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It’s no secret that ad blocking on smartphones has seen an increase, as more and more apps become available for both iOS and Android by the week.
According to PageFair’s latest research, there are at least 419 million people blocking ads on smartphones using a variety of methods.
And while some telecoms companies such as Three are taking a controversial approach and trialling network-based ad blocking, Tesco Mobile’s embracing ads in a different way.
The company’s partnered with Android app Unlockd to give customers money off their phone bills in exchange for receiving targeted content from selected brand and publishers, as well as ads, as they unlock their phones.
Unlockd’s brought this offering to Australia and US already, but the partnership is the first time this kind of tech’s come to the UK.
Its CEO, Matt Berriman, said the model provides a “clear, commercial value exchange” and is certainly an alternative to Three’s arguably riskier strategy.
All eyes will be on Tesco’s customer base, and how they respond to having the freedom of choice
“Three’s ad blocking plans are reflective of a much bigger industry issue,” he said.
“Telcos are after a slice of the mobile advertising revenues that they’ve created, but currently see little revenue from. Blocking or threatening to block ads is a topical way to get publishers and media companies to the negotiating table.
“But ad blocking does not offer the value exchange that consumers or telcos are really both seeking. Blocking ads makes a clear statement of intent, but it won’t help to have any impact on a telco’s revenues or bottom line,” Berriman added.
And Unlockd is certainly positioning itself as an alternative to adblocking for telcos; it’s got the backing of some large investors such as PLC Ventures and has closed a $15m series A funding round in recent months.
Tesco Mobile Xtras
Tesco’s calling its initiative with Unlockd ‘Mobile Xtras’, suggesting it’s offering something more to the consumer. It’s available to the network’s current and new pay monthly customers.
It works by bringing ads and content from Unlockd partner brands to customers in exchange for £3 off their phone bill – although the amount could increase depending on adoption, they said.
The ads, offers, content and discounts will come from brands such as British Airways, McDonalds, Doritos and Branston and Unlockd is also partnering with Facebook through its Audience Network to deliver personalised ads. Advertising inventory will be provided exclusively by Publisher News UK, which will also deliver articles from The Sun.
While Tesco’s not said the initiative is directly related to the adoption of ad blocking, CEO Anthony Vollmer told MarketTech it’s mainly about growing its customer base.
“We don’t expect this service to be for everyone,” he told our sister site, TelecomsTech.
“For those who are used to adverts and find this service engaging and helpful, then definitely. We love the proposition because it’s the first time we’ve seen an example of where the customer gets to share in the value of the advertising. The motivation for us in doing it is not to make money from the advertising, but to grow our customer base.”
The app has a geolocation feature, which works via standard locations services and will be used to offer promotions for shops and cafes close by. It says it won’t eat into users’ mobile data allowances, as it’ll be disabled automatically abroad and users get a free 200MB of data per month.
Customers’ data is also a sore point for many, but brands won’t be able to access or buy personal mobile data.
And while Three certainly re-ignited the debate about mobile ads, “all eyes” will be on Tesco’s customer base to see how they respond to freedom of voice, uSwitch.com’s telecoms expert Ernest Doku said.
“Three recently re-ignited the debate about mobile ads by announcing plans to block them at network level, so all eyes will be on Tesco’s customer base, and how they respond to having the freedom of choice,” he said.
“Smartphone users aren’t unfamiliar with advertising on handsets – it’s the compromise of many free-to-use apps – so it’s likely cost-conscious customers will be happy to give this a try. But whether mobile users are willing to live with ads in return for cheaper bills will depend on how intrusive they are, and how relevant,” Doku added.
As both intiatives are very much in their early phases – Three is only just looking for beta testers – we can expect to see more advancements in the mobile adblocking arena from large telcos in the coming months and years.


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Online enforcement of counterfeit luxury goods: the China problem
Force but flexible strategies are necessary to deal with counterfeit breaches, says Fredericka Argent, associate in the global Branded Goods practice at Covington & Burling.
When a luxury goods firm launches a new product -- perhaps a handbag, a watch or perfume -- significant costs are spent on obtaining intellectual property (IP) rights to cement brand identity and protect it from theft by IP infringers. Then, within days, the company finds its products appearing online across multiple websites outside of its control. The websites are offering counterfeit versions of the same goods, with similar logos and packaging, but sold at knockdown prices.
Counterfeiters reap small fortunes from knowing or misled customers, and often gain revenue from advertisers. They may convey an appearance of legality by offering consumers seemingly legitimate payment mechanisms and the services of trusted couriers to deliver their (counterfeit) goods. The result is reputational damage and profit losses for luxury brands.
Online counterfeiting appears in many forms. Independent websites, online marketplaces and social media websites are becoming a popular and cheap method for counterfeiters to attempt to sell fake goods. The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that counterfeiting accounts for between 5 - 7 per cent of world trade and is worth an estimated $600 billion a year.
Focus on China
Increasingly, luxury brand owners are seeing rogue websites based in China, which is the focus of this article. Counterfeiting in China is hard to police, as operators of websites can conceal their identity and whereabouts, and China’s law enforcement and judicial systems for tackling IP crime suffer from weaknesses, such as under-resourcing. In 2005, a survey of 450 members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) found that piracy is “so pervasive and serious” in China that 35 per cent of them said they were forced to “slow, decrease, or consider decreasing their investments in the country.”
However, as their economy continues to grow, and Chinese consumers become hungrier for luxury brands, China becomes an increasingly important market for many luxury goods companies. Strategies for operating in the Chinese market whilst navigating the prolific counterfeiting problem are more crucial than ever.
The USTR’s “Special 301” Report for 2014 recognizes that China’s judicial, legislative, administrative, and enforcement authorities are in the midst of wide-ranging legal reform as part of efforts to enhance the protection and enforcement of IPR in China. Some of these reforms are identified below. However, China remains on the USTR’s Priority Watch List, and they estimate that products from China accounted for 93 per cent of the value of IP-infringing products seized by U.S. customs in 2013. Given the scope of the problem, careful vigilance will be needed to ensure that IP reforms in China lead to concrete improvements in brand protection.
What options do brand owners have to fight counterfeiting of goods?
It is important that brand owners review all options in order to deploy a well-structured but flexible strategy to tackling the wealth of online fakes.
The cornerstone for any anti-counterfeiting strategy is an online monitoring programme. There are long term gains from keeping ongoing records of the websites whose illicit activities can be targeted. Once the targets are identified, “cease and desist” notices should then be sent to the relevant players who are helping the websites to stay online, either by providing infrastructure or revenue streams. These include Internet Services Providers (ISPs), domain name registrars and advertisers. Where possible, such notices should also be sent to the website owners themselves, ideally written in the local language. Brand owners should set out in any cease and desist notice the rights that have been infringed, including both trademark and copyright. There may even be a health and safety infringement that can be raised -- for example, in the case of counterfeit make-up or electronics goods. It can be helpful to conduct a test purchase too so that evidence of sale can be proven.
In respect of legitimate online marketplaces and social media websites, complaints of IP infringement can usually be made directly to the website itself using an online form. Websites such as eBay and Facebook and Chinese sites, such as Alibaba and Taobao.com, tend to act quickly against the sale of counterfeit products through their websites.
In addition to monitoring, a practical and effective method of protecting brand identities in China is by registering the trademark using the Chinese character-equivalent of the brand name in question. For international companies who do not have trademark registration in China, enforcing IP rights online becomes particularly difficult, as courts may not recognise the company as having rights to protect. It has also become common for rogue third parties, using China’s first-to-file system, to register the Chinese-character version of a famous brand name before the brand itself is able to register. The owner of that brand, even international brands with established reputations, may then be forced to fork out money to buy their mark from those “squatting” on it.
Establishing links in China, not just with law firms but also with law enforcement agencies and local and national governmental organisations can also be a good way to raise awareness of problems caused to the brand by counterfeiters. If litigation were to become necessary, having pre-established relationships with local players could come into its own. More widely, it can be beneficial to work together with other companies who are facing the same issues with the counterfeiting of their goods. If coordinated action can be taken, this can make the issue higher profile and lead to more involvement on the part of the Chinese authorities in finding a solution.
Other possible options that may be worth exploring are to work with customs officers in relevant jurisdictions to help train them on spotting counterfeit product, and to speak with authorities in the brand owner’s home jurisdiction who may be able to assist on a political level. One of the most active governments in this area is the U.S. government, whose Immigration and Customs Enforcement department (ICE) has an IP Center devoted to tackling online and real-world counterfeiting. Litigation in China’s courts is also an option, but can be a slow and expensive process, which may be unfruitful.
Is the tide turning?
In 2012, the Supreme Court of the People’s Republic of China released a white paper on Intellectual Property Protection by Chinese Courts in 2011. The paper acknowledges the increasing importance of the judiciary’s protection of IP rights in assisting the growth and modernization of the Chinese economy. It also highlights the use of criminal enforcement mechanisms to deter IP infringement, particularly in the sale of counterfeit goods in cases involving foreign parties. The paper reveals not only an attempt to crack down on IP infringers but also reflects a concern for international opinion on China’s track record for poor IP enforcement. It was also announced in 2014 that the Chinese government plans to introduce three specialist IP Courts in China, with the aim of helping ease the backlog of outstanding cases in China and hopefully leading to better IP enforcement.
In May 2014, a new Chinese trademark law came into effect, which should make registration fairer, especially for foreign companies. One of the key changes is that anyone registering trademarks will now have to show that their filing is being made in “good faith” -- in other words that the trademark is registered by the lawful owner. There is also a plan to increase regulatory oversight of trademark filings and impose penalties on rogue trademark agencies and bad faith oppositions to existing trademarks.
In a further new development, leading companies in China, such as Taobao, owned by the Alibaba Group, are taking steps to fight counterfeiters. In 2014, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Alibaba and the China-Britain Business Council. This is one of many MoUs that Alibaba has signed recently: another was signed in 2013 with Louis Vuitton. The purpose of the MoUs is to establish cooperation mechanisms for IP protection and combatting online counterfeit transactions. A report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2014 demonstrated other steps Alibaba is taking to deter counterfeiters, such as working closely with criminal enforcement, and imposing penalties on vendors when counterfeiting is discovered.
Although in recent years attempts have been made to improve the problem of online counterfeiting practices in China, it remains widespread. The laws regulating the infringement of IP rights have not been strong enough and there is no robust enforcement mechanism. To effectively tackle the scale of IP infringement requires more involvement from the Chinese government. Many of the website operators committing IP infringement are sophisticated criminal gangs who can only be dealt with by a vigorous prosecution system. As long as these sorts of systems are missing, luxury brands from around the world will continue to face extreme hardship enforcing their rights and fighting counterfeiting practices in China.
There are increasing efforts by the Chinese government to enforce and protect IP rights more strongly. Working with law enforcement on the ground in China and keeping lines of communication open with other brands facing similar issues and interested third parties, such as ISPs and online platforms, such as Alibaba, is one possible solution to the problem of counterfeiting. However, alongside this, more fundamental methods of enforcing IP rights, such as sending regular cease and desist notices, should be used to establish an evidence trail, which could be used by law enforcement in future. For brand owners facing these problems in China, persevering with forceful but flexible strategies is the best way to see long term results.
The author can be reached via firstname.lastname@example.org. Covington’s Branded Goods team can be found blogging at www.covbrands.com

