text:
Shares of the Manchester-headquartered FTSE Mid Cap firm were down about 10% to an over two-and-a-half-year low of 147 pence in morning trade. NCC said the job cuts would lead to a one-off implementation cost of 4 million pounds ($5 million) in the second half of the fiscal year ending May 31. NCC also forecast an 8% growth in annual adjusted operating profit at about 52 million pounds, after it reported an about 28% jump in first-half earnings.
Demand is expected to be high to see the singer take her acclaimed Renaissance album on the road.
Dublin, Feb. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Beer Market: Global Market Size, Forecast, Insights, and Competitive Landscape" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.The global beer market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 2.0% during 2023-2030. This report on global beer market report provides holistic understanding of the market along with market sizing, forecast, drivers, challenges, and competitive landscape. The report presents a clear picture of the global beer ma


text:
“Our business is based around making sure men are dressed for success in the office or business environment,” he says. “My goals when I started here were to take the company back to the roots of what made it successful, which is offering quality merchandise and style at an affordable price.”
Tip Top Tailors is Grafton-Fraser’s largest brand, with 102 locations across Canada and two more projected to open in June. George Richards Big and Tall has 39 locations with Mr. Big and Tall operating 22 stores and Kingsport a single location offering upscale premier brands. Most of the company’s retail locations are mall-based.
On the quality front, the company works with suppliers and manufacturers to make sure the items it carries are consistent when it comes to fit and labeling. Grafton-Fraser always thinks as a consumer would. For example, the merchants recently lengthened the dress shirts by three inches, making them easier to wear and fit with dress pants. All items carried in Grafton-Fraser’s stores are made of the highest-quality fabrics regardless of price point. “Our assortment together with our commitment to full service makes shopping for menswear effortless,” McGregor says.
Investing in the stores and technology is a high priority for McGregor. Since joining Grafton-Fraser, McGregor led efforts to renovate 12 stores in 2011 and plans to refresh 14 more this year. “We’re investing back into our stores to make the shopping environment more up-to-date and have our stores reflect the look and quality of our merchandise,” he says.
Notable internal technology investments include implementing the QlikView Business Intelligence system as well as a new point-of-sale software system, which has greatly improved Grafton-Fraser’s ability to collect consumer data as well as the company’s ability to act on that data. “The company has collected useful data for years with no ability to access information to make timely decisions,” McGregor says. “QlikView allowed my team to make real-time decisions without over- or under-reacting to trends.”
QlikView allowed the company to increase profitable sales that include usable consumer data from 9 to 80 percent. Grafton-Fraser plans to use the data in a customer relationship management program it will launch later this year or early 2013. Grafton-Fraser also looks to develop a transactional website focused on its big and tall apparel in 2013.
The ‘Little Things’
Many of Grafton-Fraser’s sales associates and managers have been with the company and its stores for several years. McGregor attributes this loyalty to the company’s “open culture which embraces accountability and new ideas from all levels of the organization,” which he encourages in a variety of ways.
“Our culture is really about recognizing people and doing little things to support them,” he says. “Our people have pride of ownership in their own business and a commitment to this company I haven’t seen before.”
For retail associates, this includes employee discounts for male associates and clothing allowances for female management. As a demonstration that it values its veteran employees, the company re-negotiated with its benefits provider to provide health and other benefits to employees over the age of 65. The company recognizes performance among all workers through service awards and frequent and public recognition.
Employees in Grafton-Fraser’s front office in Toronto saw improvements including software, computer and break room upgrades, as well as company lunches and informal gatherings. “All of these things go a long way to say `thank you’ for what they do every day,” McGregor says.
On the executive and management level, McGregor says he believes in surrounding himself with passionate people who are focused on the success of the organization as a whole. “I believe everyone shows up with the same intent every day – to be successful,” he adds. “I am collaborative and open to learning from my team’s experience, and don’t over-manage. The dynamic amongst my people is very strong and always directed to the betterment of the business. I’m always there for my team.”

domain: news


text:
A weekly roundup of news and jobs curated for the eTourism Community.
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau seeks a digital agency to lead the overall digital and website strategy, website design, CRM program and other digital initiatives, as well as a web development agency with Kentico development experience to lead the development, testing and launch of all digital initiatives, including marketing automation implementation. Both agencies will work in collaboration with the GMCVB and partner agencies in the development and optimization of a world-class website and digital programs, further accelerating Greater Miami and The Beaches’ growth as a year-round international travel destination. Agency intent to respond notifications are due on October 9, and RFQ responses are due October 23 at 5 p.m. Read the RFQ details here.
National James Bond Day is October 5. For a limited run, Madame Tussauds Orlando is bringing all six of them together—virtually—complete with video, lighting and an interactive 007 soundtrack. Daniel Craig gets top billing in the latest flick, “No Time to Die,” the 25th Bond film with a release date of April 8, 2020.
- Sean Connery: Dr. No, 1962
- George Lazenby: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969
- Roger Moore: Live and Let Die, 1973
- Timothy Dalton: The Living Daylights, 1987
- Pierce Brosnan: GoldenEye, 1995
- Daniel Craig: Casino Royale, 2006
Banish pesky fees. Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would prohibit hotels from advertising a room rate that doesn’t disclose additional fees. The Hotel Advertising Transparency Act of 2019 is intended to prohibit hotels from advertising room rates that fail to disclose additional fees during the search process. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), co-sponsored the bill with Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) noting that for 2019, hotels could collect upwards of $3 billion in hidden fees.
Shortsighted? In August, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed a ban on Airbnb and similar short term rentals of whole houses that are not owner-occupied. There are similar regulations in San Francisco, Santa Monica, and New York City. Expedia Group, the parent company of similarly affected home rental sites Vrbo and HomeAway, issued a statement calling the restrictions “shortsighted.”
CrowdRiff, headquartered in Toronto, has been ranked 40 out of 400 on the new list of Canada’s Top Growing Companies. CrowdRiff earned its spot based on three years of revenue growth of 1,274%. Dan Holowack, co-founder and CEO said, “Being included in this inaugural ranking by The Globe and Mail reinforces our continued focus on innovation, our incredible leadership team’s drive for consistent company growth, and our dedicated employees who are known for putting our customers above all else.”
Over the past year, the company has been named a Skift Top Travel Startup to Watch for 2019, one of Canada’s Top New Growth Companies on the 2019 Startup 50 ranking for the second consecutive year, Canada’s Top 100 Small & Medium Employers, 2018 Canada’s Best Workplaces™ for Millennials, 2018 list of Best Workplaces in Technology by Great Place to Work® and was named on the 2019 list of Best Workplaces™ for Women. Way to go!!!
Brian Fanzo, Founder of iSocialFanz is addressing the 20th Annual eTourism Summit on Oct. 9, 2019. Look at Brian’s favorite social networks for 2018 vs 2019. Why does he feel this way about Instagram? So many questions for Brian…
Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau will be the presenting sponsor when the city hosts six days for the first-ever Pride of the Americas on April 21-26, 2020. The historic event brings two continents and 35 countries together for an epic beach festival and fireworks display, a parade, fashion shows, arts festival, A-list entertainment, sunset concerts, top DJs and drag brunches as well as a conference and symposium on important human rights issues. Four years ago, the city became the world’s first destination to create a transgender marketing campaign. Now the GFLCVB includes trans, lesbian, gay and straight people in all its mainstream marketing initiatives.
Tourism Santa Fe has launched a new tourism campaign aimed at convincing potential visitors they’ll have an “emotional experience.” The tag line is “Uncover Your Different,” meant to tap into those experiences. The $1.5 million advertising campaign was launched Sept. 16 and will continue into 2020. The campaign touches on digital, social and print advertisements plus Hulu. Three short videos from Colorado-based agency Vladimir Jones can be seen here.
On the 130-mile coastline of North Carolina, The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau has partnered with Milwaukee-based Hoffman York to handle paid media planning and buying, digital creative, email marketing, and website research.
Inbound India: In late September, Brand USA held its eighth mission with a delegation of 53 representatives from 38 U.S. tourism organizations to cover key accounts and media in Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.
It’s not a good look for the “trusted” data-measurement firm that covers media and web traffic. Comscore has settled fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will pay a $5 million penalty, widely reported last week. The SEC said Comscore inflated its revenue by $50 million and falsified key performance metrics to mislead investors. Read more from the SEC here.
Amsterdam, famously beleaguered by overtourism, will have the highest hotel taxes in Europe when the Dutch capital adds €3 per person (about US$3) per night in addition to the current 7% room tax.
For comparison purposes, a twin-bedded room with shared bath at Amsterdam’s one-star Rembrandt Square Hotel for €132.46 on Booking.com will attract taxes of €15.97. In Italy, at a five-star deluxe Rome hotel which costs €815, taxes are lower than the one-star Amsterdam hotel, at €14.
Visit San Antonio is inviting local storytellers to create internet videos about what they believe makes San Antonio unique. Since the marketing initiative was launched on Sept. 10, the DMO has received more than 45 submissions for the project, called Visit San Antonio TV. The project grew from a desire for more video content, said Andres Munoz, VP of marketing communications and tourism. Visit San Antonio is accepting submissions through Oct. 17, after which it will choose the winning storytellers and develop two series with four episodes each.
*See 62 jobs in The Travel Vertical last week & send us your news*
Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau – CEO
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau – VP of People Strategies
Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority – Sr. VP of People & Possibilities
Visit Dana Point (CA) – Marketing & Communications Manager
Discover the Palm Beaches – Senior Manager, Digital Marketing
Discover the Palm Beaches – Manager, Group Marketing
Discover the Palm Beaches – Manager, Destination Services
Visit Baltimore – Editorial Director
Experience Kissimmee – Bilingual (Spanish) Social Media Coordinator
Visit Anaheim – Business Intelligence Director
City of Orlando – Interactive Media Coordinator
Universal Orlando Resort – VP, Global Media/Integrated Media & Digital
Expedia Group – Principal Data Scientist
Expedia Group (Seattle/Chicago) – SEO Content Strategist
ADARA (Chicago) – Customer Success Manager/Tourism
TripAdvisor – Social Engagement Editor
TripAdvisor – Account Executive, Content Solutions
Simpleview – Associate Project Manager
Simpleview – Project Manager
Miles Partnership (Memphis) – Content Coordinator
MMGY (NYC) – Senior Account Executive
Atlas Obscura (NYC) – Director of Operations, Experiences
AKA NYC – Digital Experience Manager
Development Counsellors International (LA or NYC) – Senior Writer
Fahlgren Mortine (Denver) – Senior Account Manager, Travel & Tourism
The DMC Group (NYC) – Sales & Marketing Manager
Vrbo (Austin) – Manager, Advanced Data Insights
Travelzoo – Campaign Assistant


