Saks Fifth Avenue also closed its only Tampa Bay department store in Westshore Plaza. The new store in Sarasota will be the only full-line department store serving the Tampa Bay area. The next closest Saks Fifth Avenue store is in Fort Myers.
It is unclear at this time if Macy’s or Dillard’s will close their department stores at Southgate Mall. Last month, Macy’s announced it is closing its store in Bradenton’s Desoto Square Mall.
The vacant Saks space could be retrofitted to be an upscale dine-in movie theater, local retail sources say. Westfield Group was reportedly courting Cobb Theaters, which operates Cobb Cinebistro movie theaters in Tampa and across the country, as apart of its Southgate Mall renovation. The luxury cinema offers reserved seating in smaller auditoriums, wait service and upscale menus.
To see a full list of retailers and restaurants coming to the Mall at University Town Center, click here.
The Herald-Tribune reported reported stores like Apple, Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel and others will open in the Mall at University Town Center last year. The 880,000-square-foot retail center will open October 16.
The Australian-based mall developer announced the mall’s plans for redevelopment in May at the International Council of Shopping Centers Recon Convention in Las Vegas. The mall will add 46,000 square feet of new space to the existing property. Construction was supposed to begin by the end of the year, though plans have been pushed back.
Westfield’s plans for Southgate Mall comes after an announcement by its premiere anchor Saks Fifth Avenue — and possibly others — to leave the Sarasota mall in favor of a new, $315 million enclosed retail hub being developed at Interstate 75 and University Parkway by a joint venture between Taubman Centers Inc. and Manatee County’s Benderson Development Co.
Last year, a New York-based real estate firm O’Connor Capital Partners bought 49.9 percent interest in six of Westfield’s Florida malls in March, a deal that included both Sarasota properties.
The first phase of the multimillion dollar investment at Southgate Mall includes the installation of new travertine tile, upgraded furnishings, fixtures, outdoor landscaping and color scheme, according to a statement by Westfield Group.
This initial phase will also feature refurbished shopper amenities, a new interior trellis system, fountains and new lighting.
“It’s Westfield’s philospohy to continually invest and reinvest in our properties,” said Sam Davidson, district marketing director of Florida for Westfield. “The plan for Westfield Southgate is the perfect model of that commitment. We’re taking a very strong shopping center and adding new elements and energy to enhance its appeal for gulf coast residents, the many domestic and international vistiors as well as for our retail partners that cater to these shoppers.”
The mall’s name will also change, from Southgate Mall to Westfield Siesta Key. Westfield officials claim that “retailer interest in the project remains very high.” The next phases of renovation will include bringing in new chain stores and rebranding the shopping center. Those additions will be announced next year.


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It looks like that fancy new HTC Droid DNA won’t be the only 1080p phone on the market for too long. Not to be outdone by their fellow Android builder, Samsung is working on their own Full HD display. Unlike HTC, Samsung plans to forego the LCD tech that runs the Droid DNA, and instead build a 5-inch, 1080p Super AMOLED screen.
Like the DNA, Samsung’s screen will have a ppi of 441, which blows just about everything else in the consumer electronics world out of the water. It’s the first time such a high ppi has been attempted with an OLED panel, and Samsung has evidently been putting some serious R&D into their OLED technology.
The big question on everyone’s mind is “What device is this screen destined to be used in?” The rumors about the display itself come from a Korean tech site called Asiae, and they seem to think that this impressive OLED panel is headed for the much-anticipated Galaxy S4. We’ve heard almost nothing about the successor to the S III so far, so at this point it’s all just guesswork, but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if Samsung stepped up to a Full HD screen in the S4.
We’ll know for sure when CES 2013 rolls around, which goes down in early January. That’s when Asaie expects this new Samsung panel to be unveiled, and perhaps the Galaxy S4 along with it.


