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April 23, 2015 |
NEW DELHI: Internet users in India are likely to reach up to 550 million in 2018, primarily led by affordable access and improved awareness, a report said today. The country's internet user base was around 190 million in 2014. "The full rate and extent of future internet penetration depends on several factors, but we expect the number of internet users to at least double, from 190 million in 2014 to 400 million in 2018. Our most aggressive forecast predicts as many as 550 million users in 2018," Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
May 6, 2014 |
UNITED NATIONS: The world will have nearly three billion Internet users by the end of 2014, with two-thirds of them from the developing world, and mobile-cellular subscriptions will reach almost seven billion by the year end, new figures released by the UN said. The report by the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said 44 per cent of the world's households will have internet access by end of 2014. Close to one-third (31 per cent) of households in developing countries will be connected to the Internet, compared with 78 per cent in developed countries.
January 3, 2013 |
India's mobile internet users will double to 164 million by March 2015, twice the current base of 87.1 million, according to a survey by the Internet and Mobile Association of India .
February 24, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked telecom operators Idea Cellular and Vodafone to provide Intelligence Bureau (IB) identification of subscribers using Internet on their mobile phones. DoT officials said instructions have been issued to Idea and Vodafone to provide the requisite information to IB at the earliest. The security agency had sought details of some mobile numbers by providing the corresponding IP addresses to Vodafone but the telecom operator failed to respond.
April 14, 2015 |
BENGALURU: Internet users in India sent more than 1.5 lakh e-mail petitions to the telecom regulator over the weekend, urging it to protect network neutrality in the country, the biggest response to any consultation paper it has floated. On Saturday, a group of Internet users started a campaign asking the public to send submissions to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India , which sought views by April 24 on regulating services such as WhatsApp and Skype on broadband networks run by telecom firms.
April 13, 2015 |
BENGALURU: In one of the biggest online protests in India, Internet users have sent more than 1.5 lakh emails over the weekend to the telecom regulator asking to protect network neutrality in the country. In the last few hours, at nearly 10 emails a minute, the pace of such emails have touched record speed flooding the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's inbox. "This is completely unprecedented. We thought we'll get about 15000 emails in 10 days," said Kiran Jonnalagadda, one of people behind the campaign.
March 30, 2015 |
MUMBAI: LimeRoad, a social-shopping platform for women founded by former Facebook and eBay executives, has raised Rs 185 crore from existing investors led by Tiger Global Management, the deal underlining industry expectations that women shoppers will drive the next wave of growth for online retailers in India. Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated in the latest round of funding, taking the total capital raised by LimeRoad to about Rs 310 crore, or $50 million.
January 11, 2015 |
WASHINGTON: Facebook is by far the most popular social media website with its large base of "very active" users visiting the site daily, a new survey of American internet users has found. The survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that while Facebook remains the most popular social media site, its overall growth has slowed and other sites continue to see increases in usership. The survey, which collected data from 1,597 Internet users in September 2014, found that overall, 71 per cent of internet users are on Facebook, a proportion that represents no change from August 2013.
March 26, 2015 |
NEW DELHI: The Centre is planning to formulate a policy that could make broadband infrastructure necessary in states to facilitate ambitious Digital India program and mitigate local Right-of-Way (RoW) issues to get the national optic-fiber initiative rolling. "Soon, we will declare broadband as a necessary infrastructure and have asked states to work in this direction and sensitized many chief ministers," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at an industry conference.
April 17, 2015 |
MUMBAI: A group of leading technology and Internet firms has pulled out of Internet.org, Facebook's flagship effort to get billions more online, in a growing debate over free access and internet neutrality. The debate over access and neutrality has grabbed headlines in India this week after leading telecom carrier Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) announced a product through which mobile "app" makers pay for data usage to allow customers to use their apps for free. Activists and some users in the country, home to the world's third-largest population of Internet users, argue such platforms and subsidised access go against the idea of net neutrality . Start-up firms say they could be at a disadvantage against deeper pocketed rivals.


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Cheese exporters are confident an important Chinese inspection visit in September will now go ahead, despite a refusal by Defra to fund it.
A number of exporters had pledged to donate to the estimated £45,000 bill to fund the trip, said Somerdale International MD Stephen Jones, who described Defra’s approach to the affair as “pretty pathetic”.
The UK is expected to cover the costs of Chinese inspectors of the visit by including all flights, hotels, travel and subsistence for the Chinese representatives, who are due to inspect standards across the dairy sector. However, Defra insists government policy decrees inward inspection visits should be industry funded.
“The trade will end up scraping the cash together, but it isn’t a professional way of doing business for a country that wants to boosts exports,” Jones said. “The government keeps talking the talk about growing exports, but we’re not seeing much action.”
His comments were echoed this week by John Whitehead, director of the Food & Drink Exporters Association, who slammed the lack of government help to fund inspection visits, and called for a new system to manage the trips.
Whitehead said he had lobbied ministers on the matter on a number of occasions, but to no avail. The issue was set to “rumble on”, he added, as ministers sought to secure new post-Brexit trade agreements, potentially affecting many more food categories.
“It’s very unsatisfactory we don’t have a pre-agreed method for meeting the cost of these visits,” he said. “It’s particularly concerning when we are looking at life after Brexit and there may be much more demand for similar inspections from other countries outside the EU after Brexit.”

domain: news


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Inspire Brands added another legacy brand to its multi-brand stable.
Sometimes the good guys and gals finish first, and such is the case for Stella Sigana, founder of Alternative Waste Technologies and winner of the 2018 NextGen competition in the social franchise category.
When Heather Elrod joined Amazing Lash Studio two-and-a-half years ago, charged with building the semi-permanent eyelash extension franchise and creating an exit for the founders, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based brand had 75 units open. Now, it has 200 open, and Elrod’s concerted work since last November has attracted a new buyer, WellBiz Brands backed by KSL Capital.
Three years ago, Menchie's frozen yogurt CEO Amit Kleinberger gambled against conventional wisdom and started selling franchises for a new pizza concept before opening a single company store. He lost the bet and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 21.
As more landlords begin to view Sola Salon Studios in the same light as gig-economy giants like Uber or WeWork—with new stylists bringing attractive books of business with them—the company sees an opportunity to pounce. Its next moves will be building 150 additional corporate stores in the U.S., while also pulling the trigger on its first international locations.
There’s a lot of buttons, tablets and doodads starting to clutter restaurant tables these days, and some of them are actually pushing sales.
“Sorry, a truck just went by,” said Dave Pazgan, president of 101 Mobility, as he pulled over to the side of the road to talk about his brand’s sales performance on the Franchise Times Top 200+, and at the same time demonstrated the mobility in his franchise’s name.
In a major walk-back for the franchise industry, the National Labor Relations Board seeks to return to prior guidance on joint employer issues.
Think bricks and mortar retail is on the ropes? Don’t tell the CEO of Ace Hardware, who shared his strategies for boosting the hardware chain’s systemwide sales last year by 6.5 percent as part of our Franchise Times Top 200+ coverage.
New York’s food-focused James Beard Foundation is working to make food both more delicious and more sustainable with its Blended Burger Project. Adding mushrooms to burger creations is not only a more flavorful option with less calories; it saves time and money by replacing meat with plant-based proteins, according to the foundation.
Hurricane Florence is just hitting the coast of North and South Carolina, and restaurant operators are preparing for a rough week.
We glean countless stories and industry trends from our exclusive Top 200+ data that’s coming out in the October issue of Franchise Times—more, in fact, than we can fit in the magazine. One of many bright spots in the hospitality category is Red Roof Inn, which has added to its franchise development team as consumers are traveling more than ever.
In an effort to enhance growth among multi-unit franchisees, Buffalo Wings and Rings is testing a one-time franchise fee.
Great Clips’ 1,200 franchisees employ close to 40,000 people across the brand’s 4,300 locations, said Steve Hockett, CEO of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based hair salon brand. “And their employees cannot be our employees,” continued Hockett. “It’s a huge distinction and there needs to be clarity.”
Longtime franchise finance executive Candice Caruso recently joined WSFS Bank to head up its SBA lending to small businesses, including the franchise sector.
Jania Bailey believes what the franchising world needs is another franchise disclosure document or FDD, but this time for brokers. Her company, FranNet, is launching what she calls the first broker disclosure document or BDD in franchising, meant to throw open the doors on the often hidden ways that third-party franchise brokers work.
You heard it here first: Renaming Rusty Taco to R Taco was a terrible idea, especially since Rusty was the name of the taco brand’s late founder, Rusty Fenton. As one of the first public-facing changes under the new Inspire Brands parent company, the 27-unit fast-casual brand has reverted to its old name—Rusty Taco.
“Giving awards for community service is one of the greatest things we can do,” Doc Cohen said from the stage during the 2018 Franchising Gives Back awards dinner Tuesday night, September 4. Cohen had just finished sharing some big numbers: $245 million and more than 2 million hours. That’s the amount, in dollars and time, IFA members and volunteers have donated to hundreds of community organizations and charitable groups.
We at Franchise Times are hard at work on a new project: the acquisition of The Franchise Handbook, for 30 years a recognized industry resource and now preparing for a re-launch.