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Lidl have released their Christmas ad which shows a group of elves working on preparing products for a Christmas feast.
Lidl have dropped their Christmas advert online, and it is so cute.
The advert shows a Lidl store just after closing time, as a group of toy elves come alive just in time to prepare a Christmas feast.
It's a big operation as can be seen by the freezer tops being lifted by drones and the various elves at work, cooking food and preparing for it to be judged by the quality team. 10s all around.
Lidl shared the advert on their social media channels, stating: "This Christmas, Santa isn’t the only one checking a list….
"After the lights go out in Lidl, a crack team of Christmas experts get to work making sure you and your family have the delicious Christmas fare you deserve!"
People have reacted online, saying they're glad they still get a Christmas ad this year.
— Teena Gates (@TeenaGates) November 7, 2020
Another person asked is it too early for a Christmas dinner at 10am? Sure it's five o'clock somewhere...
— Sarah Geoghegan (@SarahGeoghegan4) November 6, 2020
From breaded shrimp to Mince Pies and Christmas Pudding, this advert will make you want a Christmas dinner ASAP...
— Nicole (@nicole_bramhill) November 7, 2020
Piranha Bar Studio are the content creators behind the Lidl advert this year, and it's clear they smashed it.
— Lizzie Jones (@LizzieJayyy) November 6, 2020
Aldi also dropped their Christmas advert last week.


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Fortis hospital has issued guidelines and has tried to teach people on how to keep their bones healthy on the occasion of World’s Arthritis day. Experts told that there are over 150 types of diseases based on Rheumatic of musculoskeletal conditions and these diseases can be divided into four groups — joint diseases, physical disability, spinal disorders, and conditions resulting from trauma.
Balvinder Rana, MS Orthopaedics at Fortis Escorts Research Institute explained that musculoskeletal conditions lead to disability and morbidity. Healthcare expenditures for such conditions dig deep in pockets with heavy loss of work as victim becomes incapable. On the other hand, arthritis is a disease which affects joints and cartilages become thinner with the time. There several forms of arthritis including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, spinal disorders.
Doctors warned people that simple dietary mistakes can lead to long-term problems related to bones. For example, consuming extra amount of salt forces our body to lose excess calcium from our body through urine which depletes our bones and it might lead to Osteoporosis in the long run. A study suggests that instead of eating 1000mg of calcium per day, one can decrease salt intake by 10 to 5 gm/ day as both have the same effect on human bones.
Doctors further added that sodas and other carbonated soft drinks also leads to weakening of bones. While comparing the children of 2016 with those in 1950’s, doctors said that six decades ago children used to drink three cups of healthy drinks like milk and fruit juices versus single cup of soda while the situation is just opposite now. Children now drink three cups of sodas versus single cup of healthy drink thus, nothing much is left to neutralise the negative effects of carbonated drinks which ultimately affects our bones.
Also, drinking excess amount of coffee weakens our bones as it decreases the calcium absorption of our body. Thus, either increase calcium intake while drinking coffee or replace the coffee with tea. Apart from coffee, alcohol also reduces the calcium absorption rate.
Previously conducted studies have suggested that women eating too much chocolate are at higher risk of weak bones. Eating one serving of chocolates per day increases the risk of weak bones among women.
Here are some tips to strengthen your bones:
- Eat green leafy vegetables
- Eat salmon as it is a rich source of vitamin D and calcium
- Eat yogurt as it has more calcium than milk
- Include eggs in you daily diet
- Lastly, drink milk twice a day


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In this video, Motley Fool contributor Steve Heller explores what has made eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) a mobile powerhouse in the age of smartphones and what will drive future returns for shareholders. Most notably, Brazil, Russia, India, and China will continue to dominate growth, as 80% of the next 2 billion Internet users coming online in the next three to five years will come from these countries. In the context of mobile, the majority of these users will experience the Internet for the first time on a mobile device, putting eBay's mobile business in an envious position compared to the competition -- namely, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
Fool contributor Steve Heller owns shares of Google and eBay. The Motley Fool recommends eBay, Facebook, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of eBay, Facebook, and Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Sharp Move: Trump’s Plastic Straws And Sharpies Nets His Campaign Almost $1M
President's merchandise is 'secret' weapon' for 2020
President Donald Trump's piggybacking off his recent media antics to sell merchandise has netted his campaign nearly $1 million in donations, according to reports.
The president's campaign has sold almost 55,000 packs of plastic straws, making over $823,000 in sales.
Additionally, campaign officials have sold around $50,000 worth of Sharpie pens, according to campaign communication director Tim Murtaugh, as per The New York Times.
Murtaugh added that over a third of people who bought the straws had never donated to the campaign.
On September 6, Trump began selling the Sharpies to raise money following a CNN hit piece which criticized him for using a pen on a map to alter Hurricane Dorian’s trajectory.
Trump doubled down on a tweet implying the storm would hit Alabama after facing backlash from left-leaning media outlets who attempted to correct him by showing a map of the path of the hurricane that had been modified with a Sharpie.
Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, announced the marketing ploy in a tweet.
“Buy the official Trump marker, which is different than every other marker on the market, because this one has the special ability to drive @CNN and the rest of the fake news crazy!”
Get Ready: New CNN Hire Is Guaranteed to Let The Fake News Roll…Unless He’s Locked Up First— Neon Nettle (@NeonNettle) September 15, 2019
READ MORE: https://t.co/jfjVIIGgXW
In July, campaign organizers made a similar move by selling pro-Trump plastic straws to trigger liberals pushing to eliminate them to help the environment.
The campaign’s official website is selling branded reusable and recyclable straws for $15 per set.
The straw sold out on at least one e occasion, according to reports.
Supporters of Trump can also buy T-shirts mocking CNN’s Chris Cuomo, who was filmed exploding in an aggressive rage after a Trump supporter called him "Fredo" while asking for a photo.
The T-shirt is designed to parody Cuomo’s claims the name is a slur against Italians.
Neon Nettle has reached out to Murtaugh to ask how the Cuomo T-shirts are selling.


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US retailer Walmart has announced plans to invest an estimated $173m to open and remodel 34 stores, in Florida, this year.
As part the expansion, the retailer will establish a new store, Walmart Neighborhood Market, at 14720 SW 26th St, in Miami, Florida. It will also remodel its stores under Walmart Supercenter and Neighborhood Market banners at Bradenton, Cocoa, Lakeland, Melbourne, Tampa, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Clewiston, Englewood and more locations across Florida.
The company will also use the investment to expand its grocery pickup service to more than 72 stores and its grocery delivery service to 63 stores across the state by the end of this year.
Walmart will also add 36 pickup towers to stores, autonomous shelf scanners to 32 stores, fast unloaders to 88 stores and autonomous floor scrubbers to 112 stores.
Walmart pickup towers are 16ft tall, high-tech vending machines that allow customers to place orders online and pick them up at the towers by scanning a barcode sent to their smartphone. The autonomous shelf scanner, using automation, allows store associates to scan shelves and identify issues such as low in-stock levels, wrong prices, or missing labels.
The fast unloader automatically scans and sorts items that arrive at the stores based on priority and department to assist associates in unloading stock and the autonomous floor scrubber is designed to clean and scrub the concrete store floors.
As part of its national expansion, Walmart will also add 1,200 autonomous floor scrubbers, 300 autonomous shelf scanners, 1,200 fast unloaders and 900 pickup towers to stores across the US. It will also expand its online grocery pickup to 1,000 stores and grocery delivery service to 800 stores.
Walmart Florida vice president and regional general manager Elise Vasquez-Warner said: “Our leadership has a fantastic vision for how we need to evolve and adopt to further position us as a leader in retail innovation, and I’m proud of the work our associates are doing to stay at the forefront of that change.
“If you consider that almost every innovation being tested in the company right now is happening in our state, you can see why Florida is such an important area geographically for the business. We’re certainly building off strong momentum from last year to serve our Florida customers in new and exciting ways and help our associates work smarter, easier and faster.”