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If Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) continues to scorch the apparel industry, 400 of the nation's 1,200 malls could close. The figure was issued by credit rating agency Fitch, which called its evaluation the "Intense Apparel Retail Stress Test." That means, among other things, that the Fitch mainstream evaluation of the industry is not as bad.
The Fitch evaluation may be worse than its current rating of retailers and malls is, but the situations that would cause widespread mall closures are not far-fetched. They assume Amazon will take 25% of the retail apparel market by 2020, up from 7% this year. Amazon has dominated other retail sections quickly. Among those is a portion of consumer electronics, streaming media and, of course, books and e-readers. In other words, Amazon has ruined other retail segments before.
Fitch researchers in specific pointed out:
The usual list of failing retailers is the most likely to be crippled further, according to the analysis:
Other retail industry experts have speculated that some of these companies will not even survive, at least financially. Their share prices have been decimated. Fitch has already cut credit ratings, most notably on Sears Holdings.
The fact that Fitch would even go through the exercise of looking at what is close to a "worst case" for mainstream retailers shows that even the most expert of experts believes that the industry could fall apart at an accelerated pace.


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With more and more global fashion houses becoming conscious of their environmental effect, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors have joined Gucci in going fur-free in 2018. By next month, both brands intend to action the policy with it removed in its entirety at the conclusion of the year.
The positive development for the brands follows a PETA protest at a Michael Kors interview at the MET in June 2017.
Chief Executive Officer of Michael Kors, John Idol, confirmed the announcement to the World Wildlife Fund, with Jimmy Choo also taking on the policy after being acquired by Michael Kors in 2017.
Armani, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger have also ceased using fur in their collections.
Header Image C/O BOF.


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Acer has been undergoing a lengthy transformation process of switching its focus to mobile devices. The company got rid of chief executive Gianfranco Lanci early last year, and now has posted its results for Q4 2011.
In the last quarter of last year, Acer swang back to profit after two quarters of losses. In the fourth trimester the company’s profit stood at $2.5 million, down from $132 million in the same period in 2010. The total revenue also declined to $4.3 billion, down by 14%.
For chairman JT Wang, the result was a manifestation of early signs of recovery. The company is said to have profitted from launching the Aspire S3, which is its first ultrabook, while difficulties were also blamed on the floods in Thailand and subsequent hard-drive shortages.
The company is soon to launch its first quad-core tablet, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 in Europe in March and we expect to hear more about its smartphones and slates at MWC.


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Amid Growing Volatility, Kyriba CSO Believes The US Should Develop Its Own Digital Currency
Wolfgang Koester, chief strategy officer of Kyriba appeared on Bloomberg to discuss the increased volatility of the currency market and its effect on the global business trends. Koester said that financial analysts must focus on active liquidity management to avoid volatility issues.
Koester cited the example of Chinese Yuans whose volatility has increased significantly in recent times. Focusing on managing the liquidity, Koester said that the US government is making a mistake by not developing its own digital currency, whereas its competitor China is all set to launch its Central Bank Issued Digital Currency towards the end of this year.
He went on to explain that creating a digital currency would not really impact the market value of the currency, however, it would tremendously streamline the debt settlement and many other complex aspects of the economy. The most important one being instant liquidity where the settlement of bonds and company settlements won't take 2 days as the traditional methods.
Stressing on the importance of digital currencies Koester said,
“Governments around the globe who have seen the bigger picture are already vested in the idea of digital currencies, like China. Their digital currency would open new trade gates as the settlement time would be less, the process would be more transparent and efficient”
“In order to contain the ongoing issue of volatility in currency, government and economists must focus on risk management, they must have access to data and see understand the issues they are facing proactively.”
Koester said digitization might not necessarily decrease the volatility, in fact, volatility will still be governed by market factors and it may actually increase as people would react to the market. much faster than the usual traditional methods. But, the main idea behind creating a digitalized currency should be understanding issues that are causing the current market meltdown and then focusing on eliminating those by streamlining the process.
The Growing Trend of CBDC
China had quite a skeptical take on cryptocurrencies in its early days, they went on to ban crypto exchanges from the country and later they were even thinking about banning crypto mining in the nation. However soon they realized the potential in the underlying tech of blockchain and decided to create a central bank-issued currency that can be used to settle internal financial transactions. Although the development started years back, it was fastened owing to Facebook's libra announcement.
Now several state governments around the globe are pondering over the idea of issuing a state-backed digital currency to Fastrack internal financial settlements. On the other hand countries like Iran and Venezuela have invested in national digital currency to avoid sanctions.