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Op-Ed: Let’s call this youth vaping crisis what it is: A Juuling epidemic
Almost daily, educators across the country tell me that at least half of their students use e-cigarettes, mainly the Juul brand. Many of these young people show clear signs of addiction. They are agitated, emotional and unable to sit through an entire class period. They often need to leave class to “take a puff.”
National data about the pervasiveness of e-cigarettes show that it increased nearly 80% among high school students from 2017 to 2018. One in 5 report currently vaping.
But the vaping habit can start even earlier. Use among middle school students increased by almost 50% over the same time period, with 1 in 20 students reporting they had recently vaped.
Given that Juul Labs control about 70% of the e-cigarette market, allow me to borrow slang popular with teens and call this youth crisis what it is: A Juuling epidemic.
Vaping proponents would have you believe that e-cigarette use among youth is responsible for fewer of them smoking traditional cigarettes. This is simply not the case.
Statistics show significant declines in conventional cigarette use among youth from 1996 to 2016. But e-cigarettes weren’t sold in the U.S. until 2007, and Juul entered the U.S. market in 2015 as part of another company before becoming independent in 2017. The dramatic increase in youth vaping began that same year.
The e-cigarette industry has created this vaping epidemic among the young. It actively markets dangerous nicotine delivery devices to adolescents while trying to confuse the reality surrounding the use of these nicotine products.
The increase in e-cigarette use among young people has also been largely attributed to the youth-oriented flavors, misperceptions about nicotine levels and risk, and the patented and unique salt-based nicotine.
E-cigarettes are the entry point for adolescent tobacco use. The overwhelming majority of youth who use e-cigarettes have never smoked conventional cigarettes or used other forms of tobacco. As their need for nicotine increases, they are likely to incorporate conventional cigarettes into their routine.
Nicotine is highly addictive. Each Juul pod, which contains the nicotine liquid that is aerosolized and inhaled, has the same amount of nicotine as is found in one to two packs of cigarettes. And the changes occurring in the still-developing brains of youth make them especially susceptible to addiction.
Research also shows that the chemicals found in e-cigarettes and the flavors used in them are harmful and can result in heart and lung disease and be poisonous, among other health consequences. The products are so new the long-term consequences are unknown, a fact the CEO of Juul labs has admitted.
Vaping proponents also argue that the flavors in e-cigarettes play a role in helping adults switch from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes. However, studies have repeatedly shown that young people use e-cigarettes because of the flavors. If flavors didn’t exist, they say they wouldn’t vape.
Many of the more than 15,000 unique e-cigarette flavors have silly names, such as Honey Doo Doo, Booger Sugar and Barney Pebbles. Names that aren’t exactly aimed at an adult audience. Kids are also attracted to the mint and menthol flavors, long thought to be the purview of adults.
Cities and localities in California and at least five other states have restricted the sale of flavored tobacco products. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration and states including California and Hawaii have proposed statewide regulation to eliminate the sale of flavored cigars and flavored tobacco used in e-cigarettes and for hookah smoking. Unfortunately, mint and menthol are often exempted from these policies.
Juul continues to argue that its products are aimed at helping adults quit smoking. If executives at Juul, or any other e-cigarette company, truly viewed their products as “tobacco cessation aids,” they would try to help the user withdraw from nicotine by offering pods with increasingly lower nicotine levels, which could help them taper off use. No such products are offered. They also would apply to the FDA to obtain authorization to sell their products as a cessation device, rather than as a tobacco product. No such action has occurred.
Juul also claims that it is not targeting youth, but its actions say otherwise. During last month’s congressional hearings on Juul’s role in the youth vaping and nicotine epidemic, the company’s “prevention and education efforts” were shown to be an attempt to mislead and encourage youth to use its products.
Another concern is Juul’s recent hiring of Dr. Mark Rubinstein, an adolescent-medicine physician and prominent nicotine researcher I trained in tobacco control research. Rubinstein is known for his work on the dangers nicotine poses to the adolescent brain. Juul publicly says it hired Rubinstein to enhance its youth-vaping prevention efforts.
But given Juul’s history of deceptive marketing practices and educational efforts that promote rather than deter use, many in the research community are skeptical. Rubinstein, a specialist on the effects of nicotine in adolescents, is now working in an industry he recently took to task. His joining Juul is very surprising, disappointing and troubling.
E-cigarette companies seem to be following in the dishonest path of traditional cigarette companies by employing marketing that doesn’t accurately reflect the harm vaping can do. (Just last week, the FDA announced it was investigating 127 reports of seizures or other neurological symptoms possibly related to using e-cigarettes.)
The youth e-cigarette movement needs to be stopped. Doing so will require a complicated multistep process that should start with the FDA, states and local agencies enforcing strict policies that cut back on nicotine levels allowed in vaping pods, eliminate the sale of all e-cigarette flavors and ban marketing to youth.
Bonnie Halpern-Felsher is a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and founder and executive director of the Tobacco Prevention Toolkit, an online curriculum that educates youth about tobacco products.
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JCPenney employee, 90, still motivated
NEW HARTFORD — Most people spend a good portion of their working lives looking forward to retirement.
Guy Scerbo is the exception.
The 90-year-old still puts in about 30 hours a week at his job in the shoe department of JCPenney at Sangertown Square in New Hartford.
He would rather have an outlet for his pent-up energy than spend his time puttering around the house, even if his wife would prefer him to be around all the time.
“Will you just relax?” his daughter Angela Paravati often asks him.
Scerbo owned a shoe store in Waterville for more than 40 years, selling and repairing shoes, selling luggage and men’s and boy’s clothing.
Shoe repairs run in the family, and he and his brother learned the business from their father before opening their own businesses.
“It’s kind of a lost art,” Scerbo said of rebuilding shoes. “I started learning when I was 15. … I closed up in May of 1990. We saw the writing on the wall.”
He’s been working at JCPenney for about 21 years, and said that some of his former customers in Waterville still go out of their way to be served by him.
“They remember me from the past,” Scerbo said.
“‘You put shoes on me as a kid,’” he hears them say.
Having just celebrated his 90th birthday Sunday, Scerbo said he has no intention on slowing down or retiring.
When the weather is warmer, he still is a very active gardener and maintains his home in Waterville with the same attention he always has.
“I’m very hyper,” Scerbo said. “I can’t sit still.”


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A local convenience store contacted Eagle Police recently when an employee discovered a home-made card number reader device attached to two gas pump credit card readers.
The devices were discovered when the store manager called in a technician to work on two non-functioning gas pump card readers. The technician found the devices when he opened the reader mechanisms. According to the police report the technician was able to remove the devices and he said the items were "homemade and not something that you would buy in stores."
The store manager reported three other recent occasions where the gas pump card readers were not functioning and provided police with the technicians' reports from those occasions. She told police that security cameras were placed in the area, but she did not have access to the footage. She said that corporate officers could review the security footage.
The Eagle officer asked the technician if he would check pumps at other gas stations in the community to see if he could find any more card skimmer devices. He did so and did not find any additional devices.
The case remains under investigation.
An Eagle woman contacted police Nov. 19 to report some jewelry had been stolen from her home.
The woman said a $1,000 morganite pendent and a $500 morganite ring had been taken. She told officers the theft likely occurred when she accidentally left her home unlocked and unattended one afternoon. She provided information about a suspect, a man she had seen looking inside her windows and who had attempted to open her front door on one occasion.
Eagle Police were called to a local restaurant recently when a customer reported someone had stolen a portable air compressor from the back of his pickup truck.
The man arrived at the eatery around 6:30 p.m. and noticed the theft around 9 p.m. He valued the compressor at around $6,500.
The following day, the man contacted the police to say that his employees had detached the compressor from his vehicle prior to his leaving work the day before. He didn't notice the item was missing until he returned to this truck later that night.


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Facebook adds Skype video chat feature – CNN
Palo Alto, California (CNN) — Facebook is encouraging its members to talk face to face — over the computer.
The social networking giant introduced a video-calling feature on Wednesday in partnership with Skype, the popular Internet video-chat provider.
The product comes a week after Google launched a competing social network, called Google+, which also includes a video-chatting program.
Facebook’s version will show up on the site as a “call” button at the top of users’ profile pages. By clicking that or finding someone in a new “buddy list” bar on the right-hand side, Facebook users can talk to each other as long as they have webcams. The company began turning that service on for millions of users on Wednesday and will add it to more accounts over time, spokespeople said.
Read more: CNN


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Richard Sugar publishes article as monthly columnist with Pioneer Press, entitled "The Trouble with Shopping In-Store Versus Online"
Richard Sugar currently serves as a regular columnist with the Pioneer Press, authoring a monthly column on issues related to finances, taxes and the law, entitled, "A Spoonful of Sugar." Richard's fourth article, published on March 6, 2014, was entitled, "The Trouble with Shopping In-Store Versus Online," and addressed the conflict between on-line retailers and bricks-and-mortars retailers, which is coming to a head this year. The Pioneer Press is a weekly newspaper published by the Sun Times which customizes editions particular to several Chicago suburban markets. Richard's column has previously addressed gifting to charities, examining the impact of new laws in 2014, and comparing sales tax rates in the Chicagoland area.


