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Facebook is promoting its Gifts product at the top of News Feed today, encouraging users to buy their friends or significant other a real gift through its service. The social network also tested a number of $1 gifts for users to send as Valentines.
Users who are listed in a relationship are seeing messages that mention their partner by name. Some users have gotten prompts for specific friends or potential crushes. Others are seeing general notes about sending gifts to friends. These are similar to the promotions Facebook did during the holiday season a few months ago.
The company added a number of new gifts for Valentine’s Day, including several types of themed candy for $5 or less. Some users saw limited-time offers for $1 gifts on Wednesday.
The social network’s gift business is still quite small. Facebook made $5 million from non-game payments in Q4 2012. This includes gifts, but Facebook says it was predominantly from user Promoted Posts. By testing gifts at a range of price points, regularly introducing new inventory and prompting users with messages on their homepage, Facebook could give Gifts a bump. CFO David Ebersman said on Facebook’s earnings call last month that the company is still experimenting.
“The focus right now is to figure out what the right product is,” Ebersman said. “We think if done well, Gifts can be very natural and positive part of the Facebook experience.”
Gifts are currently only available to users in the U.S.
Second screenshot via Social Marketers, a private industry group for social marketing professionals.


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One major challenge with combating cybercrime in the 2020s and beyond appears destined to be attackers launching a greater number of "smaller-value crimes" so they can better stay "below the radar" of law enforcement, says the Global Cyber Alliance's Andy Bates.
The notorious Joker's Stash cybercrime marketplace, which specializes in selling stolen payment card data, has a new listing for 1.3 million credit and debit cards, almost all of which appear to have been issued by Indian banks, reports threat intelligence firm Group-IB.
The country of Georgia has been hammered by a massive cyberattack that disrupted access to at least 2,000 government, news media and court websites, with many homepages replaced with a photograph of the country's former president, according to news reports.
Two new security incidents demonstrate how easily millions of customer records can be exposed. Researchers found an unsecured database containing records of customers of Adobe Creative Cloud. And Italy's UniCredit bank announced a "data incident" that exposed a file containing customer records.
Some 42 apps that were available in the Google Play store had been delivering adware to Android devices for about a year, according to the security firm ESET. In the 12-month period starting in July 2018, these apps were downloaded about 8 million times to Android devices around the world, the researchers say.
Democratic lawmakers are urging the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to open an investigation into whether Amazon violated federal law by failing to the prevent Capital One's devastating data breach. Amazon dismissed the request as "baseless and a publicity attempt from opportunistic politicians."
The "Raccoon" infostealer, first spotted in the wild earlier this year, is rapidly gaining in popularity on underground forums due to its low cost and ability to steal a wide range of data, including credit card numbers and cryptocurrency wallets, according to a new analysis from Cybereason.
The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report analyzes how the Russian hacking group Turla has been coopting Iranian hacking tools. Plus: Avast's CCleaner hit by second attack; sizing up draft regulations for the California Consumer Protection Act.
The National Cyber Security Center, the U.K.'s national computer emergency response team, investigated 658 serious cybersecurity incidents in a 12-month period and supported nearly 900 victim organizations - most of whom learned they had fallen victim after being alerted by the center.
A Texas resident has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for hacking into the Los Angeles Superior Court computer system and sending out approximately 2 million phishing emails to steal hundreds of credit and payment card numbers.
Avast's CCleaner utility is popular - with attackers. For the second time in two years, the company says it believes CCleaner was the intended targeted of a carefully plotted intrusion executed between May and October.
Virtual private network provider NordVPN says an error by its Finish data center provider allowed an attacker to gain control of a server, but it says its broader service was not hacked. One security expert, however, says the attacker would have had "God mode" on one VPN node.
Turla, an advanced persistent threat group with apparent ties to Russia, seized attack infrastructure and tools used by OilRig, an Iranian APT group, U.K. and U.S. intelligence agencies have jointly reported. They say Turla used the coopted infrastructure to conduct its own reconnaissance and attacks.
A British judge has denied WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's request to delay a five-day hearing, slated to begin Feb. 25, on whether he should be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges.

domain: news


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“It would be very beneficial for GE to look at what Oakley is at its foundation,” Rogers said.cheap oakley store Despite being disbarred in 1979, Fred Phelps pushed his name into the public eye, through the political arena in campaigns to vie for Senator and Governor.Cheap Oakley Radar Sunglasses Free Shipping Regardless of your shopping technique, fashion can’t exist without your own personal style and discover that style on a budget!You know that otherworldly, bizarre feeling you get after waking up from a bender? It’s like you’re on a different planet."OAKLEY -- Gardening enthusiasts applauded Tuesday as the City Council unanimously agreed to lease part of a city-owned parcel for use as a community garden and farm. Even without a hinge lock or similar lens-replacing gadget, the Rydons have some of the simplest and quickest to change lenses of any glasses we’ve tried – not that you need to change lens very often with a photochromic lens.” Scott was originally Luann Bambrough and was raised in a small Utah town by adoptive Mormon parents. The average is about 3. oakley.com “The channel’s website has not been a stand-alone entertainment experience,” said Mark Keys, Outside’s vice president of digital media.Discount Oakley Sunglasses Online” Scott was originally Luann Bambrough and was raised in a small Utah town by adoptive Mormon parents. Those who need prescription glasses can use clip-in RX inserts, or go the directly glazed lens route for a premium. As a fashion enthusiast, you crave designer and couture. You don’t need any excuse to indulge in this on! In fact, the only justification you have for not already owning these must have sunglasses is the price. “Many of these girls have no idea that this underground economy exists.dispatch oakley sunglassesCheap Oakley Sunglasses For Military The tech giant said Luxottica will lend Glass its expertise in eyewear design and manufacturing.
“Now, when younger writers talk to me, I tell them to get a job,” she says. cheap oakley store “If you’re a tree standing out in the field by itself, you have good visibility from all directions,” the mayor said, referring to the open space that would be available to GE if it built in Mason.Oakley Gascans You don’t need any excuse to indulge in this on! In fact, the only justification you have for not already owning these must have sunglasses is the price. Roux has unintentionally sparked not only many spoofs starting with “I put it to you”, but also the strange phenomenon of his own gaggle of black-robed legal “groupies”, who hog the back seats in court, breathlessly hanging onto his every word. Anderson spoke to about 600 attendees at the Business Courier’s Commercial Real Estate Developers Power Breakfast at the Duke Energy Convention Center. It was Sharam Tayebi from Deep Dish. [cheap oakley store] Cade is greeted by his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) and his partner Lucas (T.
More Heard on the Street: Luxottica: A Google Glass Half-Full The Luxottica deal follows Google's January agreement with vision-care giant VSP Global to offer prescription lenses, subsidized frames and training for optometrists on how to properly fit the device.dispatch oakley sunglasses To thwart this type of crime, during the Memorial Day holiday, police announced the introduction of their sticker campaign on their blog, calling it “a new way to reach out to residents and visitors regarding car breaks. Microsoft will stop providing security updates April 8, leaving XP users' computers vulnerable to viruses and hackers. Jess paints a picture of their family, living at a lake house, with a house smelling of cider, and two kids that are “so creative that they named themselves. Anderson Real Estate Inc. [cheap oakley store] com on Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:38:00 EST.
The optical clarity is phenomenally good – there is no distortion of trail obstacles and you won’t be getting any headaches from these lenses either. oakley.com The district does not require that the individual schools’ activities be the same, since different groups are raising the funds, Garcia said. "The high-end design will allow more intricate colors," Fish said. While Google intends to continue offering the Titanium collection, it appears Google wants to give their “Glass Explorers” even more options by putting frame design into the capable hand of Luxottica. [oakley.com] Courier sister paper San Francisco Business Times reports the Italian eyewear maker will use its Ray-Ban and Oakley brands in conjunction with Google Glass.


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The fuse on the pre-lit artificial Christmas tree can overheat and blow, posing a fire hazard.
Christmas Tree Shops toll-free at 888-287-3232 any time or by email at email@example.com for more information.
This recall involves pre-lit artificial Christmas trees. The artificial Colorado Spruce trees are green and measure about 61/2 feet tall. The trees contain five multi-colored incandescent and globe light strands. The SKU/UPC is 31738736. The SKU/UPC is located on the price tag affixed to the product packaging.
Consumers should immediately stop using the pre-lit Christmas trees. The firm has contacted all known purchasers of the recalled product and all trees sold to consumers have been returned for a full refund.
The firm has received one report of exposed wires and seven reports of blown fuses on display trees in stores. No injuries have been reported.
Christmas Tree Shops, Christmas Tree Shops andThat!, and andThat! stores from October 2016 through November 2016 for about $150.
Baozhaolai Metal Manufactory (Huizhou Co. Ltd.), of Guangdong, China.
Nantucket Distributing Co. LLC, of Middleboro, Mass.
This recall was conducted, voluntarily by the company, under CPSC’s Fast Track Recall process. Fast Track recalls are initiated by firms, who commit to work with CPSC to quickly announce the recall and remedy to protect consumers.