text:
Through the consortium’s Merseyside SME Support Programme, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, iiCON provides eligible SMEs with no-cost access to world-leading research expertise and outstanding R&D facilities at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine & The University of Liverpool. This helps small companies to fast-track innovation and overcome barriers to market.
Since launching 18 months ago, the consortium’s SME programme has now completed projects for over 20 Merseyside based companies and is working with many more – providing them with access to expertise and resources to accelerate product discovery and development.
iiCON’s SME platform works with companies from a huge variety of sectors and provides support across three specialist platforms: Diagnostic Evaluation, Surface Analysis, and Antimicrobial Testing – helping companies to assess their products and evaluate their antibacterial performance.
Dr Lisa Baldwin leads iiCON’s Merseyside SME Support programme, she said: “It’s been fantastic to see the innovation coming through companies within Merseyside and to be working closely with them to really super-charge this potential and support them in progressing their products and overcoming product development barriers.
“We’ve worked with some brilliant businesses over the last 18 months – and it’s not just healthcare, we work with companies from a really wide range of sectors including manufacturers, salons, gyms, all the way through to food manufacturers and engineering companies to provide expert analysis and evaluate their products’ antibacterial performance.
“Our programme bridges the gap between smaller, nimble businesses working on important innovations, and the world-leading research expertise and facilities within our leading Liverpool institutions – LSTM and University of Liverpool. This provides companies with unparalleled access to state-of-the-art R&D equipment and facilities, coupled with insight and expertise from world-leading research leaders in antimicrobial testing, which is a truly powerful combination when it comes to developing pioneering innovations.”
Companies that have been supported through the consortium’s SME programme include Merseyside SME design group 4D Products, SafeClimb, a company that designs, manufactures and maintains height safety equipment. Specialist materials company Shimyatech was supported to evaluate its proprietary metal coatings, while Liverpool SME MAST Group worked with iiCON to access specialist testing and analysis of its COVID-19 diagnostics products by LSTM.
iiCON has also supported the development of break-through novel technology developed by Nano Biosols, an SME based at Liverpool Science Park, to enhance the sensitivity of lateral flow tests. After working with iiCON and LSTM to assess its test, the company has filed a patent for the product and is progressing its development.
Another Merseyside start-up Bio Data Networks Limited (BDN) was supported in bringing forward a set of promising new surveillance devices to detect outbreaks of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases across communities. The company’s innovative sewage monitoring system can provide an early warning of outbreaks of infectious diseases and was tested and assessed by iiCON lead-partner, LSTM.
While a trio of products developed by Real Sphere Eco World, a Wirral-based manufacturer of eco-friendly cleaning products, underwent specialist product testing by the expert team at LSTM through iiCON. The consortium has also worked with Merseyside SME DBFA Ltd to support the company in testing and assessing its innovative ultra violet COVID air sterilising device.
iiCON’s broader programme is designed to support the discovery, development, and deployment of new products and treatments for infectious diseases. The consortium works with companies of all sizes to support new product development by providing access to world-leading research expertise, market intelligence, and cutting-edge facilities.
iiCON supports companies at all stages of the innovation journey, from early-stage conceptual work, through to clinical trials, manufacturing, market positioning and product placement – helping fast-track new products and treatments to patients and communities.
Alongside its Merseyside SME support programme, iiCON has supported several innovative products being brought to market over the last 18 months and has worked with over 50 industry partners including CN Bio, Unilever, Mologic, Sanofi, Pfizer, Newcells Biotech and Sentinel.
iiCON Director, Professor Janet Hemingway, said: “Through our partners, we have a fantastic array of expertise and world-class research facilities available to support companies working on pioneering products and treatments for infectious diseases. iiCON’s impact in our first 18 months speaks to the power of the programme and is testament to the combined capability of our consortium partners in supporting innovation.
“It’s incredibly encouraging to see the number of products that have already made it through to market – saving millions of lives and ensuring that industry innovation is cutting through and having an impact on the patients and communities most in need.”
Led by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, iiCON’s consortium partners are Unilever, Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, University of Liverpool, Evotec, and Infex Therapeutics.
To find out more about iiCON’s Merseyside SME Support Programme, click here.
The Northern Powerhouse is a key aspect of this Government’s approach to addressing the productivity gap in the North and ensuring a stronger, more sustainable economy for all parts of the UK. Alongside over €1.5 billion of European Regional Development Fund support for businesses and communities across the North, the government has awarded £3.4 billion in three rounds of Growth Deals across the Northern Powerhouse.


text:
Sony Breach May Inspire Slew of Privacy, Employment ClaimsDecember 12, 2014 – In The News
Scott L. Vernick was quoted in the Law360 article, “Sony Breach May Inspire Slew of Privacy, Employment Claims.” Full text can be found in the December 12, 2014, issue, but a synopsis is below.
In the wake of its recent breach, Sony Corp. is likely to face not only claims over its security safeguards, but employment, breach of contract and health privacy allegations as well after personal data of thousands of employees and celebrities was compromised.
While Sony will not have to contend with the types of claims over the theft of payment card data that have traditionally been brought by consumers and banks following large breaches, the limits of the company’s potential exposure likely ends there.
“Banks won't be interested in this, since it's not a credit card breach, so Sony won't have that issue,” said Scott L. Vernick, a noted privacy attorney. “But what makes the breach particularly distinct is that there is a large amount of proprietary, financial and health information that has been compromised or publicly leaked that could give rise to a wide variety of claims” from employees, business partners and state and federal regulators.
In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general have been quick to launch investigations into large data breaches, and attorneys believe the regulators will not hesitate to do the same for the Sony breach.
While the FTC’s authority to regulate data security is currently being challenged in separate lawsuits, the commission has maintained its firm stance that it has the authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to lead the way on data security enforcement, and state attorneys general are not far behind, Vernick said.
“This is the worst state for this to happen, given the California attorney general's tremendously aggressive position on this subject,” he said.
A 2011 breach that saw hackers break into Sony’s PlayStation Network and obtain user data for as many as 31 million users, including credit and debit card information, is likely to work against the company as well, attorneys said.
“Given Sony's history, regulators may say that this is beginning to look like a bad habit,” Vernick said.
Additionally, celebrities who were criticized in Sony employee emails that were leaked could choose to go after the company for defamation.
“It may not give rise to libel claims, but one would guess that Angelina Jolie and Adam Sandler are probably not too happy right now, so it's a point of exposure for Sony,” Vernick said.


text:
The soak test of Android 5.1 for the Moto X (2nd gen) on Verizon must have gone well, because Verizon approved the update (version 23.16.3) for all this afternoon. They posted release notes for the update to their support site, which is almost always a sign that they are about to press “Go!” on the rollout. (more…)
Late on Friday, Motorola’s David Schuster dropped another handful of status notes on Android 5.1 updates for his company’s line of devices. The weekend has now passed, and most of the world checked out by the time Schuster shared the info, so here is the news to catch everyone up. (more…)
Remember that soak test for a “preview of a new software release” for the Verizon Moto X (2nd gen) that was supposed to begin last week? It started today. You know how we assumed it would be Android 5.1 Lollipop? It is. In fact, it’s Android 5.1, system version 23.16.3, and is roughly 500MB in size.
Assuming this soak test works out OK for testers, it shouldn’t be long before Verizon and Motorola start a slow rollout to the rest of the owners of this phone.
If you want to check out the full changelog for the update, you can find it here.
For those who are a part of the soak, enjoy those beautiful animations. (more…)
According to Motorola’s David Schuster, master of the update on updates, “full deployment” of Android 5.1 to the US Moto X (2nd gen) “Pure Edition” has begun.
The update is available to those on builds 22.21.11.victara_tmo.tmo.en.US and 23.11.14.victara_tmo.tmo.en.US. For those of us on that really early build of 23.1.28, well, who knows if we’ll ever see an update. (more…)
Should you buy a Moto X (1st gen) on Verizon, knowing that the 3rd gen model is more than likely arriving in the next couple of months? Not unless you really need a phone to get you by for eight or nine weeks. Sure, it’s still probably a decent phone, but it is approaching that 2-year-old mark where phones magically start figuring out ways to shut down so that you’ll upgrade to something newer.
But hey, if you need a phone to get you by for a minute, this isn’t a terrible option. eBay is currently selling a manufacturer refurbished Moto X (1st gen) for $109 without a contract. It should have Lollipop in a couple of weeks too…maybe.
After announcing that it was pushing a soak test and another Lollipop update to a couple of Moto X (1st gen) units over the weekend, Motorola also snuck in a new 5.1 update to the Moto X (2nd gen) “Pure Edition.” I’m not sure why they didn’t take to G+ or any other outlet to announce the news, but it is indeed happening. The odd thing here is that comes about a month after Motorola supposedly already pushed an update to this version of the Moto X (2nd gen). (more…)
A soak test to preview “a new software release” for the Moto X (2nd gen) from Verizon is starting this weekend (maybe even this minute), according to a number of our readers. The update should be Android 5.1, which is good news for those who have had a rough go of it since receiving the update to 5.0 back in late 2014. (more…)


text:
Staff reporter Zoe Henry talks about Michelle Phan, a makeup entrepreneur who was one of the first YouTube influencers to create a multi-million dollar business. Phan started her career doing makeup tutorial videos and eventually founded makeup subscription box company Ipsy. In 2013, Michelle Phan started a second company named Em Cosmetics, in partnership with L'Oreal, but it failed. Phan bought the company back and then stopped uploading YouTube videos and stopped posting on social media. Her fans and followers thought Phan, who had been posting everyday for years, was dead. Henry talks about how Phan took nine months off in 2016 to travel across Europe, Africa and Asia to detox from her online activities. Now she's preparing to re-launch Em Cosmetics with a fresh start.
Staff writer Will Yakowicz talks about the arms race of startups making anti-drone technology to protect infrastructure and national security from errant drones or from terror attacks launched via unmanned aerial vehicles. As the consumer drone industry explodes, 2,000 drones are registered with the Federal Aviation Administration each day. Reports of incidents involving the flying robots has increased over the years, from ISIS weaponizing drones to use in the Middle East to some kid flying a drone in restricted airspace near airports. As a preventative measure, companies like ApolloShield and Department 13 are selling counter-drone technology to governments and law enforcement.