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View Brenda Freeman's professional profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like Brenda Freeman discover inside connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts, and business partners.
Dec 7, 2016 ... Brenda Freeman is leaving National Geographic Channel to join Magic Leap, the well-funded augmented-reality startup whose backers include Google, Warner Bros. and Alibaba, as chief marketing officer.
Dec 22, 2016 ... Lots of money, hype and questions are swirling around the startup. Brenda Freeman wants to tell a new story.
The latest Tweets from brenda freeman (@bcfree002). dreamer, geek scientist of people, marketer extraordinaire and CMO @magicleap. Views sont mes propres.
View the profiles of people named Brenda Freeman. Join Facebook to connect with Brenda Freeman and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power...
Dec 7, 2016 ... Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz has tapped Brenda Freeman, former EVP and Chief Marketing Officer of National Geographic Channel, as their new Chief Marketing Officer. Brenda Freeman, Magic Leap's incoming Chief Marketing Officer.. Marketing can be a make or break elements of any product hitting ...
Dec 6, 2016 ... PLANTATION, Fla., Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Magic Leap, Inc. ("Magic Leap" ) announced today the hiring of Brenda Freeman as its Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to President & CEO Rony Abovitz. Brenda was previously the Chief Marketing Officer at the National Geographic Channel, and has held ...
Question: Share a story of when you stepped into a difficult conversation that ended with limited success. And one where you had great success. What was the difference? . As a manager there will be many times when you must provide difficult feedback to an individual or group of individuals, resulting in a tough ...
Looking for Brenda Freeman obituaries? Browse these and more at Legacy.com.


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Top Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform articles of 2021
As 2021 draws to a close, let's look back at MSDynamicsWorld's most read articles of in the past twelve months.
With Business Apps now serving a more recognizable role at Microsoft, it should perhaps be no surprise that some of the most well-read stories this year focused on the company's broadest announcements: robust financial performance and a maturing industry cloud strategy.
Microsoft also seems to have found more ways to explain the roles of Dynamics 365 applications and Power Platform services in the context of the company's higher profile offerings like Azure cloud services, Teams, and Microsoft 365. That improved visibility alongside data on product growth and new product portfolio updates all fed our readers' interests this year.
Microsoft by the numbers
MSDW's coverage of Microsoft quarterly earnings reached new readership highs in 2021. The rise in earnings interest by our readers could serve as one indicator of shifting perspective in 2021 as the company reported steadily impressive cloud revenue growth, with Dynamics 365 and Power Platform growth holding steady or even accelerating. Microsoft's FY2021 Q4 and full year earnings reported in late July outperformed analyst estimates with Azure growth of 51% and Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 49%. The company ended the fiscal year with net income of $61.3 billion and earnings per share of $8.05.
The company's FY21 Q3 results also beat estimates. “The Microsoft Cloud, with its end-to-end solutions, continues to provide compelling value to our customers generating $17.7 billion in commercial cloud revenue, up 33% year over year," executive vice president and chief financial officer Amy Hood told investors. Azure revenue was up 49% and Dynamics 365 revenue grew 45%.
Microsoft also chose to re-frame Business Applications slightly thanks to the launch of a new Digital Transformation Platform Group in March. Led by James Phillips, who had previously been president of Business Solutions, the new organization covers Phillips' existing portfolio and incorporates Azure AI, Azure Data Platform, Azure IoT Platform, and industry cloud solutions. This new organization had 15,000 Microsoft employees at the time of the announcement, and Phillips continued to report to EVP Scott Guthrie.
Microsoft also revealed that Dynamics 365 Business Central, their SMB ERP offering, cruised past 15,000 cloud customers in April and is seeing 200 percent annual growth in users. The rate of growth in users was higher than the growth in new customers, according to Business Central GM Mike Morton.
Business Central channel veteran James Crowter took the product's successes in stride as in his well-received May article outlining the priorities on which he would ask Microsoft to focus to further strengthen their ERP lineup in the face of stiff global competition. For example:
Despite the lack of backing by Microsoft Corp., the product succeeds thanks to end users loving it and partners filling the gaps. That growth in Business Central wins has led to a chronic shortage of skilled people. The pandemic reduced demand for three months in 2020 but it’s back now and more extreme than ever, with every candidate having multiple offers, some without interview.
I know some at Microsoft have seen the ‘templated implementation methodology’ as a way to sign up more subscriptions without solving this issue and I have no doubt that it has a place in the ecosystem. I believe, though, that it’s starting to make the demand for expertise higher. That is because a lot of the organisations that used this approach to get started now want to go further having reached the limits of the templates.
Pricing and packaging
Products and licensing schemes never stagnate at Microsoft, and as cloud apps and services evolve, so do the parameters of their sales and subscriptions.
Microsoft announced better storage pricing and allowances for Business Central in April, a change aimed to address a major hurdle in the previous model that limited storage to 80GB plus 2 to 3 GB per user.
We also learned in August that the latest iteration of Dynamics 365 HR will make a clean break from the legacy HR capabilities in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations apps. That decision to proceed with separating the products once and for all seems sound, but it will require some untangling of product features and licensing, Microsoft explained. Overlapping HR features in the other Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations apps will eventually fade away, as late as 2025, but D365 HR will begin to take precedence much sooner, with Lifecycle Services compatibility, functional advances, new integration options, and new licensing.
Power Platform licensing continued to evolve in 2021, too. In July, Microsoft announced plans to lower Power Apps pricing while also simplifying per-app plans. The change was a response to a "significantly accelerating" volume of apps being built atop the platform, Microsoft's Ryan Cunningham stated at the time. The update lowered per-user plans from $40 to $20 per user per month, and per-app plans decreased from $10 to $5 per app per month. Power Apps Portals also received licensing updates. Readers took an interest in June's announcement of new pricing tiers for high volume portals, a move that was designed to bring published costs for hundreds of thousands or millions of logins per month into a realistic range. Looking ahead to 2022, Microsoft has introduced more options like pay-as-you-go pricing, new entitlements for AI Builder, and higher usage volumes.
The Business Apps ecosystem seems to have adapted to Microsoft's twice-yearly release waves for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. The planning documents get lots of attention from bloggers and partners, while the community also awaits some inevitable surprises that don't make it into the printed version. Perhaps predictably, our coverage of the 2021 release wave 1 plans rose to become one of the most popular items of the year. For more feature-level insights, see articles highlighted in 2021's "best of" article highlighting MSDW contributors.
Microsoft revealed plans for new B2B e-commerce features for Dynamics 365 Commerce in January that add account relations, partner management, account-based promotions, distributed order management, and more. Those enhancements helped Microsoft launch the Microsoft Cloud for Retail, which consolidates the company's retail industry offerings from Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Microsoft Advertising, Azure, and Microsoft 365. The company pursued similar goals across a range of industry cloud solutions in 2021.
Dynamics 365 Sales got a new mobile app in 2021. It provides a better experience on mobile interfaces than the model-driven interface with optimized views, better information capture using device controls, and better access to information via search.
Microsoft also revealed its plans to bring user group support in-house in March. After keeping user groups at arm's length for years, the new plans involved a dedicated internal team that wants to support individual user groups with technology infrastructure and organizational tools. Microsoft estimated at the time of the announcement that that there were approximately 700 local user groups globally. Not all of those groups have lined up with Microsoft's approach yet, but the team seems poised to offer more enticements to local leaders in 2022 like better access to Microsoft personnel and some technology updates.
Other popular reporting from 2021:
- Microsoft reveals plans for Dynamics 365 and industry cloud 2021 release wave 2 (July 2021)
- Microsoft Power Platform pros react to Power Fx announcement (March 2021)
- Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse expands Dynamics 365, Power Platform data analytics options: Build 2021 (May 2021)
- Warehouse execution scale unit reaches GA for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (May 2021)
- Ecolab expands use of Microsoft Dynamics 365 mixed reality, HoloLens 2 with virtual visits in life sciences (June 2021)
- Microsoft Power BI 2021 Release Wave 2: What it means for users and enterprises (Nov 2021)
- Ignite 2021: Microsoft reveals at least six new Teams integration points coming to Dynamics 365 (March 2021)
- Microsoft promises partners new commerce options, a maturing industry strategy in 2021 (Feb 2021)
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service closing in on $200 million in annual revenue: Analyst report (Oct 2021)
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Record numbers of luxury cruise ships docking in Cape Town
Smaller towns also benefiting, with Mossel Bay doubling its seasonal visits
Cruise ship tourism to South Africa doubled in recent years, with the past season injecting more than R1bn into the economy, according to the first in-depth study to be conducted on the sector's impact. ..
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Buy a T-shirt, support hospitality workers: PA brewery doing its part to help industry
While Pennsylvania's hospitality industry grapples with COVID-19 restrictions slated to start Saturday, one brewery from the Keystone State is stepping up to do their part.
Victory Brewing Company, based in Downingtown, just west of Philadelphia, and famous for craft brews such as HopDevil and Golden Monkey, is selling T-shirts that directly benefit the Hospitality Assistance Response of PA. HARP is an initiative designed to provide monetary relief to hospitality workers in PA who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All proceeds from sales of the shirt, which features a design by illustrator Mario Zucca, go toward the initiative. According to the Victory website, company cofounder co-founder Bill Covaleski "teamed up with (Zucca) to reimagine the Victory Kegman, first sketched by Bill in 1994, into a thoughtful and modern symbol of strength and service."
PRLA's HARP initiative connects hospitality workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic with resources such as monetary asssitance and leads on temporary employment.