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We are pleased to announce Oxagile has been included into the prominent Software 500 list of the world’s biggest software and service companies.
Published by the influential Software Magazine, Software 500 is a prestigious revenue-based ranking that targets key C-level executives, helping them make informed decisions when purchasing software and services.
The 2015 ranking lists many industry giants, including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Accenture, HP, EMC, SAP, Apple and other high-profile companies.
Oxagile demonstrated a 29.27% growth based on the 2014 fiscal year data, with a total personnel growth of 25%. The company’s focus lies in deepening its business domain expertise and expanding its talent pool of software developers, resulting in new client acquisition and continued growth in strategic geographies.
“Being named to the Software 500 is very encouraging, as it testifies to the success of our customer-centered business model,” says Mihail Romanovsky, Oxagile’s Head of Marketing. “We will continue to focus on boosting our clients’ competitiveness in today’s marketplace by helping them reduce time to market, optimize development costs, and build innovative, cutting-edge solutions to address specific business challenges.”
Oxagile is a leading provider of custom web and mobile application development services with a special emphasis on multi-platform video-streaming and real-time communication solutions. The company offers a wealth of expertise in multiple verticals and business domains, including Digital Advertising, e-Commerce, e-Learning, Accounting and Finance, Media and Entertainment, and many others.
Oxagile has been on the tech scene for over 10 years now, and has successfully delivered over 400 custom software projects.
Throughout its history, the company worked with some of the world’s biggest and most recognizable brands, including Google, Disney, Discovery Communications, MIT, Telecom Argentina, and Vodafone.


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The idea behind Active Media is that you’ll only listen to or watch the ads you’re actually interested in, Spotify told Ad Age. That way, the service should learn more about your preferences and deliver fewer ads you don’t care about. Advertisers don’t pay for ads that you skip.
Active Media could lead to Spotify earning more money per ad that people actually listen to, so the move may benefit everyone. However, along with limited on-demand mobile listening, it may give you a little less incentive to upgrade to Premium — ad-free playback is a key selling point for many subscribers.
In its latest earnings report, Spotify said it had 101 million users on the free tier. Ads brought in around $144 million in Q2, or just under 10 percent of total revenue for the period.
, 2018-08-10 18:25:00
Content from https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/10/spotify-free-skip-ads-active-media/


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Prices and costs of e-cars reach level of combustion engine cars – think tank
Clean Energy Wire
Thanks to government subsidies, fully electric cars have become an economical alternative to combustion engine vehicles when it comes to purchase price as well as total costs that arise in the first five years of use, according to an analysis conducted by Agora Verkehrswende. The Berlin-based transport sector think tank evaluated data from the ADAC German automobile association for the approximately 8,000 new car models available in Germany. It found that large e-cars are often cheaper than combustion engine vehicles both in terms of purchase price and in total cost, even without subsidies. Smaller electric models, on the other hand, would still be more expensive than comparable combustion engine cars without funding. E-car subsidies in Germany can reach up to 9,000 euros. Agora Verkehrswende advocates making total costs more transparent for potential buyers and also aligning e-car subsidies more closely to medium and small-sized vehicles. The think tank also calls for future funding measures to include pre-owned cars. "Now is the right moment to prepare differentiated funding for electromobility and to reduce long-term subsidies for combustion vehicles and fuels," said Agora Verkehrswende head Christian Hochfeld. “The market development is promising. Along with the stricter European limit values for CO2 emissions from new cars, the purchase bonuses have led to a significant increase in sales.”
Germany’s new government is aiming to put 15 million fully electric cars on the road by 2030. To facilitate more e-car sales, company and state car regulations and vehicle tax have to be consistently geared towards CO2 emissions and CO2 prices on fuels must be increased, Hochfeld added.


