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Bitcoin fraud: Victim discusses ‘warning bells’
The cryptocurrency known for its wild fluctuations could reach the landmark figure should it surpass gold as a store of value. In a trading note sent to clients earlier this week, foreign exchange analysts at Goldman's said bitcoin could hit the milestone in the next five years as investors turn from gold to crypto as a “store of value.”
Analysts pointed out that worldwide the public owns approximately $2.6trillion of gold for investment purposes while Bitcoin, which has a market capitalisation of $700billion, makes up 20 percent of the store of value market.
Speaking of the event, one analyst from the banking firm wrote: “We think that bitcoin’s market share will most likely rise over time as a by-product of broader adoption of digital assets.”
The Goldman Sachs note continued: “If bitcoin’s share of the ‘store of value’ market were to rise to 50 percent over the next five years (with no growth in overall demand for stores of value) its price would increase to just over $100k, for a compound annualized return of 17-18 percent (accounting for growth in Bitcoin supply over time)."
Goldman Sachs predict Bitcoin will hit $100k
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said that scaling solutions, which allow the bitcoin network to process large volumes of transactions at speed, could allow the world’s most famous cryptocurrency to win market share from gold.
The group added: “Bitcoin may have applications beyond simply a “store of value”—and digital asset markets are much bigger than Bitcoin—but we think that comparing its market capitalisation to gold can help put parameters on plausible outcomes for bitcoin returns.”
The world’s oldest cryptocurrency hit a new all-time high above $69,000 in November 2021.
However, some say that the $100,000 threshold is a little conservative in value.
Some cryptocurrency experts are far more bullish when it comes to the rise and rise of bitcoin.
Kate Waltman, a New York-based accountant told Time magazine: “The most knowledgeable educators in the space are predicting $100,000 bitcoin in Q1 2022 or sooner.”
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Others are hesitant to predict a number and a date, but rather point to the trend of increasing value over time.
Investors should expect a “pretty sustainable” rise in bitcoin’s long-term value driven by organic market movement, with the $100,000 threshold in near sight.
Kiana Danial, founder of Invest Diva, and author of "Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies" said: “What I expect from bitcoin is volatility in the short-term and growth in the long-term.”
Other large financial institutions have made their own predictions, as well, with JPMorgan predicting a long-term high of $146,000 and Bloomberg predicting it could hit $400,000 by 2022.
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There are only 18 to 19 million bitcoins currently in circulation, and minting will stop at 21 million.
Industry experts consistently point to this built-in scarcity as a big part of cryptocurrency’s appeal.
Other experts point out bitcoin has value because people give it value.
Nelson Merchan, Johnson’s Light Node Media co-founder says: “That’s really why everybody’s buying, because of the psychological aspect.”
Much speculation has recently emerged over the founder and creator of bitcoin.
In a recent interview, Elon Musk yet again denied being Satoshi Nakamoto but claimed that he knows the true identity of the elusive bitcoin founder.
The identity of the real inventor of bitcoin remains a mystery almost a decade and a half after the whitepaper on the largest and most well-known cryptocurrency was published.
Online rumours have persistently claimed that Mr Musk is the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, but the Tesla CEO has always denied those assertions.
According to the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire, computer scientist and cryptographer Nick Szabo is very likely the man who created bitcoin as he wrote about many of the ideas related to cryptocurrencies much before the technology was born.
Mr Musk is not the first to speculate about Szabo being the elusive bitcoin founder.
There have been reams of newsprint and online articles devoted to establishing the Hungarian programmer as the creator of bitcoin, including an article in the New York Times in 2017, which pointed at him being Satoshi Nakamoto.
However, while many have speculated that Szabo could be the real Satoshi, the man himself has repeatedly denied those rumours.


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One of the ways case manufacturers can get a jump on the competition is if they’re willing to begin producing cases for phones that haven’t been released yet. This means that the dimensions aren’t official but they are still willing to take the risk if it means that they will be the first on the market to offer up cases and accessories for a brand new device.
Now thanks to a recent photo by Nowhereelse.fr, a photo of an alleged iPhone 6 case has surfaced and based on the photos, it looks like the rumors could be right when they suggested that the iPhone 6 could see its power/sleep button repositioned. As we can see in the image above, everywhere else appears to be the same.
Read full post →Alleged iPhone Case “Confirms” Repositioned Buttons
Blizzard’s upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, is expected to see a release later this year, although no specific dates have been mentioned. The expansion will introduce a host of new changes and features made to the game, most noticeably an upgrade to the character models which will see new textures and animations.
We also expect that Blizzard will also be upgrading some of the graphics used in the new zones and perhaps updating some older ones as well, so with that being said, does this mean that gamers will need to upgrade their computers in order to play the game? Blizzard has yet to officially announce the system requirements for Warlords of Draneor, but according to a post on the World of Warcraft forums, a community manager has some answers for some worried gamers.
Read full post →Warlords Of Draenor Might Not Require You To Upgrade Your Computer

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A spectacular short video posted to Youtube earlier this week shows a Nissan LEAF on fire. According to a post on the My Nissan Leaf forum, the event happened on September 1st in North Texas.
This is quite possibly to first reported instance of a Nissan LEAF catching fire even though Nissan sold over 180,000 LEAFs to date worldwide.
Here’s the video:
Currently not much is known about the fire. We will update as we get more information.
The incident happened at the intersection of Cross Timbers Road and Kirkpatrick Lane in Flower Mound, Texas, according to the local police department:
Although the source of the fire is still unconfirmed, the battery pack is unlikely to be the cause of it. Nissan built the LEAF’s battery pack with safety in mind and used only the most secure cells possible. The Examiner, which is reporting on the incident, posted a video of an individual actively trying to destroy the LEAF’s pouch battery cells with little success:
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Canada has become the second country after Uruguay to legalise possession and use of recreational cannabis.
The nationwide market for cannabis opened on Wednesday at midnight amid lingering questions about the impact on health, the law and public safety.
Information has been sent to 15m households about the new laws and public awareness campaigns.
But there remain concerns, including about the readiness for police forces to tackle drug impaired driving.
Uruguay was the first country to legalise recreational marijuana, although Portugal and the Netherlands have decriminalised the drug.
Canadian provinces and municipalities have been preparing for months for the end of cannabis prohibition.
Provinces and territories are responsible for setting out many of the details for where cannabis can be bought and consumed within their jurisdictions.
This has created a patchwork of legislation across the country as jurisdictions choose more or less restrictive frameworks for selling and using cannabis.
Shops in the province of Newfoundland, the most easterly time zone in Canada, opened as midnight struck for the first legal sales of cannabis in the country.


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In California’s Central Valley, where Sara “Lynne” Hunt runs a small egg operation, the sight of chickens on pasture is enough to make people to pull off the road.
“People driving by will stop and ask, ‘What are those chickens doing running around outside?’” said Hunt, who has been raising hens under the name Shady Oak Organic Eggs in Turlock, California, for around six months. “It’s been really interesting because I get to educate people, and explain how much better for you the eggs are when they come from pastured hens,” she says.
Shady Oak is a side gig for Hunt at the moment, but one she’s passionate about and hopes to expand. She spends about 20 hours a week caring for 500 hens, on top of a full-time job as a real estate appraiser.
While the demand for pastured eggs has picked up in the last few years, they don’t provide an easy business model. Proliferation of large-scale industrial egg facilities have allowed even most “cage free” and organic eggs to remain relatively affordable. Pastured eggs require more labor, a healthy pasture kept green with irrigation in the summer, much more space, and (because they get a lot more exercise) the hens eat almost as much feed as their indoor counterparts. Many of these costs account for a price difference that surprises some shoppers ($6-8 a dozen, versus $3-5).
The Need for Feed
In addition to the bugs and worms they eat on pasture, Hunt provides each bird with a blend of organic, U.S.-sourced grains and legumes, as well as flax seeds and kelp. Like many ranchers, feed is her biggest expense.
“Those chickens are pigs!” She said. “I ration out their feed three ounces of feed a day for each hen.”
She charges around $7 a dozen for the eggs, and hopes to recoup enough of her costs by this winter to begin expanding the business. In addition to the long hours, Hunt was met with some significant challenges right off the bat. She had 80 chickens stolen, and although she has 200 new chicks, they will require at least five months of feed and care before they begin laying.
Charlie Sowell of Rolling Oaks Ranch also raised chickens on pasture. Like Hunt, he supplements his hens’ diet with feed made with U.S.-grown grains—most of which are grown “as locally as possible.” (It’s his biggest production cost, aside from his own time, and he estimates that that his 1500 hens eat around 120 pounds of it a day).
On top of raising hens, Sowell and his girlfriend and business partner Liz Sorrow, runs a feed and tack store in Ione, CA. In the store, he said he sees a direct relationship between feed and fuel. “When fuel costs go down, people will feel like they can spend a little more on feed; right now, most of them just can’t afford it.”
Sowell and Sorrow fell into the egg business one day when a customer who had ordered day-old chicks called to say she couldn’t afford to pick them up. “By the end of the year I had 35 layers,” he recalled. “They started laying, I ate the eggs, and I thought, ‘Wow! They’re really delicious!’ So I started giving them away to family and friends.” Soon he was buried in work; on top of the feed store and egg operation, he and Sorrow raise pastured chicken and beef (around 25 cows a year) for a slow-but-steadily-growing customer base. Sowell said he can count on two hands the days he and Sorrow have taken off since they started producing eggs—including time off for funerals and a family wedding. “It’s to the point where farmers’ market days feel like vacation by comparison,” he said.
Sowell also spends a great deal of time explaining the differences between pastured eggs and those raised in enclosed facilities, including the murky nature of the term “free range,” which doesn’t necessarily mean the birds spend time outside. (See more egg terms here.) This type of counter-messaging can seem tedious, but it’s crucial in an industry where greenwashing has become the norm.
“It’s frustrating to see commercial egg companies misleading the public, saying their eggs are ‘farm fresh,’” he says. “Sooner or later that will come to a head. I see the public becoming better and better educated and pasture-raised eggs will be more of the norm than a rarity.”
Below is a chart published by the folks at the Portland Farmers Market a few years back for an article called Cracking the Egg that details the cost to produce pasture-raised eggs.
Total direct production costs $5.08/dozen
Contribution to farm overhead $0.97/dozen
(rent, buildings, utilities, interest, etc.)
28% marketing fee (transportation to $2.35/dozen
market, farmers market fee, farmstand labor)
Total cost of production and marketing $8.40/dozen