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|Grapegrower & Winemaker||Wine & Viticulture Journal||Wine Industry Directory||
||Daily Wine News||
Non artificial chemical weed control
Subscribe to Daily Wine News e-mail
Browse the DWN Archive by date
As part of the EH Graham Centre seminar series, Dr Leslie Weston from Cornell University, USA will deliver a seminar about Allelopathy, using the natural defences of plants to beat weed infestation. The seminar will be held on Wednesday 14 February at 12:00 pm in the Agricultural Institute Conference Room, Pugsley Place, at the Charles Sturt University (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus.
Dr Weston is a leading agriculture scientists seeking to utilise non-chemical methods for weed control. She is now looking at weed suppression in turf grasses and ornamentals and has a strong interest, as well, in wine where her research interests have led to the study of resveratrol, a natural fungicide produced by grape plants which also lowers incidence of arteriosclerosis in consumers of grape products.
For further infomation contact Peter Andrea on (02) 69332207


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You'll soon be able to rent a Lime scooter through Uber
Lime has announced a major investment from and partnership with the biggest name in app-based ridesharing.
Lime co-founders Toby Sun and Brad Bao shared the news that Uber is making a "sizable investment" as a part of a $335 million funding round for the scooter startup, and will soon allow Uber users to find Lime scooters through the Uber app.
The funding round, led by Google parent company Alphabet's venture capital arm GV, now has Lime valued at $1.1 billion. It is still unclear when Lime services will be fully integrated with the Uber app.
What's next on the water?:We 'turned our back' on the White River. Now, Indianapolis wants to make it a destination.
"The new funds will give us the ability to expand our operations globally, develop new technologies and products for consumers and build out our infrastructure and team," Sun and Bao said in a statement. "Uber will work with us as a strategic partner in the electric scooter space to offer people a greater variety of transportation modes at their fingertips and make it increasingly easy to live without a car."
The funding news comes just a week after Lime pulled its fleet from Indianapolis streets after receiving a cease-and-desist order from the city.
Lime, which began operating in Indianapolis on June 23, received the order July 3 and removed its scooters from the streets July 5, according to a written statement from the company.
Officials said they have been working with members of the City-County Council to develop scooter regulatory framework.
"We have, and will continue to work collaboratively with the city towards crafting a common-sense regulatory solution that prioritizes rider safety and accessibility, while maintaining our scooters as an affordable transportation option for Indianapolis residents," said a statement from Lime. "We look forward to returning to the streets once circumstances change in regards to the city permitting process, or in the event a competitor continues to operate without enforcement action."
The motorized scooters, which are dockless, can travel up to 15 mph. Both Lime and competor Bird charge an initial fee of $1 per ride and an additional 15 cents per minute. Since the scooters are dockless, there are no parking stations, allowing riders to pick them up and drop them off anywhere.
Lime officials said the company recently passed six million rides nationwide.
IndyStar reporter Holly Hays contributed to this story. Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.


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Food companies including Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo, and Premier Foods have signed up to the new consistent front-of-pack nutritional label scheme introduced by the UK Government.
The new labeling scheme has been launched on food products to help people make healthier choices about the food they eat.
The system will combine red, amber, green color-coding and nutritional information to display the quantity of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar, and calories present in the products.
All the companies will join the major retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, the Co-operative and Waitrose, in using the label on their products.
McCain Foods, which already uses front of pack, has also agreed to use the consistent label.
The development comes on the heels of detailed discussions that took place with the UK Government working with the food industry, health NGOs and other partners to agree the proposed system and what the label would look like.
Public Health Minister Anna Soubry said even though the country already has the largest number of products using a front of pack label in Europe, people still get confused by the variety of labels that are used.
The colors will be helpful for the people to make them understand the levels of nutrients in the food they are consuming.
Working with industry, through the Responsibility Deal, the Department of Health will get business taking action to reduce the amount of calories, salt and trans fat in foods, as part of the government’s work to reduce obesity levels.
The new Responsibility Deal pledge will be the front of pack label that food and drink companies can sign up to and deliver.
Businesses that have signed up to using the new label already account for more than 60% of the food that is sold in the country.


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Stock of the Week
Michael Longo (Hibbett Inc CEO since 2019) purchased $350,000 of stock on the 6th October at $70.08, increasing his stake by 13%. This is his second purchase since joining the company, his first was for $135,000 of stock at $9.00 in March 2020 and it’s very encouraging to see him now making this much larger purchase at a much higher price. He already met the ownership requirements ($1.5 million).
We previously ranked the stock +1 on the 19th July due to notable purchases from Benck, Blahnik and Knighten and we are renewing our +1 ranking with this notable purchase from Longo.
C. John Wilder (Evergy Inc Director since 2021; former CEO at TXU, CFO at Entergy, Director NRG) purchased $2.5 million worth of stock at $63.61, increasing his indirect holdings to 2.3 million shares. The purchase follows a $113 million purchase in April at $49.87 on a subscription. The purchases are on behalf of Bluescape Energy Partners which also owns 4 million warrants.
We ranked this stock +N on September 24th based on $500,000 purchases from David Campbell (CEO) and Kirkland Andrew (CFO). We now have three large purchases from insiders, all paying up from prior purchases.
We are upgrading the stock further, from +N to +1.


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Steel King Industries Announces the Launch of NexCaliber Structures
CINCINNATI, OH, January 12, 2020 – Steel King Industries today announced the launch of NexCaliber Structures, a business group focused on providing platform and mezzanine solutions for the material storage and handling industries.
This announcement caps off five months of planning, preparation, and technology buildout in support of Steel King Industries’ larger strategy, focused on unlocking customer value through making enhancements to their current comprehensive portfolio of material storage and handling solutions.
While Steel King is not new to the platform and mezzanine industry, the launch of NexCaliber Structures demonstrates its commitment to manufacturing that next-generation of integrated warehouse storage solutions. Building on Steel King’s more than fifty years of industry leadership, the company plans to leverage the deep expertise of the new team to bring scalable solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of 3PLs, eCommerce, Food & Beverage, and Logistics industries.
The new team brings with them an extensive background of platform design expertise only achieved through more than a collective century of work in the industry. NexCaliber Structures is not your ordinary new business launch.
“Since arriving at Steel King, the NexCaliber team has received overwhelming acceptance and support and now has become part of the strong culture that many companies strive for,” said NexCaliber Product Manager, Chris Pahls.
“This has allowed our team to focus on the creation of the NexCaliber Structures using the vast experience within the team ranging from platform design, project management, engineering, 3D modeling, CAD programming, fabrication, and installed services. This fresh start along with Steel Kings strong presence in the material handling market as a world class manufacture will no doubt benefit our customers with industry leading products and service resulting total turnkey experiences for projects of any size.”
Poised to aggressively grow their portfolio of products and services to support the next generation of storage solutions, NexCaliber Structures will leverage decades of Plan, Design and Manage expertise to deliver useful insight and turnkey solutions. Fifty years of business has proven that making the right investments in people, products and technology is critical to the long-term success of the business.
“At NexCaliber Structures by Steel King Industries, platforms and mezzanines are our business,” said Brian Pfannes, Steel King Industries Vice President-Supply Chain & Platform Products.
“We’ve been able to blend the innovative spirit of a startup company with industry leading leadership and the stability that comes from Steel King’s fifty-year materials handling foundation. In today’s marketplace our customers demand safety, quality and competitive pricing, but we will always strive to elevate that service and deliver more innovative solutions unlocking customer value to meet the industries’ material challenges of tomorrow.”
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Latest Chocolate truffle Stories
Celebrity-endorsed all-natural chocolates also available in vegan flavors ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Dec.
Responding to customers' request for an easier-to-eat Omega Passion, Omega3 Innovations has released a redesigned chocolate truffle containing as much omega-3 as one regular fish oil capsule.
Sibu, known for the premium lines of sea buckthorn beauty and wellness products recently unveiled good-for-you chocolates loaded with a dose of Omega 7 sea buckthorn fruit oil Salt
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Feb. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The artisanal chocolatier called Cocopotamus is on a roll again.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Appleton Chocolates Co.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven states in the union are about to experience a new form of fudge: whimsical, handmade dark chocolate fudge truffles.
Indulging in just one small chocolate truffle can induce cravings for more sugary and fatty foods â€” and even awaken a desire for high-end status products, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
By Anonymous Ethical chocolate brand, Divine Chocolate, is stepping up investment in its Christmas range, with the launch of several products aimed at fairtrade shoppers.
- An uxorious, effeminate, or spiritless man.
- A timorous, cowardly fellow.