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Shares of Cronos Group Inc. (CRON 1.03%) were up 11.6% as of 11:27 a.m. EDT on Wednesday after rising as much as 20.1% earlier in the day. Cronos Group's share price also jumped 14% on Tuesday. The gains for both days stemmed largely from Cronos Group's announcement on Tuesday of what the company described as "a landmark partnership" with Ginkgo Bioworks to produce cultured high-purity cannabinoids from engineered strains of yeast.
There are several challenges with producing high-purity cannabinoids by growing cannabis plants and extracting the cannabinoids from the plants. It's a relatively expensive process. Scaling these operations to commercially viable levels is also difficult.
Cronos thinks that its partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks will change these dynamics. Ginkgo's biosynthesis process holds the potential to reduce the cost of high-purity cannabinoid production and do so at a commercial scale.
The deal between the two companies gives Cronos Group exclusive rights to the technology. In exchange, Cronos will fund parts of the research and development and foundry expenses as well as issue up to 14.7 million shares of its stock to Ginkgo. The transaction is valued at close to $100 million if all milestones are met.
Ginkgo's process is similar to brewing beer in a microbrewery. Assuming it works successfully in producing high-purity cannabinoids, Cronos Group could be in a great position to further its own medical cannabis aspirations as well as supply cannabinoids to drugmakers.
While the deal with Ginkgo Bioworks is good news for Cronos Group, the big story for the company continues to be the opening of the recreational marijuana market in Canada in October and the expansion of the global medical cannabis market. There's also a possibility that Cronos could be picked by a major alcoholic beverage maker as its cannabis partner, with Diageo at the top of the list of prospective suitors.
All of these positives have propelled Cronos Group stock much higher so far in 2018. However, the stock has also been very volatile, especially after a noted short-seller published a critical online report about Cronos last week.
The company's past performance doesn't justify its market cap of more than $2 billion. A tremendous amount of growth is baked into the stock's price. Partnerships and other deals could cause Cronos stock to jump, but over the long run, the company will have to deliver on the sky-high growth expectations to keep its momentum going.


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Dubai: With the acceleration of COVID-19 cases all over the globe, people have been forced to work from home, and schools and colleges have opted for online learning.
Two-way streaming and high use of video content have added additional load on internet usage. Many OTT platforms have started readjusting their video streaming to avoid huge pressure on their resources and local internet data usage.
Recently, the EU and other telecom operators around the world have called on Netflix and other OTT platforms to optimise their video streaming. Some also asked platforms to stream in Standard Definition (SD) instead of High Definition (HD).
Though UAE telecom providers have good network infrastructure, they also depend on the undersea network which constitutes 99 per cent of the internet data worldwide. So in an actual sense, it’s not a cloud but ocean that transmits the data.
In January 2008, UAE saw internet speeds slow to a painful crawl. The disruption was caused by the undersea cables off the Egyptian coast. Similarly, in April 2010, a damaged submarine internet cable in the Mediterranean Sea caused a slowdown in UAE web traffic.
There is a possibility of an impact on internet speeds if it gets disturbed at a global scale.