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Goodyear Recalls Tire Nobody Uses Anymore
Goodyear has agreed to recall more than 173,000 intended for commercial delivery vehicles and RVs nearly two decades after the last one was manufactured. The company’s G159 tires have been under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) since December of 2017 and the recall comes in the wake of years of lawsuits alleging the rubber contributed to a series of fatal accidents dating back to 1998.
Despite no new claims having launched in years, court orders and settlement agreements delayed an order to make corporate data pertaining to the tire-buying public for five full years. The NHTSA didn’t even launch a formal investigation until late in 2017, followed by the recent announcement that the agency has pushed Goodyear into a recall for a tire that ended production during the Bush administration.
Renault Kwid Unveiled, Ready To Battle Maruti Suzuki Alto In India
As the Datsun brand stumbles in India, Renault-Nissan unveiled the Kwid Wednesday to take on the challenge of beating the best-selling Maruti Suzuki Alto.
Datsun Is Go In South Africa
Nissan’s budget brand Datsun is ready to go to South Africa, the fourth market that the resurrected nameplate will either see again or for the first time.
Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: Understanding The Indian Car Market
A recent stay in India has enabled me to get a much better understanding of the Indian new car market and its dynamics which have very unique characteristics. Understanding India is essential in today’s worldwide automotive scene – a lot of the innovation taking place here will soon be applied to other developing markets (like Africa).
Datsun Go Production Launched In India
Just in time for the 2014 Delhi Motor Show — where the above Datsun Redi-Go concept made its debut this week — Renault-Nissan launches production of the revived brand’s Go subcompact at their plant in Chennai, India.


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Frasers Group is understood to be in a series of discussions regarding the possible sale of Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green after it acquired the brand from JD Sports last year.
Pretty Green was among the 14 brands that Frasers had snapped up from JD in December 2022 after the sportswear group announced plans to narrow down its portfolio to focus on its sports category.
The deal also included the likes of Base Childresnwear, Cricket, Kids Cavern, Missy Empire, Tessuti and Watch Shop, among others.
According to Drapers, Frasers is believed to be in conversations with a number of interested parties as it looks to offload the brand.
Founded in 2009 by former Oasis frontman Gallagher, Pretty Green was acquired by JD Sports following its decline into administration in 2019.
It then became part of JD Sports’ package deal to Frasers last year, through which it offloaded a series of fashion brands that didn’t align with its sportswear focus.
The news follows reports that Frasers would be rebranding Base Childrenswear, Choice and Giulio, three other brands part of JD’s deal, under its Flannels banner.
The move would result in the closure of the labels, with Base to be rebranded as Flannels Junior while Choice and Giulio are to be brought under the Flannels umbrella.


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Equities research analysts expect Endava plc (NYSE:DAVA – Get Rating) to report $221.44 million in sales for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Four analysts have made estimates for Endava’s earnings. The highest sales estimate is $231.03 million and the lowest is $217.84 million. Endava reported sales of $186.75 million in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 18.6%. The firm is expected to report its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that Endava will report full year sales of $810.43 million for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $796.55 million to $847.69 million. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will report sales of $1.01 billion, with estimates ranging from $989.64 million to $1.06 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are an average based on a survey of analysts that follow Endava.
Endava (NYSE:DAVA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 12th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.36 million. Endava had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 11.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share.
Shares of DAVA stock opened at $91.50 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $116.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.58. Endava has a 52 week low of $88.12 and a 52 week high of $172.41. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.20 and a beta of 1.17.
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DAVA. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in Endava during the first quarter worth approximately $64,236,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Endava by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,309,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,882,000 after purchasing an additional 428,558 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Endava by 841.0% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 475,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,201,000 after purchasing an additional 424,700 shares in the last quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Endava by 22.6% in the first quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,780,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,864,000 after buying an additional 328,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Endava by 126.0% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 531,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,685,000 after buying an additional 296,204 shares in the last quarter. 49.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Endava Company Profile (Get Rating)
Endava plc provides technology services for clients in the consumer products, healthcare, mobility, and retail verticals in Europe, Latin America, North America, and internationally. The company offers technology and digital advisory services for payments and financial services, and TMT sectors; IT strategies; business analysis services; program management services; digital product strategy services; and architecture, extended reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence, product design, and user experience and visual design services.
- Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Endava (DAVA)
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Burger King Just Added Three New Sandwiches to the Menu
Burger King's menu revamp is underway. The chain is cutting promotions and menu items, but there's good news.
Burger King launched three new sandwiches today to deliver on its promise of inventive Whopper extensions.
After a temporary test in Ohio earlier this year, Whopper Melts are now available statewide. According to the chain's news release, these
sandwiches are smaller than Whoppers since they're served on toasted bread without a bun and can be carried with one hand.
Two Whopper Jr. Patties, melted American cheese, caramelized onions, and Stacker Sauce are piled on two slices of toasted bread.
The Spicy Whopper Melt: Two toasted slices of bread, two Whopper Jr. Patties, melted American cheese, jalapeños, caramelized onions, and a creamy spicy sauce.
Two Whopper Jr. Patties, melted American cheese, crispy bacon, caramelized onions, and Stacker Sauce are piled on two slices of toasted bread.
Burger King said these hot Whoppers are the first of many this year.
The restaurant is offering Royal Perks members $6 limited-time Whopper Melt Meal combos
to promote the new Whopper Melts. They will be available on bk.com and the mobile app starting March 10.
Check Our new stories


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T-Mobile US shed some additional light on its launch of Rich Communication Services (RCS) technology, noting that Samsung upgraded its native messaging app to include support for T-Mobile's new RCS-based Advanced Messaging service. "Generally, T-Mobile Advanced Messaging replaces the existing messaging app on RCS-capable phones and offers enhanced messaging features right out of the box, without the need to download and configure an over-the-top application," explained a T-Mobile representative.
Verizon wireline workers represented by the Communications Workers of America union said they will reveal the results of the strike authorization votes taken over the last two weeks during a rally to be held on Saturday.
Retail and online video streaming giant Amazon once again surprised analysts, this time by doing something it hasn't done in several quarters: posted a profit. Revenue for the second quarter jumped 20 percent year over year to $23.2 billion, with a profit of $92 million, coming to 19 cents per share.
Wi-Fi first service provider Republic Wireless kicked off a several week initiative, which it is calling Project Salsa, to test in-call two-way handover between cellular and Wi-Fi networks.
Telecom Italia confirmed plans to cut about 1,700 jobs and delay a scheme that would have seen the Italian operator hire up to 4,000 young people under a government proposal.
AT&T Mobility added fewer postpaid customers in the second quarter than analysts were expecting and many fewer than it gained in the year-ago period. AT&T notched 410,000 postpaid subscribers in the quarter and the company relied heavily on connected cars and prepaid customers for subscriber growth in the second quarter.
AT&T is confident that its 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-home is on track and is happy with the subscriber take rates it is seeing thus far in the markets where it is delivering the service. That's according to CFO John Stephens, who said the carrier is sticking to its buildout commitments.
Hawaiian Telcom is seeing more service providers and content providers continue to purchase capacity on its portion of the South-East Asia-United States (SEA-US) submarine cable system, coming close to $30 million in sales.
Although AT&T appears poised to close its $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV any day now, some see the move by the telecom giant as a step backwards rather than forwards.
Verizon and the Communications Workers of America union continue to be at odds over how to structure pension benefits for a new labor contract. The current contract expires on Aug. 1.


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Sun Microsystems says that German OEM software distributor Markement has sold more than one million copies of Sun's StarOffice. The milestone marks
more that 40 million copies distributed to date, and puts StarOffice and its open source counterpart, OpenOffice.org, "as one of the most popular
choices among consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide," according to the company.
March 18, 2004


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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Electronics behemoths Best Buy Co., Circuit City Stores and RadioShack Corp led a steady retail sector on Friday after a broker said they could advance even when top-end television set prices begin to fall.
Cowen & Co. analyst Jonathan Cramer launched coverage of the electronics segment on a high note, assigning outperform ratings to Best Buy and Circuit City and a neutral look at RadioShack. He believes the category will continue to be strong long after flat-panel TV prices have dropped. See full story.
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The move came also only two days after the Wal-Mart executive who hired the firm, Julie Roehm, left the company.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Roehm had attended a party hosted by Draft at the Nobu restaurant in New York. Wal-Mart has had a lone-standing policy of not accepting anything -- including a cup of coffee -- from vendors.
More broadly, the S&P Retail Index $RLX inched up fractionally at 501.56.
Off the index, shares of Steve Madden Ltd.