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Australia rock icons AC/DC have ended their holdout with iTunes and now have their music featured on Apple’s music download store.
iTunes weren’t shy about advertising the fact AC/DC’s entire catalogue had finally become available earlier this week after the band had held out for years from having their music sold via Apple’s online store. AC/DC had however previously sold their music online; in 2007 they agreed to a one-year deal with US mobile operator Verizon Wireless for exclusive selling rights to their material.
The Beatles, and more recently Kid Rock, have also succumbed to Apple in the past year, but the change of mind was a hard switch from the public stand AC/DC had taken against iTunes in the late 2000s.
Singer Brian Johnson and guitarist Angus Young have both spoken out against the music giant.
“Maybe I’m just being old-fashioned, but this iTunes, God bless ‘em, it’s going to kill music if they’re not careful,” said Johnson in 2008.
“It’s a…monster, this thing. It just worries me. And I’m sure they’re just doing it all in the interest of making as much…cash as possible. Let’s put it this way, it’s certainly not for the…love, let’s get that out of the way, right away.”
Young was against the way in which iTunes sold music. “We don’t make singles, we make albums,” he once said.
“If we were on iTunes, we know a certain percentage of people would only download two or three songs from the album – and we don’t think that represents us musically,” Young told the Telegraph.
While fans of AC/DC can now get to downloading at will, there are however still a number of big name holdouts not willing to have iTunes sell their music. Among that list includes Tool, Def Leppard, Black Sabbath and Bob Seger.
Crave has Australia covered.
Follow Robert White on Twitter @RobertWhitebrrr.


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Beijing shuns Ericsson, Nokia because the west curbs Huawei
The U.S. and lots of of its allies have restricted the usage of 5G mobile tools made by China’s Huawei Applied sciences Co. Now Beijing is doing the identical to Huawei’s Western rivals.
China Cell Ltd., a government-owned wi-fi provider that’s the world’s greatest by subscribers, awarded in July 5.4% of its newest 5G-equipment tenders to non-Chinese language suppliers, down from 11% in its earlier spherical in 2020.
The most important loser was Sweden’s Ericsson AB, which after profitable all of that 11% final yr, fell to simply 1.9% on this spherical. A Chinese language state-controlled media outlet described the market-share loss as retaliation for Sweden’s choice to ban Huawei and China’s ZTE Corp. from its 5G networks.
China Cell representatives didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Simply because the web is splitting between a largely censored Chinese language internet and one other led by American firms, so is the infrastructure behind it.
The $35-billion world cellular-equipment market could be divided into three segments of roughly equal measurement: China, the U.S. and the remainder of the world. China more and more depends on Chinese language tools. The U.S. has successfully banned Huawei, the world’s greatest cellular-equipment maker, from main networks for years over considerations that Beijing might faucet the corporate to spy. Huawei and Beijing say the considerations are unfounded.
A great chunk of the remainder of the world is following Washington’s lead. There are huge exceptions, like Germany. International locations which have enacted or are contemplating restrictions in opposition to Huawei comprise greater than 60% of the world’s cellular-equipment market, says research-firm Dell’Oro Group. Outdoors China, Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia Corp. are profitable offers at Huawei’s expense.
“Beneath the present trajectory, the telecom business appears to be changing into extra polarized between East and West,” mentioned Simon Leopold, a telecom analyst at Raymond James.
In a young value about $6 billion, China Cell awarded about 60.5% of the worth to Huawei, up from 57.7% in final yr’s spherical. It gave 31.2% to ZTE and a pair of.8% to smaller Chinese language provider Datang Telecom Group. Nokia received the largest share for a international firm, at 3.5%.
In 2020, Sweden explicitly banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying its 5G networks, going past European counterparts that put restrictions on the Chinese language firms with out naming them. Chinese language officers warned that they may retaliate in opposition to Ericsson, prompting Chief Government Börje Ekholm to foyer officers within the Scandinavian nation to rethink the ban.
The International Occasions, a newspaper revealed by China’s ruling Communist Social gathering, mentioned this month that Ericsson’s poor exhibiting within the China Cell public sale was “linked to the Swedish authorities’s arbitrary crackdown on Huawei and different Chinese language corporations.”
Days earlier than China Cell introduced the winners of the 5G tools contracts, Ericsson reported shedding $300 million in second-quarter gross sales in China in contrast with a yr earlier. Mr. Ekholm informed analysts that he wasn’t precisely certain of the rationale for the stunning loss, however predicted that Ericsson wouldn’t recoup it.
In an interview Tuesday, Mr. Ekholm mentioned it was constructive that Ericsson acquired a sliver of China’s newest tools tender, reasonably than zero, and that the corporate would attempt to improve its market share in future tenders there.
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He mentioned the Chinese language market mattered not just for its measurement, however as a result of Ericsson might be taught from collaborating on the earth’s most aggressive 5G rollout. “Now we have to be there,” he mentioned.
Nokia’s award of roughly 4% was an enchancment after it acquired shut out of China Cell’s 5G cellular-equipment tender in 2020, when it was nonetheless recovering from a blunder in chip procurement that made its tools costlier and fewer engaging to wi-fi carriers. Some analysts mentioned it was a shock and disappointment that Nokia didn’t take all of Ericsson’s market share within the newest tender.
The small market share means Ericsson and Nokia will largely miss out on the world’s most aggressive 5G rollout this yr. China’s vice minister of business and data expertise mentioned in July that the nation had constructed 916,000 5G mobile websites, which accounts for about 70% of the world’s complete, and goals to have 560 million 5G wi-fi subscribers by the top of 2023.
Because the Chinese language networks close to completion round 2023, restrictions on Huawei outdoors China will more and more profit Ericsson and Nokia, as Europe and different components of the world speed up their 5G rollout, Raymond James’ Mr. Leopold mentioned.
Each Ericsson and Nokia have benefited from Huawei’s woes. Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark mentioned earlier this week that the Finnish firm has received roughly half of the potential offers which have stemmed from wi-fi carriers switching tools suppliers for “politically pushed causes.”
Nationalism isn’t new within the telecom house. Twenty years in the past, the U.S. favored Lucent, Canada most well-liked Nortel and France favored Alcatel, Mr. Leopold mentioned. All three hit powerful occasions, partially as a result of Huawei and ZTE started promoting aggressive merchandise at decrease costs, and ended up being absorbed by Ericsson or Nokia. These firms are as we speak’s solely main Western rivals to Huawei.
Ericsson had a market share of greater than 25% in China as lately as 2011, nevertheless it has fallen since. The European Union and China in 2014 struck a handshake deal to order roughly 25% of the Chinese language telecom-equipment marketplace for Ericsson and Nokia, nevertheless it was by no means enforced.
Since then, with the U.S. missing its personal main business participant, Washington has tried to assist the Nordic firms in addition to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. by providing loans to get creating international locations to purchase non-Chinese language telecom tools. The U.S. has additionally used export controls that make it laborious for Huawei to purchase provides it wants for merchandise.
This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content


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Most Active Stories
- How one Bay Area city is causing national controversy with local gun control
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A Starbucks Coffee Will Cost 10 Cents More In Some Regions
If you, like me, order a tall coffee when you go to Starbucks, you'll be paying 10 cents more. The Seattle coffee chain is raising prices in the Northeast and across the Sunbelt with the exception of California and Florida.
Cities like Boston, New York, Atlanta and Dallas will also see an increase of about 1 percent on other drinks. Starbucks said its next bigger size, grande, will cost the same.
Jim Olson, a company spokesman, told the AP "the prices reflect competition in certain markets and higher costs for coffee, fuel and other commodities."
"The price boost comes at a time when inflation is a significant worry for consumers. During the past 12 months, food prices in the US are up an average of 4.6 percent, and overall inflation in consumer prices was 3.4 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Consumers have seen prices rising over the past year on everything from fuel to health care, college tuition to clothing.
"Food chains like McDonald's have been part of the trend – and something consumers easily notice."
The Seattle Times reports that Starbucks had raised prices in November for the Pacific Northwest, California, the Midwest and Hawaii. Part of the reason is that "coffee commodity prices hit multi-decade highs in the past year."


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|Search||FAQ||US Titles||UK Titles||Memories||VaporWare||Digest|
|RCA Press Release for September 14, 1983|
The number of "CED" video disc titles available at retail should reach the 1,000 mark by the end of September, three months ahead of earlier forecasts, Thomas G. Kuhn, Division Vice President, RCA VideoDisc Division, announced today.
He said the heavy new release schedules for October and November should assure that the number of "CED" titles will reach or exceed 1,200 by year-end.
"We launched the video disc system in March 1981 with one monaural player model, and a catalog of 100 titles. Just two and a half years later, there are five models to choose from, including stereo and interactive players, and a selection of programs designed to appeal to a broad cross section of society," Mr. Kuhn said.
He said RCA alone has shipped some 6.5 million video disc albums under its own label since the system reached the marketplace and has been custom-pressing discs for other program suppliers.
The growing demand for custom-pressing by the major studios and other program sources "is an evolutionary development that came sooner than expected. However, in anticipation of this eventuality, we undertook an aggressive program to build a broad and diverse library of titles."
Mr. Kuhn said RCA licensed programs from dozens of sources to support the launch of its video disc system, knowing that someday these sources would want their product custom-pressed and would want to handle their own distribution.
These licenses have staggered expiration dates, so the movement of titles from RCA's label to the suppliers' labels will be gradual. In the meantime, RCA will continue to aggressively acquire and develop new programs for home video, he added.
"We believe the major studios will be custom-pressing titles not previously licensed to RCA, as well as new releases. This will lead to accelerated growth in the number of 'CED' titles available to the public. And that's a definite plus in the outlook for video disc sales," Mr. Kuhn said.
He noted that home video will not be a motion picture business forever. "We're already seeing very successful programs in the non-feature area, including the super-popular 'Jane Fonda's Workout' disc, and programs in the children's and stereo music genre."
He said RCA's joint venture with Columbia Pictures in home video "gives us access to one of the great motion picture and television libraries in Hollywood, assuring RCA a dynamic program inventory."
Looking ahead, he added, RCA is stepping up its efforts to produce and co-produce programs for the home entertainment market, including cable, cassette and disc. One area getting a great deal of attention is music video, which is expected to be a major growth area for video discs, particularly in view of RCA's new interactive player which makes it possible for viewers to preprogram discs for the first time.
In cooperation with RCA Records, Mr. Kuhn added, several projects in the music disc area have been completed and others now are in production, including "The Jefferson Starship," and "The Eurythmics."
Mr. Kuhn said the most successful non-movie disc to date -- "Jane Fonda's Workout" -- was a co-production of RCA VideoDiscs and Karl Video. It is the 15th best-selling disc in RCA's catalog.
Mr. Kuhn said RCA also looks to independently produced features, how-to programs, children's shows, and the best of television to provide substantial future programs for video discs.