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Dating for relationship and marriage site 2016
Just look at how many people seeking dates or mates are flocking to matchmaking sites and apps.According to a 2015 study by the Pew Research Center, 15 percent of American adults have used online dating sites (web-based platforms like Match.com) and/or dating apps (location-based smartphone apps like Tinder).While some might see this as rude, those who are socially awkward or fear confrontation will find it convenient. When it comes down to it, 64% of people who use online dating sites are looking for someone they have something in common with, and 49% say they are looking for someone with physical characteristics they are attracted to.You can do almost anything online these days: Check a bank balance, buy shoes, choose a mattress, order a cab.“It’s a product of the growing normalcy of using social media apps,” says Moira Weigel, author of “Labor of Love: The Invention of Online Dating” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2016).“Our real-life and online identities are more and more interwoven.” Because of this cultural shift, online dating sites now have unprecedented reach into our lives. Reams have been written about online dating, but as far as we know, no one has put the sites to the test.“All kinds of people are doing it,” says Caploe, 54, a publisher who lives in New York City.
For women, online dating statistics show that a woman's desirability online peaks at 21.There are 40 million Americans using online dating websites and those users range from young to old.Today, 27% of young adults report using online dating sites, which is up 10% from 2013, likely due to the influx of dating apps on smartphones.Participation by those 18 to 24 has almost tripled since 2013, and boomer enrollment has doubled.In fact, people over 50 are one of the fastest growing segments.
One-in-five online daters have asked someone else to help write or review their profile.


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The updated Motorola Razr with a folding screen is for sale in the United States from 6 February, multiple American media report Wednesday. A spokesperson on behalf of Lenovo, owner of the Motorola smartphone brand, did not answer NU.nl on Wednesday as to whether, and if so when, the smartphone would also go on sale in the Netherlands.
The Razr would actually go on sale this month, but in December it was announced that Lenovo postponed the sales date of the smartphone because demand was underestimated.
The Motorola Razr with a folding screen is a new version of the popular folding phone. The Android smartphone has a foldable 21: 9 screen of 6.2 inches on the inside. On the outside there is a 2.7 inch screen with a 4: 3 aspect ratio.
The smartphone is going to cost $ 1,500 (a little more than 1,350 euros). For the time being, only Samsung has introduced a smartphone with folding screen in the Netherlands: the Galaxy Fold with a price tag of 2,020 euros.
60Motorola shows new version of Motorola Razr


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Los Angeles Times
Carole Jaquez, 78, has found a discount purveyor of prescription drugs for her asthma and high blood pressure. Unfortunately for the Apple Valley resident, the pharmacy she discovered is not in the United States.
For seven years, she’s been driving 2 1/2 hours south, crossing the border, and buying her medication in Tijuana.
“Why? Because I can get a much better price, that’s why,” said Jaquez, who got tired of watching the cost of medicine go through the roof of her local drugstore.
The asthma medication that costs $110 in California is just $45 in Mexico, but the long drive isn’t the only hassle. Jaquez once got pulled over when crossing back into the United States with her legal purchase, and she fumed while drug-sniffing dogs went through her car as if the elderly widow were a mule for a Tijuana cartel.
Jaquez also found great deals in Canada over the Internet, but one of her shipments was confiscated by U.S. customs agents.
She isn’t alone, of course. Millions of Americans struggle to pay the ridiculously inflated cost of prescription medication, sometimes without any coverage at all, because the entire healthcare system is a mess. They cut back on food to pay for pills, and they cut pills in half to make them last longer.
So Aug. 23, Jaquez will board a train to Vancouver, Canada. She and 17 other mad-as-heck passengers will ride the Rx Express, a protest party organized by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica.
In Canada, they’ll go to the doctor, get prescriptions and fill them at fair prices, thumbing their noses at American pharmaceutical companies and the politicians the industry owns.
“It’s a very powerful lobby,” said Paul Smith, a retired physician from Huntington Beach. He buys his own medication from Canada for the aftereffects of a stroke and heart problem, and he’s booked a seat on the Rx Express. “Just look at all the money coming down the political pike.”
All right, let’s look.
In 2004, pharmaceutical companies have so far donated $9 million to national officeholders.
They spent at least an additional $2.5 million sponsoring the Democratic National Convention, and they’ll have their checkbooks out for the Republican National Convention too.
Since 2002, Sen. John Kerry has pocketed $239,997, and President Bush is into the pharmaceuticals for $820,774.
In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the various committees he controls have rung up $337,200 in pharmaceutical contributions while the governor yammers on about the evils of special-interest government.
And you wonder why Carole Jaquez has to drive to Mexico?
“People should not have to drive two hours, or take a train trip, or go on the Internet to buy drugs from another country,” says Assemblyman Dario Frommer (D-Los Angeles), the author of two bills that would bring some relief.
One bill would set up a state-certified website through which Californians could buy cheaper drugs from Canada. The other would have state agencies and small businesses hook up with each other to get a discount on bulk purchases.
No word yet on what the Anti-Special-Interest governor will do for consumers, but there is no reason to be encouraged.
The governor’s office has weighed in against a car buyer’s bill of rights opposed by the auto industry, which has kicked nearly $1 million Schwarzenegger’s way. And when the action governor made his pick for head of the Department of Consumer Affairs — former Assemblywoman Charlene Zettel — consumer advocates jumped out of windows.
The advocates called Zettel a pawn of big business, charging that among other things, she had sided with automakers on California’s so-called lemon law, and tried to protect prescription drug makers from liability claims.
But getting back to Frommer’s bills, the pharmaceutical lobby is naturally doing everything in its power to kill them.
The pharmaceutical companies would have us believe that current drug prices are fair because they include the cost of research and development of new drugs.
What they don’t bother to say is that you and I are covering that tab in more ways than one.
“We’re paying the highest drug prices of any country in the world,” said Frommer, who is thinking about grabbing a seat on the Rx Express. “And American taxpayers are also paying one-third of the cost of research and development” through public university grants and the like.
The pharmaceuticals also warn that consumers won’t know whether drugs they buy over the Internet, from another country, are safe.
I’ll tell you what isn’t safe. Having to skip medication because you can’t afford it isn’t safe, and having to travel five hours for a fair price, at the age of 78, isn’t safe.
At least next time she crosses a border for her medicine, Carole Jaquez won’t have to drive.
Steve Lopez writes Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at
[email protected] and read previous columns at http://www.latimes.com/lopez


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It’s a troubling fact that corporations now spend more lobbying Congress than Congress spends to fund itself. The result is a system in which underpaid, undermanned legislative staffs can easily end up in thrall to big-money corporate operations with resources and expertise to spare. The multimillion-dollar imbalance further tips the scales in favor of the powerful in the heart of our policymaking.
But the sum that companies plow into the Washington influence game also belongs in some context. Yes, it’s a lot. It could, however, be a lot more.
The entire budget paid out to sway our heads of state is essentially a rounding error when viewed in comparison with the broader world of corporate expenses. Consider these other costs that don’t get so much as a second look, and yet manage to eclipse the total annual lobbying outlay.
Maybe Congress should charge more.
$3.2 billion — Total spent on lobbying
This figure, calculated by the Center for Responsive Politics, includes spending by corporations, which dominate the influence industry—but also labor unions and other special-interest advocates, like the AARP and the Sierra Club.
$3.3 billion — Coca Cola’s ad budget
The beverage giant spent this much alone on ads promoting its brands around the globe. And CEO Muhtar Kent has said the budget could stretch an additional $1 billion by 2016.
$7.2 billion — Petrobras’s losses last year
The Brazilian energy company lost many, many billions more in a single 12-month period than all the tabs for steak dinners and well appointed private briefings that K Street could muster. Granted, the company is coming off a particularly rocky period, as its eye-popping losses last year can attest. A massive corruption scandal forced the chief executive and entire board to resign and cost the company $2.1 billion alone from the revelation an eight-year kickback scheme.
$3.6 billion — Renovations to LaGuardia Airport
New York City’s beleaguered, begrimed travel hub has become a symbol of our crumbling national infrastructure. By the end of the year, construction is set to begin on a much-needed overhaul of its central terminal, with an aim of more than doubling its capacity by 2017.
$6.2 billion — Value of the global electronic dance music industry
It’s not for everybody. Let’s be honest, it’s not even for most people. But electronic dance music is apparently for enough people around the world that the value of the market from music sales and streams, festival and club income and other related economic activity stacks up to some big numbers.
$7.4 billion — Consumer spending on Halloween
All those candies and costumes really add up. Americans shelled out more than twice as much for last year’s spook-tacular as special interests spent in Washington. And it was only one night. The candy lobby itself, however—a group called the National Confectioners Association—spent about a quarter-million dollars lobbying, a relatively paltry amount.
A shorter version of this story appeared in the May 1, 2015 issue of Fortune magazine.