text:
Anaemic employment conditions are continuing in South Africa, with more than a third of all people who want to work unable to find work.
Solidarity’s Labour Market Report for the fourth quarter of last year, released yesterday, also found that the recovery in vehicle sales was temporary, bringing merely short-term relief.
ETM Analytics compiled the report in cooperation with Solidarity. ETM chief strategist Russell Lamberti said the vehicle sector specifically operated under tremendous pressures and even though domestic vehicle sales recovered marginally in the short-term due to lower fuel prices and credit growth, the overall trend in the sector remained downward due to the broader economic downturn.
“The relief on consumers is not enough, particularly with the negative impact electricity constraints will have on the economic growth of the country,” he said.
– Cindy Preller


text:
House lawmakers on Monday introduced legislation that would force automakers to supply onboard computer data to independent mechanics, who say they’re unable to repair late-model vehicles without it.
The bipartisan bill, put forward by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D., N.Y.) and Todd Platts (R., P.A), is similar to legislation taken up by both the House and Senate in previous sessions without reaching a vote — an issue we covered in February.
Massachusetts also introduced a version of the bill earlier this year.
Auto-service trade groups and other supporters say the move will level the playing field between smaller repair shops and automaker-affiliated dealerships, lowering maintenance costs for car owners.
As such, the bill would give drivers “the final say on where their car is taken for service,” says Kathleen Schmatz, president of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association.
Opponents of the legislation, including Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and other automakers, say the bill forces them to turn over trade secrets to generic parts makers. They say all the data needed to repair vehicles is already available online.


text:
Taiwan's MediaTek has launched a new quad-core ARM processor for tablets that is slated to be used in an upcoming IdeaTab device from Lenovo.
Apple patent filings offer hints of what the iWatch might look like
Advanced Micro Devices had no plans to release low-power x86 server chips until the release of its ARM-based servers in 2014, but sagging server fortunes have changed the company's direction.
Looking at historical trends and performance benchmarks, a team of researchers in Spain have concluded that smartphone chips could one day replace the more expensive and power-hungry x86 processors used in most of the world's top supercomputers.
Intel's upcoming family of Core processors, code-named Haswell, will offer 50 percent more battery life in laptops than did their "Ivy Bridge" predecessors, Intel said on Thursday.
Intel's upcoming family of Core processors, code-named Haswell, will offer 50 per cent more battery life in laptops than did their Ivy Bridge predecessors, according to the company.
Thin clients introduced this week by Dell and Hewlett-Packard have faster processor than existing thin clients as well as high-definition graphics capabilities, so they could be alternatives to traditional PCs as computing continues moving to the clo...
Europe's Digital Agenda Commissioner on Thursday set out plans for the European Union to produce more micro- and nano-chips than the United States in the next seven years.
Advanced Micro Devices hopes to regain share in the PC processor market with its upcoming chips based on the Jaguar core, which will bring console-like gaming and wireless displays to laptops with Windows 8 and its successor, Windows Blue.
Advanced Micro Devices has opened the door to embrace Google's Android operating system, but said it would continue to focus on Windows with its upcoming tablet and laptop chips.
Improvements to Nvidia's virtualization technology are aimed at turning graphics processors into a more important resource in data centers and could speed deployment of virtual desktops and delivery of data over the cloud.
Toshiba said it will soon begin mass producing a new type of 64Gbit NAND flash that is the smallest and fastest in its class, though it still lags rival Samsung Electronics in the development of an even denser flash technology.
Samsung will soon release its first Android tablet based on an Intel Atom processor, according to a source familiar with the plan, in what would be a vote of confidence for Intel chips in mobile devices.
Google announced a number of innovative new products and services at its 2013 Google I/O developer conference.
A strong stock market could open the floodgates for more tech IPOs in the wake of Friday's solid debut of Marketo and Tableau, but not all segments of IT may be able to ride the wave.
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 HP Stream 11 laptop
- 2 B&O BeoPlay A2 portable Bluetooth speaker
- 3 Acer Chromebook 11 (CB3-111)
- 4 Asus Zenbook UX303LN Ultrabook
- 5 Samsung's Galaxy Alpha review: A peek into the Galaxy S6
Best Deals on GoodGearGuide
Latest News Articles
- Study: E-readers, tablets can disrupt sleep
- Google's prototype car ready, but it's more VW Beetle than Porsche
- Hotel group asks FCC for permission to block some outside Wi-Fi
- North Korean Internet connection hit by outages
- DirecTV won't show 'The Interview,' others won't say
GGG Evaluation Team
First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.


text:
Today, Juho Sarvikas (CPO, HMD Global) has officially announced the new Android 10 roadmap for Nokia smartphones. Many of you were continuously asking Nokia Mobile (& also us) about the exact release date of Android 10 update for Nokia 5.1 Plus and other phones. Now, as per the new info shared by Juho Sarvikas (on Twitter) global outbreak of Coronavirus is the reason behind delay of Android 10 update for Nokia smartphones. He said that the schedule is now changed a bit and number of phones will be upgraded soon. Here’s a new Android 10 roadmap for Nokia smartphones :
As per the new schedule Nokia 2.2 will get Android 10 update at the end of this month (March 2020). Nokia 2.3, 3.2, 4.2, 7.2, 6.2, 3.1 Plus and 8 Sirocco users will get Android 10 at the beginning of Q2 2020 (April 2020). While Nokia 5.1 Plus and Nokia 1 Plus users will get the same update sometimes during the first half of Q2 2020 (let’s assume May 2020). Nokia 2.1, 3.1, 5.1 & 1 users will get Android 10 at the end of May or at the beginning of June 2020.
HMD has already delivered Android 10 for Nokia 6.1, 6.1 Plus, 7 Plus, 7.1, 8.1 & 9 PureView users. We hope the new schedule is final and remaining devices will soon get the latest Android update.
Thanks to Shabbirahemed for the tip !
Keep visiting for more news updates 🙂


text:
They Fell in Love. They Got Engaged. And When They Went Online to Plan Their Wedding, Everything Just Clicked
By Jura Koncius
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 17, 2001; Page H01
The twin Dell laptops sitting on the coffee table in Aleesa Parde and David Rizzi's Fairfax town house are wired into the world of wedding planning. Just over a week to go before the Big Day, and they're zipping between sites featuring engraving for groomsmen's gifts, bachelorette party goodies and Martha Stewart reception ideas. They're figuring out how to send family and friends digital photos from their honeymoon in Australia. And Parde's Hotmail account has just e-mailed her that a new entry has been posted in the Guestbook they created for messages on their personal wedding Web site.
Parde and Rizzi, both information technology consultants at American Management Systems in Fairfax, are in the vanguard of a new cyber-savvy culture that is changing the usually sedate world of weddings. They are among the millions of couples who are using the Internet to make wedding planning easier, more organized and more accessible to everyone, from the mother of the bride in Arlington to childhood friends in Sweden.
"What do you expect when two geeks get engaged?" says Parde, 23, who will put on her Swarovski crystal tiara and ivory beaded gown to walk down the aisle with Rizzi, 25, at Charlottesville's University of Virginia Chapel.
The May 27 ceremony will be traditional; getting there was anything but. During the months of planning, Parde could scroll through the wedding RSVP list (195 guests and holding) while Rizzi surfed the Net brushing up on Swedish wedding customs (he grew up outside of Stockholm). She e-mailed photographs of the periwinkle satin and chiffon dresses to her five bridesmaids. He investigated the best beaches along the Great Barrier Reef and looked into vineyards in the Hunter Valley wine country for the Down Under honeymoon they booked on Travelonline.com. Together they researched photographers, DJs and limousine rental services online.
All this technology is revolutionizing the business of weddings, which according to a new study by Modern Bride magazine and Roper Starch amounts to $100 billion in spending on goods and services each year. Hundreds of Web sites have sprung up targeting couples who are often about to spend thousands of dollars on flowers, printing, clothing, cakes and hotels.
According to Modern Bride, more than 89 percent of engaged couples today have access to the Internet. And about half of the 2.38 million American couples who marryeach year have actually purchased products or services for their wedding and honeymoon online.
"Brides are getting savvier about the Internet each day," says Jennifer Cegielski, content director for Theknot.com, one of the most popular Internet bridal Web sites. "They are talking to and getting feedback from other brides in community bulletin boards online. They can share information with the bridal party and e-mail them or they can look at more than 20,000 gowns. It's amazing."
Carolyn Everson, president and CEO of Modernbride.com, a wedding planning resource, says personal Web pages for making wedding arrangements and keeping friends and family informed are increasingly common among newly engaged couples. She estimates that 10 percent to 15 percent of couples today set up their own sites, and she expects that to increase to 50 percent in the next few years.
"Personal Web pages have become a fairly significant part of the planning process," says Everson. "It's a way to communicate all the details of the wedding to the guests."
For systems experts Parde and Rizzi, it was only natural that they would turn to their computers for help soon after the engagement ring was on her finger.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company