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News & Event
- News & Event
North Chungcheong Province announced yesterday that eight exporting small- and medium-sized enterprises from the province made export contracts of KRW 437 million at the Mega Show, held in Hong Kong.
Tuna Paper drew many interests from buyers at the show and made an export contract of KRW 270 million.
JSM and Youngjin Glove, which produces gloves for using smartphones in winter, made contracts of KRW 130 million and KRW 540 million, respectively.
The Mega Show is a market where buyers from around the world visit to see gifts, housewares and more.
Source: Newsis (Oct. 28, 2013)
** This article was translated from the Korean.


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LeEco Cash Crunch Sets Clouf For Vizio Deal
Now, the company's chairman and co-founder is telling employees those bold ambitions have created a serious cash crunch, according to Bloomberg. That doesn't bode well for LeEco's $2 billion acquisition of Vizio, the TV maker. That deal was announced in July, and it hasn't closed yet. Even before today's news, rumors had swirled questioning the status of the deal.
Before LeEco came along, Vizio was on track to go public. The company had filed an S-1 just two days before LeEco made its offer. Vizio was planning to raise capital at a valuation below $1 billion, according to sources. It has around $3 billion in annual sales.
If that valuation sounds low relative to its revenue, it's because the TV business is highly commoditized. And it shows just how much of a premium LeEco is willing to pay for the company.
When I asked LeEco about the status of the deal last month, a representative said the deal is still in process and it doesn't comment on rumors. The company has not responded to a request for an updated comment given this morning's news.
LeEco is the umbrella holding company for a sprawling family of businesses that includes sports media, automobiles, smartphones and TVs. The company known for its LeTV streaming service has aggressively pursued funding and placed bets on new ventures, from an electric car plant in Nevada to a $2 billion acquisition of California TV maker Vizio Inc.
"No company has had such an experience, a simultaneous time in ice and fire," We blindly sped ahead, and our cash demand ballooned. We got over-extended in our global strategy. At the same time, our capital and resources were in fact limited." Jia wrote in a letter, obtained by Bloomberg News, describing LeEco's rise and subsequent issues.
Shares in Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp. and Coolpad Group Ltd., the two listed companies Jia chairs, fell Monday as word of the letter spread. Smartphone manufacturer Coolpad dived as much as 25 percent to its lowest since Feb. 2013, while Leshi slid as much as 7 percent to a one-year trough. Some analysts have begun to question LeEco's longer-term prospects, given the opacity surrounding investments by its various subsidiaries.
Jia's memo circulated widely on social media Monday and prompted a testy exchange with rival smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun called attention to the opacity surrounding LeEco's outstanding debt, according to a screengrab of his WeChat message account that LeEco posted. That prompted a sharp riposte from Jia's company, which blasted Xiaomi and Lei for spreading rumors. An hour later, one of Xiaomi's official Weibo accounts fired back, asking Jia to focus on LeEco's debt rather than distract the public.
Jia highlighted measures to lessen the company's burden in his memo. LeEco will immediately begin cost-cutting programs, decrease subsidies for customers and focus on existing businesses instead of new ones, he added, apologizing to shareholders of Leshi in response to criticism that he hasn't paid them enough attention.
A self-made billionaire who got his start working in IT at a local tax bureau, Jia founded Leshi Internet Information & Technology in 2004, one of the first companies in China to stream TV shows and movies to paying subscribers. He entered the smart TV businesses in 2013 and the smartphone market in 2015.


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SFST's speech at Accenture FinTech's Finest Forum 2022 (English only)
Marco (Managing Director, Hong Kong Financial Services Lead of Accenture Greater China, Mr Marco Tsui), Peter (Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport, Mr Peter Yan), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. I am very delighted to join you all at Accenture FinTech's Finest Forum 2022 and meet with some of the best financial technology leaders and entrepreneurs, investors, regulators, academics and so many others who have seen the future of banking and know that it will be built on technology. I am also pleased to announce to you all, with the relaxation of our hotel quarantine measures last month, Hong Kong is back and we are ready for the fintech market.
Today's forum provides an excellent opportunity for us to see innovations coming into reality and being commercialised at the booths, and for exchange of ideas on hot topics such as metaverse, NFT and sustainability during the Roundtable and panel discussions. I also learnt that this is also part of the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific (FILAP) 2022 programme, which is a highly competitive challenge-based accelerator programme that provides much assistance to fintech start-ups and had received overwhelming responses in the previous years.
Under the Government's joint and consistent efforts with regulators and industry players, we have seen a vibrant fintech ecosystem taking shape here in the territory in recent years with over 600 fintech companies operating in Hong Kong. These companies embrace many different technologies, including big data, AI, blockchain, InsurTech (insurance technology), RegTech (regulation technology), CreditTech (credit technology) and WealthTech (wealth management technology), offering tremendous application and commercialisation possibilities in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area and beyond. They also provide services in various sectors, to name a few, including virtual banks, cross-boundary transfer, intelligent financial consultancy, and blockchain, etc.
Fintech is more than just the application of state-of-the-art technology to develop new financial services and products. It optimises operation efficiency. Fintech development has already been reshaping our financial services with innovative new modes of service delivery, enhanced consumer experience and greater operational efficiency.
The Hong Kong SAR Government places the development of innovation and technology (I&T) very high on its agenda, attaches great importance to working with financial regulators, relevant agencies and the trade to devise measures in order to facilitate the development and nurture fintech talents.
Just as the Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab, the Government is keen on providing subsidies to fintech institutions so that they could realise their innovation concepts. The Fintech Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Subsidy Scheme was launched in 2021, granting subsidies to fintech institutions to partner with financial institutions to test new and practical fintech solutions. The scheme was well received by the trade, with over 90 projects approved benefitting over 70 fintech firms and financial institutions. As a result, a new round of the PoC Subsidy Scheme has just been rolled out in September 2022, which would be even more attractive as the coverage is expanded to provide funding not just to fintech companies partnering with financial institutions, but also to research institutions. The subsidy for each approved project has also been increased to $150,000 to as high as $400,000.
To deepen financial practitioners' understanding of fintech, thereby promoting wider adoption of fintech in the financial services sector, we launched in 2020 the Financial Practitioners FinTech Training Programme to provide training courses for financial practitioners in an array of fintech-related subjects. It attracted participation of over 1 200 financial practitioners from the banking, insurance and securities sectors. An enhanced new round of training programme has been launched in February 2022. Over 2 000 financial practitioners have enhanced their fintech knowledge and awareness by attending the programme thus far, and hopefully some of you also benefited from that programme.
We have also implemented a new round of the FinTech Anti-epidemic Scheme for Talent Development in July 2022 to subsidise local fintech companies, start-ups and other companies with fintech-related operations to create 1 000 new full-time jobs to employ local people with a view to enriching Hong Kong's fintech talent pool, with a total funding of $120 million. The last round of the application received overwhelming response, with over 700 jobs created, and many talents recruited being young people. The new round of the scheme was launched in July 2022, benefitting more enterprises in need and generating more opportunities for talents locally and from other places wishing to join the fintech industry.
On professional development, we are actively developing professional qualifications recognised under the Qualifications Framework for fintech practitioners. This will enable the fintech talent to obtain a broadly recognised and quality-assured qualification, facilitate their professional development and enrich the local fintech talent pool. The first batch of fintech professional qualifications applicable for the banking sector has been rolled out early this month. To encourage practitioners to obtain fintech professional qualifications, the 2022-23 Budget announced that the Government would implement the Pilot Scheme on Training Subsidy for Fintech Practitioners this year to provide reimbursement to those who have successfully attained fintech professional qualifications of 80 per cent of the tuition fees, with around 1 500 places to be offered.
Ladies and gentlemen, with the favourable regulations and all of the highly talented people I am seeing here today, I am confident that Hong Kong is the perfect breeding ground for fintech development. I am sure you will learn and hear a lot more from the fintech innovators and our regulators later on, and I wish you all a stimulating exchange and most rewarding experience at the Accenture FinTech's Finest Forum 2022. Thank you very much.
Ends/Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Issued at HKT 16:37
Issued at HKT 16:37