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If you are looking for Latest iPhone on the market today, you have come to the right place. We display the amazing iphone and ipad news here! Go ahead and read more about the topic: iPhone 14 event: Apple begins production
We’re just one month away from the expected announcement of the iPhone 14 and Apple’s highly-anticipated September event. According to a new report from Bloomberg today, Apple has started the production process for its iPhone 14 event…
Apple’s iPhone 14 event
According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple has started to “record and assemble its September media event.” The event, based on history, is likely to take place during the first half of September.
Notably, this seems to mean that Apple is planning a virtual or hybrid event for the iPhone 14 launch this year rather than a fully in-person event like what was done prior to the pandemic. It seems likely that Apple will take a similar approach with the iPhone 14 launch as it took with WWDC in June.
This would mean a fully prerecorded keynote video, with some members of the press in attendance at Apple Park for hands-on opportunities and briefings. The in-person portion of the event would be significantly smaller than WWDC because Apple would only invite members of the press, not developers.
The report also reiterated much of what to expect at the event, with the primary focus being on the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8. Apple has four new iPhone 14 models in the works, as well as the Apple Watch Series 8, an updated Apple Watch SE, and the all-new “Apple Watch Pro” model.
Finally, Gurman speculated that Apple will likely hold two events this fall: one in September for the iPhone 14 and another in October for new iPad and Mac announcements.
What are you most excited to see from Apple this fall? Are you planning to upgrade to a new iPhone or Apple Watch? Let us know down in the comments.
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Nokia soon sells a tablet pc with Windows 8.1 RT? Whether the alleged Nokia RX-114 tablet with Windows 8.1 RT, which appears on some pictures now, is really a device that the consumers are able to buy soon is still questionable because the alleged Nokia RX-114 tablet pc could also be again just an internal prototype by the Finnish manufacturer [Continue reading…]
Facebook Beta adds new options while Light Flow update supports Samsung multi-window. The beta version of the Facebook App for the popular social network received a new update and the new version 3.6 of the Facebook App integrates a couple of new features into the Android Application for the social network.
Currently, only smartphones and tablets of the Nexus series by Google receive the Android 4.3 update, which was presented on Wednesday this week, along with the second generation of the Nexus 7. Although manufacturers (OEMs) such like Sony, HTC, Samsung, Huawei, and OPPO have published some information regarding the possible updates for their smartphones and tablet pcs to Android 4.3, [Continue reading…]
Android 4.3 as well as the new Nexus 7 second generation were finally presented by Google at the “breakfast in San Francisco”. The live stream of the presentation of Android 4.3 and the new Nexus 7 tablet pc is over and the update for the mobile operating system Android by Google is already rolling out to many Nexus devices around [Continue reading…]


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New Delhi: The income tax department has sent a communication to Walmart Inc and Flipkart on the M&A deal apprising them about the sections of the I-T Act that would apply to the transaction.
It has been told to Walmart that since the company (Flipkart) derives a substantial value of its shares from the assets held in India, it would be liable for taxation in the country, as per Zee Media reports. The deal between Walmart and Flipkart would be applicable for withholding tax and capital gains tax, among others.
The I-T department has also asked Flipkart about details of the USD 16 billion (Rs 1.05 lakh crore) deal.
Walmart Inc on Wednesday had announced the acquisition of 77 percent in Flipkart, in the largest e-commerce deal which will give the US retailer access to the Indian online market that is estimated to grow to USD 200 billion within a decade. The deal, under which co-founder Sachin Bansal and Japan's Softbank Corp Group are exiting, values Flipkart at USD 20.8 billion.
Facts about the biggest M&A deal in India in 2018:
Flipkart, which was launched in 2007, will get additional capital and expertise to battle Amazon, which has spent billions of dollars to gain customers in the country. Flipkart has 34 percent market share while Amazon controls 27 percent of India's online sales.
Walmart runs 21 Best Price wholesale stores in the country that sell everything from fast-moving consumer goods to furniture to other retailers and institutions. The deal would bring over 175 million users to Walmart. So far it had been handicapped by India's retail policy that does not allow overseas companies to sell directly to consumers (except in wholesale cash-and-carry segment). Companies like Flipkart and Amazon operate as e-commerce marketplaces, a segment that allows 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI).
Binny Bansal, who had co-founded Flipkart with Sachin 11 years ago, will retain some of his 5.5 percent stake in India's biggest online retailer and will be chairman of the company's Board. Walmart and Flipkart will remain separate brands and the Indian e-commerce company will have an independent board, which will be revamped to give representation to the US firm.
Tencent Holdings Ltd, Tiger Global Management and Microsoft Corp will also continue to remain shareholders in Flipkart, Walmart said without divulging their stake, PTI reported. Japan's SoftBank Group Corp sold its 20 percent stake, which it had acquired for USD 2.5 billion, for about USD 4 billion. South African internet and entertainment firm Naspers, which had invested USD 616 million in Flipkart in August 2012, sold its entire 11.18 percent stake in the company to Walmart for USD 2.2 billion. Pre-deal, Tiger Global Management held about 20 percent stake in Flipkart.
The deal is subject to regulatory approvals including Competition Commission of India and is expected to close later in 2018.
(With Agency inputs)


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China's exports rebounded in April and its politically sensitive monthly trade surplus with the United States grew for the first time in five months at a time of escalating friction between Beijing and Washington over the imbalance.
Data released Tuesday show exports jumped 21.5 percent from the same month the year before, bouncing back from a contraction the previous month thanks to resurgent global demand.
Imports expanded 12.9 percent year-on-year in dollar terms, leaving the country's global trade surplus for the month at $28.8 billion, a turnaround from a $5 billion deficit the month before.
China's trade surplus with the U.S. swelled to $22.2 billion, up from $15.4 in March and the first increase since November, as exports to the U.S. grew at a double digit pace.
U.S. officials traveled to Beijing last week for talks on resolving the dispute between the world's two biggest economies. Those meetings appear to have made little progress, but further discussions are scheduled to resume next week.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's top economic adviser, Liu He, who headed the Chinese side during the Beijing talks, is expected to visit Washington for those meetings, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday.
"We are working on something that we think will be great for everybody," she told reporters.
U.S. & World
China's trade surplus with the U.S. totaled $80.4 billion in January-April, up from $50 billion in the same period last year. President Donald Trump's demands that China slash its surplus with the U.S. have become a cornerstone of his combative economic policy.
Among the list of hard-line demands that Trump's delegation handed China last week was an ultimatum to cut $200 billion from its annual trade surplus with the U.S. by 2020. Last year's merchandise trade surplus totaled $375 billion, according to U.S. data, while Chinese statistics put it at about $276 billion.
The widening surplus "reflects the difficulty of closing the trade gap between the two countries in the near term, but it is unlikely to obstruct the constructive progress made recently" in negotiations between Washington and Beijing, ANZ Bank's senior China economist, Betty Wang, said in a research note. The high-level meetings are "constructive moves in the right direction" to resolve the tensions, she said.
After last week's meeting, China's Commerce Ministry said the two sides had agreed to establish a mechanism to try to resolve their dispute, though differences remained.
Trump has threatened to hike tariffs on $150 billion in Chinese imports. China's communist leaders have countered by outlining $50 billion in U.S. goods that they would target with retaliatory duties on goods including aircraft and soybeans.