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Fraser & Neave's Myanmar Brewery stake worth over twice the bid price
BEVERAGE company Fraser & Neave's (F&N) 55 per cent stake in Myanmar Brewery has been estimated to be worth US$560 million or approximately S$763 million by an independent valuer, the company said on Thursday.
It noted that this estimate was more than double the original offer of US$246 million or approximately S$335 million from Myanma Economic Holdings, which is F&N's joint-venture partner in Myanmar Brewery.
Myanma Economic had earlier won an arbitration ruling that will require F&N to sell its 55 per cent stake to its partner, but the arbitration tribunal had also said that Myanma Economic's offer was not fair.
Huang Hong Peng, chief executive officer of F&N's beer division, said the independent valuation represented a significant premium to Myanma Economic's original offer and "validates our assessment of the strategic attractiveness" of Myanmar Brewery due to its "leading position in the Myanmar beer market, the strength of its iconic Myanmar Beer brand and distribution network, and its ability to capitalise on future growth potential".
A sale of its Myanmar Brewery stake means that F&N could lose a significant growth driver and its only alcoholic exposure since selling its stake in Tiger beer maker Asia Pacific Breweries in 2012.
However, the group said on Thursday it has earmarked funds for further investments to "achieve full business potential" in its core markets.
F&N shares closed four cents down at S$2.55 on Wednesday.


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Mon, Jul 9th 2007 7:23pm
Porn publisher Perfect 10 has been something of a copyright gadfly. It sued Google, arguing that the thumbnail images showed in its Image Search -- of images posted online by other people -- of Perfect 10's copyrighted materials constituted copyright infringement. Despite earlier rulings that linking to images in such a way wasn't infringement, Perfect 10 won an injuction over Google, although another court later overturned it, emphasizing again that thumbnails fall under fair use. But Perfect 10 filed an even sillier suit, targeting companies that processed payments for porn sites it alleged were stealing its images. Again, like in the Google case, the payment companies had nothing to do with the act of copyright infringement, and now an appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that bounced the case out of court, nothing that the payment companies, indeed, had not contributed to any copyright infringement. Perfect 10's strategy of suing everybody but the actual copyright infringers looks like it's been resoundly defeated, but somehow it's hard to imagine we've heard the last of the company.
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Apple Executive Mark Papermaster quit his job at Apple but until now no one knew how. Looks like he took a cue from The Chive. Take a look:
- 100 things you didn't know about Apple and Steve Jobs
- Harry Potter Monopoly casts a spell
- It's possible to add more than 200 photos to a single Facebook album
- Jony Ive hasn't changed his shirt in a decade
- Do the Washington Post make mistakes?
- Half of all iPhone apps are either blue or black
- Newsopoly: Newspaper Monopoly is the fastest way to become a media mogul
- Time Magazine sees the world in black and white
Error: Twitter did not respond. Please wait a few minutes and refresh this page.
- 601,898 hits


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Producers together with Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo are planning to unveil energy chargers primarily based on GaN (gallium nitride) expertise this yr, doubtlessly providing assist for quick charging as much as 65W.
The information comes from a report in IT House, so do not take this as official affirmation simply but, however whether it is true then we might be charging out devices at a considerably sooner price within the not-too-distant future.
GaN chargers are extra environment friendly and smaller, and require much less parts than their silicon counterparts. It must also imply extra versatile chargers which can be in a position to energy up a broader vary of gadgets over USB-C.
As with most rising tech, it has been the excessive price of producing that has saved GaN chargers out of mainstream deplete till this level. Nevertheless, firms at the moment are figuring out methods of getting these chargers into the arms of customers at an inexpensive worth.
When a GaN comes collectively
Loads of GaN gadgets have been on present at CES 2020, a sure sign that the technology is ready to make a breakthrough over the next 12 months. You can already buy some third-party chargers based on GaN.
Xiaomi already has a GaN charger on the market in fact, which works with the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro phone to charge up its battery from zero to full in 45 minutes (you’ll still need a phone or laptop that supports the faster rate of course).
As for what companies like Apple and Samsung might be planning to do with the technology, that remains to be seen. The fastest charger Apple currently sells with its iPhones is the 18W one bundled with the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The new report gives no indication of when we might expect these new GaN chargers to appear, but we don’t think we’ll be waiting too long, considering products with the technology built in are already on the market.