text:
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said that Indonesia's inflation figure for November 2014 stands at 1.50 percent, while the nationwide Consumer Price Index (IHK) figure stands at 116.14.
The Head of BPS, Suryamin, said through a press release on Monday, December 1, 2014 said that prices rose the most in Padang, West Sumatra, where inflation was recorded at 3.44 percent, while IHK stood at 122.76. Meanwhile, Manokwari in Papua saw the least price hike across the nation - inflation stood at 0,07 percent while the Manokwari's IHK stood at 110.63 percent.
According to BPS figures, Indonesia's inflation figure is driven by increases in the prices of basic necessities. The prices of food rose by 2.15 percent, while drinks, instant food and tobacco products rose by 0.71 percent. Electricity, gas, water and fuel rates rose by 0.49 percent, healthcare costs rose by 0.43 percent, while costs for education, sports, and recreations rose by 0.08 percent.
Similarly, the prices of services in the transportation, communications, and financial services sector rose by 4.29 percent. "That said, crop prices have fallen by 0.08 percent in the same period," said Suryamin, who noted similar drops in the prices of chicken, fresh fish, gold, jewelries and airfares.
The increasing inflation have caused the prices of certain commodities to rise - including red chillies, rice, spinach, long beans, and water spinach, among others. Other costs that are set to rise in the near future includes inter-city transportation services, electric utilities, as well as capital transfer and automatic teller machine (ATM) fees.
URSULA FLORENE SONIA | TRI SUSANTO


text:
The iPhone sales dipped, despite iPhone 11 buzz, but AirPods and Watch propelled stronger Apple sales.
Apple’s got a busy holiday season this year. In the past month, it’s announced the new $699 iPhone and $999 iPhone Pro, it launched the $4.99 per month Apple Arcade subscription package and on Friday it’ll be launching its highly anticipated $4.99 Apple TV Plus video service. Add to all that the new $249 AirPods Proheadphones Apple also announced this week, and there’s a lot of new stuff from the Cupertino tech giant to choose from.
Now, the question is whether anyone will buy them all.
So far, signs point to “mostly.”
Apple on Wednesday said it rung up $64 billion in sales in the three months ended Sept. 28, up nearly 2% from the same time last year. It was also above the $62.9 billion analysts on average had been expecting, according to surveys from Thomson Reuters.
“We concluded a groundbreaking fiscal 2019 with our highest Q4 revenue ever, fueled by accelerating growth from Services, Wearables and iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. He added he was “very optimistic about what the holiday quarter has in store.”
That was enough to help push up Apple’s shares more than 2% to $248.55 apiece in after-hours trading.
Much of Apple’s shine during the quarter came from wearables like the $399 Apple Watch and $159 AirPods, as well as services like its iCloud photo and document storage and its new Apple Arcade. The iPhone, meanwhile, didn’t perform as well.
Sales of the iPhone headset, which typically represents about half of Apple’s revenue and a large share of its profits, fell nearly 10% to about $33 billion. Apple said customer interest in the iPhone 11, which was released on Sept. 20 (8 days before the end of the fiscal quarter) was high, though.
Overall profits fell to $13.7 billion, down about 3% from last year. That comes out to $3.03 per share, above the $2.84 analysts had been expecting.
For the holiday quarter, Apple said it expects revenue between $85.5 billion and $89.5 billion, with a midpoint roughly in line with average analyst estimates of $86.9 billion.


text:
On 29 June 2018, Italian refrigeration component manufacturer Castel announced its acquisition of manufacturer of electronic control panels Pego.
Italian company Pego’s control panels can be used for regulating the temperature in cold rooms, air-conditioning, de-humification and lighting, as well as general energy management.
The control manufacturer will now become part of the Castel Group that operates in 90 countries.
The Group, with offices in Milan, boasts production plants in Pessano con Bornago (province of Milan) and Shanghai, China and now with the acquisition of Pego also in Occhiobello (province of Rovigo).
Castel is also a strong proponent of natural refrigerants as a solution, the press release states, with many of its 3,000 products adapted for CO2 and hydrocarbons.


text:
Microsoft is celebrating 3 years since it launched the Windows Phone OS with its Metro UI. It's funny because in this same week Android also celebrating 5 years since it launched its first commercial device; the G1.
So though it may seem like the Android OS has a lot of mileage ahead of the windows phone OS, it only got a 2-year head start. But the dismal quality and features of the windows phone makes it light years behind.
No offense to windows phone fans, but the OS is still far from complete, in reality it is behind even Symbian when it comes to functionality and usability.
Take for instance the simple fact that you cannot create playlists from within the phone's native Music player or the fact that you don't have a simple notification center or the glaring lack of functions of the call log system, missing key features like smart dialing, filtered logs and ... I'm stopping here.
admittedly when android launched 5 years ago, it lacked a lot but has since then gained ground in the mobile ecosystem, overtaking the iOS iPhone and being the most used mobile OS today, that was just 5 years and based on their success you would think Microsoft would take cue from them and at least pick up some ideas like simple multi-tasking or a notifications center. but we are 3 years in and we window phone users are still patiently waiting for a good multi-tasking system or a simple notifications center.
Microsoft's buying Nokia's mobile division, but the real value to me is the incredible 32,000 great minds that come along with it. I expect a very very rapid growth of the windows phone OS once these talents are fully integrated into the development of the windows phone OS.
So while I use this opportunity to congratulate Microsoft on their 3rd anniversary of the WP, there really isn't much to celebrate, there is still a lot of work to be done. so put down those glasses of champagne and get to it.


text:
Google might be getting a little sloppy in their security, at least where leaks about upcoming Nexus devices are concerned. After showing the Nexus like code-name flounder in the Chrome bug tracker last week, overnight the names Nexus 6 and Nexus 8 have shown up in a Chromium Code review.
Take this with a massive grain of salt, but the code review, which was found by SmartDroid.de shows a diff between a new and old version of something called ‘adb_client_socket_browsertest’ with the old version mentioning the Nexus 8, and the new version showing the Nexus 6.
It’s probable that the names are mere place-holders in the code, but could be the real deal. Personally, I have already explained why I don’t think the Nexus 6 will be the name on the next Nexus phone, but this is Google. The new Nexus tablet which is rumoured to be a HTC built 8.9″ device may be coming soon, even as soon as Google IO; but the next Nexus phone will assuredly follow the October/November release schedule that Google has established over the last few years.
What do you think?


text:
Shearings has expanded its range of self-drive holidays with new longer eight-day breaks covering the length and breadth of the UK.
The operator has added 18 new eight-day options, with destinations ranging from Devon and Cornwall to the Isle of Wight, Wales and Scotland.
Holidays, starting May, lead in from £317pp and include three-star hotel accommodation, with all options pet-friendly, as well as English breakfast and evening meals.
Agents can, until 30 April, secure clients’ 2021 and 2022 holidays on a £1 deposit, with nothing to pay until six weeks prior to travel.
All holidays featured in the new self-drive range can be configured for five or seven days instead.
Ashley Dellow, Shearings’ head of retail sales, said: "The launch of these slightly longer breaks could not have been more-timely. Agents are telling me they’re having unprecedented demand for UK holidays this summer, with clients wanting their UK breaks to be longer as they’ve put overseas holidays on the back burner for now.
"The self-drive holidays are perfect for those wanting extra independence to do their own thing and more time to explore. Another popular reason to choose self-drive is to be able to take a dog along and all of the new longer holidays feature pet-friendly hotels."


text:
The 49-year old is the Founder, CEO, lead designer of SpaceX, CEO, product architect of Tesla, Inc., Founder of The Boring Company and X.com (now PayPal), Co-founder of Neuralink, OpenAI, and Zip2, and Chairman of SolarCity.
Here are 7 Things To Know About Elon Musk
Richest Man In The World
BizWatch Nigeria had reported that the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk has overtaken Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the wealthiest person in the world, on Thursday.
South African-born Musk is a major shareholder at Tesla ad has reaped from the burgeoning electric car company’s rising share price over the last year. Elon Musk is estimated to be worth $185 billion.
Elon Musk as of Thursday is worth $185 billion. SpaceX, Musk’s rocket company, is now valued at $46 billion.
Elon Musk Is Of African Descendant
That’s right, Elon Reeve Musk has African blood in him. Elon’s father, Errol Musk is a South African, who fathered Elon with his then wife Maye Musk who is a Canadian.
Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971 and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. He attended school in South Africa up until high school, which he decided to move to Canada at the age of 17 years against his father’s wishes to attend college abroad.
At the age of 10, he developed an interest in computing while using the Commodore VIC-20. Through the help of a manual he learned computer programming and, by the age of 12, sold the code of a BASIC-based video game he created called Blastar to PC and Office Technology magazine for approximately $500.
Elon Musk has 3 Citizenships; South African Citizenship 1971 – till date (through birth and his father), Canadian Citizenship 1989 – till date (through application and his mother’s status) and United States of America Citizenship 2002 – till date.
Elon Musk Is A Business Guru
In 1995, Elon Musk launched his first company with his brother, Kimbal Musk, they called it Zip2 Corporation. In 1999, a division of Compaq Computer Corporation bought Zip2 for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options.
In 1999, Elon and Kimbal Musk founded an online financial services company, X.com, which later became PayPal, which specialized in transferring money online. The online auction eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
In October 2002, Musk earned his first billion when PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock. Before the sale, Musk owned 11% of PayPal stock.
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
In the year 2002, Elon Musk founded his third company, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, with the intention of building spacecraft for commercial space travel. In 2008, NASA awarded the company the contract to handle cargo transport for the International Space Station—with plans for astronaut transport in the future—in a move to replace NASA’s own space shuttle missions.
In 2018, Elon Musk made a statement about privatising his company, the US securities regulators required Tesla to step down as chairman and pay $20 million to settle charges he defrauded investors with false claims on Twitter in August about a possible bid to take the company private, which was quickly aborted.
Ownership of Tesla
In January 2018, Elon Musk was granted an option to buy up to 20.3 million shares if Tesla’s market value were to rise to $650 billion. Majority shareholder approval for this package was approved in March 2018.
The grant was also meant to end speculation about Musk’s potential departure from Tesla to devote more time to his other business ventures
According to Forbes, Elon Musk owns 21% of Tesla but has pledged more than half his stake as collateral for loans.
Elon Musk is working to revolutionize transportation both on Earth, through electric car maker Tesla – and in space, via rocket producer SpaceX.
The boundless potential of space exploration and the preservation of the future of the human race have become the cornerstones of Musk’s abiding interests, and toward these he has founded the Musk Foundation, which is dedicated to space exploration and the discovery of renewable and clean energy sources. (Business figure biography)
In October 2019, Musk pledged to donate $1 million to the #TeamTrees campaign, which aims to plant 20 million trees around the world by 2020. He even changed his Twitter name to Treelon for the occasion.