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2012 was one of the worst years on record for cider mills around New York State. Fortunately, the apple crop is back to normal and one mill in the North Country couldn't be happier. YNN's Brian Dwyer reports.
BURRVILLE, N.Y. -- Sandy Griffin and her husband are big fans of the Burrville Cider Mill. The pair drive more than one hour from Syracuse to visit the mill several times each year.
"He loves it and stuff like that. He drinks its every night, twice per day sometimes," said Sandy.
Last year, the Griffins had to pay more money for less cider. A late season freeze killed the apple crop and caused prices to climb. The Burrville Cider Mill would have had to charge $10 per gallon of apple cider. However, the owner refused to do that.
"Break even. That wasn't making a profit. It was break even on cider last year. It was pretty crazy," said Tina Steiner, Burrville Cider Mill owner.
Steiner thought about shutting down for the year, but ultimately decided to make half gallons and charge $5. She couldn't imagine disappointing her loyal customers if she had shut down last year.
"The building is 212 years old. It's a big tradition. It's very family oriented, the atmosphere. Everyone's been coming here since they were kids," noted Steiner.
One year can certainly make a difference. The crop from 2013 is back to normal, and people are taking advantage of the cheaper cider prices. Gallons are back on the shelves and are selling for just over $5. Burrville Cider Mill's donuts and fudge are selling quick too.
Now, customers are making up for lost time.
Steiner said, "We've had major record days. We've had lines out the door trying to get in on weekends. Weekdays have been busy too. It's exciting."
According to the Steiner's, 1946 was the last time there was a frost like the one in 2012. Now, the owners remain hopeful the next late freeze won't happen for another 67 years.


text: On 8 August, Bavaria-based group Pfleiderer, a system provider for engineered wood products, melamine faced chipboards and laminate flooring, announced it is to cut 200 out of 3,500 jobs in Germany till the end of the year 2006. The company, which reports 2006 so far to be the most successful year in its business history, says it intends to save costs at the German locations of the parent company Pfleiderer to expand its subsidiaries' activities on eastern European and North American markets. In 2005, Pfleiderer bought laminate floor manufacturer Kunz, which is strong on the North American market. No precise information was given that job cuts in Germany are directly linked to offshoring activities. However, Pfleiderer has already increased its manufacturing capacities in Canada. A chip board manufacturing plant in Novgorod (Russia) is starting operations in 2006 and in 2007 a new manufacturing plant will be opened in Poland.


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The company said the impact of coronavirus on trading meant it had to make a "difficult decision". Pret said it needed to reduce headcount across its UK shops to "reflect lower footfall, rental costs and new safety measures". It did not say how many jobs would go, but a source confirmed more than 1,000. About 330 jobs will be lost with the closure of the 30 shops. Pret said 339 of its 410 shops have so far reopened following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
But trading remains slow, with sales down 74% from a year earlier, the company said. Pret is thought to be losing about £20m a month.
Chief executive Pano Christou said: "It's a sad day for the whole Pret family, and I'm devastated that we will be losing so many employees. But we must make these changes to adapt to the new retail environment.
"Our goal now is to bring Pret to more people, through different channels and in new ways, enabling us to grow once more in the medium term."
Pret is reliant on sales from commuters and lunchtime office workers, which are sources of revenue acutely affected by the lockdown.
The company is broadening its sales with a retail coffee initiative with Amazon and a delivery partnership with Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. There are also click and collect trials in five shops in London.
Pret said sales across these digital channels have already grown 480% year-on-year, and now represent over 8% of total UK sales.
The company is in talks with landlords about reducing its rent bill.In May, it appointed advisory firms to help restructure the business, and in April it raised €100m (£90m) in emergency funding from its banks.
Pret, which owns 550 outlets globally employing 13,000 staff, including 8,000 in the UK, is the latest High Street food chain to announce cuts.
Last week, SSP Group, which runs Upper Crust and Ritazza, said it would cut 5,000 staff, more than half its UK workforce.
In addition, The Restaurant Group, which runs Frankie & Benny's and Wagamama, and Cafe Rouge-owner Casual Dining Group, have announced more than 4,500 job cuts between them.


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Officials at the world’s largest iPhone factory breathed a sigh of relief when Zhengzhou’s local government lifted a five-day lockdown on most of the Chinese city on Tuesday.
After more than a month of disruption triggered by a Covid-19 outbreak at the factory, “it reminds us that we will get back to normal eventually,” said a human resources manager at Foxconn, which owns and operates the city. -factory.
But the troubles are far from over. The Taiwanese subcontractor is still struggling to staff assembly lines at the height of Apple’s pre-holiday peak season, and delays in delivery of high-end iPhone models, almost all made in Zhengzhou , multiply.
The disruption and Apple’s rare warning that supply constraints will hamper its revenue growth highlights the vulnerabilities created by the US tech giant’s reliance on a Chinese manufacturing model that has turned it into the most valuable listed company in the world.
“The Zhengzhou debacle is being discussed as a result of China’s zero Covid policy, but what it really shows are systemic weaknesses in the organization of manufacturing,” said a person who conducts research. electronics supply chain audits in China for more than a decade. “The fault lines were between the company, the contractors and the local government, and that was a problem for many years.”
When Zhengzhou began recording Covid-19 infections in mid-October, Foxconn placed its factory under “closed loop” management, barring staff from leaving the site. But as infections began to spread inside the industrial city, many workers fled the campus.
Those who remained paint a picture of utter chaos.
A logistics worker surnamed He, who has worked at Foxconn for 10 years, lived offsite, but fearing he would be kicked out of the factory in October, he moved into the warehouse. “I have been living here for half a month,” he said on November 2. “I use wood panels and fiberboard as a bed and throw my quilt in it.”
Even though the company informed the workers that they had to be split into two groups, with those who worked to be quarantined for five days, he managed to stay. “I was only quarantined for one day in the end,” he said.
Others were less fortunate. Workers described co-workers and relatives at the factory being forced to quarantine in sealed dormitories with up to half a dozen other workers and little idea whether they had coronavirus or not. Others said they received “abnormal” Covid-19 test results and developed symptoms without ever being officially told they had tested positive.
As iPhone production needed to ramp up, Foxconn was in dire need of new employees following the October exodus. As often happens in times of labor shortages, the company hired thousands of seasonal workers through the local government.
However, Foxconn recorded the temporary hires on terms used for long-term staff, lower than the salary promised by the government. This sparked violent protests by seasonal workers, which were then forcefully suppressed by the police.
To get rid of disgruntled people, the company offered 10,000 Rmb ($1,414) to those willing to leave – an offer accepted by more than 15,000, according to two people at the factory. But now, as Foxconn struggles to staff its production lines, it is promising bonuses for new hires and workers who bring in additional employees.
“They had an idea yesterday, then they changed it today, and maybe they will change it again tomorrow,” said He, the worker. “You never understand what Foxconn is trying to do.”
Foxconn executives said they were rushing to meet ever-changing government demands. “The problem is that we kept running into issues where we don’t have jurisdiction,” said one.
The executive added that thousands of workers were moved to quarantine facilities at the request of local authorities, who then failed to provide food to those quarantined. According to the executive, Foxconn offered to take over some of the staff, but then struggled to deliver food in time.
The pay hiccup that sparked the riot also appears to have been caused by miscommunication between the company and local authorities.
“A lot of local officials like me don’t know about Foxconn compensation, so technically we can’t promise salaries or bonuses,” said a Pingdingshan official who helped hire local workers for Foxconn. “However, some still offered false promises.”
Such problems are deja vu. In Foxconn’s 20-year manufacturing history for Apple in China, activists have accused the company of labor rights abuses time and time again.
One of the most frequent problems has been the use of student interns recruited by the government as normal workers. Complaints about underpaid workers have frequently arisen after job brokers promised terms that Foxconn did not confirm. Some past cases of worker unrest have occurred in accommodations on the factory campus, but managed by outside contractors.
Foxconn’s heavy reliance on local government, brokers and contractors themselves began in response to the company’s worst disaster: after a wave of suicides among workers at its most large factory in Shenzhen in 2010 sparked global scrutiny, management tried to change its factory city model.
One of the conclusions was that she would no longer own and manage all the facilities herself. Foxconn founder Terry Gou also pledged at the time to replace many workers with robots and demanded that customers shoulder more of the financial burden needed to satisfy a growing workforce. more demanding.
However, the only big change has been the shift of production inland, where wages are still lower than in China’s more developed coastal provinces.
But the Zhengzhou pandemonium indicates that even this configuration is not viable. Foxconn Chairman Young Liu told investors this month that manufacturing expansion outside of China was driven by geopolitics rather than zero-Covid policy. But industry insiders said the factory turmoil should accelerate Apple’s efforts to diversify its supply chain.
Although Foxconn and its smaller peers have set up factories in Vietnam, Indonesia and India, this capacity is tiny compared to China.
“We probably only have a 10-15% completion rate if we expect capacity in Southeast Asia and India to be on par with China,” said Patrick Chen, head of research at CLSA in Taiwan.
“It will be very difficult to speed this up, but now Apple has a stronger incentive,” said a senior executive at a rival iPhone assembler. “The lesson from this has to be that the supply needs to be more spread out.”
Reporting by Kathrin Hille in Taipei, Nian Liu and Ryan McMorrow in Beijing, Qianer Liu and Gloria Li in Hong Kong
#Covid #uprising #Zhengzhous #iPhone #City #factory


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Empire, the title of Jay-Z’s new Facebook game takes players down to roads Jay took to make it to the top. From Marcy Projects to one of hip-hop’s biggest icons, each level explores a gradual progression to the top as portrayed through Shawn Carter’s life. The game is currently in its beta stage, however, Facebook users can sign up for the game and will be notified in the future of the official release. Apparently Jay-Z isn’t the only hip-hop mogul going after that social media money. 50 Cent is also set to launch Black Jack on Facebook as well. This may be the new trend in hip-hop, check out the official press release of the game below.
“Empire takes you on a journey from the streets of Marcy Housing in Brooklyn to the hotspots of the rich and famous: from hustler, to entrepreneur, to business mogul. But, don’t forget friends and family, or your karma will suffer. Make the right choices and you can have it all: cash, bling, fame, street cred, and good karma”
Source: XXL Mag