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What you need to know
- WhatsApp is changing how it handles media in chats with disappearing messages enabled.
- Media received in chats with disappearing messages enabled will no longer be automatically saved.
- The new change is rolling out to everyone over the next 24 hours.
WhatsApp is making big changes to the way it automatically saves media to the Photos app when they're received in a chat with disappearing messages enabled. Basically, it isn't going to do it anymore.
In a new change that is rolling out to WhatsApp users of both the latest beta build and the version that is available in the App Store, media saving will be disabled by default for chats with disappearing messages turned on. The change was spotted by WABetaInfo and is one that will surely help improve the privacy of WhatsApp users — especially those who are so concerned that they use disappearing messages in the first place.
While WhatsApp will no longer automatically save media to the Photos app, the report does note that screenshots can still be taken Media can also be manually saved via the WhatsApp app — the only difference via this change is that the saving won't happen automatically anymore.
The change is now rolling out to both iOS and Android users, the report says. Expect it to kick in for everyone in the coming days.
The change will impact photos, GIFs, and videos.
WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone apps at what it does and the inclusion of disappearing messages is one of the reasons people use the app in the first place. Having media automatically saved to the device it's received on never really made sense and this change is surely one that will be welcomed by many.
Master your iPhone in minutes
iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!
Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.
Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.


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Launch of Online Exhibition Gallery
December 11, 2022
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our first online exhibition: Celebration of Artist Residencies 2022. This page goes live on December 11, 2022 at 12:59 pm, just one minute before the live Zoom event begins! The public may join the event or view the video recording after the event.


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Smart watches and activity trackers market themselves as convenient and stylish ways to monitor your health. They’re certainly popular—Apple, Fitbit, and Pebble are expected to ship over 76 million devices by the end of 2015. Of course, many can’t analyze the data themselves, so they’re bringing it to their doctors to have a look at.
But as it turns out, doctors aren’t finding this data helpful at all. They’re both questioning the data’s value, as well as the validity of the enormous amount of data.
“I’m an oncologist, and I have these patients who are proto ‘quantified self’ kinds of people,” reported Sage Bionetworks oncologist Andrew Trister in an MIT Technology Review article. “They come in with these very large Excel spreadsheets, with all this information—I have no idea what to do with that.”
According to Trister, from a clinical standpoint, it’s quite difficult to point out trends that may exist in the patient-generated data. Researchers are finding that a remarkably few amount of the consumer-oriented wearable devices stack up to the reliability a medical-grade wearable device might have.
It also doesn’t help matters that consumer-oriented wearables—like Fitbit and the Apple Watch—aren’t clinically validated by the FDA to function with the same reliability standards that a medical device would have. They’re rather marketed under the much less extensive “wellness-focused” guidelines.
Rather than fitness trackers, which provide a data spread of general activity, medical wearables should focus on collecting data from specific types of activity. One in particular that holds a lot of promise, according to Trister, is the Embrace wristband from Empatica, which uses an electrodermal activity sensor to measure skin’s electrical conductance, in order to track seizure activity in epileptics.
That’s not to say using fitness trackers is a completely worthless endeavor, however. They do help people to be aware of their level of activity—and lack thereof—in order to make conscious health decisions. Doctors aren’t quite ready to deal with the sheer amount of information at the moment, nor do they believe the quality of sensors is strong enough for their data to be clinically relevant.
Hopefully clinicians will become aware of these trackers as their technology improves, because these wearables could prove useful for helping patients manage chronic diseases.


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Additionally, TME's 4Q18 report -- its first report as a public company -- failed to impress as it barely edged out consensus estimates while also showing a steep deceleration in growth. The ongoing trade issues, combined with the company’s slowing growth rates, helps explain why the stock is down about 15% from early April.
However, this pull-back in the stock presents a much more appealing set-up compared to the last time TME reported earnings. Heading into its Q4 report on March 19, the stock had rocketed higher by about 67% off its post-IPO lows, creating an opening for a profit-taking, sell-the-news reaction following the print. And that is exactly what happened as TME tanked by 10% the following day.
As for Q1 expectations, the Street is forecasting EPS of RMB0.69 and revenue of RMB5.8 bln, equating to yr/yr growth of 41%. While still solid, its revenue growth has been trending lower, going from 71% in 3Q18 to 51% last quarter; 41% growth is expected for this quarter.
On its own, a top-line slowdown isn't overly concerning and is normal as the company's revenue base expands. But under the surface, TME's Q4 report indicated that there could be other issues at play besides a natural deceleration due to a maturing business.
For instance, its music mobile monthly average users (MAUs) declined sequentially to 644 mln from 655 mln and were up a modest 6.8% yr/yr. Additionally, its monthly average revenue per user for online music slipped by 1.1% yr/yr to RMB8.6 and its gross margin declined to 34% from 38.8% in the year ago period.
The slide in gross margin was attributable to rising royalty and content costs, which isn't a challenge unique to TME. Fellow streaming music companies Spotify (SPOT) and Pandora face the same pressures, making it very difficult to operate a profitable business model.
On the positive side, TME is finding success in its efforts to monetize its users. In Q4, paying users for its online music business jumped by 39% to 27 mln. TME credits its new promotional subscription packages with automatic renewal as one cause to the improvement.
Also, it has expanded and broadened its content while adding new interactive features with artists and performers that enhance the user experience.
Key Takeaways: To conclude, a mix of factors is worth consideration heading into TME's Q1 report tonight, including the escalating trade dispute and the effect of if on the Chinese consumer, the company’s slowing user growth, rising content costs, and improving user monetization.
There may be some fundamental concerns, but these seem to be at least partially baked into the stock already, as it has slid lower over the past few weeks. This makes it a decent candidate for a post-earnings pop higher if it manages to outperform expectations.


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Computing giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) recently reported earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2023, or the period ending Sept. 30, 2022. There was a lot to unpack from this report. Consumer demand in the personal computer sector has been weak for the last several quarters, and management believes this trend will continue due to cyclical trends such as inflation.
Moreover, the company’s social networking platform, LinkedIn, is experiencing a decline in advertising revenue, which isn’t entirely surprising given the overall waning demand for ad spending.
However, the beauty of a company like Microsoft is that the company has a number of different levers to generate revenue. And despite the macro environment affecting its core hardware and advertising businesses, there is one end market that seems to be resilient even during times of economic volatility. In this article, we are going to analyze Microsoft’s cloud business and how its growth should encourage long-term investors.
Do people dislike Microsoft due to the owner?


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Inns and B&Bs throughout the U.S. and Canada will honor veterans by opening their doors with complimentary stays on November 10, 2011, in observance of Veteran’s Day. In the largest known effort within the lodging industry to honor veterans, more than a thousand inns and B&Bs are expected to offer free stays to thank veterans for their service to their country. To date more than 340 inns and B&Bs have signed up to participate in the B&Bs for Vets program in the U.S. with an additional 100+ offers from Canadian innkeepers, and more are being added each day. Organizers expect to surpass the 900 participating inns that joined in the program in 2010, expecting more than a thousand innkeepers to jump on board offering rooms to thousands of vets on the eve of Veteran’s Day. There are plenty of participating inns within an easy drive of Boston. For a complete list of participating inns and B&Bs, visit www.bnbsforvets.org for participating inns in the United States and www.bbcanada.com/bbforvets for a list of participating Canadian B&Bs.
“We are delighted that so many inns and B&Bs have jumped on board the B&Bs for Vets program early this year, offering free rooms to vets and their guests“ said Jay Karen, President and CEO of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International, the organization coordinating B&Bs for Vets. “Last year several thousand vets with their families and companions were honored with complimentary stays at inns and B&Bs and this year we expect to honor even more,” finished Karen.
The B&Bs for Vets program started in 2008 when Kathleen Panek, co-owner of the Gillum House and a handful of other innkeepers in West Virginia opened their doors to veterans in honor of Veteran’s Day. The program grew in popularity among innkeepers, and last year more than 900 inns in the US and Canada participated by offering free rooms to vets. This year, the Professional Association of Innkeepers International will coordinate the B&Bs for Vets program in conjunction with BBCanada.com to thank veterans and introduce them to today’s B&B experience.
Veterans interested in reserving a room on November 10 are asked to contact the inn/B&B where they wish to stay. Proof of military service will be requested, and all policies of the inn will be enforced for free stays. To see a complete list of participating inns and B&Bs in the Boston area and well beyond, visit www.bnbsforvets.org or www.bbcanada.com/bbforvets New inns and B&Bs are being added daily, so if you don’t see one today, check again tomorrow!
One important word of wisdom
Inns and B&Bs are small properties. Some have committed all their rooms to the B&Bs for Vets promotion, all have given as many rooms as they can. Yet there are simply a limited number of rooms available and they’re booking up fast. Vets interested in this promotion should call to reserve their room asap to insure availability.