text:
Doodle Jump has released a free update, available now, that not only brings out that underwater content that Igor Pusenjak promised us in that interview a little while back, but also updates the graphics on the app to take full advantage of the iPhone 4's Retina Display, so you can see the little doodle jumping up those platforms clearer and sharper than ever. Only three stages have been updated with Retina Display graphics so far, but Pusenjak says that "the rest of the Retina Display graphics is almost done and we'll be releasing it soon!" The update is of course free for the game's owners, or you can pick up the "Insanely Addictive" title for just 99 cents.
Pusenjak also told us that after the water-related content was done and out, the iPad version of the app would be next up for development, so we'll keep an eye out for news on that soon. Good to see that just because this little game is so popular, its developers aren't taking success lying down.


text:
The Football Association Premier League (FAPL) has won a landmark ruling in its ongoing battle to tackle illegal streaming of Premier League fixtures. The Court’s order obliges the six largest retail internet service providers (ISPs), BT, Sky, Virgin, PlusNet, EE and Talk Talk to block access to servers which allow delivery of infringing Premier League content to UK consumers. To date, blocking orders have only been obtained against websites that allow users to watch infringing content, the most prominent in the sports arena being FirstRow Sports in 2013. In practice, the success of such orders can be limited, as sites that stream content have tended to shut down and then reappear under a different guise.
Further, consumers have increasingly switched to accessing illegally streamed content via set top devices like Amazon Fire sticks or Kodi boxes as well as mobile device apps, which would not be caught by a traditional website blocking order. The problem for rights holders like FAPL has also been exacerbated by a number of factors, including:
- the skill required to find infringing content has fallen significantly;
- high resolution quality streams are increasingly available; and
- servers hosting illegal streams tend to move to offshore providers, which do not comply with requests from rights holders, or are sluggish in their responses to take down content.
The Court’s order (which was supported by those ISPs with an interest in FAPL’s rights) seeks to root out the problem before streams can spread to websites, add-ons and apps, thereby breaking the chain leading to infringement – as one streaming server could feed multiple client browsers.
The blocking order has other unique features:
- it is “live” which means it will only take effect when a broadcaster is transmitting the footage;
- the servers in question are reset each week the Premier League is running, allowing FAPL to identify new hosting servers, the addresses of which are passed on to the ISPs for blocking;
- the order is not permanent, in that it came into force on 18 March 2017 and will run to 22 May 2017, allowing FAPL to evaluate the order’s success in time for next season; and
- each host provider will receive a notice when one of its servers is the subject of the blocking order.
Just as the FirstRow Sports ruling built on precedents originating from the blocking of peer-to-peer file share sites, so too this new type of order will help construct the framework of blocking orders, pending fresh technological developments requiring a yet further revised approach.


text:
Being named the worst company in America two years in a row was a wake-up call for the video game maker. Interviews with current and former executives, employees and partners show how EA changed the way it worked as it tries to redeem itself.
Research firm Gartner says Chromebook sales will hit 7.3 million this year, but most of those sales will come from only one market -- education.
Rdio unveils a $3.99-a-month plan that gives you infinite skips on Pandora-like radio stations plus 25 on-demand songs of your choosing. In other words: a riff on Rhapsody UnRadio.
Move over, Beethoven. A downloadable file from Thingiverse lets you decorate your mantle or piano with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Technically Incorrect: A smattering of the self-driving cars on California roads have been involved in incidents in the last six months. None of them, say their manufacturers, were the fault of the cars.
And as many as 70 percent of those who already own a smartwatch are interested in Apple's new wearable, according to research firm GlobalWebIndex.
About 1.3 million US buyers are still waiting for the smartwatch, says Slice Intelligence.
The Apple Watch rollout hasn't been the smoothest experience, with buyers facing long shipping delays and confusion about how to actually buy the device, which was released Friday.
Just 55 million wireless power receivers shipped worldwide last year, but that figure will more than double to 120 million units in 2015, according to IHS.
4G wireless networks in the US are faster and more widely used, but download speeds are worse than in dozens of other countries, according to OpenSignal.


text:
The PS5 is finally becoming a little less elusive, and if you've been lucky enough to snag one lately then you'll know that's not small. Not small at all. But while we've heard rumours for a while that a Slim PS5 could be on the way, it's yet to materialise.
What has been spotted in the wild this week is a "new" PS5 model that's a fair bit lighter than the original, albeit with the same gargantuan design. Still, at least it's a little less of a doorstop than the 2020 model. (Feeling lucky? Check out the latest PS5 restock news.)
Sony's not one to stay still when it comes to new PS5 designs, its recent Gray Camouflage Collection has met with a mixed response from fans.
Catchily dubbed the CFI-1200 model, this new PS5 is 600g lighter than the original. And this isn't first time Sony has released a slightly less heavy version of the same machine – last year we saw a new PS5 that shaved 300g off the original weight. As noted by Press Start, this means the 2022 disk model PS5 is now as light as 2020's digital model.
It isn't clear right now how Sony has managed to make the PS5 lighter, but it's likely to do with the internals. It also isn't clear if it'll have the same issue as 2021's lighter PS5, which actually ran hotter than the original. And a glance at the manual suggests that the reduced weight is the only change in specs this time around. Last year's slightly updated model added the ability to remove the PS5's stand without using a screwdriver – rejoice!
We've already heard that Sony is planning a redesign of the PS5 in an attempt to get stock moving again – a shortage of semi-conductors is behind delays to the production, and Sony is keen to "find maybe a secondary resource", or speed things up by "changing the design." But it looks like once again the rumoured PS5 Slim, or indeed PS5 Pro, aren't quite on the horizon.
Still, even without massive hardware changes, the PS5 is still going from strength to strength performance-wise, with the Unreal 5 engine promising previously unreached heights of visual fidelity. Meanwhile, games like Horizon Forbidden West are sparking unexpected debates about, er, facial hair. Still, it's not all beautiful – the less said about the people in Gran Turismo 7, the better.


text:
Mysterious Japanese electric supercar Aspark Owl surprised in Frankfurt.
Mysterious supercar “Aspark Owl” debuted at the Frankfurt motor show. The car comes from Japan built almost entirely of carbon fiber and driven by a pure electric powertrain with a capacity of about 1,000 HP
According to the company, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes less than 2 seconds, making it the fastest in the world, if this is proven.
Frankfurt instance looks much better than appeared online last week, the carbon car. The International motor show it is painted in silver color and equipped interior cream interior.
Previously known Aspark company claims that were developed supercar in 2014 and details about the production plans promises to announce in the coming weeks.
© 2017, z-news.link. All rights reserved.


text:
Competition Commission on Wednesday imposed more than Rs 6,700 crore penalty on 11 cement companies, including ACC and Binani, for cartelisation.
Apart from penalising the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA), the fair trade regulator has directed all the entities to "cease and desist" from indulging in any activity relating to agreement, understanding or arrangement on prices, production and supply of cement in the market.
In a release, Competition Commission of India (CCI) said Rs 6,715-crore penalty has been imposed on 11 cement companies and the CMA.
The latest order has been passed by the watchdog following directions issued by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat), which had remanded the matter involving the cement companies to CCI for passing fresh order. The tribunal had also set aside fine on the 10 cement firms imposed earlier.
A fine of Rs 1,147.59 crore has been imposed on ACC, while penalties on Jaiprakash Associates Ltd and Ultratech are Rs 1,323.60 crore and Rs 1,175.49 crore, respectively.
The fines on other companies are Rs 274.02 crore (Century), Rs 187.48 crore (India Cements), Rs 128.54 crore (J K Cements), Rs 490.01 crore (Lafarge), Rs 258.63 crore (Ramco), ACL (Rs 1,163.91 crore) and Binani (Rs 167.32 crore), according to the release.
CMA faces a fine of Rs 0.73 crore.
Penalising the companies, CCI said the actions of the companies and the CMA are not only detrimental to the interests of consumers, but also to the whole economy as cement is a critical input in construction and infrastructure industry and vital for the economic development.
Through a separate order, the regulator has slapped Rs 397.51 crore fine on Shree Cement Ltd, for unfair businesses practices.
Like this report? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get our top reports.


text:
Who doesn’t want to make life simpler? Unfortunately, with fast moving and advancing technology, it seems our lives are becoming more difficult to navigate. Technologists are constantly finding ways to make our lives a little easier when a need has been identified. With the Internet of Things, the need has not been completely identified by consumers, but the technology is advancing nonetheless. Strides are quickly being made in the design and use of this networking method which closes the divide between dissimilar objects by embedding sensors within and linking them through wireless networks.
Theoretically, this technology will allow the new breed of devices, such as refrigerators, ovens, thermostats, and almost anything imaginable, to communicate wirelessly with their owners and each other. Devices that communicate with each other can make their owners lives much easier. For example, the alarm clock wakes its user and communicates simultaneously to the thermostat, shower, and automobile to get warm and ready for the owner’s workday. A major design issue involves getting all of these disparate devices which reside on different manufacturer protocols to communicate together.
Qualcomm, a major chipmaker, has created its own open-sourced platform, called AllJoyn, which links devices from different manufacturers even if they have different communications standards. So, instead of users awkwardly trying to make these devices work together, this new standard will tie these “things” together, allowing them to synchronize and be used together. The electronic interface in this example, the wireless network, must have not only its characteristics defined, but the characteristics of each device also.