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GOOGLE Gives Way To the Very First Modular Smartphone!!!
At I/O 2014, Google has now publicly turned on its modular Project Ara smartphone for the first time. Back in October last year it was just some nice concept art, its incredible how Googles Advanced Technology & Projects (ATAP) group have now successfully produced a working prototype of the device. If all goes accordingly with google we could see the modular smart phone era hitting our stores within sometime in 2015, with a starting price of $50. This would give you the exoskeleton to put the modules into. At the ATAP Tech Session in I/O 2014, Project Ara Paul Eremenko gave a few technical details about how to actually build a modular phone. The new module phone prototype called “Spiral 1”, which looks like any normal handset from the front, however the real innovation happens at the back of the device! However the only glitch here was the power switch was a jumper cable that needed to be shorted.
However during the conference Project Ara’s bumps ahead where also discussed, Eremenko had this to say: “The principle challenge to modularity is overhead. What we found was that Moore’s law, the miniaturization of electromechanical components, and a modern data protocol, could get the modularity penalty at a system level down to around 25% across the board; PCB area, device weight, and overall power consumption.” Eremenko precisely talked about the electropermanent magnets that will keep the modules in place, and the socket connectors saying : “They have to be small and thin, but still effective at carrying different signal frequencies” Alongside this battery technology was also discussed, with Eremenko noting to the audience that: “There are now electrochemical batteries that have three times the current consumer lithium electrochemical battery (LIB) energy density. The drawback to this technology is their lifecycle being considerably shorter, less than 300+ charges. To attempt to deal with this issue the modular phone allows the user to switch these batteries around at leisure. With the batteries also being easily recyclable too! The current prototype of Spiral 1 utilises FPGA’s to implement the industry standard UniPro MIPI packet-switched network protocol to providing an interconnection between the modules upon the system. Here the antenna modules use the metal endoskeleton (phone chassis) to boost reception. Android OS will power the Ara smartphone, which will be eventually updated to support hotplugging of third-party modules for future business to take advantage of this technology. Eremenko also adding “Think of Ara as an analog of the Android app ecosystem, but in hardware.”
To kick-start development of these third-party modules, Google has also announced competition to design and integrate a novel module, with the winner walking away with a grand prize of $100,000! To watch the video follow the link at the bottom of the page. Watch the phone being powered on skip to 26.10 + manual jumper method at 27.39. The device crashes and fails to reach the android desktop, however it’s a massive step in the modular device business and technological area!!


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Check out Dr. Brenda's new line of holistic wellness products for radically healthy pets!
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Dr. Bernhardt is pleased to announce that the housecall vehicle for Dr Brenda's Holistic Pet Wellness is running on biodiesel from Cowichan Biodiesel Co-op in Duncan.


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On March 2, 2012 – FanXT has made Jalur Gemilang flying high in the land of India by emerging as the champion at the TiE Global All Asia Business Plan Competition (AABPC) in New Delhi beating over 1200 participants all over Asia Pacific and 34 other teams on Saturday, 11th February 2012. FanXT is a fantasy sports brand created by Just Mobile Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian technology company.
FanXT presented a winning business plan on a fantasy sports game which aims to be the worldwide leader in fantasy sports.
This year’s first annual competition brought in over 1,200 applications from 13 participating chapters from across the world. The All-Asia Finals took place February 10-11th in New Delhi, India. The competition began with a semi-final round consisting of 33 teams presenting to 2 distinguished panels of judges and were narrowed down to six. On the second day during the final round, these six teams presented to a new jury. One of the main judges is Gautam Gandhi, New Business Development at Google
On the success of the event and congratulating the teams, Mr. PK Agarwal, CEO, TiE Global, said “It is rewarding and exciting to see the enormous talent being generated in Asia. We witnessed, first hand, the making of the Asian Century.”
FanXT team who presented an excellent and promising business plan emerged as the winner and was presented with the Asia Rising Star award of Rs. 1 lakh (approx. RM 6,000) and also guaranteed a place at the Rice University Business Plan Competition on April 12-14, 2012 with all paid expense. It is the largest and richest business plan competition in the world, hosted at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
This event was organised by TiE New Delhi, one the most active TiE chapters around the world. “We would like to congratulate TiE New Delhi on organising such a momentous competition and being the first to win this competition, we could not have asked for more”, said the founder of FanXT, Melvin Wong.
About FanXT – http://www.fanxt.com/
FanXT is a fantasy sports brand created by Just Mobile Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian technology company. It offers variety of fantasy sports games like Fantasy English Premier League, Fantasy Euro 2012, Fantasy F1 and more. Our fantasy sports application runs on web, mobile, Facebook, iPhone, Android and soon Smart TV.
About Just Mobile – http://www.JustMobileInc.com/
Just Mobile Sdn Bhd is a Malaysia MSC-status company with 6 years of experience in mobile app development on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Nokia Widget, Java, WAP and SMS. Just Mobile has developed over 40 mobile apps and these apps are distributed across the world, especially in U.K, U.S, Europe, Australia, Middle East, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia
About RICE University All Asia Business Plan Competition – http://rbpc.rice.edu/
The Rice University Business Plan Competition is the world’s richest and largest business plan competition. The competition is designed to give entrepreneurs a real-world experience to fine tune their business plans and elevator pitches to generate funding to successfully commercialize their product.
About TiE http://www.tie.org/
The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. There are currently 15,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 57 chapters across 14 countries. TiE’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education.
About TiE Delhi – NCR – http://delhi.tie.org
TiE Delhi- NCR is one of the largest and the most active chapters worldwide. With several accolades, recognized as the best performing TiE chapter globally, TiE Delhi – NCR has been creating powerful opportunities for its members with over 65 events annually including mentoring clinics, seminars, focused workshops, networking evenings.
- Genuineness May Not Get Repaid Well; Still Be Genuine! – A Reminder for all Hardworking Entrepreneurs
- This Week in Asia Episode 116 Samsung Galaxy S3 Craze in Asia and Google in the News A Lot These Days
- Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards 2011 (GSEA 2011)
- Entrepreneurs and Startups in Malaysia to Benefit from new Silicon Valley’s BootstrapLabs Launch
- Global CSR Awards 2012 Recognizes Malaysia’s Fastest Growing 4G Company, YTL’s YES
- Malaysian Startup Digitizing Euro 2012 Football Experience for Fans


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Rogers iPhone 4 Update: Oops, We Were Wrong
Remember when Rogers last posted about their iPhone 4 updates? On their Redboard, they told customers that stock would be arriving on Saturday, August 7th. Due to this information, many of you lined up outside Rogers stores hoping to get an iPhone 4.
However, the exact opposite occurred. There was no stock. You wasted your time. Rogers CSRs had no idea what the Redboard was. Another SNAFU. Well, according to the Redboard another update has been posted:
UPDATE (August 9, 2010, 1:05 PM) Hi everyone. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused this past weekend as many of you expected iPhone 4 to be back in stock at our stores. In an effort to get devices available as soon as possible, we are expediting all shipments to stores outside our normal process. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication on Friday and stock was not available as expected on Saturday.
We are trying to be as transparent as possible and provide you with timely information. Obviously, this isnâ€™t a perfect process and we appreciate your patience. Stock that was en route Friday will be arriving in some stores today. Additional inventory will be arriving throughout the week. Due to high demand and limited quantities, we strongly recommend that you call ahead to ensure that iPhones are in stock.
What’s your play now? Buy an unlocked phone or continue the waiting game?
Thanks @niker23 for the tweet!


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For people who are on Windows 7 and previous editions of the OS, the standard version of Windows 8.1 will cost US$119.99, while the Pro version will be priced at $199.99.
Windows 8.1 will be for sale as a download from Windows.com and at retail outlets in DVD format, Microsoft said on Tuesday. Prices in other countries may vary, the company said without offering further information.
Those who already have Windows 8 can install the Windows 8.1 update for free via download from the Windows Store starting on October 18, when it becomes commercially available.
One difference this time around is that the copies of Windows 8.1 that consumers will buy will be “full version software,” as opposed to Windows 8, which has been sold as an “upgrade version.”
As such, Windows 8.1 will offer more deployment flexibility for buyers, simplifying certain scenarios, including building a PC from scratch and running the OS in virtual machine environments, Microsoft said.
“This eliminates the potential for licensing confusion and frustration around upgrading from Windows XP or Vista to 8.1 and, Windows 7 to 8.1,” said David Johnson, a Forrester Research analyst, via email.
When upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1, files will be transferred automatically but users will have to manually reinstall desktop applications, including Office.
For people running Windows XP and Windows Vista, the situation is even more dire. Microsoft doesn’t recommend that those devices even be upgraded to Windows 8.1 at all. If they must, the company suggests buying a DVD copy and doing a “clean install,” which means wiping out all files, settings and programs and then reinstalling them from a backup.
People who buy a new Windows 8.1 machine this year will get the option to upgrade to the Pro version with Windows Media Center for $99.99, the company said.
The Windows 7, XP and Vista upgrade difficulties, and the extra money required for the Pro version will significantly harm Windows 8.1’s adoption among consumers and indirectly in enterprises because it interrupts the BYOD (bring your own device) dynamic, Johnson said.
“How many people are organized enough to still have their original software installation media for their apps?,” he said.
Few enterprise IT departments are upgrading Windows 7 machines to Windows 8, so the main vehicle for the new OS to get to workplaces has been through personal tablets and laptops employees bring from home, according to Johnson.
“What I believe Microsoft needs more than anything else is more widespread adoption of Windows 8.x in business, and when the primary vector of adoption is employees bringing them to work, it makes zero sense to me to put a $100 barrier in that adoption path,” he said. “It tells me that Microsoft still hasn’t figured out what consumerization means for their device and OS business.”
In a separate blog post on Tuesday, Microsoft also announced it has made available the RTM (release to manufacturing) pre-release version of Windows 8.1 to developers who subscribe to MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) and to IT pros who subscribe to TechNet, including Volume License customers with an active Software Assurance (SA) agreement. This gives these IT pros and developers a time buffer to test their applications and their IT environments ahead of the final release of the OS in mid-October.
Windows 8, which started shipping October of last year, sports a radically revamped user interface called Modern. It also comes with a more traditional Windows 7-like desktop for legacy applications.
The Modern interface, based on tile icons and optimized for touchscreen devices, was designed to make Windows a better OS for tablets, a segment of the market where the Microsoft OS has faltered at the hands of Android and Apple’s iOS.
Sadly for Microsoft, the Modern interface hasn’t been a hit. In particular, many enterprise and consumer buyers of Windows 8 laptops and desktops complained that it was hard to navigate and inconvenient to use with a mouse and keyboard.
Microsoft hopes to address the main complaints with Windows 8.1. For starters, it’s adding something very close to the Windows 7 Start button, which the company took away in Windows 8, triggering an outcry.
In Windows 8.1, toggling between the Modern and traditional interfaces will be smoother. Many users have described the interplay between the two interfaces in Windows 8 as rough. It will also be possible for Windows 8.1 users to boot directly to the traditional desktop interface if they prefer, whereas booting to the Modern interface is the Windows 8 default.
In Windows 8.1, users will be able to view all the applications installed on their device and sort them by name, date installed, most used or category. The OS update also has an enhanced search engine powered by Bing that will return results from a variety of sources, including the Web, applications, local files and the SkyDrive cloud storage service.
Windows 8.1 also comes with Internet Explorer 11, a new version of Microsoft’s browser that the company has said will load pages faster and offer better performance in touchscreen mode.
Other Windows 8.1 enhancements include the ability to make a Skype call and take photos with the Windows 8.1 device while the screen is in Lock mode without having to log in. It will be possible as well for users to select multiple applications at once and perform bulk actions on them, like resizing, uninstalling and rearranging them.