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On Sunday night’s episode of E! Network’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” Kim Kardashian West revealed that baby Yeezy shoes will be released to the public this summer.
“Baby Yeezys are going to be launched in August,” she said in one scene. “The black ones and the original blue-and-cream mix.” We aren’t sure what she meant by blue and cream, but it’s safe to assume she’s referring to the Turtle Dove colorway. She also mentioned a possible release of a pink version.
Kardashian West first debuted baby Yeezys in October on her Instagram that were made exclusively for North West by her father, Kanye West. According to Kardashian West, these Yeezy 350s — in both colorways — were the only official pairs made at that time.
Most recently, Kardashian West shared a photo on Snapchat of her son, Saint West, sitting on her lap wearing pint-size Yeezy Boost 350s on Easter Sunday. A few weeks prior, North opted to wear matching black outfits and black Yeezy Boost 350s with her mother out and about in Los Angeles.
For those still looking for a pair themselves, rumors have started to surface that there could be a Yeezy release coming next month, with a reported release date scheduled for June 6. Stay tuned for more updates.


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In this clip from The A.J. Brown Show, we dig into some recent data that points to consumers making more, spending less, and saving even more, all signals the FED wants to see in helping them reign in recent inflation. Learn more by watching the full show episode here.
Watch the video clip above for the breakdown or read the transcript below.
So I wanted to bring up this chart. We’ve brought this up in the past, and this is kind of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. You guys probably don’t even know that all of this data totally exists out there, but the Bureau of Economic Analysis keeps track of income, that’s this blue line. Expenses, that’s this red line, and how much we’ve got in our savings accounts.
So if I pull them out individually, so if I get rid of spending and I get rid of savings, you can see that income’s been on a rise. That’s one of the things that the Fed has been trying to control is how fast incomes appreciate, because that’s part of inflation. Inflation is not just what things cost at the store, but also what they’re doing here. Then you come into spending and you’ll notice when… Sorry, I’m moving my cursor all around. You’ll notice that spending has started to flat out.
This was the holiday season, the winter holiday season. But for the most part, if you look at October, November, and now January and February, you can see that spending, people are actually starting to tighten their wallets. We’re even starting to see it in the services. So incomes are still on the rise, but spending has started to stall.
If we take a look at finally the savings, we were worried because people were dipping into their savings in the last half of last year. Well, guess what? People stopped spending. They realize that there are some shenanigans going on, and so they’re starting to do this saving. So this is all evidence that what the Fed has been trying to do is starting to work. So I want to keep emphasizing that.
But with that said, coming back to spending, they do expect… And I don’t know if it’s Americans’ DNA or something, but they sure do like to buy things. So this Easter holiday is getting… We don’t have the numbers yet. Retail sales that was reported this morning was for the month of February and March. It wasn’t for April yet. So we are expecting to see retail sales the next couple of months for this Easter season be through the roof.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, related topics, and how my options investing strategy works no matter what the market is doing, then watch this workshop: optioninvesting.org/workshop
Be sure to leave a comment below. Let’s have a discussion.
About The Author
A.J. Brown is widely recognized as “the world’s most disciplined option trader.” He has been actively trading equities and options since 1997, and has published daily insights for his Trading Trainer program participants every single night, 5-days a week, since 2002. He is the author of the wildly successful e-book called “The Seven Strategies of Successful Options Traders” and his home study courses and video series can be found in the libraries of the most successful investors and often times referred to by them as their secret weapons. Trading Trainer is based out of Fort Collins, Colorado.


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|| Print ||
|Articles - February 2014|
|Tuesday, January 21, 2014|
BY LINDA BAKER
Although millions of people take anti-depressants, scientists know astonishingly little about how these therapies actually work. “It was kind of hit or miss; the measure was whether the person got better or not,” says Eric Gouaux, a senior scientist at OHSU’s Vollum Institute. Now Gouaux and his lab are shedding new light on a previously cloudy process: Their research focuses on the dopamine transporter, a protein that helps regulate levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Abnormal levels of dopamine are present in a variety of disorders, including depression. So what is Gouaux’s scientific breakthrough? “For the first time, we are able to visualize the molecular details of what the antidepressant does when it binds to a biologically active site,” he says. In layman’s terms: “We can finally see the lock in which keys have been placed.” The key to success was solving the 3-D crystal structure of the dopamine transporter, a notoriously difficult task that has stymied scientists for decades. The next step is to gain insight into better therapies, as well as to visualize the impact of drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine, which exert much of their biological effect by inhibiting the dopamine transporter. In the meantime, Gouaux, who has labored four years on the project, is pretty happy with his lab’s pioneering discovery. “It’s been a pilgrimage,” he says.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Kim Ierian, President of Concorde Career Colleges, and Deborah Edward, Executive Director of Business for Culture & the Arts, share their recent reads.
Friday, August 15, 2014
In this week's poll, we asked readers: "Who should pay for the troubled Cover Oregon website?" Here are the results.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
BY JESSICA RIDGWAY
September's Launch article features Orchid Health, BuddyUp and Inter-Europe Consulting.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
BY LEE VAN DER VOO
By now we’ve all read the headlines: Starbucks is giving away free degrees. Except it isn’t.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
BY LINDA BAKER | OB EDITOR
Remember the naysayers? Those who called the South Waterfront aerial tram a boondoggle? Those who rejoiced at the massive sell off of luxury condos at the John Ross and Atwater Place?
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
By Kim Moore | OB Editor
The 2015 survey launched this week. It is open to for-profit private and public companies that have at least 15 full- or part-time employees in Oregon.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
BY TOM COX | OB BLOGGER
When I say, “Your Employee is Always Right,” I do not mean “right about the facts,” but rather “right about how they feel” and “right about how they want to be led.”
|A Taste of Heaven|
|A Good Leap Forward|
|Fast Food Slows Down|
|Startup or Grow Up?|
|Tight and Loose|
|United Airlines offers $100K buyouts to flight attendants|
|Microsoft acquires popular game 'Minecraft'|
|Cognizant to buy TriZetto|
|Apple hits new record with iPhone 6 preorders|
|U.S. retail sales driven by car, health purchases|
|New iPhones face shipping delays|
|New York, nation pause to remember 9/11|
Is your business ready to join us in the call for action? This opening panel includes Oregon businesses who will discuss why they signed the Oregon Climate Declaration, the investments they are making to reduce carbon emissions, and how their actions are affecting their companies.
Get ready for two days of special events produced with the EPA, Portland Timbers and ISOS before and after the GoGreen Conference on October 16.
First Call Resolution targets employee well-being and client satisfaction.
How six leading foundations are working together for a better Oregon.
Vigilant enters a New Year with a new president.
Sussman Shank is proud to announce that eight attorneys have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2015 edition of Best Lawyers in America, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession.
Lane Powell Shareholder William T. Patton has been appointed to the board of directors for Cascade AIDS Project, an organization that provides educational services and outreach to thousands of Oregonians living with HIV/AIDS.


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The clock has been ticking down to T-Mobile‘s online release of the GALAXY S 4, which was supposed to be available on their website April 24 (that’s tomorrow). That changed today, however, when users posting on the carrier’s Facebook page were being told that the date had been pushed back to April 29. Despite it being posted across the page, nothing official had been said, but now a confirmation has been given.
It didn’t take too long for T-Mobile to give an official statement, however, with the carrier saying: “We know customers are really looking forward to getting their new Samsung Galaxy S 4 soon. However, due to an unexpected delay with inventory deliveries, the Galaxy S 4 will not be available on www.T-Mobile.com as planned on Wednesday, April 24.”
The statement goes on to say that the Samsung GALAXY S 4 is expected to be available online April 29, a few days after the initial date. Such is the nature of things, and the wait isn’t too long, so those eagerly waiting won’t be terribly disappointed. The Uncarrier has apologized for the inconvenience, and says that it is working with Samsung to get its customers the handset.
The GALAXY S 4 became available for pre-order via AT&T back on April 16, and will begin shipping on April 30, according to the carrier’s website. A short while later, rumors were confirmed when Verizon sent out a tweet confirming that it will begin offering the Samsung handset in May, with a sign-up page going live on its website a day later.


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Ulster County: Curbside, home delivery allowed
Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan told the county’s Regional Chamber of Commerce that while the area has not yet reached phase one of the un-pausing of New York, small retailers can conduct business through curbside pickup or home delivery options.
In remarks during the chamber’s virtual breakfast, Ryan said businesses that want to use those options must abide by certain rules.
Only one employee may be inside the store, fulfilling telephone or internet orders. Other employees can make deliveries curbside or deliver to homes and businesses on behalf of that store.
Also, appropriate precautions must be used, including all employees and customers maintaining six feet of social distance, wearing masks covering their noses and mouths, and repeated thorough hand washing or sanitizing.
Ryan also announced a new Reopening Support Team that will be managed by the county’s Department of Economic Development. The team will provide weekly webinars, diagnostic seminars and deep-dive seminars for hundreds of county businesses over the next six months, which will focus on supporting and guiding them through all aspects of post-COVID-19 recovery and reopening.
SPECIAL REPORT: Coronavirus in the Hudson Valley
Get full coverage of the local impact of the coronavirus in the Hudson Valley. Click here to get full access.
All of the Times Herald-Records's coverage of coronavirus is being provided for free to our readers. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Record at recordonline.com/subscribe.