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Do Handwritten Menus Make Us Think Food Is Healthier?
The author of a new study says typefaces that mimic handwriting connote 'love.'
Most of us probably don’t think too much about the looks of the menus of the restaurants we eat at. We’re too busy deciding what we want to eat (and perhaps how much we’re willing to pay for it). But new research suggests a detail as frequently overlooked as the font in which the menus are printed may affect our emotions, judgments and even our behavior.
If a restaurant menu uses a typeface that mimics handwriting, diners are more likely to conclude that the items listed on it are healthier — better for them, using higher quality ingredients and made with greater care — according to a new study published in the Journal of Business Research.
“The handwritten typeface conveys love … that sense of human touch,” study co-author Stephanie Liu, an assistant professor of hospitality management at The Ohio State University, said in a university release. “It feels to the customer like there is more heart, more effort, and more love in it, even though it doesn’t cost any more money.”
The effect, however, holds only for restaurants already perceived as healthy.
“This wouldn’t apply to a fast-food brand that sells low-quality hamburgers,” Liu said.
Liu and her fellow researchers conducted two experiments using 185 participants, according to MarketWatch.com. In the first, researchers asked participants, ages 20 to 84, to pretend they were eating in a fictional restaurant called “Rilo’s Kitchen” that served foods featuring ingredients that were locally grown, non-GMO and free of antibiotics. Then half of them were handed menus a font that appeared machine-produced (Helvetica) and half in a font that mimics handwriting (DJB This is Me).
Afterward, both groups were asked a series of questions – and those who were given the handwritten menu tended to believe the food was healthier and said they were more like to take to social media to post about it. The results did not hold in the second experiment, in which participants were not told that the restaurant served fresh, local, seasonal dishes.
Liu’s theory is that the intrinsic organic quality of handwriting – with its irregularly written letters and words – and implicit implication of a personal touch subconsciously sends a message of warmth, effort and care. That extra effort something that we expect and value from a healthy restaurant, she suggests, but not so much a regular or fast food eatery.
Especially in the case of solo diners, that may help forge a sense of connection and prompt them to return.
The research was underwritten by the Marriott Foundation – so you may want to be on the lookout for handwritten fonts at your next hotel breakfast.