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LONDON: Aegis, the marketing communications group, recorded a 10.8% decline in organic revenues in the first half of 2009, and warned that overall market conditions are unlikely to improve over the rest of the year.
The holding company, which owns Synovate, the market research giant, Carat, the media network, and Isobar, the digital agency group, saw total revenues reach £636.7 million ($1.03bn; €722.5m) from January to June, ahead of analysts' estimates.
Overall, however, the UK-based firm registered a loss of £2.1m during this period, down from a net profit of £30m in the same timeframe in 2008.
John Napier, its chairman and interim chief executive officer, said Aegis had "developed a clear strategy to perform resiliently in a downturn, which has delivered in more difficult market conditions than forecast."
"The rate of delivery of savings is increasing, and with strong new business wins in Aegis Media and an improved Synovate secured net revenue position, we expect to deliver a full-year profit outcome in line with the current market consensus."
In constant currency terms, Aegis Media saw total revenues decline by 7.2% in H1, including drops of 7.2% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 14.9% in the Americas, and 1.3% in Asia Pacific on this basis.
Conditions in Italy, Spain and Portugal proved particularly challenging, while the UK, the Nordic countries and some Eastern European markets were more resilient, with France and Germany also performing relatively well.
The US, however, exhibited "very cautious sentiment", and Aegis is now seeking to "deliver improvements in business and financial performance in Carat US" in an effort to boost its position in the world's biggest advertising market.
Revenue rose "modestly" in China, while Australia and Taiwan both saw strong annual growth, with India, Indonesia and Malaysia similarly providing upticks in sales in this region.
By contrast, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore each delivered "declines more akin to the developed markets of the West."
Synovate saw its global revenues slide by 13.1%, demonstrating that the market research industry was "clearly more affected than expected by global economic weakness than historical precedent."
Indeed, Aegis predicted that "for the first time ever, [the] market research industry growth is expected to be lower than global GDP growth, at an estimated -4% this year."
Synovate's net revenues, in constant currency, fell by 14.5% in EMEA, 12.6% in the Americas, and 11.5% in Asia Pacific, and Aegis reported that "action has been taken the first half to reduce Synovate's cost base and improve sales orders."
Data sourced from Aegis; additional content by WARC staff


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Each month, Ace Hardware‘s Paint Studio reveals its Color of the Month pick for the upcoming 30 days ahead.
Ace Hardware Names 5-Shade Color Trend Palette for 2020
Ace Hardware has announced five Clark + Kensington paint shades set to be most influential in 2020.
Xerox Names Clear Its Debut Color of the Year 2020
Is clear a color? That’s the question popular printing brand, Xerox, is asking us all this 2020.
Benjamin Moore Names First Light Color of the Year 2020
The team of color specialists at paint brand Benjamin Moore have named First Light 2102-70 the 2020 Color of the Year.
Sico Paint Announces Mystic Cobalt as Color of the Year 2020
Sico paint brand by PPG Paints has announced its 2020 Color of the Year selection as Mystic Cobalt (6008-73).
Owens Corning Names Pacific Wave 2020 Shingles Color of the Year
Asphalt and roofing company Owens Corning has announced its 2020 Shingles Color of the Year is Pacific Wave.


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Delightex CoachingSpaces Mobile is a tool for systemic coaching, constellations, system vizualisation, social panorama, etc.
Showing results 1 to 20 of 243
After upending the consumer cell space, T-Mobile wants to take a crack at offering "more transparent" cellular service to small businesses.
Finnish smartphone startup Jolla has rekindled efforts to find OEMs to build Sailfish OS devices and is eyeing a space as a European security-focused mobile comms company.
Which apps are hogging space, consuming mobile data, and sucking the life out of your Android smartphone?
Is Microsoft looking to Android vendors like Cyanogen and Samsung to give the Redmond company a leg up in the mobile space?
The year is off to a busy start with things moving fast in the mobile space. James Kendrick has covered it all and here you'll find his top reviews, news, and insightful analysis for Jan. 2015.
Hello,This Game Basically Made for Low Storage Space Mobiles and Tabs .. Its a Group of Cool Colorful and Joyful Games for Girls of...
With this year winding down, it's time for James Kendrick to look into the crystal ball to see what might happen in the mobile space in 2015.
2014 was another great year in the mobile space with Android dominating the smartphone space and Matthew Miller's top stories.
Smart Free Photo Resizer plays an important part in photo manipulations. It can help you effectively and accurately resize and convert...
No matter what mobile device or platform you use, odds are you are productive due to Microsoft's efforts in the mobile space.
In one of our longest podcasts ever, Kevin and I covered a huge number of new mobile devices. We are excited about current and future products in the mobile space.
The iPhone and iPod maker finally made the leap into the mobile payments space with the launch of Apple Pay, an NFC-based contactless payment system.
The challenges facing Microsoft Windows are many, but none so big as the casual PC user's changing habits.
According to Google, the goal of Project Tango is to "give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion," and the new tablet brings this goal a little closer.
Matt recently moved and his new house has a dedicated office space. How would a Star Wars and mobile device user outfit his new office? Check out all that powers his new space.
Samsung mobile technology is set to be used for on-board camera viewing and social communications aboard Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft, according to former astronaut, Christopher Ferguson.
Looking forward for 2014, the mobile OS space might be even more difficult to predict this year.
Sometimes we proclaim a lack of innovation has hit the mobile space, but the reality is, mobile tech is taking us into a fantastic era.
While lots of things are happening in the mobile tech space, it doesn't feel that way. That's in large part due to the lack of Steve Jobs to keep us pumped up about it.
T-Mobile has been making waves in the US wireless carrier space with their Uncarrier announcements and the 4th edition brings ETF payments, new devices, and fastest LTE in the US.
T-Mobile continues to shake up the US wireless space with AT&T preempting their rumor they might start offering to pay ETFs to switchers.
Chinese developers of car service mobile apps, Didi Taxi and Kuaidadi, each secured US$100 million funds in recent months as market players look to tap China's growing online-to-offline (O2O) space.
The best of ZDNet, delivered
- 1 ZDNet Cloud TV: Hurdles to overcome (highlights)
- 2 Perfectly legal ways you can still get Windows 7 cheap (or even free)
- 3 34 ways to improve your iPhone's battery life
- 4 How much does an iPhone 6 really cost? (Hint: It's way more than $199)
- 5 So you have an app idea and want to make a bajillion bucks