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Klaipeda port still maintains a possibility to handle more cargo than the Latvian port of Ventspils. Klaipeda needs to handle 450 thousand tons more. Klaipeda managed to handle 16.85 million tons, while Ventspils handled 17.3 million tons.
It is important to note that the port of Ventspils managed to increase its handling capacities by 19.5 percent, while the port of Klaipeda has to deal with decrease of 8.5 percent.
Although the general trends for the upcoming half are good for the port of Klaipeda, the opportunities to handle more cargo than Riga are not real. Klaipeda handled 2 million tons less than the port of Riga. Riga handled 18.79 million tons.
The management of Riga port declared that they are targeting the all-time record cargo handling in the Baltic Sea and hopes to reach 40 million tons. According to the results of the first half, these claims do not seem to be realistic. It remains to note that the port of Riga increases its cargo handling very fast, reaching increase of 11.7 percent.
This year, the port of Klaipeda and Butinge terminal have submitted the joint cargo handling results reaching 20.3 million tons. Theoretically, the results exceed those of the Latvian ports. However, the general results of Lithuania (20.3 million tons) and Latvia (40.3 million tons) are very different.
The big difference is between the cargo growth. The joint port of Klaipeda and Butinge saw a decrease of 10.7 percent, while the Latvian ports grew by 17.1 percent. The port of Liepaja also managed to increase its handling capacities.
Although the port handled 3.5 million tons, it grew by 48 percent. The port’s success is rooted in its deepening. Nevertheless, the small port of Sillamae shows the biggest growth among the Baltic ports. It managed to grow by 50 percent. Last year, the port managed to handle 2.4 million tons throughout the first half; this year the port handled one million tons of cargo more. While some of the biggest Latvian ports show successful tendencies, the small ports are dying out.
The ports handled less cargo: Skulte (14.5 percent less), Salacgriva (7.5), Roja (43), and Paviloste (13). The Russian ports managed to handle 271 million tons of cargo throughout the first half of this year. This is 5.4 percent more than last year. The biggest growth is reached in the port of Ust Luga.
The port managed to handle 18.8 million tons of cargo; this is by 112 percent more than last year. The biggest levels of decrease are in the port of Tallinn. The port’s cargo handling decrease was by 15.9 million tons or 17.5 percent if compared to the results of last year. The port of Kaliningrad fell by 12.9 percent. The port handled 6.3 million tons of cargo during the first half.


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Thursday, June 16, 2022
A second Amazon Style apparel store is coming — here’s where
The second Amazon Style store is slated to open in fall 2022. . . .
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The Open Golf Championship at Royal Troon in South Ayrshire is attracting a record number of cruises
Six ships will be visiting the ports several times this year, including Celebrity Silhouette and Azamara Quest, which will call at the Port of Ayr on the last two days of the Open Golf Championship in July.
More than 5,000 passengers and crew are expected to go ashore during the visits, boosting the local economy.
The Port Manager for Ayr and Troon, Stuart Cresswell, said: "Cruise calls have long been an occasional business for the port but 2016 is shaping up to be an exciting year.
"We are really encouraged to see the spin-off business that the Open Golf Championship will provide, not only to the ports but the entire community, and we are looking forward to embarking passengers for the first time at Ayr later this year."
Grand Circle Cruise Line's small ship mv Clio will embark from Port of Ayr in September - the first time any cruise ship has had a full embarkation at the port.
Jill Cronin, of South Ayrshire Council, added: "The rise in cruise calls is good news for South Ayrshire, with the increase in numbers a welcome boost for the local economy.
"This summer the British Open golf championship is expected to attract 150,000 to 170,000 visitors between July 10 and 17.
The championship will attract cruises to the ports of Ayr and Troon this summer
More than 5,000 people are expected to go ashore during the visits, boosting the ports' economy
Hebridean Princess is among the other cruises visiting the island during the Open Golf Championship
"We're sure that visitors will appreciate the stunning coastlines, along with our unique history and culture."
Other visiting cruise ships are Hapag Lloyd's Europa, which will dock at the Port of Ayr in August, and the Scotland-based 50-passenger luxury small ship Hebridean Princess, which will call at the Port of Troon in November.
Hebridean Princess has been used by the Queen and Royal Family for holiday cruises around the Scottish islands - notably during the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations in 2006.


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We found 622 items for the tag: MSI
Sep 28, 2008 4:00 am
MSI have released a 9800 GT with their own cooling solution. Today we look to see if it can stand out from the pack.
Sep 26, 2008 5:21 am
three striking models in the works
Sep 19, 2008 2:27 am
U91 and U120 tid bits
Sep 9, 2008 6:23 am
Get an early look at AMD's upcoming mid-range card
Sep 8, 2008 4:00 am
Today we pit ASUS with GIGABYTE and MSI to see which power saving technology offers the best overall efficiency.
Sep 3, 2008 7:29 am
Three winners have been chosen!
Sep 3, 2008 3:28 am
Uses HydroGen water cooling for 10c drop in temps
Aug 26, 2008 4:00 am
P45 mobo supports a lot of DDR2 and DDR3 memory
Aug 25, 2008 9:22 am
Sales kit claims better power saving features
Aug 25, 2008 3:13 am
MSI, GIGABYTE and Kingston have prizes for you!
Aug 24, 2008 11:38 am
MSI's Socket B mobo ready to eclipse the comp?
Aug 21, 2008 7:56 am
We'll probably get in trouble for doing this
Aug 8, 2008 4:00 am
MSI have got their hands on the GTX 280 and decide to give it a bump in core and memory speed. We see how it goes.


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Research: Pandemic boosts older adults’ tech usage
April 22, 2021
In a year with a global pandemic significantly limiting social interaction, technology became more important than ever, especially for older adults, according to research from US seniors’ organisation AARP, which found that more older adults (44 per cent) view tech more positively as a way to stay connected than they did before Covid-19. In addition, four out of five adults age 50+ rely on technology to stay connected and in touch with family and friends.
Yet, the report, AARP 2021 Tech Trends, also found that the greater adoption and reliance on technology is uneven, as 15 per cent of adults 50+ do not have access to any type of Internet, and 60 per cent say the cost of high-speed Internet is a problem.
“Technology enabled older adults to better weather the isolation of the pandemic, from ordering groceries to telehealth visits to connecting with loved ones,” said Alison Bryant, Senior Vice President of Research at AARP, which is dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. “But it also exacerbated the divide. So much more is done online, and the 38 million disconnected older adults are being further left out.”
Ownership in all devices is up, according to the survey. Older adults are buying smartphones, home assistant technology (such as Amazon’s Echo), wearable technology (including smartwatches), and tablets (such as iPads). And ownership is up across age groups. Not only are adults in their 50s buying devices; people in their 60s and 70s are buying more, too.
Adults 70-plus have a particular fondness for tablets, with more than half (53 per cent) owning one, up from 40 per cent in 2019. These tablets aren’t just sitting on a coffee table gathering dust: 69 per cent of those 70-plus said they use their tablets daily.
Spending is up significantly as well, with older adults spending on average $1,144 on tech, up from $394 in 2019. The top three tech purchases are smartphones, smart TVs, and Bluetooth headsets/earbuds.
Texting, email, social media, and video chatting have become commonplace as the Covid-19 pandemic has forced people to remain home, separated from friends and family. More than 80 per cent of those 50-plus said they use technology in some form to stay connected, many on a daily basis.
Perhaps credited with helping people maintain relationships during a period of unprecedented social distancing, technology gave older adults some good vibes, with 44 per cent saying they have a more positive feeling toward tech now than they did prior to the pandemic.
Older adults’ tech love won’t be fading in the future. In particular, those who discovered video conferencing anticipate using it even after the pandemic ends. Live virtual events also gained loyal fans. While content is the most important reason for attending a live virtual event, many indicated they will continue to tune in virtually even after it is safe to congregate in person.
Live events aren’t the only form of entertainment older adults are enjoying; they are also logging in more often to streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and, more recently, Disney+. More older adults are also using smart TVs. In 2020, 64 per cent owned a smart TV, up from 49 per cent in 2019. Even among those 70 and older, more than half now own a smart TV.
The move to smart TVs also signals a significant shift in viewing habits. Viewers are moving away from traditional network and cable stations in favour of streaming options. Just 38 per cent of adults 50-plus said they primarily watched network and cable TV in 2020, a staggering drop from 60 per cent in 2019.
Even as more older adults are comfortable using technology for work, entertainment, and communication, secure Internet access is still a barrier. As in past years, the survey found barriers to high-speed Internet access. While 76 per cent of adults 50-plus have wireline high-speed Internet, 18 per cent do not have Internet access or only have access through their phone or satellite provider — and 5 per cent are not sure if they Internet connection at home. More than half of those in rural areas say access to high-speed internet is a problem for them.
Cost is also a concern. Six in 10 adults 50-plus, regardless of their residential location, said that the cost of high-speed Internet is a problem for them personally.
Beyond infrastructure, many still grapple with questions on how to use a device as well as how to protect their privacy. Approximately 44 per cent of older adults are not confident that what they do online remains private, and more than half are not confident the information they give to or receive from their smart home assistant stays private.
- Annual tech spending by the 50+ exponentially increased – from $394 to $1144. The top three tech purchases were smartphones, smart TVs and earbuds/Bluetooth headsets.
- Using technology to connect with others across multiple forms of communication has increased since the onset of the pandemic. Many say they are using video chats (45 per cent), texting (37 per cent), emailing (26 per cent), and phone (29 per cent) more now than before the pandemic. As of 2019, about half had never used video chat, but by 2020, 70 per cent have, with 1 in 3 using video chat weekly.
- Tech use among the 50+ increased particularly in wearable devices – from 17 per cent to 27 per cent.
- 50+ use of smartphones increased dramatically. For instance, use for ordering groceries grew from 6 per cent to 24 per cent; use for personal health increased from 28 per cent to 40 per cent for activities like telehealth visits, ordering prescriptions, or making appointments; use for health and fitness information increased 25 per cent to 44 per cent; and use for financial transactions increased 37 per cent to 53 per cent.
- Half of the 50+ want to learn more about using tech (54 per cent).
- Cost (38 per cent), awareness/lack of knowledge (37 per cent) and privacy concerns (34 per cent) are the top self-reported barriers holding the 50+ back from adopting new technology.
- Privacy concerns continue to be a factor when it comes to tech, with 83 per cent lacking confidence that what they do online remains private.
- Weekly use of streaming increased to 58 per cent from 44 per cent, a significant shift in how the 50+ consume entertainment.