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News from Chili’s Grill & Bar was released today that have conservatives foaming at the mouth. The restaurant chain will donate 15 percent of its sales to Planned Parenthood in Kentucky and Indiana.
According to its website information, the popular restaurant chain has a weekly Give Back Night. On the designated night, any person with a voucher from a particular not-for-profit organization can turn in a voucher with their dining receipt and that organization will receive 15 percent of that particular sale. Planned Parenthood applied in Kentucky and Indiana and were approved.
This is not the first time the restaurant chain has attempted to help fund Planned Parenthood. In 2011, a California store tried to do the same. The backlash from the pro-life faction caused them to end their efforts.
In true unsympathetic fashion, the it-is-a-baby-at-conception faction has taken to social media to spew anything but understanding.
Although we do give mad props for creative hashtags (see #PlannedButcherhood above), these are the same people who voted for Trump. These are the same people who believe government should stay out of business. By telling Chili’s that they cannot choose who to support based on political or religious beliefs, the naysayers have unwrapped a huge hypocrisy burrito.
- Boy Scouts Of America’s Transgender Policy Change Has Right-Wingers’ Panties In A Bunch - January 30, 2017
- Sean Spicer Attacks State Department Employees Who Disagree With Muslim Ban - January 30, 2017
- Right-Wingers Lose What Little Minds They Have Because Planned Parenthood Tweeted Facts - January 27, 2017
- Chili’s Help Fund Planned Parenthood In Two States And Pro-lifers Lose Their Minds - January 26, 2017
- Trump Administration Issues Gag Order For USDA Scientists - January 24, 2017
- Mango Mussolini’s Inaugural Address Rallies His Twitter Troops Against ‘Islamic Terrorism’ - January 20, 2017


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Several major FMCG companies have been labelled as “slow payers” as they take months to pay back businesses, new research has revealed.
Drinks giants, including Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola bottling company Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, are taking over 100 days to pay their invoices to suppliers, according to UK-based think tank Good Business Pays.
The latest report shows a 20% increase in companies reporting average payment times of over 80 days, with the largest surge in companies reporting payments being made between 80-90 days.
AB InBev, for example, has taken 116 days on average to reimburse its suppliers, proving to be one of the slower payers of hundreds of companies listed. Some 78% of invoices were paid in 61 days or more.
The brewer added its maximum contractual payment period agreed is 245 days but that is with a “single, large supplier, with whom we have a longstanding relationship negotiated at a global level who provides us with specialised industrial equipment”.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners took an average of 110 days to pay back, with 90% of payments taking 61 days or longer.
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On the group’s original payment practice report, it wrote: “Our goal is to ensure we pay every invoice within the agreed time period. There are a number of reasons why invoices may not be paid on agreed terms, including administrative and processing errors, mistakes on invoices and, in some cases, a dispute over the invoice.
“We recognise the importance of paying our suppliers on time and continue to work hard to reduce the percentage of our invoices paid late.”
A CCEP spokesperson said that relationships with suppliers are “critically important”.
“The majority of our suppliers are large companies conducting business with us on contracted terms which have been negotiated on an individual basis with our procurement team. Agreeing mutually beneficial terms in this way allows us to build long-term strategic partnerships with our suppliers, where both sides are collaborating for growth,” the spokesperson added.
“We keep our terms under constant review. Our smallest suppliers have always been on shorter payment terms, which in the past meant they were typically paid within 40 days. However, from the end of last year, we have been switching our SME suppliers in Great Britain to 30-day payment terms.”
Just Drinks has contacted AB InBev for comment.
Terry Corby, CEO of Good Business Pays, said: “It’s encouraging that 19 companies whose names were published in the autumn watchlist have since dramatically improved their payment performance and only six months later now no longer appear on this list.
“2023 reported the highest annual registered company insolvencies since 1931, and larger companies must support SMEs, who are the backbone of our economy, and this starts with suitable payment performance.”
The UK think tank said that, since the last Good Business Pays Watchlist was published in August 2023, 19 companies have reported “big improvements” in payment performance and no longer appear on the watchlist.


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Indian Open Kitchen
- Credit: Archant
A NEW Indian restaurant has opened up in Nailsea giving guests the opportunity to see their food being cooked.
Muhammed Kuduse has set up Indian Open Kitchen, in Crown Glass Shopping Centre, with his business partners Gaurav Kapoor and Kamaal Ahmed, who is also the chef.
Mr Ahmed has 10 years of experience working in restaurants, including Ahmed’s Curry Café in Bristol.
Mr Kuduse also owns Go Mobile which he set up four years ago and now has 10 branches across North Somerset.
He is hoping to do the same with his new restaurant business.
He said: “I see myself as an entrepreneur. I started with one store four years ago and if I can manage to achieve 10 stores with a £2.8million turnover, I’m sure I can be a success in the restaurant trade.”


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AUTOMATION and efficiency are at the heart of the Tuas-based Toll City, the S$228 million logistics hub officially launched on Wednesday.
Located near road links to Malaysia and the growing Jurong region, it is expected to improve Toll's Asia Pacific network and traffic...
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[KUALA LUMPUR] Shares in Malaysia's Top Glove slumped 7.5 per cent on Tuesday, after the government said some of its...
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[TOKYO] Nissan Motor Co Ltd on Tuesday said it will sell a redesigned version of its best-selling Note compact car...


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SAR TO PKR: Today Saudi Riyal to PKR on, 8th December 2021
KARACHI: The average customer rates of buying and selling of Saudi Riyal (SAR) against Pakistani rupee (PKR) are Rs46.9 and Rs47.38 at 9:00 am PST on December 8th, 2021.
The SAR increases against the PKR when compared with the buying and selling of Rs46.60 and Rs46.68 on December 7, 2021.
The exchange rate is based on the average buying and selling of foreign currency by various exchange companies in the open market.
Saudi Riyal to PKR Open market
|8th Dec, 2021||46.9||47.38|
This Saudi Riyal to Pakistan Rupee conversion is based on open market rates which are set by the currency exchange dealers in Pakistan.
Download BOL News App for latest news


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TheGroup appears poised to throw out design cues — such as cab-forward design — and do the once unthinkable: affixing the Jeep brand on less-rugged all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicles.
Some future Jeeps could be developed with AWD instead of 4-wheel drive (4WD). While Wrangler will always retain the ability to cross the Rubicon,Group Design Chief Trevor Creed says not every Jeep has to pass that test to join the family. Jeep could have four different branches — Wrangler, 4WD Liberty, 4WD Grand Cherokee and more car-like AWD models, Mr. Creed says.
Both the Liberty and Grand Cherokee conquered the Rubicon.
Meanwhile, the Chrysler and Dodge brands are preparing to retire cab-forward styling for the large car family when the next generation bows. The '04 models have been designed from scratch, and Chrysler officials say they are anxious to see public reaction.


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The hotly anticipated Apple Reality Pro AR/VR headset could be the last big chance for VR to take off, according to one prominent analyst.
Ming Chi-Kuo, the king of Apple tips, has issued a new blog post outlining his view on the forthcoming Apple Reality Pro launch, which should take place at WWDC 2023 on June 5. It’s fair to say that it’s not massively positive.
As a facts and figures guy, Kuo takes the angle of looking at shipments of other recent AR/VR headset releases. They haven’t been good, to say the least.
Sony has cut its production plans for the PlayStation VR 2 by around 20%, despite almost universal praise for the system and the ongoing popularity of the base PS5 console. We gave the system 4 out of 5 in our review, praising its stunning 4K OLED screen, vastly improved Sense controllers, and streamlined set-up.
Meta’s Quest Pro, meanwhile, has only shipped around 300,000 to the Quest 2’s 20 million.
If you’re thinking this is maybe an issue with depressed Western markets, Kuo points out that Pico – China’s biggest AR/VR headset brand – sold 40% fewer devices last year than it expected.
The conclusion, if it needed to be spelled out, is that there is no evidence that AR/VR is set to be the next big thing. There simply isn’t much demand for it.
As such, Apple’s belated entry to the AR/VR headset market is less a case of the company jumping on the bandwagon, and more a case of the last great hope for augmented and virtual reality as a mainstream proposition. No pressure, Apple.


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Manufacturer returns to quarterly profitability but predicts revenue will fall further by up to NT$9 billion in Q2
HTC has reported a net profit of NT$310 million (£6.23 million) in Q4 2013 but saw revenues slide sequentially by more than NT$4 billion (£80.4 million).
The profit compared to the NT$3 billion (£60.3 million) loss the manufacturer made in Q3 2013, which was the first time HTC had recorded a quarterly loss.
Revenues for Q4 were NT$42.9 billion (£862 million), down NT$4.1 billion (£82.4 million) from the previous three month period.
Gross margin was 17.8 per cent compared to 20.4 per cent in Q3.
HTC is predicting revenue will fall further in this quarter to between NT$34 billion (£683.4 million) and NT$36 billion (£723.6 million), with gross margin expected to be 21.75 per cent.
During the quarter, the manufacturer signed a partnership with China Mobile and launched its One Max smartphone as the first TD-LTE device in the country.
It also added to its mid-range portfolio with the introduction of devices including the Desire 700 dual-SIM, Desire 601 and Desire 500 across EMEA. It also launched a 4G edition of the One and Butterfly smartphones in Taiwan, as well as a gold edition of the former.
HTC is expected to unveil the latest additions to its One smartphone range at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.