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Top Sri Lanka economist urges free trade amid soft-peg failure
ECONOMYNEXT- A top Sri Lankan economist renewed calls for freer trade as the country slammed import controls as a soft-peg with the US dollar failed for the second time in 2018, sending the rupee sliding, and President Maithripala Sirisena called for a report on new imports that can be controlled.
"If you liberalise imports, it creates a real bang in the economy and it creates competition and people have to work very hard to survive," Sarath Rajapatirana, an economic advisor to President Sirisena said.
"Reduce the protection. You have to introduce reforms to increase competition."
Rajapatirana was speaking at an economic forum at the Colombo-based think tank Institute of Policy Studies earlier this week.
Days later President Sirisena at a meeting of an economic council convened by him had called for a report on new ‘non-essential’ items that can be controlled while promoting import substitutes.
Import substitution involves giving extra profits to crony businessmen by blocking the ability of consumers – especially the poor – to purchase competing good with high import duties.
Over the last decade, businessmen that are now called ‘oligarchs’ had been created through a series of import duties, especially by taxing items like building materials. Food is also taxed, and farming is inefficient and is not export competitive either in quality or price.
The failure of Sri Lanka’s soft-peg with the US dollar, which is called a ‘flexible exchange rate’ has strengthened the case of import the anti-free trade lobby, leaving the case for free trade in tatters.
The ‘flexible exchange rate’ has turned out to be an unusually unstable soft-peg where the anchor swings suddenly from de facto external (reserve collecting peg) with a convertibility undertaking loosely defined in terms of a real effective exchange rate index and volatility, to supposedly domestic (floating rate with a wide near-double digit inflation target) with unsterilized liquidity collected from the pegged period intact, sending the rupee sliding down.
Sri Lanka’s rupee fell from around 161 to 171 to the US dollar over the last few weeks after the central bank built up unsterilized excess liquidity through a peg with the US dollar in July and August as well as Soros-style inshore currency swaps. At the time the rupee had barely recovered from the first run.
The situation had been further complicated by maturing legacy currency swaps dating back from 2013, which generated liquidity shortages. Monetary policy is now more supportive of the rupee.
Analysts have traced the origins of the first run on reserves to the failure to mop up (sterilize( inflows in the first quarter 2018 with so-called term repo auctions failing, pushing the de facto peg to its ‘weak side’, followed by active money printing in April following a rate cut.
Until the first quarter the de facto peg has been kept on its ‘strong side’ with steady selling down of down central-bank-held securities throughout 2017 allowing the central bank to build reserves.
Analysts and economists have called for abolishing the soft-pegged central bank in favour of a Hong Kong style orthodox currency board, or a Singapore style modified currency board, to help protect the poor and take Sri Lanka forward and end the monetary instability that started shortly after setting up of the soft peg in 1950. Exchange controls came less than two years later.
But Rajapatirana said trade unions would oppose a currency board.
"Currency board requires very free adjustment of relative prices," Rajapatirana said.
"So when we have trade unions and other organisations and institutions we cannot work a currency board like these countries’ (Hong Kong and Singapore) economies have done."
"We don’t have the tradition. I also like that Stanley Fischer, the famous professor, whenever there was a monetary problem, he says ‘how would a currency board deal with it?’ It’s just a way of thinking about it."
"But we don’t have the freedom to have fixed exchange rate forever and allow other adjustments to take place around it. We don’t have the freedom. I think that is a good thing. The idea is to keep the exchange rate corridor without having to deal with large disruptive shocks."
Fischer, who was a senior official of the International Monetary Fund during the Asian Financial Crisis when soft-pegs were targeted and broken by speculators but they were unable to break Hong Kong, has said that all intermediate regimes are vulnerable to failure, while free floats and currency boards have consistent policy. (Exchange Rate Regimes: Is the Bipolar View Correct?).
He has also questioned widely held beliefs about dollarization, which operates for purposes of balance of payments in the same way as a currency board, showing that he may be one of the few people in existence who understands how pegs work.
Dollarization and currency boards have been effectively used to tame both runaway central banks and high spending politicians. Ecuador dollarized in 2000 and has avoided massive output and inflation shocks found in the rest of Latin America despite having relatively bad socialist policies.
"There is much food for thought in the story of Ecuadorian dollarization—not least, that the early success of what was a desperation move, taken in haste, without most of what were thought of as the necessary preconditions being in place, requires us to reconsider the conditions under which such a switch in the monetary system will succeed," Fischer said later.
Efforts by politicians to end dollarization has ended in failure so far. Most cases of dollarization (Zimababwe is one example) has taken place by the people with authorities giving support later by relazing legal tender laws and other rules by which people are forced to use bad central bank money.
Dollarized Panama (with a chronic persistent current account deficit) is also a sea of stability in the region, and is held out as an example to follow in Sri Lanka like Singapore or Hong Kong.
Currency boards in the past have set a strong foundation for economies to grow generating labour shortages triggering imports of workers. Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) also imported labour during its currency board period.
Middle Eastern nations like Dubai, which have currency board like systems, (pegs with a high degree of credibility) also import labour, while other central banks in the region such as Iran operate regularly collapsing soft-pegs.
Analysts had already warned that Sri Lanka has to restrain the central bank to make free trade possible. (Sri Lanka central bank has to be restrained for free trade to succeed).
Sri Lanka now has one of the most restrictive trade regimes in the world. Exchange controls and trade restriction began shortly after the soft-peg was created and the entire economy was closed in the early 1970s, when the Bretton Woods system of soft-pegs failed.
In 2016, following the increases in multiple import levies called ‘para-tariffs’ over the past decade, the World Bank described Sri Lanka’s import regime as ‘one of the most complex and protectionist in the world’.
Rajapatirana said that it was misleading to call policy changes done in 2010 as trade reforms.
"We said in 2010 we did trade reforms," he said. "No. In 2010 we increased the effective rates of protection."
Taxation of raw materials and inputs make exports of final goods uncompetitive as margins are eaten up by taxes.
In Sri Lanka energy is also taxed with excise and non-recoverable taxes, not value-added tax.
Rajapatirana said Sri Lanka should learn from Vietnam, which has liberalised its economy, increasing productivity which has boosted its exports.
"Vietnam is one of the most liberal economies I have seen. If you want to buy a shirt in Hanoi, four people will come and offer you a good price," Rajapathirana said.
"So it is important that we continue to liberalise the economy. We have absolutely no other way to do it."
"We need to lower tariffs and move towards a system where people can choose where they want to invest, except where intervention is needed for public goods. That is the way to increase productivity. I see no other way than that," he said.
"We can get stuck here if we don’t look out and address these issues."
The State Bank of Vietnam also runs a soft-peg, but more successfully than Sri Lanka’s central bank. The Vietnam dong held around 15,000 to 16,000 to the US dollar for around a decade until 2008, giving a stable foundation for the country to grow.
The peg failed spectacularly in 2008 after credit growth rocketed amid higher US interest rates and the state misguidedly engaged in ‘stimulus’. The dong crashed to around 22,000 to the US dollar.
However, with credit growth at some banks rising over 20 percent, and rising US interest rates, analysts say Vietnam is also sitting on a powder keg, unless the State Bank of Vietnam takes action. So far, action has been limited to selective credit curbs.
National Policies and Economic Affairs State Minister Harsha de Silva said sections of the ruling coalition was inward looking, though his United National Party (UNP) was for liberalising markets.
He said that the economic policy clashes within the coalition government may cause Sri Lanka to ‘miss the bus again’.
The 2018 budget, mainly a product of the UNP, had called for liberalising imports with the removal of so-called para-tariffs.
Rajapatirana said that paratariffs were a legacy of the civil war, which are no longer needed.
"We have done something in the last budget on paratariffs. They were needed at that time to finance part of the war, but there’s no need to have it now and the more you keep it, the longer the public gets misallocated resources," he said.
However analysts say the administration will have a hard time convincing the ordinary people, after slapping taxes and trade restrictions on imports over the last month to compensate for monetary instability. (Colombo/Oct17/2018)


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Are you ready?
As August comes round, the buzz on the latest Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event reverberates across the globe. The teaser trailer for the event, released towards the end of July, has already generated more than 100 million views in just two weeks. And at 10:00pm tonight, the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2021: Get ready to unfold event will finally launch, to present the latest Samsung Galaxy Z family to the world.
“Samsung Electronics is poised and ready to unveil visionary, purposeful mobile technology for a better world,” says Dr. TM Roh, president & head of mobile communications business at Samsung Electronics. “(Tonight), we will unleash our latest and greatest Galaxy Z series to reshape the smartphone category and completely reimagine your experiences.”
When it was first released in 2019, the Galaxy Fold (and eventual Galaxy Z Flip) ushered in the next step in mobile technology evolution, literally opening up new possibilities not explored before. Just when we thought our phone screens couldn’t get any bigger, they proved us wrong.
But as cool as that feature is, innovation is not just about new-fangled technology. Dr. Roh continues. “At Samsung, people are at the heart of everything we do. We’re constantly listening to you to ensure that any new device and experience we create really brings meaningful innovations. We want to enrich everyone’s life, not just the lives of a select few. From epic cameras and vivid, immersive viewing experiences to long-lasting batteries and strong security, we’re focusing on what really matters to you.”
“As we explore new ways to empower you, we often venture into uncharted territory. That’s how we ended up creating a brand-new category with the launch of the Galaxy Fold. And we didn’t stop there. We kept improving the category with our second generation of foldables, the Galaxy Z Fold2 and the Galaxy Z Flip, with more screen and more of the features you now know and love.”
So what can we expect from the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2021 streaming later tonight? “I’m excited to say our third generation of foldable devices will open up amazing new multi-tasking capabilities and enhanced durability for even more people around the world.”
The New Way Forward
Literally and figuratively, the Galaxy Unfold and Galaxy Z Flip encourages us to open ourselves up—to possibilities and to new ways of doing things—and in a manner of speaking, Samsung is hoping to bring more people into the fold. “This will be especially important as the world leap frogs into new frontiers of connectivity that demand open ecosystems and reliable mobile experiences. At Samsung, “open” and “secure” are never mutually exclusive. In fact, our collaborations with trusted industry leaders like Google and Microsoft are why we are able to deliver mobile technology that is secure and optimised for today’s rapidly evolving and interconnected world. We constantly work with key partners to create cutting-edge security solutions that keep your devices and data safe every step of the way. This allows us to give you even more control over your apps, data and privacy, so that you can curate your own experience — with total peace of mind.”
Apart from added security and performance, collaborations wit key partners also pave the way for a more interconnected user experience. “Collaboration enables us to build mobile experiences that make your life easier and better. It fuelled the development of a new unified wearable platform, which we built jointly with Google. On top of your favourite Galaxy apps like Samsung Health and SmartThings, there will be so many others in the new Google Play Store. Furthermore, our One UI Watch user interface is deeply integrated with our other Galaxy devices and provides consistent connectivity between your Galaxy Watch and Galaxy smartphone.”
The foldability of the Galaxy Z series also offers the potential for new apps and uses that can reap benefits from that unique physical feature. “We are also working with Google to enrich our foldable ecosystems with popular apps and services. For our third generation of Galaxy Z phones, we have lined up even more partner apps that make the most of the versatile fold-out format. From hands-free optimised video calling with Google Duo and watching videos in Flex mode on YouTube to multi-tasking in Microsoft Teams, our foldable ecosystem will offer a wealth of seamless and optimised experiences.”
That said, as much as we value gadgets that make work and play easy for us, we do care about how our devices look as well, and both the new generation of Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip will guarantee to deliver on that front with new materials and outlooks. “The upcoming Galaxy Z Fold combines the very best that smartphones and tablets have to offer and delivers completely new ways of working, connecting and creating, while the upcoming Z Flip exhibits an even more refined style, armed with more durable, stronger materials. I firmly believe these devices will answer the call for the versatile mobile technology we need as we navigate the open road ahead.” Here’s one thing the good doctor can share without being too cryptic: Samsung will debut the first ever S Pen designed specifically for foldable phones. “Instead of unveiling a new Galaxy Note this time around, we will further broaden beloved Note features to more Samsung Galaxy devices.”
Don’t miss out on the big reveal tonight, streaming online via these channels at 10:00pm Malaysian time.