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Govt's 2-tiered company tax plan slammed by industry
The federal government has announced plans to move towards the introduction of a two-tiered corporate tax system, the likes of which have not been seen for more than 40 years.
The plan comes after Social Services Minister Scott Morrison announced a levy intended to fund the recently-abandoned paid parental leave (PPL) scheme wouldn't be directed to childcare.
The PPL levy of 1.5 per cent, which was to be paid by Australia's 3000 largest firms, will be dropped however the government will renege a promised corporate tax rate cut for them from 30 per cent to 28.5 per cent to ensure the federal budget will not be impacted. Smaller firms outside the top 3000 will still see a tax rate cut of at least 28.5 per cent, creating the two-tiered system last seen from 1948 to 1972.
The original PPL plan was to offer a 1.5 per cent cut to all companies, however those with annual profits in excess of $5 million would have had the benefit neutralised by the PPL levy.
The announcement has sparked heavy criticism from industry and business.
Denying business and economy benefits
"Reports that the Government may not proceed with the promised company tax rate cut on 1 July 2015 would deny business and the economy the benefits such reform would undoubtedly deliver," Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox said.
"It would be a folly to restrict the company tax rate cut by applying it to smaller businesses but not larger businesses as has been suggested."
Major distortion to tax system
Business Council of Australia CE Jennifer Westacott said: "A two-tiered company tax rate would introduce a major distortion in our tax system at a time when all businesses are struggling to stay competitive in a softening economy, and has the potential to seriously dent business confidence when the focus should be on jobs.
"We must lower Australia's high company tax rate for all businesses to spark investment and jobs.
"This should be part of properly designed tax policy, not more ad hoc changes.
"The Business Council has always opposed differential company tax rates because of the added complexity and potential to distort investment.
"This would further weaken our competitive position as the economy adjusts to the largest fall in the terms of trade for 50 years."
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You look forward to welcoming the Microsoft Office applications on Android and iOS seems to be more patient.
Because, the latest news says that Microsoft is delaying its release until 2014.
Quoted from ZDNet, Thursday (11/4), the largest software producer [...]
One of the best Android smartphone HTC output, One X, is now getting a refresher with some improvement in terms of hardware.
Products named HTC One X+ uses an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 2nd generation 1.7GHz speeds.
“One X+ equipped with batteries [...]
Increasingly sophisticated technology. Now charger technology created without cable. Wireless Charger technology names.
Another name Wireless Charger is Inductive Charging. This technology utilizes magnetic force to deliver power between the two objects.
“Microsoft chose HTC to be the first smartphone that shows a real Windows Phone.”
Mobile phone manufacturer HTC back innovate through the launch of Windows Phone distinctively, namely HTC Windows Phone 8X and HTC Windows Phone 8S.
There are four methods to repair damaged DVD discs.
Perhaps you have experienced a situation when in the mood to watch a DVD from favorite movie your collection, subsequently the DVD is jammed (scratched) so time to watch becomes impaired.
If a situation [...]
Having nearly 3.8 million followers.
Won seven Tour de France titles are no longer part of the description of the cyclist Lance Armstrong’s Twitter account.
On Monday evening (10/22), a biography of Armstrong on Twitter are called seven Tour de [...]
Theory that claims the existence of super-particles.
Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland has detected a rare decay of a particle that could undermine the theory of super-symmetry, one of the main theories in physics.
From Windows 8, until Outlook.com and Windows Phone 8, Sinofsky gave the main color on the recent changes in Microsoft.
Less than a month after the launch of Windows 8 operating system, President of the Windows Division at Microsoft, Steven Sinofsky, [...]
Sony seems keen to use Firefox operating system that was released recently.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Friday (3/1), one of the latest series of Xperia, Xperia E, used as the test material to adopt the OS.
“At Sony Mobile, we continue to evaluate [...]
A man named Jim Stickley so far recorded more than 1000 bank he had robbed.
Uniquely, the hacker genius was never arrested let alone sent to prison.
Yes, Stickley is a ‘tester‘. His job is to penetrate and break through the security of computer [...]
The news about the release of Windows Phone 7.8 update for the Nokia Lumia line of smartphones from the old series yesterday NaviFirm seem right. Nokia Lumia 800 is the first smartphone that will get the updated Windows Phone 7.8 and will soon be followed [...]


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Health trends are driving strong growth at Spanish company Laboratorios Almond. We caught up with Managing Director Álvaro Robles.
Tell us about yourself and your business?
The company was founded 25 years ago in Murcia and was initially focused on pharmacy products before moving into the food sector. I have spent most of my career in the consumer goods sector, including working for Coca- Cola. Moving to this business gave me the opportunity to work in a company which has a huge opportunity to explore the global healthy foods sector which is seeing enormous growth.
We export around half our products, especially vegetable drinks and our almond and coconut ranges, to some 60 countries. A particular target for us is to break into the US organic food market which is the biggest in the world, and we are looking for a partner to work with over there.
How have health trends impacted the business?
One area is the organic food sector which is now very fashionable and is a sector we know well. Our best selling products are organic vegetable milks, new variations of products containing seeds, and other alternatives to foods with a high sugar content. We also have a strong position across Europe with our Ecomil almond drink which, for instance, is popular in the UK via retailers such as Waitrose and Holland & Barrett.
The wider impact of these health trends has been spectacular. We are seeing annual sales growth of more than 30% and an explosion of new channels interested in selling organic food such as pharmacies, e-commerce channels and traditional supermarkets. At the end of the day consumers now have far more information about what is healthy. We increasingly realise ‘we are what we eat’.
The gluten-free market has seen particular growth. How mature is the Spanish market?
Our consumers have three profi les. They are either lovers of organic food, vegans, or people with intolerances, especially dairy protein and gluten. We have been making gluten-free products for many years and it remains a key focus for us.
However, gluten-free is no longer just serving those people with intolerances, it is also fashionable too. I would say the Spanish market is at the same level of maturity as the rest of Europe, although in some respects the market has been ahead of the game as leading retailer Mercadona started a campaign of products without gluten 20 years ago. Today it has thousands of gluten-free products on its shelves.
What other trends are you seeing across the food and drink sector?
It is a continuous process, every year we see new trends and products hitting the market, there are almost no limits. Traditional concepts are changing fast. We are seeing strong demand at the moment for ingredients such as coconut, turmeric, ginger, avocado, sugar alternatives such as panela, coconut sugar, xylitol, and ionized alkaline waters.
How are these trends impacting M&A activity?
Considerably! We are seeing a lot of consolidation in these emerging food markets and there will be more to come. A notable deal was Danone acquiring WhiteWave Foods which specialises in soy milk, protein shakes and kale. In the future few, if any, ingredients companies will be able to remain independent because this is such an attractive sector and fast-moving market. All the big players are looking at this right now.
Where do you want this business to be in 10 years time?
The organic food market will continue to play a very relevant role in the eating habits of the average consumer, but at the same time we will also see new discoveries that improve our health and lengthen life expectancy. As a business we want to play a major role in these health trends, especially in areas such as organic. But we also want to bring value to consumers and help create a more sustainable and fairer society, ensuring healthy foods are available to all.