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Rensselaer Honda Excited about the Launch of the Ninth Gen Accord
On November 1, 1982, just under 30 years ago Honda began manufacturing its vehicles in U.S based Marysville, Ohio. In honor of this milestone, we here at Rensselaer Honda, proudly serving Troy, NY invite you to come celebrate the release of the all-new 9th generation Honda accord .
In an earlier press conference, Hide Iwata the President and CEO of USA Honda manufacturing released the following statement “This new Accord excels in all areas, and it’s being built in a plant that excels in all areas as well – including flexibility, efficiency and quality for the customer,”
The new 2013 Honda Accord is undoubtedly impressive, and will continue to thrive as one of the best mid-size sedan vehicles.
The All new 2013 Honda accord features a stellar ” All-new Earth Dreams engine and transmission options”, followed by general features including a rearview camera, expanded driver’s view mirror, Bluetooth connectivity, and multi-functional screen retina display.
In addition, the new accord has the following ready features available: “LaneWatcha blind-spot display, lane departure warning, and forward collision warning”
Do we have your attention now? Good! If you are in Troy, NY, and are interested in learning more about the new 2013 Honda accord, Rensselaer Honda is more than happy to assist, just give us a call. We welcome you to a test drive upon arrival at 770 Hoosick Rd. Troy, NY 12180.


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AMC Theaters Just Had Its Best Week in Downloads
This is a single insight from This Week in Apps - Reddit's Regrettable Blunder. Check out the full article for more insights.
Last week I looked at how demand for streaming content seems to be shifting from movies to TV and how that's helping TV-first streamers like Peacock and Paramount+ grow, which is why I bring up AMC's app this week.
See, the shift to TV content isn't just on the demand side but also a result of big streamers like HBO and Disney going back to releasing new movies to theaters first and streaming second, which wasn't the case when the two launched.
With movies going to back to theaters, and blockbusters being released like it's 2019, people are... going back to theaters! And much like everything else, there's an app for that.
The AMC Theaters app saw its best week of downloads last week, ever, with 154K of downloads from the App Store and Google Play. Not just best post-pandemic, but best overall.
Overall, the app has seen downloads grow since the pandemic put downloads on pause. 2021 was pretty strong, 2022 was pretty consistent, and so far, 2023 is better than both.
While AMC hasn't fully recovered to its pre-pandemic downloads, it's on the right track and is getting very close. The trend isn't consistent and seems to be driven by releases unlike the steady stream of 2019, but that could just be how things will be from now on.
Content is (still) king!
App Intelligence for Everyone!
The insights in this report come right out of our App Intelligence platform, which offers access to download and revenue estimates, installed SDKs, and more! Learn more about the tools or schedule a demo with our team to get started.
Are you a Journalist? You can get access to our app and market intelligence for free through the Appfigures for Journalists program. Contact us for more details.
All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.


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Shop owners at the Ikeja City Mall on Monday locked up their shops to protest against the fee levied on parking at the mall.
The management of the mall, announced last week that any vehicle that is parked on the premises for more than 45 minutes would pay N200 while two hours would be N400; three hours, N600; four hours, N800; five hours, N1,000; six hours, N1,200 and over six hours, N1,400.
It also said that rates for parking on Sunday would be less than 50 per cent after 8pm while a lost ticket would attract a fee of N1,500.
The shop owners are also to pay a parking fee of N28,600 per month even as they are expected to pay another N16,000 access fee for a compulsory electronic disk.
A few days later, the management reportedly said the prices would be slashed by 50 per cent but on Sunday, they said the old fee would stand.
However, on Monday morning, hundreds of customers were refused service by the over 50 shop owners at the mall as they locked their shops for hours.
One of the shop owners, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said the parking fee was outrageous, adding that the amount being paid as rent was exorbitant.
He said, “The average shop pays N1.7m per month as rent which is very high already. These South Africans just come to Nigeria to extort and cheat us because we have a bad government.
“Now, they want to chase our customers away with the parking fee.
“The reason they are eager to implement it is because the parking service has been contracted to Serviest, another South African company.”
Another shop owner said other malls such as City Mall, Onikan and the Palms at Lekki did not implement such and feared that customers would be swayed to patronise those other malls.
“If a customer has the luxury of choosing between Lekki where parking is free and Ikeja where it’s not, where do you think they would go?”
But the manager in-charge of service parking at the mall, Mr. Emeka Ikenumba, said the parking fee had come to stay, adding that the space had been an integral part of the investment plan.
He argued that research had shown that the average customer did not spend more than 45 minutes and the parking fee would not affect them as such.
He said, “Before the shop owners took ownership of the shop, they were made to sign an agreement and clause 12 on the pact states that the management can at anytime initiate extra service costs.
“Parking fee was introduced in order to generate money to maintain and manage the car park because of the level of investment that has gone into it.
“Gadgets like CCTV and others were acquired with a lot of money which must be paid for. If shop owners and customers cannot pay, then they are free to go elsewhere.”
It was learnt that following the protests, the management suspended the parking fee and had begun talks with the aggrieved shop owners.


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China's exports rose 6.1 percent year on year in 2014, while imports increased 0.4 percent, customs data showed on Tuesday.
Last year, the country's total export and import values increased 3.4 percent year on year, said Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs. In December of 2014, China's foreign trade value hit 2.49 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.2 percent from a year earlier.
Trade with the European Union (EU), China's biggest trade partner, edged up 8.9 percent year on year to 3.78 trillion yuan in 2014, while
trade with the United States, China's second-biggest trade partner, rose 5.4 percent year on year to 3.41 trillion yuan in 2014.
China's trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, its third-largest trading partner, rose 7.1 percent year on year to 2.95 trillion yuan.Its trade with Japan meanwhile contracted 1 percent year on year, to 1.92 trillion yuan.