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Maruti Suzuki India has reshuffled key positions across functions of the company, few people familiar with the development said.
The carmaker, which aims to sell 2.5 million cars in India by 2020-23, up from 1.6 million units in FY18, has promoted two Senior Vice Presidents to Executive Director level, confirmed the sources on condition of anonymity.
An internal notification was released by the company regarding the same, the sources said.
Maruti Suzuki, however, declined to comment on the organisational restructuring.
The former head of Nexa, a premium dealership network for select models, Partho Banerjee has climbed the ladder to Executive Director, Service.
Besides, Tarun Garg who was Senior Vice Vice President and Head of Marketing at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is now Executive Director, Sales & Marketing.
Garg would be also responsible for the logistic division because of his rich experience in logistics. He started his career with logistics.
Two years back on May 28, 2016, both Banerjee and Tarun became Senior Vice Presidents among six Vice presidents appointed by the company at the same time.
In other key changes, Aditya Aggarwal is now head of True Value (carmaker’s pre-owned dealership network) and Ankur Mittal moved to Dealer Development.
Furthermore, Sanjeev Handa, Vice President-Marketing has moved to Corporate Communication department and DD goyal has been promoted as EO who was Senior Vice President of Finance Department.
Source: ET Auto


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You can’t rush a good thing, even though the rush is what you really want! After a few hiccups, Dollywood has officially declared their latest new coaster, Lightning Rod open!
Lightning Rid is a huge deal, as it’s the world’s first launched wooden coaster. The new coaster was manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, who is known for outrageous new machines. They’ve pushed the boundaries on what wooden coasters can do with amazing success.
Lightning Rod launches riders off at 45 MPhil, and reaches a top speed of 73 mph, making it one of the fastest wooden coasters on the planet. The coaster is the latest in Dollywood’s ever growing ride line up.
Stay tuned for more from Dollywood, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
For our latest theme park videos please be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube!
For more information about Dollywood, including tickets, visit the official website by clicking here!


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2017 Honda CR-V could be launched during the later parts of next year or in early 2018 in India; expects to have evolutionary design language
The test mule of the newest generation Honda CR-V has been spotted doing trial runs on Chinese soil lately. China being one of the vast markets with huge potential for SUVs, Honda could be speeding up the development process in order to unveil the mid-size model as soon as possible. It is more likely to be manufactured locally through the joint venture between Honda and Dongfeng.
The Chinese market launch is expected sometime during the third quarter of next year before the new CR-V making international debut in the early parts of 2017. From the spy images we can predict that the fifth generation CR-V will come equipped with an evolutionary design language. It seems to have drawn certain design cues from the latest generation Honda Civic.
The overall silhouette of the CR-V will likely be retained in the final production version. It appears to come adorned with sharper headlamp with LED Daytime Running Lights, a sculpted bonnet, plenty of chrome touches on the top-spec trims, a revised bumper up front and rear and horizontally slated grille design.
The side profile, as seen from the test mule, is likely to resemble the existing CR-V with a clean structure. However, the modifications at the rear can be easily noted with new L-shaped tail lamp cluster joined by chrome applique, round-ish dual exhaust system, reworked rear bumper and a small integrated spoiler. The test prototype also revealed that panoramic sunroof will be offered on higher grades.
Since being built around the new generation Civic’s lightweight modular platform, it is expected to have lowered kerb weight. Due to the weight saving measures, the host of engines powering the fifth generation CR-V will be more frugal than before. The 1.5-litre VTEC petrol motor could be offered in the lower variants while the 2.0-litre VTEC turbocharged petrol is likely to feature in the range-topping models.
The 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel might be opted to stay put on the new CR-V. With the option of four-wheel drive system, power is likely to be transferred to the front wheels on standard basis through a six-speed manual transmission. The high-end variants could get six-speed automatic ‘box. India launch can be expected during the late 2017 with significant levels of localisation to keep the costs down.


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7-Eleven beefing up South Texas presence
7-Eleven Inc., one of the nation’s largest convenience store companies, is expanding its presence in Texas.
The Dallas-based retailer has acquired 143 Speedy Stop and Tigermarket stores from C.L. Thomas Inc.
Officials say the deal closed on Dec. 31 and will increase 7-Eleven’s footprint in San Antonio and South Texas.
Thirty-nine of the 143 stores 7-Eleven bought are located in Bexar County. Company officials say their game plan is to gain a greater foothold along one of the nation’s most traversed interstates.
“We continue to build our presence in a rapidly growing area of the U.S., along the I-35 corridor from north of Dallas/Fort Worth to the Mexican border,” says 7-Eleven Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Stan Reynolds. “We expect to grow to more than 700 7-Eleven stores in Texas from last year’s 342 with this and other acquisitions we’ve made in 2012.”
In November, the Business Journal reported that 7-Eleven had closed on its acquisition of Tetco Inc., officially marking the return of the company to the San Antonio market. That deal included 163 convenience stores in San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and Utah.
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MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT » GLOBAL
GlobalOct 13, 2014 10:30 AM By Mike O'Brien
With a consumer base that loves American brands, is very plugged in digitally and among the largest online spenders in the world, Canadian ecommerce is a prime opportunity for U.S.-based merchants.
GlobalOct 12, 2014 11:12 AM By Tim Parry
China may be a hot spot for U.S.-based merchants, but emails deliverability to consumers there are more than likely not reaching the intended recipient. Here’s a look at other places U.S.-based senders are having a hard time reaching, and what they need to do to improve deliverability rates.
GlobalOct 09, 2014 10:00 AM By Daniela Forte
During a meeting at Shop.org, Borderfree chief strategy officer Kris Green told Multichannel Merchant that retailers need to make sure that consumers have the same experience whether they buy in store or online.
GlobalOct 08, 2014 2:42 PM By Tim Parry
The opportunity for U.S.-based merchants to sell globally is there, but many remain hesitant to jump into the global waters. But there’s not one set blueprint to grow your cross-border business, as each individual merchant needs to consider several factors based on their goods and needs.
GlobalOct 07, 2014 2:02 PM By Mike O'Brien
UPS announced today it has acquired U.S.-based global ecommerce enabler and logistics company i-parcel for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition complements UPS’s international cross-border logistics capabilities from the U.S. and U.K., now extending to more than 100 countries.
GlobalOct 07, 2014 11:58 AM By Mike O'Brien
Concerning Alibaba’s global aspirations, the company has struck deals in 2014 with the French and Italian governments aimed at fostering ecommerce growth for merchants from those countries selling on Tmall, including providing them with enrollment support, online marketing and customer service support.
GlobalOct 07, 2014 11:10 AM By Daniela Forte
Sellers will be offering thousands of deals throughout the holiday season across most product categories. The seller holiday deals program, which was introduced for the first time last year, will now be expanding worldwide on local Amazon sites in the U.S., in the EU, China, Japan, India and Canada.
GlobalOct 02, 2014 2:01 PM By Tim Parry
With the growing popularity of cross-border ecommerce, do you need to expand your contact center strategy? Depending on which countries you ship to should determine if you need additional contact center needs, or the need to outsource services. Here’s how Brooks Brothers works with its global customers.
GlobalOct 02, 2014 1:44 PM By Tim Parry
The percent of revenue lost to fraud is growing at a faster pace for U.S. merchants that sell across borders than those that just sell domestically, according to the findings of the 2014 LexisNexis True Cost of Fraud Study. Here’s how global merchants compare to their domestic.
GlobalSep 26, 2014 4:11 PM By Mike O'Brien
Among other things, the acquisition of ABOL will allow MetaPack to provide its customers with improved visibility into global shipments across carriers and countries. It also offers enhanced delivery intelligence and reporting to better understand delivery challenges like potential delays, so retailers can make adjustments in their supply chain to alleviate issues.