text:
Emplifi Releases Social Commerce Cloud, Giving Marketing & Ecommerce Teams Unparalleled Social Commerce & Care Capabilities in One Platform
Emplifi, the leading unified customer experience platform, today announced the launch of Emplifi Social Commerce Cloud, offering industry-first social commerce capabilities for CMOs, ecommerce leaders and social media teams charged with driving high conversion rates and increased revenue across social platforms. The innovative, first of its kind platform delivers a full suite of solutions to enable the social shopping experience by synchronizing social commerce activities across platforms, providing automated and live assistance during the shopping experience, and giving brands a single, holistic view of their social commerce efforts, along with advanced analytics.
The latest reports from industry analysts forecast retail social commerce sales to grow 35% this year in the US specifically, reaching more than $36 billion in sales by the end of 2021. That number is expected to grow to nearly $79 billion in the next four years. To help brands remain competitive across the social commerce landscape and maximize their ecommerce tactics, Emplifi Social Commerce Cloud contains a full range of social commerce tools, including:
"Social Commerce is quickly becoming a significant revenue stream for brands as today's shoppers increase their reliance on social media as the de facto platform for communication, entertainment - and now - shopping," said Alan Webber, VP, Digital Strategy and Customer Experience at IDC (News - Alert). "The opportunity of social commerce as a sales channel can no longer be ignored."
Emplifi Social Commerce Cloud is the first major platform announcement from Emplifi since the company's rebranding earlier this year. With the goal of unifying marketing, commerce, and customer care through AI-powered CX solutions, Emplifi was born from the combined technology of the customer experience platform Astute Inc. and the social media marketing platform Socialbakers. For more information, visit Emplifi's social commerce product page.
Emplifi is the leading unified CX platform that brings marketing, commerce and care together to help businesses close the customer experience gap. More than 7,000 brands, including Delta Air Lines, Ford (News - Alert) Motor Company and McDonald's, rely on Emplifi to provide their customers with outstanding experiences at every touchpoint. For more information, visit www.emplifi.io.
Asset Management â€“ Keeping Remote Devices Connected
Wastewater â€“ Making Sure Runoff Does Run Away
Retrofitting With The Experts: Making The Switch To LEDs and Other Technology Gizmos


text:
Marriott’s massive data breach, Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn’s arrest, and the CEO exit of Walmart’s India acquisition — here’s a round-up of November’s top GRC news headlines.
Marriott Discloses One of the Biggest Data Breaches in History
November saw yet another data breach. This time, it was the hospitality industry that fell victim to hackers — The Wall Street Journal reported that a data breach at one of Marriott International’s M&A ventures, Starwood properties, may have exposed the personal details of up to 500 million guests.
The colossal breach — second only to Yahoo’s 2013 incident that saw the personal information of three billion users stolen — included sensitive details such as passport numbers and payment-card numbers in addition to addresses and travel details, reported the Journal.
In an investigative report from the Journal, security experts weighed in on the data breach saying that Marriott could have done more to investigate a 2015 incident to find hackers that lurked in their systems.
Unsurprisingly, Marriott will face scrutiny from regulators around the world. A fine in Europe may be likely with the European Union’s tough new data protection law, GDPR.
Nissan’s Chairman Carlos Ghosn Is Arrested in Japan for Under-reporting His Earnings
In a shocking downfall for one of the automotive industry’s most powerful and admired leaders, Nissan’s chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested in Japan on allegations of under-reporting his earnings for several years. Mr. Ghosn was widely hailed as Nissan’s savior when he rescued the company from near-bankruptcy and created the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, making it effectively the world’s largest carmaker. Reports suggest that Mr. Ghosn may have violated Japanese securities law by deferring compensation.
The incident has sent shockwaves rippling through an industry that is facing an economic downturn, a global trade war, and the shift to electric cars. Mr. Ghosn’s arrest also comes at a time when executive pay is being questioned by the public and regulators.
CEO of Walmart’s Big Bet in India Resigns Over Allegations of Sexual Misconduct
The chief executive of Flipkart, Walmart’s latest acquisition, stepped down in November following an internal probe into allegations of “serious personal misconduct”.
Coming along the heels of the departure of Flipkart’s other founder, Sachin Bansal, from the company, the news of Binny Bansal’s exit took many by surprise. The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart opened an investigation into Mr. Bansal’s conduct after a former employee came forward with claims that he had sexually assaulted her in 2016.
The incident was also apparently not disclosed by Mr. Bansal during the negotiations to sell Flipkart to Walmart. Though Walmart’s internal investigation did not find any evidence to corroborate the complaint against Mr. Bansal, it is said to have revealed poor judgement calls from the former CEO that included the hiring of two private security firms at the end of 2016, “to make this matter go away.”
Despite scandals such as Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica, organizations seem to be left wanting in their detection and response time to data privacy issues. The Marriott incident is the latest in a spate of cyberattacks to hit businesses after the British Airways hack and goes to show that no industry is safe from bad actors looking to steal personal information.
The Carlos Ghosn incident highlights the need for thorough due diligence and compliance programs that can help ensure both adequate awareness of local laws and regulations, as well as adherence to them.
And in the light of movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up, Walmart’s episode with Flipkart’s CEO is another reminder that for corporate leaders, the line between their private and professional lives is often blurry, and they can be held accountable for their actions in both.


text:
Chromecast, which has been named as TIME Magazine’s top gadget of 2013, has inspired a series of devices that try to either imitate it or put their own spin on the form factor. Now even electronics and accessory maker Belkin is jumping into the bandwagon and launching its own take on the streaming dongle device category.
It may look like Google’s Chromecast but Belkin’s Miracast Video Adapter is different in many ways. Sure, it comes in the form of a USB thumbdrive that plugs into a TV’s HDMI slot. It also drives its power from the same TV’s USB slot, just like the Chromecast. But in terms of streaming capabilities, Belkin’s device is a bit more featured, at least compared to the Chromecast’s current supported sources.
The Belkin Miracast Video Adapter, as the name conspicuously points out, utilizes the Miracast standard for wirelessly mirroring content from an Android device to the HDTV via the adapter. In short, it can practically accept any kind of content, like movies, photos, games or apps, and not just those officially sanctioned commercial streaming services. Of course, you can do that too, except it will all have to be done on your Android device. That said, this implementation does have one critical weakness. Devices streaming to Belkin’s adapter requires support for the said Miracast technology. While the list of confirmed supported devices is quite substantial, it does leave out some, including 2012’s Nexus 7, the Nexus 10, the HTC One, and the Samsung Galaxy Note II.
If you’re smartphone or tablet is luckily included in that list, you can purchase the Belkin Miracast Video Adapter from either Belkin’s online store or from Amazon. The dongle has a price tag of $79.99 and also includes an extension cable for those hard to reach HDMI ports.


text:
Books: Marc Maron, Rupi Kaur, scary stories for Halloween and more – Los Angeles Times
Welcome to the books newsletter from the L.A. Times. I’m books editor Carolyn Kellogg — let’s get started.
THE BIG STORY
Marc Maron is known for his podcast “WTF” and his comedy tours and his role on “GLOW” and now he has a new book, “Waiting for the Punch.” Co-written with “WTF” producer Brendan McDonald and taken from the podcast interviews, it’s more than the sum of its parts. “Reading it was eye opening to me because when I’m engaged in a conversation I’m processing in the moment,” Maron told me when we talked about the book.
Best known for the Hollywood versions of his stories (the “Twilight Zone” episode with the monster on the wing of the plane, “The Omega Man”/“I Am Legend”), Richard Matheson was a master of midcentury horror. Penguin has a new omnibus collection of his short fiction, just in time for Halloween, and novelist Scott Bradfield has our appreciation.
The 1970s and ’80s were a good time for pulp horror, as the new book “Paperbacks From Hell” by Grady Hendrix demonstrates. Frightening premises that are outgrowths of social anxiety! Fantastically illustrated covers! Fonts that have been adopted by “Stranger Things”! Agatha French looks inside.
Instagram poet Rupi Kaur has sold more than 700,000 books this year, topping bestseller lists with her debut collection, “Milk and Honey.” On Thursday she comes to Los Angeles with her brand new book of poetry, “The Sun and Her Flowers.” Agatha French explores the Kaur phenomenon and talks to the poet, whose upcoming event has been sold out for weeks.
Last week I got an email from a reader who wanted to know where Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing England” was, since it appeared on the New York Times bestseller list and not ours. There are a couple of reasons for that: The New York Times tallies books sold in the New York region, while we tally sales in Southern California. Another is that it was on our extended list last week, which can always been seen on our online bestseller list. This week O’Reilly and his co-author Martin Dugard also made it into print: “Killing England” is at No. 4 on our nonfiction list.
Go ahead and take your next Amazon Kindle into the bath — it’s waterproof.
The scandal around Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct expanded to his publishing imprint, which will be closed by parent company Hachette. (Here’s the L.A. Times’ complete coverage of the Weinstein scandal).