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On the heels of the 12 Scams of Christmas (http://blogs.mcafee.com/consumer/12-scams-of-the-holidays-do-not-let-cybercriminals-steal-your-holiday-spirit) report, McAfee today released its top 10 tips for keeping new devices secure. Many Canadians will be receiving a new electronic device for Christmas this year, and they’ll be so overjoyed that they immediately start downloading apps, loading contact info and surfing the Internet, but WAIT! Before your eagerness gets the best of you, use protection.
Maybe securing your device isn’t as exciting as beating your personal Angry Birds record, but when new devices are completely unprotected, it takes just a few clicks to have personal information stolen or for new devices to become laden with malware. According to a recent McAfee survey, Canadians value their digital assets (personal photos, entertainment files, contacts, etc.) at more than $48,000, so skipping the protection could be an expensive mistake!
Additionally, here’s a link to a whitepaper by Igor Muttik, Ph.D., senior architect at McAfee Labs (http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-securing-mobile-devices.pdf). The paper examines the current state of smartphones and other devices and the security risks associated with their new capabilities. Among the topics he explores are the following:
- Risks associated with Android devices as they grow in popularity worldwide
- Risks associated with iOS, Windows Phone 7, and other devices
- Changes and predictions of the mobile threat landscape
McAfee Reveals Simple Safety Tips for Securing New Internet-Connected Devices This Holiday Season
MARKHAM, Ontario, Dec. 7, 2011 – From the hottest new tablets to sleek smartphones and laptops, electronic devices are likely at the top of many consumers’ holiday wish lists this year. Many lucky recipients will immediately load personal data, contact information, photos and entertainment files onto their new toys, eager to enjoy them right away.
Not so fast, warns McAfee. When new devices are completely unprotected, they can be vulnerable to malware infections or social engineering scams that can steal personal information.
Cybercriminals are widening their nets to target a variety of devices and platforms. McAfee LabsTM is reporting that while Mac and mobile device malware have not hit the mainstream yet, they are increasing in number, and PC threats continue to escalate significantly.
“The first thing everyone should do when they begin setting up their new mobile devices is put themselves one step ahead of cybercriminals by installing complete mobile security software,” said Brenda Moretto, Manager of Canadian Consumer Sales at McAfee. “It is now easier and more cost-effective for consumers to deploy a single solution for safeguarding all of their Internet-connected devices and protecting their digital lifestyles from one simple, central console.”
McAfee encourages consumers to take some simple precautions to keep their digital lives and devices safe through the holidays and into 2012:
1. Protect your data.
In a recent global survey, home Internet users estimated that their digital assets, such as photos, contacts, and entertainment, were worth approximately $37,000. In Canada, consumers valued their assets at a higher figure standing at more than $48,000.
Consider a product that offers data backup and restore features as well as advanced security that allows you to locate a missing device, lock it remotely, and wipe your data in case of loss or theft.
- Don’t take a chance on losing important personal photos, creative works in progress, or financial information.
2. If you have a new Apple computer or device, including an iPad or iPhone, transfer your PC best practices to your new Apple product.
- Unfortunately, the popularity of Apple computers and devices has led to an increase in Mac OS X-targeted threats. According to , as of late 2010, there were 5,000 pieces of malware targeting the Mac platform, and this figure is increasing by 10 per cent per month.
As a proactive measure, consider installing security software that’s been developed for the Mac since more threats are being aimed at this platform. Check out Apple’s new iCloud service, which provides tools for syncing, backing up and securing data. Use the native security settings on your new device to require a passcode to access the device.
3. If you have a new PC or Internet-connected device, make sure your computer has comprehensive security software – anti-virus software alone is not enough. Be sure to back up regularly.
- 8,900 new malicious websites are found daily. (McAfee Q2 Threats Report)
Your security software should include at a minimum: real-time anti-virus, a two-way firewall, anti-spyware, anti-phishing and safe search capabilities. Additional levels of protection include anti-spam, parental controls, wireless network protection and anti-theft protection that encrypts sensitive financial documents.
4. Keep in mind that free security software can leave you unprotected.
Free security software typically provides only basic protection, and is often offered to get you to buy more comprehensive products. They generally lack important features such as a firewall, website health checks and automatic updates.
To ensure the best protection against emerging threats, look for security software that provides real-time protection using data continuously updated in the cloud.
- Don’t forget to check whether the security software installed on your new PC is only a trial version. If it is, remember to buy a subscription so that you have continuous protection against newly discovered threats.
5. Search and shop safely.
To help you weed through malicious sites, be sure to use a website safety advisor that can tell you which sites are safe and which are risky. McAfee® SiteAdvisor® software is included in all of the McAfee consumer security suites.
- When shopping, look for the McAfee SECURE™ trustmark, which indicates that the site has passed rigorous daily testing for more than 10,000 known vulnerabilities.
- Don’t forget to read the online store’s privacy and security policies before shopping.
6. Be aware of “scareware,” or fake antivirus software.
Scareware tricks users into believing that the computer is infected to get them to “buy” fake anti-virus software and hand over their personal and financial details, usually via pop-ups.
- Scareware has grown by more than 600 per cent from 2008 to 2010, and is estimated to victimize one million Internet users a day. (McAfee 2010 Report)
- In 2011, for the first time ever, fake Mac anti-virus malware has become a tool for cybercriminals. (McAfee Q2 2011 Report)
- Don’t buy anti-virus software through pop-up ads. Always purchase your security software from a reputable vendor.
7. Educate your family and pay attention to your children’s online activities.
Keep your computer in a common area and discuss which information is appropriate to share online and which is not, such as addresses, phone numbers, and other private information. Be aware that if your children are surfing the web, they may not be as prudent when clicking on unknown links and sites, potentially increasing the risk of threats.
- If you have young kids or tweens, limit their online access and the content they can view. Use a web-filtering tool that protects kids from accessing inappropriate content such as pornography, nudity, online hate groups, school-cheating sites, and profanity.
- Assume your child knows how to turn off parental controls, so always keep a close eye on their activities.
- For more information on keeping your kids safe, visit McAfee’s Family Internet Safety Center at www.mcafee.com/family and check out the 10-Step Internet Safety Plan For Your Family.
8. If you or your child has a new gaming or entertainment device (Nintendo Wii or 3DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), remember that these devices are now Internet-connected and are therefore vulnerable to many of the same threats as PCs.
Make reliable back-up copies of games to protect your investment. Take advantage of built-in parental controls that can help shield kids from violent games or limit when the device can be used.
- Some multiplayer games allow kids to play with strangers over the Internet, so if you are a parent, consider activity-monitoring tools.
- Only connect your device to a secure Wi-Fi network.
- Don’t store personal information on your device.
9. If you have a removable storage device, such as a flash drive or portable hard drive, use technologies that will help protect your information.
Consider using a secure, encrypted USB stick, to encrypt your information so it is unreadable if your device is lost or stolen.
- Buy security software to protect your portable hard drive, and set a password.
- Don’t leave your removable storage device unattended since they are small and easily stolen.
10. If you have a new smartphone or tablet, know that threats aimed at mobile devices are growing.
- Mobile malware is on the rise, and Android is now the most targeted platform. According to McAfee, attacks aimed at the Android platform grew 37 per cent from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2011.
Malicious applications are a growing threat area, so be careful of third-party applications and only download from a reputable app store.
Read other users’ reviews and make sure the app’s access permissions make sense.
Make sure you also protect against data loss by backing up your mobile devices regularly.
Consider mobile malware threat protection, not only to protect against viruses and for safe mobile surfing, but to also safeguard privacy in the event of loss or theft. In addition, for the many consumers who own multiple devices, McAfee® All Access is a simple and cost-effective solution for protecting a wide range of Internet-connected devices on different platforms.
McAfee is the first company to provide protection for all of a consumer’s digital devices-from smartphones and tablets to laptops and PCs – for one price. McAfee All Access costs CDN $99.99 for individuals and $149.99 for the household version. This represents a substantial cost-savings-as much as $200-when compared to the cost of individual security and data protection for multiple devices. Free lifetime support available 24 hours a day is also included. Check out www.mcafee.com/allaccess to learn more.
● For the complete list of consumer tips for securing new devices, go to
● Web surfers should visit the McAfee Security Advice Center and Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mcafee for information on the latest threats, and tips on surfing safely.
● VIDEO: History of Malware:
● VIDEO: A New World of Threats:
McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), is the world’s largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. Backed by its unrivaled Global Threat Intelligence, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security.
McAfee is relentlessly focused on constantly finding new ways to keep our customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com.
McAfee Canada is headquartered in Markham, Ontario, with regional office across Canada. The company’s Consumer Software Research and Development facility is based in Waterloo, Ontario.
Note: McAfee, SiteAdvisor, and McAfee SECURE are trademarks or registered trademarks of McAfee, or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. © 2011 McAfee All rights reserved. The product plans, specifications and descriptions herein are provided for information only, subject to change without notice, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied.


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Hawala racket busted; 4 foreign nationals among 10 arrested
Accused collected money from investors promising high returns, and wound up business after some time
Cybercrime officials with the Criminal Investigation Department on Saturday busted a ₹290 crore money-laundering scam linked to a hawala racket. Ten people — including two from China and two from Tibet — have been arrested. However, the kingpin and prime accused, Anas Ahmed, who hails from Kerala but resides in Bengaluru, has yet to be arrested.
According to M.D. Sharath, Superintendent of Police (cybercrime), who led the probe, Ahmed offered several financial schemes online and on mobile apps promising clients high returns on investments.
Initially, the investors were paid by the accused promptly, but this was temporary. “The accused would wind up the business after collecting huge amounts of money from investors,” said Mr. Sharath.
According to the police, the accused opened shell companies to route the funds. These were allegedly being managed by people from China who functioned as handlers. According to the CID, the accused convinced many people to open bank accounts but to give them access, they used these accounts as well for fraudulent financial dealings, said the CID.
The scam came to light following a complaint from a well-known payment gateway company after it noticed that the accused were using its services by falsely claiming that they were running business in a range of categories from gaming to e-commerce.
“However, they defrauded the company by deviating from their original category of business in which they had registered. The accused started routing their transactions to collect payments via the gateway from an unregistered business, ‘Power Bank’, which has an app on Google Play Store,” said a police official.
Through customer complaints, the complainant company got to know that public invested a certain amount in this ‘Power Bank’ app to earn some percentage of daily and weekly interest. “The accused, after accepting the invested amount, defaulted on payments and withheld the principal amount,” the official added. Once a substantial amount of money was collected, they would shut it down.
Based on the complaint, the cybercrime police arrested 10 persons, including two Chinese and two Tibetan nationals, and six persons from various parts of the country, including Delhi, Surat and Bengaluru.
During the course of investigation, they found that Ahmed, a Kerala-based businessman was the main person. “He studied medicine in China and married a Chinese national. He also hosted an online rummy application.
“After going through the assets and bank accounts of the accused, it was also noted during investigation that there was a huge spike in the opening of shell companies since November 2020. We have also observed that the Chinese handlers are in possession of a number of shell companies and bank accounts. The probe is ongoing,” said a police official.


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Zahran, Souq.com launch e-Store
Cairo, January 12, 2012
Zahran Group, a leading manufacturer and distributor of household products, has entered into a strategic partnership with Souq.com Egypt to launch of its first e-store.
The venture aims to position the group as a major e-commerce player in Egypt, said a statement.
The move comes as a growing number of Egyptians (27 million) turn to the Internet for entertainment, information and shopping. Souq.com Egypt www.souq.com is the largest online retailer in the Arab World.
The e-Store will offer consumers the ability to purchase from the entire range of Zahran products and its distributed global brand name products electronically and have them delivered directly to their homes or offices.
“We are proud to work with souq.com, the leading e-commerce company in Egypt and the Arab World, to offer new channels to serve our customers and complement our channel network comprising of 13 branches all over the country from Cairo to Alexandria, 6th October city, Northern Coastline cities and Hurgada,” said Mohamad Alaa Zahran, sales manager of Zahran Group.
“The e-Store will offer online consumers the full range of Zahran kitchenware, household and electric appliances as well as brands like Tefal, Brabantia and Soehnle. The e-Shop on souq.com enables us to reach out to all our customers across the country while increasing our sales opportunities in areas where we have traditionally had limited reach such as Upper Egypt, which represents over 13% of Souq.com reach”
“We are pleased to partner with Zahran Group and offer our expertise in e-commerce so as to help them Group increase its reach and products to customers,” said Omar Soudodi, general manager of Souq.com Egypt, who praised the role of Zahran Group in manufacturing and distribution as a well-established national company.
Nancy Kamal, business development manager at souq.com Egypt, noted that the last 12 months witnessed a surge in internet user numbers in Egypt, a notably positive result of the 25 January revolution, providing new impetus for the stronger adoption of the Internet throughout all facets of Egyptian society. – TradeArabia News Service
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- Samsung showcases latest UHD monitors
- Unilever named 'employer of choice' in Saudi
- New Nokia Asha range arrives in Bahrain
- Canon launches 2 compact B&W MFPs
- MAF to build new mall in Dubai IMPZ
- Big growth seen for Mideast retail sector
- Rosette, GoExport enter partnership deal
- Samsung opens new outlet in Abu Dhabi
- Epson launches new thermal receipt printer
- Utoor Perfumes signs deal with Mezaj Arabia
- UAE group opens supermarket in Bahrain
- Marks & Spencer opens big store in Kuwait
- UAE clothing imports soar to $960m
- Samsung launches 2 wearable tech devices