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Indian High Commission in Bangladesh in collaboration with India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) jointly organised a webinar on Thursday and discussed challenges and possible ways to facilitate bilateral trade and business between Bangladesh and India amidst the Covid-19 scenario.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das spoke to the industry leaders and conveyed that bilateral trade has been showing significant growth in the last few months and the truck exchanges at ICP Petrapole-Benapole showed positive trends in the month of March 2020.
She said all stakeholders have to work together to tide over the difficulties being faced by business firms on both sides due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Riva Ganguly said the two governments are working together to fight the pandemic and with their resilient economies and robust business environment, both the countries will not only be able to deal with present challenges but also identify new opportunities.
She urged the business leaders to come forward with innovative ideas in response to the emerging economic scenario.
As a follow-up action of the announcement made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the videoconference of Saarc leaders on March 15, a videoconference of senior trade officials of Saarc countries was held on April 8 to discuss the impact of travel restrictions and the larger Covid-19 situation on intra-regional trade.
Abdul Matlub Ahmed, president of India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce mentioned that though the business community is facing temporary setbacks presently, he is hopeful that businesses will emerge stronger from this adversity.
He emphasised on the need of more integration, cohesion, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing in the South Asian region to build a robust trade network.
Industry leaders from Pran Group, Iffad Group, SBI Bangladesh, Indofil and CEAT amongst others put forward their ideas on the new challenges to global trade and the regional scenario across various sectors of economy.
The business leaders appreciated the initiative taken by the High Commission of India and IBCCI to reach out to the industry leaders in these unprecedented times.
The High Commissioner expressed the hope that given the excellent state of India-Bangladesh bilateral relations, they will soon be able to take concrete steps to come over the present situation.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has proposed utilising state-owned commercial banks (SOBs) to disburse stimulus funds particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The DCCI also proposed to Finance Ministry to work out a plan for a considered gradual reopening of different business sectors.
The DCCI leaders had a discussion with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on the ongoing economic situation in the country due to coronavirus pandemic.
DCCI President Shams Mahmud appreciated the proactive steps taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Finance Ministry announcing the stimulus packages, especially for MSMEs.
Although measures are being announced, Shams Mahmud mentioned, cottage, MSMEs may face hurdles in getting required access to finance from banks under the packages already announced.
Most of the cottage, SMEs, MSMEs and cash-transaction-based traders may be deprived of getting stimulus funds from the banks because of the requirement of having loans and for lack of good relation with the banks which large businesses always maintain but they are compliant in doing businesses, said the chamber body on Wednesday.
The DCCI said an external international financial organisation needs to be pursued to bring in low-cost funds to inject into the stimulus packages.
The discussion between the Finance Minister and the DCCI also covered the issues of food security for vulnerable groups and financial assistance for the workers in informal sectors.
New MSMEs with an operational time of maximum two years should be waived business license renewal fees, utility bills, other charges-related to bank and import-export related port charges.
They also need to be offered business recovery fund as working capital under re-financing schemes for two years with 1 percent interest rate, according to the DCCI.
Since maintaining social distance needs to be continued for now, e-commerce-based MSMEs are playing a vital role at this crisis moment.
The DCCI President proposed providing VAT and tax exemptions or cash incentives to the MSMEs to engage in e-commerce ecosystem more.
Informal businesses like floating traders, hawkers, floating shops, grocers and sole traders need to be brought under the social safety network and low-cost survival business recovery emergency fund can be given for their survival.
Finance Minister Mustafa Kamal underscored the measures taken by the government and also emphasised the point that his ministry has adopted a policy for bringing out an inclusive, transparent financial stimulus packages with people from all sectors in mind.
The Finance Ministry is also engaging with foreign development partners in order to bring in funds at a low cost to further boost the stimulus packages.
The Finance Minister mentioned the programmes undertaken by the government to ensure food security. All these measures are being taken in a transparent manner with clear identifications to ensure transparency.
The 23rd annual general meeting (AGM) of mobile phone operator Grameenphone was successfully held on Tuesday by using the digital platform.
It arranged the virtual meeting this year in compliance with the directives set by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and considering the health and safety of all shareholders, staff and others during the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
As the concept is new in Bangladesh, Grameenphone designed and developed this digital platform to run the 23rd virtual AGM of the company to provide continuous and meaningful shareholder engagement and participation, said a press release.
Petter B Furberg, Chair of Grameenphone Board; Yasir Azman, Grameenphone CEO; along with other board members and senior officials of the company were present at the virtual AGM conducted by Company Secretary SM Imdadul Haque.
The Board of Directors also announced a final dividend for the year of 2019 in cash at the rate of 40 percent of the paid-up capital or Tk 4 per share of Tk 10 each.
With this cash dividend pay-out, the total cash dividend stands at 130 percent of the paid-up capital, including the previous 90 percent interim cash dividend pay-out, amounting to 50.86 percent of profit after tax for previous year.
Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) has started selling sugar as part of its initiative to supply better quality sugar to consumers ahead of Ramadan.
According to sources at the BSFIC, sugar is now sold from the country’s 15 sugar mills to free-cells aiming to supply sugar at a rate fixed by the government, said a handout.
Each metric tonne of sugar is sold at TK 60,000, the handout said.
Besides, sugar will be supplied to the dealers registered under the corporation.
As per the demand, each one-kg packet of sugar will be sold at Tk 65 at super shops like Agora, Swapna, Meenabazar, CSD and Pran in Dhaka city.
The sugar packets will be also available at the basement of Sugar Industries Bhaban in Dilkusa of the capital.
Besides, BSFIC will also monitor market so that consumers can buy sugar at a fair price, the handout added.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has said they have so far cleared salaries and wages of around 95.89 percent workers for the month of March.
In a message, the apex trade body of the country's apparel industry on Saturday said some 23,70,917 workers out of total 24,72,417 (factories under BGMEA) have been paid.
Out of total 2274 factories, some 2071 factories(91.07 percent factories) cleared salaries and wages so far, it said.
On April 15, BGMEA President Rubana Huq assured of ensuring maximum workers payments of March within April 16.
"BGMEA strongly wants to assure all that workers will be paid for March. So Bgmea requests all its workers to have faith and rest assured that March salary will be paid," she said in a statement.
Recent Corona virus situation has created a crisis nobody has experienced before. Readymade garment manufacturing units are also facing unprecedented challenge of existence. At the outbreak of COVID 19 crisis BGMEA have requested all members to clear March salary on time.


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As part of the multiyear alliance announced early this year, Microsoft and AT&T last month announced 5G network edge locations that are capable of delivering Azure cloud services. AT&T is calling them Network Edge Compute (NEC) technology and it will be available for a limited set of customers in Dallas this year. Next year, it will be available for select customers in Los Angeles and Atlanta. AT&T and Microsoft also announced that they are exploring proofs-of-concept powered by 5G NEC for AR and VR use cases and drones. Yesterday, at AWS re:Invent, Amazon announced a similar partnership with Verizon.
AWS and Verizon will offer 5G network edge computing, and will use AWS Wavelength to provide developers the ability to deploy applications that require ultra-low latency to mobile devices using 5G. Verizon and AWS announced that companies are already piloting AWS Wavelength on Verizon’s edge compute platform in Chicago. Similar setup will be available in other locations across the U.S. in 2020.
In placing AWS compute and storage services at the edge of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network with AWS Wavelength, AWS and Verizon bring processing power and storage physically closer to 5G mobile users and wireless devices, and enable developers to build applications that can deliver enhanced user experiences like near real-time analytics for instant decision-making, immersive game streaming, and automated robotic systems in manufacturing facilities.
“We are first in the world to launch Mobile Edge Compute — deeply integrating Verizon’s 5G Edge platform with Wavelength to allow developers to build new categories of applications and network cloud experiences built in ways we can’t even imagine yet,” said Hans Vestberg, CEO and Chairman of Verizon. “Bringing together the full capabilities of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband and AWS, the world’s leading cloud with the broadest and deepest services portfolio, we unlock the full potential of our 5G services for customers to create applications and solutions with the fastest speeds, improved security, and ultra-low latency.”
“We’ve worked closely with Verizon to deliver a way for AWS customers to easily take advantage of the ubiquitous connectivity and advanced features of 5G,” said Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS. “AWS Wavelength provides the same AWS environment — APIs, management console, and tools — that they’re using today at the edge of the 5G network. Starting with Verizon’s 5G network locations in the US, customers will be able to deploy the latency-sensitive portions of an application at the edge to provide single-digit millisecond latency to mobile and connected devices. While some ultra-low latency use cases like smart cars, streaming games, VR, and autonomous industrial equipment are well understood today, we can’t wait to see how builders use 5G edge computing to delight their mobile end users and connected device customers.”
Update: AWS team offered the following clarification for the above article.
- The headline is fundamentally inaccurate. AWS and Verizon did not announce a partnership to “challenge Microsoft and AT&T alliance.” AWS and Verizon made this partnership announcement to enable developers the ability to deploy applications that require ultra-low latency to mobile devices using 5G. Moreover, the Wavelength offering is the result of a long-standing engineering effort by both AWS and Verizon, and is not a reaction to a competitive offering; it is meant to deliver more value to customers of both organizations.
- AWS’ offering is being piloted by select customers on Verizon’s 5G Edge Network in Chicago, including Bethesda Softworks. The National Football League is also testing with Wavelength. Microsoft’s offering is aspirational, as seen both here and here in recent releases.
Basically, AWS claims that they have a real product that can be tested by customers unlike Microsoft and AT&T’s aspirational upcoming product.