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Black Friday 2018 is still a ways away. However, we’ve been tracking the Thanksgiving weekend deals coming from DJI for several years now from all of their top resellers and it’s likely you’ll see some similar drones on sale this year as we did last year (you can scroll down the page to check out the details from 2017’s Black Friday sale to get an idea of what’s likely to come). Then be sure to visit us again here at Blacker Friday in mid-November for the latest BF ads, news, rumors, and updates (or just signup to our newsletter and we’ll do the work for you). Cheers!
Updated Wednesday, November 22, 2017: You’ll find a lot of drones advertised this Thanksgiving weekend with some on sale for as low as $50. But if you’re looking for a premium drone, one with a top-notch camera and long range, then DJI likely tops your list of brands. But forget about paying full price for the one you want – We’re tracking all of the top DJI Black Friday deals for 2017.
Here’s our list of confirmed Black Friday deals on DJI drones:
— Kohl’s: In Kohl’s Black Friday flyer this year you’ll find the DJI Spark mini quadcopter drone with built-in 1080p camera featured as a doorbuster deal. It’s on sale for $399.99 (that’s $100 off the list price) but also comes with $120 worth of Kohl’s Cash that you can use towards the purchase of anything else in the store. The sale starts at 12:01AM CT at kohls.com and in-stores at 5:00PM on Thursday, Thanksgiving day, on November 23, 2017. There’s a limited supply of these and are expected to sell out fast.
— Dell: Dell’s featuring the DJI Spark Mini drone in their Black Friday ad this year. It’ll be on sale for $399.99 — that’s $100.00 off the list price of $499.99. You can pick it up at dell.com beginning Thanksgiving day (November 23, 2017) through Saturday (November 25, 2017 at 3:59AM PST), while supplies last.
— Best Buy: Best Buy’s Black Friday ad this year features several DJI drones on sale. You’ll be able to pick up the Mavic Pro Quadcopter on sale for $899.99 (that’s $100 off), the Mavic Pro Quadcopter Fly-More Combo on sale for $1149.99 (that’s $150 off), or the Spark Quadcopter in Alpine White for $399.99 (that’s $100 off). You’ll also find DJI’s Osmo Mobile Gimbal Stabilizer on ale for $199.99 (that’s $100 off). Shop the sale beginning Thursday, Thanksgiving day at bestbuy.com and in stores later that afternoon when doors open at 5:00PM (that’s on November 23, 2017). Available while supplies last.
— Sam’s Club: Sam’s Club is has two DJI drones included in their Black Friday sale this year. The first is the DJI Spark Fly More Combo on sale for $599 after $100 off. This one is only available at samsclub.com (free shipping included) and is limited to two per customer. Your second option is the DJI Mavic Pro Bundle that’s on sale for $899 after $100 off. Shop the sale starting at 12:01AM EST online on Thanksgiving day (Thursday Nov. 23rd) or in-stores at 7:00AM on Black Friday (Nov. 24th).
— Target: Target’s Black Friday 2017 ad has two DJI drones for you to choose from. The first in the Spark Mini Drone that’s on sale for $399 (that’s $100 off). The second is the DJI Mvic Pro that’s on sale for $899.99 (also $100 off). Sale prices valid from Nov. 23–25, or while supplies last. Shop the sale at target.com or in stores. Free shipping for all online orders. Stores open this year at 6:00PM on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23, 2017).
— BJ’s Wholesale Club: All BJ’s Wholesale Club store members can pick up the DJI Spark Mini Drone in stores (most locations, but not at all stores) or online for $399.99 during their Black Friday sale this year. That’s $100.00 off their list price. No coupon needed. The sale price runs from Friday November 17, 2017 to Monday November 27, 2017 (that’s Cyber Monday!), or while supplies last. Remember, you’ll need to be a current BJ’s Wholesale Club member to shop their store or site (or go to the store with a friend who is).
— Costco: On page 51 of Costco’s Black Friday ad this year they feature the DJI Mavic Pro Aerial Camera Bundle for $100.00 off (although the sale price is not quoted, it should be the same as we’re seeing from all the other big-box stores this year). Offer valid from November 24 — 27. There’s a limit of 5 per customer (not sure why anyone would need that may drones but that’s the limit). Remember, you’ll need to be a Costco club card holder in order to shop their stores.
— DJI.com: DJI just launched a number of Black Friday deals directly at their online store. Besides the sale prices, some drones also include freebies such as extra battery, landing pad and MicroSD card. Visit DJI.com for a look at the full last of sale items. Be sure to also see their refurbished section where you can pick reconditioned drone at 20% or more off the list price (free shipping starts on orders of $89+). Offers valid from November 22—27, 2017 or while supplies last.
What new drone are you planning on on getting this Black Friday weekend? Maybe you’re also considering GoPro’s Karma with a new Hero 6. Let us know in the comments below.


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In the consumer technology market, where fast-developing portable devices like cell phones and MP3 players enjoy the spotlight, the batteries that power them usually go unnoticed.
That is, until they run out of juice. Which is when most people think about batteries, with a mix of frustration and inevitability.
In an industry where processor speeds, storage space and screen resolution increase exponentially over short periods of time, the batteries supplying the power improve only incrementally.
"Processors in devices double in speed every 12 to 18 months," said Steve Koenig, an analyst with the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Association. "But batteries only increase in capacity 5 to 10 percent each year."
And unless our increasingly shrinking gadgets make room for bigger batteries or some new technology emerges to produce more power from what many consider a commodity item, don't expect a revolution any time soon.
The reason is simple: chemistry.
"We're not talking about making a faster microchip here," said Kevin Janco, business director for Bethel, Conn.-based Duracell Inc. "We're dealing with the fundamental principles of chemistry. There's only a certain amount of matter you can squeeze into the standard dimensions of a cell.
"We can fine-tune the reaction, but that's it."
For this and other reasons, progress in the battery industry has been as tepid as its functional development when compared to the consumer electronics they power.
Still, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries--which power products like cell phones and digital cameras--have improved in recent years in run time. Since they were first introduced in the early 1990s their energy level has more than doubled, said Jason Howard, energy technologies manager for Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc.
But that advance is not as significant as the devices themselves becoming more adept at conserving power.
"Because of the constraints of an environment with limited power, there's huge pressure on [electronic] component manufacturers to improve their power efficiency," said Alex Slawsby, senior analyst at Framingham, Mass.-based research firm IDC.
"Devicemakers [couldn't] care less how much these things can process. The No. 1 concern is how energy-efficient can their process be?"
That's because devices like mobile phones that double as cameras use more power than ever.
For example, cell phone manufacturers rate battery strength with talk time and "standby" time. Phones are considered to be in "standby" mode when they are powered up but not used.
"People aren't standing by much anymore," Koenig said. "Phones are now PDAs, digital cameras, Web browsers and e-mail devices."
All of which taxes and drains the battery.
"The new devices have drained every bit of that new energy we've come up with," said Duracell's Janco.
So how can battery power keep up with consumption?
"The simplest solution is providing an extra lithium-ion battery in the box," said Howard. "The other solution is to move to a bigger battery" that would hold more power.
And there are no indications that a replacement for lithium-ion batteries will be coming in the next few years.
"When people ask me what the next best thing will be, I say lithium-ion," Howard said. "I think consumers will see at least a 20 percent [capacity] improvement over the next 18 to 24 months."
In addition to being considered the unpleasant part of the consumer-electronics experience, batteries are also uniquely affected by world events.
Sales of alkaline batteries fell significantly in 2000. And the decline continued into 2001 and 2002, according to London-based Snapshots International, a market research firm. The reason: Consumers hoarded batteries in 1999 in anticipation of a Y2K crisis.
"Consumers and retailers stocked up on batteries and nothing happened," said Jackie Burwitz, vice president of Energizer Holdings Inc., based in St. Louis. "And so, in the following years, consumers and retailers were working through the inventories and sales weren't growing."
This year, factory sales of all consumer batteries to U.S. dealers are expected to increase just 6 percent over last year, to about $5.7 billion, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.
A similar "blip" in battery sales occurred in response to the recent homeland security terror alert warnings.
"It's bad for business because it disrupts the normal course of demand," said Janco. "Consumers load up, then they don't use them."
The battery industry will continue to work hard so consumer products can work long.
"Consumers and manufacturers put the squeeze on," said Motorola's Howard. "They say, `Where's the capacity, where's the cost reduction?'"
How does he reply?
"I tell them, `This is all you're going to get.' We'll move things along as fast as we can, but there isn't a chemistry system out there will improve batteries by an order of magnitude."