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The value of cheque transactions dipped by N119.57 billion (32.5 per cent) Yearon- Year (YoY) to N248.20 billion in January 2021 from N367.77 billion in the corresponding period of 2020, latest data released by the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) shows. The NIBSS’ report also indicates that the volume of cheque transactions declined by 42.4 per cent to 362,127 in January 2021 from 628,628 in the corresponding period of last year.
New Telegraph’s analysis of the data further shows that the value of transactions at the end of January this year was 23.7 per cent less than the N325.31 billion recorded for the end of December 2020. Similarly, the volume of transactions at the end of January 2021 was 28.3 per cent below the 504,728 recorded for December last year. However, further review of the NIBSS’ numbers reveals that after plunging to N103 billion in April 2020, occasioned by the COVID- 19-induced shutdown of the economy during the period, the value of cheque transactions maintained an upward trend to hit N283.55 billion in September last year. Although it fell to N222.56 billion in October, the value of cheque transactions resumed its upward trajectory in November and December last year.
Still, New Telegraph’s analysis of cheque transactions data obtained from NIBSS indicates that the financial instrument has been on a downward trend in the last three years. For instance, the figures for the first quarter of 2020 shows that the volume of cheque transactions, which stood at 628,628 in January 2020, dropped to 594,093 and 577,644 in February and March respectively.
The data also indicates that the total volume and total value of cheques processed by NIBSS, which stood at 10.81 million and N5.38 trillion respectively in 2017, dropped to 9.0 million and N5.0 trillion and 7.8 million and N4.5 trillion in 2018 and 2019 respectively. This means that the total volume and value of cheques processed by NIBSS between 2017 and 2019 fell by 3.01 million and N880 billion respectively.
Analysts attribute the decline in cheque usage not only in Nigeria, but globally, to the widespread adoption of electronic payment channels. Indeed, analysts trace the decline of cheques in Nigeria to 2014, when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in line with its cashless policy released a fresh policy on cheque transaction.
The policy placed a ban on payment of value above N10 million through cheques and directed that such payment should be made through electronic payment channels. Following the sharp decline in cheque usage triggered by the cashless policy, NIBSS predicted in a report in 2016 that “we might witness the end of the cheque book by the year 2050.” The company (NIBSS) also noted in a more recent report that the decline in cheque transactions has become a global phenomenon.
“Globally, as the market share of cheques decline in the wake of increased adoption of contactless and real-time payments, a duopoly may likely develop in the non-cash market with cards and credit transfer (instant payments) dominating across most geographies. “For instance, in the Asian-Pacific (APAC), China, South Korea and Australia recorded a 20 percent drop in cheque usage although India recorded a 10.1 per cent increase in usage due majorly to her government’s demonetisation policy,” it said.
NIBSS added that in the United States, cheque usage remained a governmentbacked phenomenon as it contributed a whopping 73.5 per cent of global cheque volume. “In Nigeria, cheque transactions have continued on a downward spiral from its peak volume of 15.3 million in 2014 to 9 million in 2018. This is a -10 per cent CAGR over the five-year period; with a growth rate of -17 per cent when compared to 2017. Although, the volume of cheque transaction is decreasing, it is fair to say that its use is still relevant, especially amongst larger value transactions, bill payments, and payroll transactions,” NIBSS said in the report. Significantly, in South Africa, which has the continent’s biggest lenders, major banks, including Nedbank, FNB and Absa, last year ,announced plans to discontinue the use of cheque payments beginning from January this year.
The Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), which said that it anticipates that even more banks will take a similar action, said the decline in cheque usage is being exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak. It said: “Following the COVID- 19 pandemic, the physical contact required to issue, collect, and process cheques, makes it a less desirable method of payment for consumers and businesses alike. Since the start of the pandemic in South Africa, there has been a massive decline in cheque usage.”
However, the consensus among analysts in Nigeria seems to be that the country’s banks will continue to accept cheques for some time to come. In fact, CBN recently announced that the implementation of the Nigeria Cheque Standard (NCS) and Nigeria Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS) Version 2, will fully commence from April 1, 2021. The new standard introduces a new digit on the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition code line on cheque leaflets as well as expiry dates for new cheque books.
A financial consultant, Mr. Jude Nwankwo, told New Telegraph that “many corporate bodies in this country still use cheques because they believe that they (cheques) are generally safer than cards and digital platforms, which are vulnerable to cyber-attacks.”


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Dubbed Wintel, the two technology giants worked hand in hand for much of the PC era, with Microsoft building the Windows operating system and Intel making the chips to run it. But as mobile technology began to replace PCs’ prowess, both companies sought new partners and the alliance started to fray.
News this month of vulnerabilities in Intel’s processors has driven the wedge between the two even further, forcing Microsoft to do much of the work to patch security holes and both disagreeing over the extent of the possible disruptions to customer operations.
The incident has brought into focus the computer industry’s utter dependence on Intel, which controls more than 90 percent of the market for laptop processors and has a near monopoly in server chips. That too has implications for Microsoft, which in recent years has become a cloud computing service provider to lessen its reliance on operating systems and business programs. As a big buyer of Intel server chips, Microsoft is also susceptible to fallout from the supplier’s design flaws.
For most of the six months since Intel made Microsoft aware of the problem, the two worked closely together to try to preempt an industrywide meltdown. Their efforts, which included other chipmakers and companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google, may have headed off widespread security breaches for now. But tensions over the fallout are on public display.
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Firefighters in the town of Werl, western Germany, tackled an unusual emergency late on December 10, when a tank at a local firm making liquid chocolate overflowed and poured out onto the street.

The firefighters closed off the street and shoveled the chocolate to one side before a specialist cleaning company cleaned the road.

Video source: VCG


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China’s Huawei has connected to trademark its “Hongmeng” working framework (OS) in any event nine nations and Europe, information from a U.N. body appears, in a sign it might convey a back-up plan in key markets as U.S. assents undermine its plan of action.
The move comes after the Trump organization put Huawei on a boycott a month ago that banned it from working with U.S. tech organizations, for example, Alphabet Inc, whose Android OS is utilized in Huawei’s telephones.
From that point forward, Huawei – the world’s greatest creator of telecoms system gear – has petitioned for a Hongmeng trademark in nations, for example, Cambodia, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand, information from the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) appears.
It likewise documented an application in Peru on May 27, as indicated by the nation’s enemy of trust organization Indecopi.
Huawei has a back-up OS in the event that it is cut off from U.S.- made programming, Richard Yu, CEO of the association’s buyer division, revealed to German paper Die Welt in a meeting prior this year.
The firm, likewise the world’s second-biggest producer of cell phones, has not yet uncovered insights regarding its OS.
Its applications to trademark the OS show Huawei needs to utilize “Hongmeng” for contraptions extending from cell phones, compact PCs to robots and vehicle TVs.
At home, Huawei connected for a Hongmeng trademark in August a year ago and got a gesture a month ago, as indicated by a documenting on China’s protected innovation organization’s site.
Huawei declined to remark.
As indicated by WIPO information, the most punctual Huawei applications to trademark the Hongmeng OS outside China were made on May 14 to the European Union Intellectual Property Office and South Korea, or just after the United States hailed it would stick Huawei on a fare boycott.
Huawei has gone under mounting examination for over a year, driven by U.S. charges that “back doors” in its switches, change and other gear could enable China to keep an eye on U.S. interchanges.
The organization has denied its items represent a security risk.
Be that as it may, purchasers have been scared by how matters have heightened, with many hoping to offload their gadgets on stresses they would be cut off from Android refreshes in the wake of the U.S. boycott.
Huawei’s wants to turn into the world’s top selling cell phone creator in the final quarter this year have now been deferred, a senior Huawei official said for the current week.
Peru’s Indecopi has said it needs more data from Huawei before it can enlist a trademark for Hongmeng in the nation, where there are some 5.5 million Huawei telephone clients.
The agency did not give details on the documents it had sought, but said Huawei had up to nine months to respond.
Huawei delegates in Peru declined to give prompt remark, while the Chinese government office in Lima did not react to demands for input.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Smart Herald journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.