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Gold futures closed higher on Wednesday (June 15), driven by investors buying gold as a safe haven. The U.S. released weak economic data, including the first decline in retail sales in five months and the Fed raised interest rates by 0.75%.
- The gold futures were up $6.1, or 0.34%, at $1,819.6 an ounce.
- Silver futures were up 46.6 cents, or 2.22%, at $21.42 an ounce.
- The platinum was up $13.9, or 1.53%, at $924.6 per ounce.
- Palladium was up $54.10, or 3%, at $1,834.30 an ounce.
Investors buy safe assets after the U.S. released weak economic data. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that retail sales fell 0.3% in May from the previous month. This was the first decline in five months after a 0.7% gain in April.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) of the United States reported that the Homebuilder Confidence Index fell two points to 67 in June, the lowest level in two years and the sixth consecutive month of decline.
The decline in the confidence index was attributed to rising mortgage rates and construction costs. As a result, the current sales confidence index has also fallen.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke to the press after the monetary policy meeting and said that the Fed will raise interest rates by 0.75%.
The Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy Committee (FOMC) decided at its meeting on Wednesday (June 15) to raise the short-term interest rate by 0.75% to 1.50-1.75%, its largest rate hike in the past 28 years or since 1994
„From the perspective of today, either a 50 basis point or a 75 basis point increase seems most likely at our next meeting,“Powell said on Wednesday after the announcement.
The Spot Market is Open
Thursday, June 16, 2022


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Credit and Finance for MSMEs: Making investments in the businesses of the future is a high-risk, high-return challenge, but it can prove to be hugely rewarding in this time of turmoil.
- By Apoorv Ranjan Sharma
Credit and Finance for MSMEs: Having been recognized as the world’s fastest-growing economy, India is determined to become a superpower. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also laid out an ambitious plan to realize this – turning India into a $5 trillion economy by 2024. However, critics of the plan have cast doubts about this plan’s feasibility, and rightly so. Currently estimated at $2.8 trillion, India’s economy needs to grow at the CAGR of over 12 per cent in the next five years to reach the $5 trillion mark.
With government data putting the actual growth rate over the past quarter at less than 6 per cent, it seems like an unlikely feat. To make matters worse, the World Bank has cut India’s economic growth forecast for current fiscal from 7.5 per cent to 6 per cent. The country’s cyclical slowdown is severed, the bank noted in its latest edition of South Asia Economic Focus report. Amidst this economic slowdown, there is one demographic who is in a bit of flux – the investors. From VCs to HNIs, a large percentage of Indian investors are planning to lie low in the upcoming months. Even though economic uncertainty seems to be higher than usual, this is not the right approach.
- 'Crowdfunding is a great way for new businesses to test the waters before launching product, going big'
- Interview | As small is the new big, MSMEs will be key growth drivers for us in India: Cisco’s Panish PK
- Work from office vs work from home: What helps small businesses to stay productive at reduced costs
The global economy has come to a halt, and many first-world countries are facing the risk of sinking into a recession. The scenario may not be as grim in India, but investors must take a different route to avoid a possible financial disaster. While investing in equities seems like a wise move from a long-term perspective, it doesn’t really address the impending economic slowdown. So, how do we tackle this situation? The solution lies in India’s thriving startup ecosystem.
Making investments in the businesses of the future is a high-risk, high-return challenge, but it can prove to be hugely rewarding in this time of turmoil. One might take a cue from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who recently contributed a whopping $45 billion to Soft Bank’s Vision Fund to support startups as an avenue for Saudi Arabia to reduce its oil dependency. Close to home, Anand Mahindra has always been a strong advocate for home-grown startups, expressing his views via Twitter.
Watch: The Economist – India Summit 2019
Thumb rules of Investing
Investing in a startup can be both financially and personally rewarding. However, it is crucial to conduct thorough research on the business, market, competitive landscape and founding members of the company to mitigate the risk. The first and foremost step is to understand the market the startup operates in. This will help you gain a broader perspective when projecting the venture’s potential for success. Certain sectors are expected to take the worst hit, and choosing the right is the key to surviving the downturn. Make sure that the startup has a scalable model so that your investments can yield an IRR (internal rate of return) of at least 25 per cent.
The people running the company ultimately determines its success, especially for early-stage organizations. All successful entrepreneurs share a set of characteristics, such as a strong sense of direction, integrity, persistence and foresight. If the startup founders check these boxes, you’ve probably made the right decision. Check their previous track record and background (education) to see if your money will be in good hands. Here you’d like to where and why the startup intends to spend the funding. Also, review the salaries the founders plan to take home.
One of the best ways to reduce risk is to evaluate the startup’s positioning in the market. Find out what competitive advantage they have to stay ahead of the curve. Moreover, you should be aware of the company’s net worth, revenue earnings, AUM, debt-to-asset ratio to have a clear picture. While you are at it, you could ask the founders to give you a roadmap of how they want to make profits and maintain sustainable growth at a time like this. Finally, it is critical to review the legal documents before making any decision. Pay special attention to the deal offered by the startup and what percentage of ownership you’ll get.
Deflation could be the biggest challenge for investors in days to come, and investing in a startup appears to be the only safe bet. Do some research, meet the founders, and most importantly, follow your gut. In the long run, sectors like FMCG, residential real estate, private sector banks and capital goods sector are more likely to thrive as they have lesser debt in their balance sheet, higher transaction volumes and favourable regulatory policies. Choose wisely, and you should be able to sail through the worst.
(Apoorv Ranjan Sharma is the Co-founder at Venture Catalysts. Views expressed are the author’s own.)


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Maersk Launches China–Turkey Rail Service: Will It Help Cherry Trade?
International freight giant Maersk has officially launched its first intercontinental rail service between Xi’an in China and Izmit in Turkey. This new rail route will connect major areas of the two countries, diversifying their logistics options and significantly reducing shipping times.
In a statement, Kasper Krog, head of intercontinental rail at Maersk, said “After having successfully launched our Intercontinental Rail (ICR) service from China to Europe three years ago we have seen increase in demand by our customers for this particular service from different locations across both Asia and Europe. Due to its strategic geographical location, wide industry sector as well as all ambitious initiatives taken by the government to improve the rail infrastructure across the country we decided to launch ICR in Turkey not only for those companies located within the country but also as a link between Asia and Europe.”
In a press release, Maersk wrote “This unique rail service is ideal for customers within the automotive and technology industrial verticals in Turkey and other segments which are in high need of fast delivery to market. Due to a well-connected rail system across the country ICR is providing its customers with connections to Black Sea, Eastern Europe and Southern European countries via the port of Korfez in Izmit, by using feeder network of Sealand a Maersk Company.”
The question now is whether this will be beneficial for the fruit trade between China and Turkey.
Turkey is one of the biggest cherry producers in the world, and its cherries are the only fresh fruit for which the country has received market approval in China. However, Turkish cherries have never performed well in the Chinese market. Aside from shortcomings with respect to infrastructure and management, a reliance on air freight, which has insufficient capacity between the two countries, has also been a major limiting factor.
If going by sea, Turkish cherries would need to cross the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and finally the Strait of Malacca before reaching major Chinese ports. The entire journey takes roughly 35 days, a big test for Turkish cherries, which are not known for exemplary post-harvest processing. Although air shipments typically require only five days, prohibitive freight costs and insufficient capacity pose major challenges.
Maersk’s website notes that the China–Turkey ICR line takes roughly 16 days, but at three times the cost of shipping by sea. It is, however, a mere quarter of the cost of shipping by air.
As far as industry concerns about cold chain management processes, Maersk is able to monitor multiple indices, such as geographical coordinates, temperature, humidity, vibration, UV exposure and pressure, using its numerous sensors and tracking mechanisms.
By our understanding, specific times for the ICR service will be determined based on the rate of usage. Whether this new freight service will be beneficial to Turkey’s cherry exports this season remains to be seen.
This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.
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Four iconic video games have been inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame: Ms. Pac-Man, Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Sid Meier’s Civilization.
All four games “have influenced popular culture and the video game industry,” according to a statement from the World Video Game Hall of Fame, which is hosted at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
Ms. Pac-Man in particular is crucial to video game history because of its inclusion of a female protagonist, says the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
The game, released in 1981, built on the unexpected success of the original Pac-Man, a Japanese arcade game designed with the goal of being less violent than popular games at the time.
“Ms. Pac-Man promoted and signaled the broadening of game play across the genders. There was nothing inherently gendered about early video games, but the coin-op industry certainly advertised them that way,” Julia Novakovic, senior archivist at the World Video Game Hall of Fame, said in the statement.
“By offering the first widely recognized female video game character, Ms. Pac-Man represented a turn in the cultural conversation about women’s place in the arcade as well as in society at large.”
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, one of the other inductees, also represents a significant touchstone for video game history and gaming culture. The high-fantasy Zelda universe remains popular, with a sealed copy of one early version of The Legend of Zelda selling for $870,000 in 2021.
Dance Dance Revolution, one of the oldest fitness games, and Sid Meier’s Civilization, a foundational strategy and simulation game, rounded out the selection of new inductees.
The games will all be on permanent display at The Strong National Museum of Play.