text:
“An Australian court fined U.S. electronics giant Apple Inc A$9 million ($6.7 million) on Tuesday after a regulator accused it of using a software update to disable iPhones which had cracked screens fixed by third parties,” Nicholas Ford reports for Reuters. “The Australian Competitor and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued the world’s biggest company by market value for ‘bricking’ – or using a software update to disable – hundreds of smartphones and tablet devices, then refusing to unlock them if the devices had been serviced by non-Apple repairers.”
“‘The mere fact that an iPhone or iPad had been repaired by someone other than Apple did not, and could not, result in the consumer guarantees ceasing to apply,’ ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said in a statement,” Ford reports. “An Apple spokeswoman said in an email the company had ‘very productive conversations with the ACCC about this’ without commenting further on the court finding.”
Ford reports, “The ACCC said after it told Apple about its investigation, the U.S. company sought to compensate customers whose devices were made inoperable by the software update, known as ‘error 53.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: You win some, you lose some. Somehow, Apple will manage to come up with $6.7 million.
BTW, this is actually a security issue, so use an Apple Authorized Service Provider to repair your Apple products.
Apple’s previous statement regarding the matter:
We protect fingerprint data using a secure enclave, which is uniquely paired to the touch ID sensor. When iPhone is serviced by an authorized Apple service provider or Apple retail store for changes that affect the touch ID sensor, the pairing is re-validated. This check ensures the device and the iOS features related to touch ID remain secure. Without this unique pairing, a malicious touch ID sensor could be substituted, thereby gaining access to the secure enclave. When iOS detects that the pairing fails, touch ID, including Apple Pay, is disabled so the device remains secure. When an iPhone is serviced by an unauthorised repair provider, faulty screens or other invalid components that affect the touch ID sensor could cause the check to fail if the pairing cannot be validated. With a subsequent update or restore, additional security checks result in an “error 53” being displayed… If a customer encounters an unrecoverable error 53, we recommend contacting Apple support.
Apple wins court case over ‘Error 53’ wiped iPhones – June 21, 2016
Apple apologizes to customers, updates iOS 9.2.1 to fix ‘Error 53’ iPhones – February 18, 2016
Apple is faces class action lawsuit over iPhone’s ‘Error 53’ – February 12, 2016
Error 53: Once again, Apple PR drops the ball – February 9, 2016
Apple under pressure as lawyers pledge action over ‘Error 53’ iPhones – February 9, 2016
‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update kills some iPhones ‘fixed’ by non-Apple repair shops – February 5, 2016


text:
sfcrazy writes "Valve Software, creator of Half-Life and Left 4 Dead, has announced that SteamOS will be available for public download on December 13. That's the day when the company will start shipping Steam Machines and Steam Controllers to the 300 selected beta participants. The company said, 'SteamOS will be made available when the prototype hardware ships. It will be downloadable by individual users and commercial OEMs. (But unless you're an intrepid Linux hacker already, we're going to recommend that you wait until later in 2014 to try it out.)"
Slashdot stories can be listened to in audio form via an RSS feed, as read by our own robotic overlord.
Nerval's Lobster writes "According to unnamed sources, Nokia is working on an Android-based smartphone. The test versions of the device, which is codenamed 'Normandy,' run a heavily modified version of Android. In late November, @evleaks posted an alleged image of the phone, which (if accurate) includes many of the Nokia design hallmarks, such as a brightly colored shell and prominent rear camera. Exactly how the software differs from the 'standard' version of Android is an open question, although other companies that have forked the operating system (most notably Amazon, with its Kindle tablets) haven't been shy about modifying the user interface in radical ways. According to AllThingsD, Nokia's 'low-end mobile phone unit' is overseeing the project. 'Normandy aims to repurpose the open-source version of Android into a better entry-level smartphone than Nokia has had with its current Asha line,' the publication explained, 'which is based on the aging Series 40 operating system.' But here's the rub: Nokia's phone unit is well on its way to becoming a Microsoft subsidiary. Microsoft competes against Google in many arenas, including mobile and search. The idea of a Microsoft ancillary producing an Android-based phone to compete in lower-end markets — where cheap Android phones dominate — is liable to provoke a burst of surprised laughter from anyone in tech: surely such a project would never hit store-shelves, given Microsoft's very public backing of Windows Phone as its sole mobile OS. And yet, there's also reason to think Microsoft might actually take a chance on an alternative OS. Over the past few years, the company's legal team has cornered the majority of Android manufacturers worldwide into a stark deal: agree to pay a set fee for every Android device produced, or face a costly patent-infringement lawsuit. As a result of that arm-twisting, Microsoft already makes quite a bit of money off Android (more, perhaps, than it earns selling Windows Phone), which could acclimate it to the idea of taking the leap and actually selling Android devices."
Via El Reg: "The only Meego phone Nokia ever released, the now two-year-old N9, has been given a new lease on life today. Owners can now install the new Meego descendent Sailfish alongside the original OS." There's a guide to installing. It looks pretty experimental, but you don't have to overwrite Meego to install it.
DeviceGuru writes "AirTame has developed an AirPlay-like protocol and HDMI dongle for 1080p video streaming and screen mirroring from PCs to PCs and TVs, and has substantially exceeded its $160,000 Indiegogo funding goal. AirTame streams from Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs to other PCs via apps at both ends, and to TVs via the HDMI dongle, and also offers a multicast mode for broadcasting to multiple PCs and TVs for use in classrooms or conferences. But at least initially, there won't be support for Android or iOS devices in the mix, due OS restrictions. The company says it plans to release AirTame's software, API, and protocol source code under a dual-license enabling free use with GPL-like restrictions, and paid use for commercial applications requiring proprietary modifications."
Velcroman1 writes "Banking giant JPMorgan Chase has filed a patent application for an electronic commerce system that sounds remarkably like Bitcoin — but never mentions the controversial, Internet-only currency. The patent application was filed in early August but made publicly available only at the end of November; it describes a 'method and system for processing Internet payments using the electronic funds transfer network.' The system would allow people to pay bills anonymously over the Internet through an electronic transfer of funds — just like Bitcoin. It would allow for micropayments without processing fees — just like bitcoin. And it could kill off wire transfers through companies like Western Union — just like Bitcoin. There are 18,126 words in the patent application. 'Bitcoin' is not one of them."
mask.of.sanity writes "Google has revealed details on its Beyond Corp project to scrap the notion of a corporate network and move to a zero-trust model. The company perhaps unsurprisingly considers the traditional notion of perimeter defense and its respective gadgetry as a dead duck, and has moved to authenticate and authorize its 42,000 staff so they can access Google HQ from anywhere (video). Google also revealed it was perhaps the biggest Apple shop in the world, with 43,000 devices deployed and staff only allowed to use Windows with a supporting business case."
tdog17 writes "China says it wants Microsoft to extend support for Windows XP because that will help in its fight to stop proliferation of pirated Microsoft software. A state copyright official says the release of Windows 8 means a substantial increase in the selling price of a Windows operating system, especially in light of the upcoming end-of-life of Windows XP, which is still used by a large percentage of Chinese. That could drive users to buy pirated copies of a new operating system because they are cheaper, he says."
jones_supa writes "Talouselämä Magazine met Jolla CEO Tomi Pienimäki and asked a puzzling question. If Jolla truly is compatible with Android devices, is Jolla going to let individual users to install the Sailfish operating system on the Android devices that they already have? Pienimäki answers: 'That is the plan. We are on device business and OS business. It is fairly easy to install the OS on Android devices'. He says that especially in China, changing firmwares is a mainstream thing. About half of the smartphone buyers are upgrading their older or cheaper devices with a better version of Android. Therefore, Jolla's plan is to get some Sailfish installations sneaked in, too."
sfcrazy writes "[Wednesday] Google asked the CM team to voluntarily remove the [CyanogenMod installer] app from the store or they would be forced to remove it administratively. CM team chose to remove the app voluntarily. According to the CyanogenMod team, Google initially said that the app was in violation of Google's Play's developer terms. When the CM team reached out to the Play team, they found that 'though application itself is harmless, and not actually in violation of their Terms of Service, since it 'encourages users to void their warranty', it would not be allowed to remain in the store.'" You can still install manually, though.
onyxruby writes "Microsoft may finally be ready to put Windows RT out to pasture. After ignoring pundits, the public, and a staggering $900 writedown, the subsequent lack of sales for the second edition of the RT have finally gotten the message through. Speaking at a UBS seminar, Microsoft VP Julie Larson-Green said, 'It just didn't do everything that you expected Windows to do. So there's been a lot of talk about it should have been a rebranding. We should not have called it Windows (.DOCX). How should we have made it more differentiated? I think over time you'll see us continue to differentiate it more. We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We're not going to have three.'"
jones_supa writes "Jolla, the mobile phone company formed by ex-Nokia employees, has officially launched its first phone. It will be initially available in Finland, paired with the local telecom operator DNA. After that, it will be made available in 135 other countries. The Jolla handset runs the Sailfish OS, which is itself based on the former MeeGo platform developed by Nokia and Intel several years ago to produce Linux-based smartphone software. Sailfish can run Android apps and it also integrates Nokia's Here mapping and positioning technology. Looking at the hardware, the device sports a 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor, 1GB memory and 16GB of flash storage, plus a 4.5in 960x540 IPS touchscreen with Gorilla 2 Glass. It has the usual mobile network support, including GSM/3G/4G, 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth, 8MP autofocus rear camera and 2MP front camera. SIM-free pricing is expected to be €399."
First time accepted submitter gnosygnu writes "Want your own copy of English Wikipedia with images? Got 100 GB of disk space? Then open-source app XOWA may be of interest to you. The project released torrents yesterday for the 2013-11-04 version of English Wikipedia. There's 100 GB of sqlite databases containing 13.9 million pages, and 3.7 million images — readable from any Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X system. Image downloads for other wikis are building, but you can still use XOWA to read the text-only version for other wikis like Wiktionary, Wikisource, Wikiquote and 660 more. Next time you find yourself stranded without the internet, you can pull out your own copy of Wikipedia for use."
An anonymous reader writes "DragonFlyBSD 3.6 was released [Monday] with the big new features being dports, Intel and AMD Radeon KMS kernel graphics drivers, major SMP improvements, and improved language support. Dports is the new package management system based upon the FreeBSD Ports collection and replaces pkgsrc as the default; over 20k packages are available via dports. Major SMP scaling improvements come via reducing lock contention within the kernel and other multi-core enhancements. The Intel and Radeon graphics drivers on DragonFlyBSD were ported from the FreeBSD kernel, which in turn were ported from the upstream Linux kernel."
A year after the first schematics were completed and a few months after the first prototype board shipped, Make Play Live has released Improv, the first engineering card for EOMA-68 (EOMA-68 is a specification for modular systems that splits the cpu board from the rest of the system, allowing the end user to use the same core with several devices or upgrade e.g. a tablet without having to pay for a new screen shell). From Aaron Seigo's weblog post: "The hardware of Improv is extremely capable: a dual-core ARM® Cortex-A7 System on Chip (SoC) running at 1Ghz, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of on-board NAND flash and a powerful OpenGL ES GPU. To access all of this hardware goodness there are a variety of ports: 2 USB2 ports (one fullsize host, one micro OTG), SD card reader, HDMI, ethernet (10/100, though the feature card has a Gigabit connector; more on that below), SATA, i2c, VGA/TTL and 8 GPIO pins. The entire device weighs less than 100 grams, is passively cooled and fits in your hand. Improv comes pre-installed with Mer OS, sporting a recent Linux kernel, systemd, and a wide variety of software tools. By default it boots into console, so if you are making a headless device you needn't worry about extra overhead running that you don't need. If you are going to hook it up to a screen (or two), then you have an amazing starting point with choices such as X.org, Wayland, Qt4, Qt5 and a full complement of KDE libraries and Plasma Workspaces. Improv takes advantage of the open EOMA68 standard to deliver a unique design: the SoC, RAM and storage live on one card (the 'CPU card'), the feature ports are on a PCB it docks with (the 'feature board'). The two dock securely together with the CPU card sitting under the feature board nestled in a pair of rails; they are undocked from each other by pushing a mechanical ejector button." Check out the specs and pictures. The card is available now for $75. Improv is open hardware, with the schematics licensed under the GPL and available soon.
goodminton writes "I'm research the long-term consistency and reproducibility of math results in the cloud and have questions about floating point calculations. For example, say I create a virtual OS instance on a cloud provider (doesn't matter which one) and install Mathematica to run a precise calculation. Mathematica generates the result based on the combination of software version, operating system, hypervisor, firmware and hardware that are running at that time. In the cloud, hardware, firmware and hypervisors are invisible to the users but could still impact the implementation/operation of floating point math. Say I archive the virutal instance and in 5 or 10 years I fire it up on another cloud provider and run the same calculation. What's the likelihood that the results would be the same? What can be done to adjust for this? Currently, I know people who 'archive' hardware just for the purpose of ensuring reproducibility and I'm wondering how this tranlates to the world of cloud and virtualization across multiple hardware types."
sfcrazy writes "The openSUSE team just announced the release of openSUSE 13.1. There are some core points which set openSUSE apart from the popular Ubuntu distro. While Ubuntu has become a more or less Canonical-owned project, openSUSE is becoming more and more community-driven. Looking at the recent controversies around Ubuntu and their move toward mobile platforms, openSUSE seems to be a great option for desktop users."
An anonymous reader writes "Version 2.7 of the Contiki operating system has been released. The open source Contiki OS is known for its minuscule IPv6 stack that allows the tiniest of Systems-on-a-Chips – microprocessors with built-in 2.4 GHz radios – to connect to the Internet. The 2.7 release improves the IPv6 mesh routing mechanism so that the Systems-on-a-Chip autonomously can form wireless networks."
An anonymous reader writes "The FreeBSD Foundation's annual year-end fundraising drive is currently running. Their goal this year is US$ 1M, and they're currently at US$ 427K. In 2013, the efforts that were funded were from the last drive were: Native iSCSI kernel stack, Updated Intel graphics chipset support, Integration of Newcons, UTF-8 console support, Superpages for ARM architecture, and Layer 2 networking updates. Also various conferences and summit sponsorships, as well as hardware purchases for the Project. The Foundation is a US 501(c)3 non-profit, so your donations (if in the US) are tax-deductible. Some of the larger 2013 (corporate?) sponsors so far are NetApp, LineRate, WhatsApp, and Tarsnap."
ClaraBow writes "I find it interesting that Dell has started selling a thin and light touchscreen laptop called the XPS 13 Developer Edition, which will have Ubuntu Linux OS and Intel's fourth-generation Core processors, code-named Haswell. The laptop, code-named Sputnik, has a 13.3-inch touchscreen and will run on Ubuntu 12.04 OS. It is priced starting at $1,250 and is available in the U.S." One thing I wish was addressed in the blog post announcing this newest entry in the Sputnik line, or its listed specs (bad news beats not knowing, in this case), is battery life.
theodp writes "In June, Google unveiled Project Loon to acclaim from the press for its "moonshot" project that aims to use high-altitude balloons to cheaply provide internet connectivity to rural, remote, and underserved areas of the developing world. So it's interesting to see that a just-published Google patent application for Balloon Clumping to Provide Bandwidth Requested in Advance, which pre-dated the Loon launch by a year, paints a not entirely altruistic picture of balloon-powered Internet access technology. Google describes the invention — which had been kept secret with a non-publication request — as just the ticket for those well-to-do enough to pay a tiered-pricing premium to get faster internet access while attending concerts, conferences, air shows, music festivals, and sporting events where a facility's overtaxed Wi-Fi simply won't do. Hope this revelation doesn't make Bill Gates think any less of the project!"