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- Warren Buffett names his likely successors at Berkshire Hathaway
- A succession plan is vital to a company’s ongoing operational success
- Berkshire Hathaway has large equity stakes in companies like Wells Fargo, United Airlines, and American Express
When Warren Buffett, a.k.a. the Oracle of Omaha, speaks, people listen.
That’s why people paid careful attention earlier this week when Buffett named two likely successors for his multi-billion dollar business, Berkshire Hathaway, where he is chief executive.
Berkshire Hathaway is one of the most successful companies in the world, and Buffett is one of the wealthiest people on the planet, with an estimated net worth of $87 billion.
But Buffett is also 87 years old. His business partner and company vice chairman is Charlie Munger, who is 94 years old. Business experts have speculated for years about who might replace them.
With that in mind, Buffett made two high-profile promotions on Wednesday that experts say indicate his decision. He made Gregory Abel, 55, vice chair of the company’s non-insurance businesses, according to a company press release. Abel currently heads up Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
He also promoted Ajit Jain, 66, to be vice chair of the company’s insurance group. Jain is the executive vice president of Berkshire’s National Indemnity Company, the release says.
Both executives, who have been at Berkshire Hathaway for decades, were also named directors of the company’s board, which increased in size to 14 people from 12 to accommodate the new members.
What’s a board of directors?: A board of directors is a group of people who oversee the operations of a company and represent the interests of the shareholders.
A succession plan is a formal plan just about every company creates, specifying who takes over the leadership of a business when a the chief executive steps down.
Abel is expected to be tapped as Berkshire’s CEO, when Buffett steps down, according to the New York Times, which further reported Jain may take over Munger’s role as vice chairman.
Why is Warren Buffett doing this now?
Although Berkshire Hathaway’s press release said that Buffett and Munger will stay on in their current positions, both are well past the time that most executives retire.
By naming two relatively young insiders to new executive positions, Buffett is mapping out something called a succession plan. That’s a formal plan just about every company creates, specifying who takes over the leadership of a business when a the chief executive steps down, or dies. Having a succession plan ensures the company will continue operating smoothly, and with a minimum of hiccups when leadership changes.
Berkshire without Buffett
Much of Berkshire Hathaway’s success has been based on Buffett himself, who built the company from a struggling cotton mill and cloth spinning company he purchased in 1962, to its current gargantuan size. In fact, the company’s stock has increased a staggering 1.8 million percent over the last 50 years.
Understandably, the investing world wants to know that Berkshire Hathaway is in good hands when Buffett and Munger step down, and that the company will be led by people who have a strong vision for future growth.
“It’s part of a movement toward succession over time, and [Abel and Jain] are the two key figures at Berkshire,” Buffett told CNBC on Wednesday. “They both have Berkshire in their blood and know the operations like the back of their hands.”
Buffett’s son Howard is likely to be named the company’s chairman when his father departs, the Times reports.
Berkshire Hathaway: Background
Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate of 63 companies, some of which are among the most recognized brands in the U.S. Berkshire, for example, owns battery maker Duracell, and underwear manufacturer Fruit of the Loom. It also owns paint company Benjamin Moore, and the confectioner See’s Candies.
In addition to manufacturing, Berkshire also has significant holdings in the property/casualty insurance market, as well as energy businesses. In its most recent annual report, Buffett writes that his bets in insurance have fueled much of the company’s gains over the last 50 years. One of its crown jewels is automobile insurer Geico.
But Berkshire Hathaway isn’t only about the companies that it owns outright. With a market cap of $510 billion as of January 11, 2017, it also has large equity stakes in companies including Wells Fargo Bank, United Airlines, and American Express.
That means in addition to what Berkshire owns outright, it also owns a significant portion of other large U.S. companies that it finds promising.
Berkshire Hathaway is a public company with two classes of shares.
Its class A shares for professional investors–meaning people or institutions with a lot of cash to spend, and a lot of investing experience–are worth nearly $310,200 each, as of January 11, 2018. It also sells Class B shares for regular investors, which are relatively more affordable at $206.96*.
*Source:Yahoo Finance, January 11, 2018.
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At the end of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, it will be two years since the Commission proposed the new Batteries Regulation. While it is key that negotiating teams can discuss openly on the measures of the proposed Regulation, RECHARGE – the European industry association for advanced rechargeable and lithium batteries – encourages the Presidency to pick up the pace and conclude the Regulation under its six-months term. Developing a competitive and sustainable batteries industry in Europe is urgent: it will contribute to energy security and the strategic resilience of the EU economy – both of which are priorities of the Presidency.
Today the Czech Presidency presents its programme to the European Parliament. Following the important progress made during the French Presidency during which the Council reached a general approach, the Czech Republic needs to prioritise this important file in inter-institutional negotiations. The Presidency will now be pivotal in ensuring the trilogue discussions continue and conclude with a compromised reached. We expect that the measures in the final Regulation will deliver on advancing the decarbonisation and energy transition, and that the European batteries value chain becomes a competitive global leader, able to contribute to energy security on the continent and to a resilient EU economy.
The current geopolitical context has demonstrated the vulnerability of our energy system and the crucial necessity for the EU to reduce its dependencies in value chains of strategic interest. Such an approach will be essential to prevent potential future crises from detrimentally impacting key EU industries. “Importantly, existing dependencies in the energy sector should not be replicated in the case of batteries”, stated Claude Chanson, General Manager of RECHARGE.
“We are calling for a swift development and strengthening of the batteries industry on our continent. Against the background of this new context, which highlights the urgency of fostering industrial resilience, the EU must decrease its high dependency on imported batteries. Europe accounts only for a small share of around 7% of the global battery production today, while China takes the lion’s share”, added Chanson. When moving away from oil and natural gas, both in the energy and transport sectors, Europe should simultaneously become autonomous and support the electrification and renewables development with a European battery ecosystem.
Creating a strong batteries industry will depend on long-term investments and a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework. About 800,000 new jobs are expected to be created before 2030 if Europe manages to increase its market share to 20%. The new Batteries Regulation needs to support this industrial dynamic and ensure a competitive and leading European value chain, able to decrease European dependency on imported batteries.
However, the intrinsic difficulty of enforcing several of the proposed design requirements in the Regulation is likely to create an uneven playing field, in which the EU industry will bear the burden of the regulatory constraints, while control of compliance with the sustainability rules for imported products is expected to be insufficient. “Enshrining too many constraints and regulatory hurdles in the Batteries Regulation within a too short timeline would risk setting back value chain efforts and planned investments and could ultimately endanger reaching the EU’s strategic resilience and energy security objectives”, concluded Chanson.
Thus, RECHARGE is calling on policymakers to thoroughly take into account the value chain’s recommendations for the inter-institutional negotiations under the Czech Presidency.