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State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Mobile Mini, Inc. (NASDAQ:MINI) by 77.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,818 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Mobile Mini were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MINI. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Mobile Mini by 97,640.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,421,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $165,361,000 after buying an additional 5,416,095 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mobile Mini by 8.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,082,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,529,000 after buying an additional 304,886 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Mobile Mini by 12.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,085,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,116,000 after buying an additional 122,409 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mobile Mini by 8.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,079,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,927,000 after buying an additional 88,199 shares during the period. Finally, 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Mobile Mini by 4.3% in the first quarter. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC now owns 792,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,163,000 after buying an additional 32,436 shares during the period.
Shares of Mobile Mini, Inc. (MINI) opened at 28.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 2.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.29 and its 200-day moving average is $30.14. Mobile Mini, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.40 and a 12 month high of $37.05.
Mobile Mini (NASDAQ:MINI) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $126.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $126.03 million. Mobile Mini had a net margin of 10.03% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mobile Mini, Inc. will post $1.21 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.227 per share. This represents a $0.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 14th. Mobile Mini’s payout ratio is 78.45%.
COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Position in Mobile Mini, Inc. (MINI)” was originally posted by BNB Daily and is the property of of BNB Daily. If you are reading this article on another website, it was stolen and republished in violation of U.S. and international copyright & trademark law. The legal version of this article can be viewed at https://www.baseball-news-blog.com/2017/08/19/state-of-alaska-department-of-revenue-has-260000-position-in-mobile-mini-inc-mini-updated-updated.html.
MINI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Mobile Mini from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 30th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Mobile Mini from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.
In related news, insider Mark Funk sold 36,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.34, for a total transaction of $1,094,667.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 170,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,166,628.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Trachtenberg sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.59, for a total transaction of $315,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,137.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 156,065 shares of company stock worth $4,832,212 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.
About Mobile Mini
Mobile Mini, Inc is a provider of portable storage solutions. The Company, through its subsidiary, Evergreen Tank Solutions, Inc (ETS), is a provider of specialty containment solutions in the United States. The Company manages its business as two portable storage solutions business segments, North America and the U.K., and one specialty containment business segment.
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Infiniti will unveil new concept EV at 2018 Pebble Beach Concours this month
In a recent announcement, Infiniti has said that it will be unveiling a new concept electric vehicle (EV) this month, at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The unveiling of the new concept EV by Infiniti is scheduled for August 23, 2018.
With Infiniti having already announced that it has efforts underway to launch new vehicles with electrified powertrains from the year 2021, the upcoming debut of the new EV concept indicates that Infiniti is advancing towards its goal. The new concept EV has been developed by the company’s teams in Japan, the US, and the UK.
Ahead of the forthcoming debut of the new concept EV, Infiniti has released a teaser image of the vehicle. Although the teaser image does not reveal many details about the design of the concept EV, it shows a cockpit which indicates a single-seat vehicle. The image also hints at the EV’s aerodynamic nature, as is evident from the triangular-shaped air intakes behind the driver seat.
The teaser image also shows the new concept EV’s red accented steering wheel and a small windshield. Overall, from the teaser image, the vehicle appears to be the spiritual successor of the Prototype 9, but with notably sharp design elements.
About the new concept EV, Infiniti Executive Design Director Karim Habib said that “the new concept is a physical representation of our electrified performance future.”
In a recent report, Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung has disclosed that US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is one of the several automakers interested in joining the ongoing Ionity ‘ultra-fast’ joint electric car charging network project in Europ
According to latest Reuters report, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors is apparently targeting the production of Model Y in November 2019.
Tesla Model 3 has remained the most-sought after vehicle as the company offered feature-rich electric vehicle in affordable range.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors has recently updated the Model S and Model X design studio, to make the ‘Premium Upgrades Package’ a standard feature for non-performance versions of both the electric cars.
At a recent auto industry event, PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares said that the proposed move by the European Union (EU) to impose carbon dioxide (CO2) auto industry fines from 2020 would end up creating “a Chinese Trojan Horse.”
In an interesting spotting of a possible ‘Performance’ version of Tesla Model 3, TMC forum member ‘sreams’ has claimed that he saw the vehicle last week, at the Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA.


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Retailers reported slower sales in May, but don’t feel too bad for the sector. Sales at various chain stores were still up slightly from a year ago and analysts are predicting good things for the consumer discretionary sector this year.
One analyst at Goldman Sachs recommends a “full speed ahead” on consumer discretionary, reports Brendan Conway for The Wall Street Journal.
The analyst feels especially bullish on Macy’s (NYSE: M) and other domestic department stores, citing a broad sell-off as a result of the European debt crisis. All in all, retail may have been unfairly singled out as investors unloaded, the analyst says. [Retail ETFs Helped by Improving Figures.]
Surprise, surprise: One sector that is expected to outperform in the long run this year is the luxury retail class. An analyst claims that the sector would outperform the MSCI World index this year thanks to strong demand from Chinese buyers, recovery in the United States and the weaker euro, reports Astrid Wendlandt for Reuters.
Watches and spirits sales will also get a boost, analysts say. And after a lagging 2009, one of the worst years on record, it could be a welcome turn of events. [ETF strategies for the retail rebound.]
For more stories about consumer discretionary, visit our consumer discretionary category.
- Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (NYSEArca: VCR)
- Claymore/Robb Report Global Luxury (NYSEArca: ROB)
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Mr. Lydon serves as an independent trustee of certain mutual funds and ETFs that are managed by Guggenheim Investments; however, any opinions or forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Mr. Lydon and not those of Guggenheim Funds, Guggenheim Investments, Guggenheim Specialized Products, LLC or any of their affiliates. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.


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The one tech giant the traders say you should stay away from.» Read More
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect Intel to report profits of 40 cents a share on sales of $10.84 billion after markets close Thursday.
It's either an incredibly elaborate hoax or Apple Inc.'s CEO Steve Jobs is one unhappy camper this morning: It appears notes for his highly anticipated Macworld keynote address may have been leaked onto the internet last night, posting on the popular online encyclopedia web site Wikipedia.
Consumers should expect new mobility and movie options. Investors may want to look to the Apple orchard.
When it comes to Apple Inc. and Wall Street, I don't get it. These last few weeks have seen a precipitous decline in Apple shares, from a high right near $203 to a low of $171. The fall in Apple shares follows a general downdraft in all kinds of tech, yet many experts both in and outside the company I'm talking to have continued to harp on the "fundamentals" that got Apple to those lofty heights to begin with.
You knew it was coming simply because we all know that stocks, particularly tech stocks, don't move in only one direction despite what we've seen since Jan. 1. It took a stunning IBM pre-announcement to get the ball rolling, and that ball is rolling, fast.
Do I have your attention? Here's my video on why the adult video industry is keeping America great!! Really you say? Take a look.
It's the Friday before Macworld and once again, tongues are wagging about what Steve Jobs will pull out of his jeans pocket; what he might have lurking up his trademarked black sleeve; whether he can offer up something to pump some life back into this sagging stock.
Infosys Technologies, India's No.2 software services exporter, beat forecasts with a 25.2 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong demand from Europe and a tax refund.
Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft's Business Division, is calling it quits after 26 years at the company, announcing his retirement today. He'll be replaced by Stephen Elop, who most recently served as Juniper Network's chief operating officer.
Semiconductor giant Intel is being investigated by Andrew Cuomo, New York attorney general, his office said Thursday. The AG is probing whether Intel violated state and/or federal antitrust laws in its market-share battle with key rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Let me be perfectly upfront about this: I didn't want to go to the Adult Entertainment Expo at the Sands Convention Center today. I didn't. I was ready to file a few more times from the Consumer Electronics Show today and then fly home, when my assignment suddenly changed last night.
Small businesses exhibiting at CES can get lost in the crowd but hard work and the right strategy can help their products stand out.
Ford Motor has signed up some tech heavyweights to help with "Sync," its in-car satellite communications system, With help from Microsoft, Sirius and others, Ford's car of the very near future is something like a GPS, digital music player, cell phone and voice recognition system on wheels.
Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show, something jumps out at you as truly extraordinary. And the electronic paper from LG Philips LCD, which I was able to show exclusively this morning on CNBC and MSNBC jumps into that category.
U.S. electronics firm Apple will soon announce steps to resolve European Commission charges that its iTunes stores broke EU rules by setting prices country by country in Europe, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
Intel will get in touch with it's "mid" tonight -- as in mobile internet device -- a key initiative that CEO Paul Otellini talked to me about exclusively earlier today.
David Bishop, worldwide president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, won't say outright that his company has won the high-definition DVD war over archrival Toshiba, but he sure talks like someone who thinks he has now that Warner Brothers has opted to go exclusively with its Blu-ray gear
At the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini spoke with Jim Goldman about the future of the semiconductor giant and the industry as a whole. The CEO waxed optimistic. "You have to remember, 75 percent of Intel's sales are non-U.S. ...And there seem to be no signs of a global 'R-word' out there," the CEO declared.
Here's my TV interview today with Microsoft's Robbie Bach. Bach who is Entertainment & Devices Division president, talks exclusively about Xbox, Zune, iPod, HD DVD vs. Blu-ray and the economy. Take a look as I think you'll find it very interesting. For one thing, he says Xbox is recession proof.
There may not be a Yahoo phone in the works, but the struggling Internet company is betting that a new mobile-phone strategy will help it better compete with the likes of Google, Microsoft and others for a share of the growing cellphone advertising business.