text:
The National Railway Museum, located in York has been named in consumer company Which? top-rated free attractions.
Almost 7,000 people took part in the survey to help name York’s popular railway museum as one of the top free places to visit.
The National Railway Museum is home to hundreds of locomotives including the Mallard, a working replica of George Stephenson’s Rocket and the only Shinkansen bullet train outside of Japan.
It garnered a score of 91% in the Which? the survey, tying second place with the Royal Air Force Museum in Cosford.
The consumer watchdog asked almost 3,000 people to rank their favourite historic attractions on nine criteria including accessibility, quality of food & drink and lack of crowds.
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “As the cost of living crisis continues to be a strain on household budgets, finding cheap or free days out has never been more important. Fortunately, the UK has a number of fantastic museums, galleries and other attractions which offer free entry and hours of fun.
“From the world’s largest railway museum, to the Houses of Parliament, Which?’s rankings of the UK’s best free days out has plenty to inspire you as the summer holidays approach.”
Feature Image Credit: National Railway Musuem


text:
After spending the past four years drifting through space and missing out on yet another E3, it seems brighter days are finally on the horizon for the Metroid franchise, in more ways than one.
While having the ear of Nintendo SPD head and noted Metroid producer Shinya Takahashi during this week's expo, Kotaku's Stephen Totilo asked whether or not Nintendo has a game plan for the franchise going forward. Takahashi noted "it has been a while" since Nintendo last released a new Metroid game and that company developers are currently talking about where they can take the franchise next. He also mentioned how important it is for Nintendo "to take care of" both styles of Metroid gameplay, and most exciting of all, Takahasi said, "the hope is that at some point in the near future we'll be able to share something about them."
So in other words, two new Metroid game concepts are currently in the early planning stages of development. One of which is planned to be a 2D (likely to be beefed up to 2.5D) sidescroller like the original trilogy and Metroid Fusion, while the other is planned to be a 3D game much like Metroid Prime.
However, it's important to remember since these games are still concepts at this point, they could be scrapped before any sort of announcement is made. On the other hand, the fact Nintendo wants to make an announcement soon, is really encouraging and is at the very least a sign Metroid will one day find its way back onto Nintendo's regular release schedule.
Until that day comes; See you next mission, Samus!
» Source: http://kotaku.com/nintendo-is-planning-a-future-for-both-2d-and-3d-metroi-1590142491
» Comments: 8


text:
Britain's biggest cash and carry wholesaler Booker
The firm, with over 170 branches supplying convenience stores, restaurants, pubs, schools and prisons, posted a 7 percent rise in total sales in the 16 weeks to December 30 and said average spend per customer improved during the quarter.
Booker said it also planned to launch a new distribution service in Didcot called 'Chef Direct' to cater to its food service customers. It is expected to start trading in June 2012.
The firm recently launched a new line of snacks, widened its drinks offering and introduced a new fruit and vegetables range.
On a like-for-like basis, total sales rose by 5.6 percent, with non-tobacco sales rising 5.8 percent and tobacco sales up 7.6 percent. Fruit and vegetable sales rose 17 percent.
Booker said its outlook for full-year profit and net cash remained in line with expectations.
Analysts, on an average, expect the company to report a full-year pretax profit of 82.5 million pounds on revenue of 3.82 billion pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The firm, which started operations in India in 2009, said it would continue to expand in the country, with a second and third branch scheduled to open in Mumbai in early 2012.
Booker's shares, which have risen by more than a quarter of their value over the past year, closed at 74.9 pence on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the business at 1.18 billion pounds.
(Reporting by Anirban Sen in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)


text:
In a recent article in DigiTimes on August 7, 2008 Epson state that they are still working on their own ePaper, and plan to offer a much higher resolution than the current (PVI) offering which is around 160ppi.
Here's the full-text
With worldwide e-book display shipments are expected to rise at a remarkable 161% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2012, up from 150,000 units in 2007, the thin, energy efficient and environmentally friendly characteristics of e-paper have attracted players such as Prime View International (PVI) and Epson to join in development of the technology.
While PVI developed e-paper is currently used by Sony for its e-book products, Satoshi Nebachi, Epson's general manager of advanced product development department indicated that Epson has developed an A4-sized 13.4-inch e-paper product that it showcased at the Society of Information Display (SID) this year, but the company has no actual time line for further development or shipments due to low yield and product reliability issue.
Nebachi noted that because Epson plans to increase e-paper's dpi from 160dpi to 300-360dpi, the technology needed to produce e-paper on plastic substrates becomes more difficult in terms of volume production and reliability, and Epson has not yet started volume production. Nebachi added that once the company enters volume production e-paper will first be used within the company as an alternative to copy machines or printers, and then product will be targeted to the end market.
Epson is also developing larger size e-paper and color e-paper, Nebachi mentioned that color e-paper still has quality issues, and he estimates that it will be another 2-3 years before mass production.