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One year ago, Apple officially launched its App Store for iPhone and iPod touch.
It seems crazy that it's just a year old, given all that's happened since. More than 50,000 apps have been released, over one billion downloads have been notched up, and Apple's rivals have launched their own application stores to compete.
Apple is already celebrating the App Store's first anniversary with a list of its "favourite" apps and games, with the latter including many of our best-loved titles from the last year - Rolando, Flight Control, Edge, The Sims 3, and so on.
But birthdays are also a good time for reflection, on what's gone before and what's yet to come. Which is exactly what we've been doing for the App Store.
You've been able to buy and download mobile apps and games for years from operator portals, D2C services and early handset app stores like Nokia's Download. As has been the case in other areas, Apple didn't innovate in what it did, but in how it did it. And specifically how easy it made it for us punters.
The App Store set a new benchmark for ease of use, in terms of the way you could browse, buy and install apps and games.
It made the 17-click process of buying a game from many operator portals look like the unwieldy dinosaur technology that it was. Apple's policy of maintaining control of both handset and store - taking your credit card details at the point of registration - made the browsing'n'buying process seamless and enjoyable.
But, equally importantly, it had the games. By offering developers and publishers a better revenue share - 70 per cent - than the operators traditionally had done, Apple got them on board from the start - backed up with a well-distributed SDK.
The first 12 months of the App Store thus saw rapid innovation, thanks to iPhone and iPod touch appealing to game-makers from pretty much every part of the games industry.
Mobile studios, console publishers, casual developers and social games companies converged and competed for attention, with small indies able to have hits as big as the larger publishers.
The goldrush feel was intensified by prominent success stories, from Sega selling hundreds of thousands of downloads of Super Monkey Ball in a few weeks, through to indie success stories like Trism, iShoot and Flight Control.
But on a wider basis, the App Store has refocused the mobile industry on apps - and particularly games. The oft-cited stat that only 5 per cent of mobile users buy games has been swept away by the realisation that actually, if the games are good, they're fairly-priced and easy to download, they'll appeal to many more mobile users.
The App Store's rock-in-pond ripples mean every rival handset maker and mobile OS platform has or has announced plans for its own app store. Operators, too, have been given a mighty boot up the behind, and are readying their own more user-friendly app stores to compete.
Thus, even mobile gamers who don't own an iPhone will benefit from the App Store's success, because games are likely to now be a bigger priority for their operator or handset-maker.
One more paradoxical impact of the App Store: it's simultaneously raised the expectations of mobile gamers for mobile game quality, while driving down the price they're willing to pay.
So, rich 3D games like Tower Bloxx Deluxe 3D, Hero of Sparta and Real Football 2009 are currently selling for 59p here in the UK (99 cents in the US), while the practice of 'doing a Peggle', or 'peggling', by dropping the price sharply after launch to rocket up the App Store chart has become a common marketing strategy.
That's good news for gamers, of course, but developers and publishers aren't so keen, thanks to rising development costs.
A year ago, publishers saw £5.99 / $9.99 as the default price for professional iPhone games, but few games have hung onto that price point for long, or even launched at it. There are signs of a comeback now, though, thanks to games like Rolando 2, The Sims 3, Real Racing and Doom Resurrection.
If iPhone gaming has resembled a goldrush for much of its first year, recent months have seen the start of the comedown, as many developers realise their pans are full of mud, not gold, thanks to the fearsome competition.
So, one year old. It's not quite a toddler, but how could and should the App Store evolve in the next 12 months?
One key challenge for Apple will be the split between the existing iPhones and iPod touches, and the new iPhone 3GS. As Firemint showed with its recent 40-car tech demo 3GS version of Real Racing, the disparity is pretty big.
Could the 3GS be the spur at some point in the coming months for Apple's long-rumoured premium games category, for console-like titles that break the £5.99 barrier?
Improving the discovery and recommendation aspects of the App Store is also a must - not just to benefit developers, but to make it easier for us gamers to find the titles we might like.
Other companies are innovating in this area: look at Nokia's plans for 'social recommendations' on its Ovi Store, telling you what games you might like based on your previous purchases or what your friends are playing.
Apple itself has its Genius technology, which offers personalised recommendations for iTunes music users. A version for iPhone apps and games would be a wonderful thing indeed.
There are tweaks that could make the App Store's browsing process better, too. Gameplay videos would be nice, even just 30-second clips like the ones shown for traditional iPod games on the iTunes Store.
But the key influence on the App Store's success in the next year from Pocket Gamer's perspective will be the games. Developers are getting to grips with the potential of the iPhone 3.0 software, with its in-app payments, push notifications, Bluetooth multiplayer features and more.
How developers use these new tools will be a crucial pointer to the future of iPhone gaming - with a knock-on effect for other handsets and app stores too.
And, of course, there's wild speculation. If Apple launches a tablet device or netbook, it might also hook into the App Store. If it relaunches its Apple TV device as more of a games console, the App Store may play a role there too.
The games we've been playing on our iPhones and iPod touches for the last 12 months might be a precursor to what we'll be playing in our living rooms in the next few years. Although it's also true to say that developments in this area will also be driven by how Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo adapt and evolve the lessons from Apple's digital store.
Apple remains an enigma when it comes to its future plans. But suffice to say, how the App Store evolves in its second year of life will have a direct impact on the way mobile gaming itself evolves. For that reason alone, this is one birthday worth celebrating.


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Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in relationship management, announces a contract renewal with the United States Postal Service. Since 2003, Convergys has provided the Postal Service with customer service support at three U.S. contact centers. This extension is the second two-year renewal of the contract.
Convergys will provide the customer service support by leveraging its relationship management solutions portfolio, which includes Customer Service Solutions (live agent support), Multichannel Automation Solutions (automated speech, e-mail) and Back Office Solutions. Convergys will also continue to answer the popular (800) ASK-USPS toll-free number and provide analytics for a customer intelligence program that constantly measures customer satisfaction.
"Convergys has provided customer service support to the Postal Service for the past six years with an end-to-end solutions portfolio that meets the needs of today's consumer for both self-service and live agent support," said Paul Colangelo, Vice President of Government Solutions for Convergys. "Convergys will continue to support the USPS in providing its customers with the highest level of customer service."
Convergys helps governments and government-related agencies to accomplish citizen-centric missions through a wide range of technology, consulting, and customer management solutions. These solutions leverage private sector best practices in relationship management, including customer and employee solutions, enhancing the citizen experience through enterprise effectiveness, workforce management, e-learning, multichannel automation, back office solutions, collections, and shared services.
Convergys Corporation is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers and employees. Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.
For more than 30 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to clients that now span more than 70 countries and 35 languages.
Convergys is a member of the S&P 500 and has been voted a Fortune Most Admired Company for nine consecutive years. We have approximately 75,000 employees in 86 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information, visit www.convergys.com.


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With more than a million installs FrostWire is one of the most popular file-sharing applications on the Android platform. But despite this success Google has decided to pull the app from the Android market place.
FrostWire’s Angel Leon tells TorrentFreak that his company was not informed why FrostWire was suspended, but the first thought is that it has something to do with the recent settlement his company reached with the FTC.
Just before the weekend several news outlets reported that FrostWire and the FTC had settled their court case over privacy concerns. The government agency, which aims to protect the rights of consumers, alleged that FrostWire was disregarding users’ privacy by sharing files by default.
FrostWire agreed that this was a valid concern and based on pointers from the trade commission, updated its desktop and Android applications. These updates were actually carried out months ago, meaning that since then the application was no longer a concern for the FTC, hence the settlement.
“We fixed the app ages ago, and probably 99.9% of the userbase is actually running 0.6.3 (one generation over), so there shouldn’t be a hint of worry in regards to the FTC Complaints,” Leon said.
However, some reports in the media made it seem like FrostWire was still breaching users’ privacy, and this may have triggered Google’s decision to boot the app from the Android market.
Angel Leon notes that the worst part of it all is the lack of communication on Google’s part. Aside from a notice that the application had been suspended, the FrostWire team has received no information. It could be that the removal is totally unrelated to the FTC issue, but without a word from Google that’s impossible to confirm.
“It’s just plain wrong that you get suspended without ANY explanation or ANY notice, specially an app for which people have said they bought an Android for, and which has been installed on over 1 million devices during the last 12 months,” Leon says.
Attempts from both the developers and TorrentFreak to contact Google about the issue remained unanswered thus far, so there is no other option for FrostWire than to wait.
For now the FrostWire Android app can still be downloaded via the FrostWire website. However, the number of shared files has dropped dramatically since this setting was disabled by default.
In the coming weeks the FrostWire team will turn the Android app into a (more usable) BitTorrent client, as they’ve already done with the desktop version. The source of this new client will be released under a GPL license as soon as the first version is released.
Let’s hope that by then FrostWire will have been allowed back into the Android market.


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Bell CEO Mirko Bibic touted Bell’s rural internet would stand up to satellite internet services (like Starlink) “any day.”
As reported by The Canadian Press (Via Yahoo Finance), Bibic commented while responding to questions from shareholders following the release of BCE’s Q1 earnings. Specifically, Bibic spoke about Bell’s investment plans to improve its fibre internet offerings and expand rural coverage to better compete with rivals like Rogers.
When asked about challenges from low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet services, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink program, Bibic explained that Bell delivers rural internet using a residential wireless service. That service is set to reach one million rural or remote households from Manitoba to Newfoundland, according to Bibic.
“And I stand that up against Starlink or other LEO (low Earth orbit) competitors, any day,” Bibic said.
Except, it’s not hard to find complaints online about Bell’s abysmal internet speed. A quick search on Twitter reveals plenty of complaints:
— kaj ballantyne (@kajballantyne) April 29, 2021
Hey @bell we need to talk. I’ve been paying $135 a month for the fastest internet you could give me (FIBE 100) and it’s always been trash. For two years it’s been unreliable and slow. I just found out this is where my internet comes from… pic.twitter.com/LH9i1SEyns
— Dirtfoot (@jessedriftwood1) April 28, 2021
Hopefully Starlink internet for me. I have pre-ordered. My Bell is only getting worse. Please ship this soon!!!!
— Darrell Park (@SpydaDee) April 24, 2021
Starlink is available in beta for Canadians right now and requires a heft upfront cost to get up and running. However, early reports indicate the service is well worth the cost, even with the less reliable speeds and latency available during the beta. Beta users can expect speeds varying from 50Mbps to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations.
However, Musk has said that speeds will double to around 300Mbps later this year, and in the future, Starlink customers will be able to use the service while on the go.
Those curious about Starlink can check out everything we know about the service in Canada here.
Source: Yahoo Finance


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A Manhattan magistrate judge has reportedly fined Nikki Haskell and Balanced Health Products Inc. (BHP) $60,000 for distributing StarCaps, a dietary supplement advertised as an “all natural” mix of ingredients such as papaya extract and garlic that also contained undeclared amounts of bumetanide, a prescription drug used to treat heart and renal failure. Haskell, a New York socialite and self-described “Diet Queen to the Stars,” sold StarCaps as CEO of now-defunct BHP from 2006 to 2008, when the company voluntary recalled the product.
In the same year, the National Football League (NFL) cited the supplement when suspending six players who tested positive for banned substances such as bumetanide, which can mask steroid use, and later two NFL players sued Haskell and BHP alleging that StarCaps caused their positive test results. In March 2014, Haskell and BHP each pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of misbranding, which carries a maximum sentence of a $100,000 fine, one year in prison and one year of supervised release for Haskell and a $200,000 fine or twice the gross pecuniary gain for BHP. See Reuters, June 20, 2014.