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This is Erik Carlson, the new CEO of DISH. Charlie Ergen, the driving force behind the company, will stay on as Chairman, but is giving up the post of CEO, according to the press release, “to focus on wireless opportunities.”
DISH has been poking around the world of wireless for years now. It’s no secret that they’re interested in some sort of wireless presence, but it’s never quite come together for them. There was an ill-fated attempt to buy Sprint, and over the years they have bid on — and won — hundreds of millions of dollars worth of wireless licenses. Now, finally, the company may be doing something with all of their assets.
It’s pretty obvious when you look at the future that cord-cutting will continue and that the traditional pay-TV model is very mature. It’s been a long, long time since the company’s had a quarter with subscriber growth, and any profits they’ve realized have been through careful management, not through growing the company. DISH’s pay-TV footprint is now about half of that of AT&T, its natural competitor, and while the company continues to innovate in the satellite TV space it’s not likely they’ll ever grow to AT&T’s size.
Wireless services could be a big thing for DISH. It’s not clear how all their wireless holdings will play into this move, but letting Mr. Ergen focus on the wireless business means that we’ll truly find some innovative things coming from the company, that’s for sure.
There are some other title swaps within upper management, and that’s all detailed here.


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ELECTRIC CAR DEALERS, INC.
(NYSE: EED) has won an order from the French government to build a new lithium-based battery plant at a facility in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the company announced Wednesday.
The deal, which is expected to be worth about $300 million, is a significant win for JVS, which has struggled to attract new orders in recent months amid low battery production rates and competition from electric vehicles (EVs).
The French government has awarded JVS a $4.4 billion contract to produce batteries for the country’s electricity grid, the state-owned French energy company said in a statement.
The contract will be awarded within 30 days of signing and will see JVS build and supply lithium-air batteries for local power grids.JVS will be building the battery plant in a state-of-the-art battery factory at the French port city of Saint-Roch.
It will employ about 1,500 people, and the plant will produce 1,600,000 kilowatt hours of lithium-cell batteries a year.
The company said the contract was in addition to a $3.3 billion contract awarded in May to the United States-based JQR Capital to develop and manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.JQR is also the parent company of a lithium-sulfur battery manufacturer, LSR Industries, which builds the lithium-polymer battery technology for electric vehicle batteries.
JQA recently agreed to sell its stake in LSR to the Chinese company Suntech.
JVS has long been known for its battery technology, and last year it was awarded a $2.8 billion contract from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to build two new battery factories in China and Japan.
However, the plant that will build the new plant in France is expected not to be a new battery plant, but rather an upgrade of the existing one in a French industrial park, which JVS is not allowed to build in France.
In the future, JVS will build batteries for both EVs and natural gas-powered vehicles.
“We are delighted that the government is committed to our continued success in building and powering France’s economy,” said JVS President and CEO Jean-Pierre J. Guillemin in a written statement.
At the same time, he said, the contract “will contribute to France’s growth and employment.”
In a separate statement, the French Energy Ministry said it was “committed to the countrys growth and competitiveness.”