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NYC Reseller, What Goes Around Comes Around, Loses Lawsuit Over Counterfeit Claims
A lengthy legal battle between luxury fashion powerhouse Chanel and New York vintage boutique What Goes Around Comes Around (WGACA) has reached a climax this week. On Tuesday, a court ruled fully in favor of Chanel, awarding the brand $4 million in damages over WGACA’s unauthorized use of Chanel trademarks. The core issue under dispute: whether WGACA created consumer confusion around the authenticity of secondhand Chanel goods sold in its stores and online.
While resellers have rights to sell genuine pre-owned products without permission, brands can contest false affiliation. For nearly six years, Chanel alleged WGACA’s marketing tactics and authentication claims generated the misleading impression there was an official partnership between the luxury label and resale company. Ultimately, the court has sided wholly with Chanel.
Background on the Lawsuit
Chanel first filed suit against What Goes Around Comes Around in 2018, targeting the prominent NYC vintage store’s ability to authenticate and sell secondhand Chanel items without permission. As with lawsuits launched against resellers like The RealReal, Chanel rejects the premise anyone except the brand itself can genuinely verify real versus counterfeit goods. Beyond authentication matters, Chanel also took issue with WGACA’s social media use of quotes by house founder Coco Chanel and promotional codes containing her name. Together, Chanel argued these tactics fostered consumer confusion around whether the brands were affiliated.
What Goes Around Comes Around contended the quotes merely reflected statements in the public domain unable to be copyrighted. However, consumer confusion is the central issue in such cases rather than IP infringement. On January 31st expert testimony asserting survey evidence of genuine confusion tilted the case in Chanel’s favor.
Evidence of Consumer Confusion
Chanel enlisted McCarthy Institute director David Franklyn as an expert witness to demonstrate WGACA generated misconception about its ties to Chanel. In a 200+ person survey about luxury shopping, 23% answered the question “What does WGACA do?” by saying the company makes handbags. Additionally, 57% believed Chanel at least “permits” or outright “approves” WGACA selling secondhand bags.
However, when shown an image of a Chanel bag sold by What Goes Around Comes Around, 93% correctly identified Chanel as the manufacturer. WGACA argued this statistic indicates an overall understanding it simply resells Chanel goods rather than makes them. Yet the court ultimately weighed the first two statistics as conclusively showing dangerously high confusion.
Takeaways for Secondary Marketers
The precedent set by the Chanel case serves as a warning for resellers they face grave risks allowing any consumer confusion to emerge around relationships with brands. While authentic pre-owned sales remain legal, affirmative marketing creating perceivable affiliation opens companies to liability. Consequently, resellers would be prudent to enact clear messaging explaining their independent secondhand dealer status and inability to 100% authenticate goods. Ultimately the safest path lies in rebutting any whiff of endorsement by brands zealously protecting their trademarks.


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Huawei cleared to work with US companies again, with restrictions
Image credit: reuters
Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump announced that Huawei would be allowed to work with US companies again, although it has been further clarified that they will still be restricted from working on anything which could pose a security risk.
Amid renewed trade talks between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping, it was agreed that the US would apply no new tariffs and would ease restrictions on Huawei in order to reduce tensions.
Trump said the US Commerce Department would look at removing Huawei from the list of firms banned from buying components and technology from US companies without government approval.
“If the US does what it says, then of course we welcome it,” said Wang Xiaolong, the Chinese foreign ministry’s envoy for G20 affairs.
The original decision also forced many US-allied countries to reconsider their relationship with Huawei, as choosing to work with it could endanger data-sharing agreements with the White House.
This led Prime Minister Theresa May to warn UK mobile operators to be cautious over using the Chinese firm in their 5G deployments.
Ultimately, Huawei was expecting to lose up to 60 per cent of its smartphone sales in the West.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow clarified Trump’s statements on Fox News yesterday saying that Huawei would still face some restrictions.
“All that is going to happen is Commerce will grant some additional licenses where there is a general availability”, he said, referring to the parts a company might need.
Kudlow said this wasn’t a “general amnesty” and that trading with Huawei was only being permitted in areas where no security risk was present.
The partial lifting of restrictions was a key element of the agreement reached over the weekend between the two countries to reopen stalled trade negotiations.
It has drawn bipartisan criticism from US Senators concerned that Huawei has close ties to Chinese intelligence agencies that could exploit the global distribution of its technology.
“There will be a lot of pushback if it is a major concession [to Huawei]”, said Lindsay Graham, South Carolina Republican Senator, speaking on 'Meet the Press'.
Huawei, the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment maker and second-largest smartphone maker, denies its products pose a security threat and has sought to fight back in US courts since Washington put it on an export blacklist last month. Kudlow said that designation would remain and that the broader concerns about Huawei will be part of the renewed discussions.
The agreement over the weekend “is not the last word,” Kudlow added.
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A digest of the top business technology news stories from the past week.
Dell falls short – vote on buyout postponed as more voters needed
Michael Dell’s US$24.4bn Dell buyout attempt has floundered on the first lap and the crucial vote on the company’s future has been postponed until Wednesday in an attempt to win more voters to his side.
In February, Dell revealed it plans to go private under a US$24.4bn transaction by founder Michael Dell and global tech investment firm Silver Lake and involving loans and financing from Microsoft and major investment banks.
However, billionaire investor and famed corporate raider Carl Icahn entered the fray, amassing 8.7pc of Dell stock and has won stockholders over to his side using the argument that Michael Dell’s proposed deal – which offers a 37pc premium at US$13.65 a share – undervalues Dell, the third largest computer maker on the planet.
Together with Southeastern Asset Management, Icahn’s side now holds close to 14pc of Dell.
Last Thursday, the crucial vote fell short of enough votes to conclude the deal despite winning backing from several large investors at the last minute. It is understood that Dell and Silver Lake fell short by 100m shares from the 735m shares they need in order for the buyout to pass.
One-third of firms not prepared to meet SEPA deadline
A third of CFOs (34pc) at Irish firms have not yet developed a strategy and are unsure of their level of preparedness to meet the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) deadline of 1 February 2014.
Furthermore, one in six businesses surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers said they are either not confident of meeting the deadline or don’t know if SEPA applied to their organisation.
SEPA is the project for a common European payments market and could accelerate the movement to e-commerce and electronic payments. Ninety per cent of all domestic clearing transactions within EU member states will have to be done in SEPA format from 1 February next year.
Hotel chain goes to the cloud: Jurys Inn invests €2m in major IT upgrade
Hotel chain Jurys Inn is investing €2m in new software and technology upgrades across its 32 hotels in Ireland, the UK and the Czech Republic.
The investment is part of a significant Jurys Inn hotel investment programme which has seen the group invest more than €34m in property and services upgrades over the past three years.
As part of the investment, the company is rolling out a cloud-based central property management and reservation system that will give Jurys Inn the capability to centrally view and manage a range of functions across its estate of UK, Ireland and European hotels.
Google Q2 revenues up 19pc to US$14bn
Internet giant Google has reported revenues of US$14bn for the second quarter, up 19pc on last year. The company reported a profit of US$3.23bn, up from US$2.79bn last year.
Google-owned sites generated revenues of US$8.8bn during the second quarter, up 18pc year-on-year. Partner sites generated revenues of US$3.1bn, up 7pc on last year. Other revenues from Google were US$1.05bn, up 8pc on last year.
The company’s revenues from outside the US totalled US$7.2bn, accounting for 55pc of total revenue.
Google’s hardware division Motorola Mobile reported revenues of US$998bn, accounting for 7pc of total revenue.
Mayer steadies Yahoo!’s ship, but needs to conquer the display ads wave
Just a year into the CEO job and Marissa Mayer’s efforts to breathe life into internet giant Yahoo! appear to be struggling, with a 12pc drop in display ad revenue and a 12pc decrease in ad prices signalling a tough transition.
Revenues were US$1.1bn for the second quarter, down 7pc from the same period last year, while net earnings were up 46pc on last year to US$331m and income from operations rose 150pc.
The company also accelerated its pace of innovation in the second quarter, including re-imagined desktop, mobile and tablet versions of Mail, Weather, Flickr, Search, Sports, News, and Yahoo! for iPhone and Android.
Apple in talks to buy Kinect sensor firm PrimeSense for US$280m
In what suggests a big bet on the potentially touchless future of computing, Apple is reportedly in talks to acquire Israel-based PrimeSense, the company that worked with Microsoft to develop the sensor in the first-generation Kinect controller.
According to Israel-based newspaper Calcalist, negotiations between Apple and PrimeSense took place in recent weeks.
A price tag in the region of US$280m has been suggested but negotiations have been described as in the “early stages.”
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Starbucks has partnered with streaming service Spotify to offer customers the Starbucks music experience wherever they go. Through a new digital music experience, Starbucks Mobile App customers can discover music playing overhead in Starbucks stores, save Starbucks-curated songs to a Spotify playlist, and listen to Starbucks music on Spotify. The experience is available in Starbucks’ 7500 company-operated stores in the United States, as well as 10 million My Starbucks Rewards loyalty members, and U.S. Spotify users.
Users can also “Love” songs to influence future Starbucks playlists, and share the songs on social networks. Spotify users can also find new playlists from Starbucks as well as Starbucks’ most popular music from the past 20 years on Spotify. These features are accessible on Spotify’s Free and Premium services.
“Music has played a pivotal role in our stores for over 40 years and we have been at the forefront of how to integrate it into a retail environment,” said Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks. “Today is the next era in that experience. We are merging the physical and digital, providing new access points for Spotify as they continue to grow globally, placing more control into our customers’ hands and giving artists the world’s largest stage for them to share their talent.”
The new Starbucks music platform is available to both iPhone and Android users within Starbucks Mobile App.
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