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Atlanta, GA Nov. 17, 2020 – GreyOrange, a global software provider that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize fulfillment operations, today announced a partnership with logistics solutions provider Gold Bond to provide warehouse automation supporting its eCommerce services in Israel. The two companies have established autonomous fulfilment within the Gold Bond facility in Ashdod, designed specifically to provide e-commerce logistics services. The Ashdod facility—featuring the GreyOrange GreyMatter™ operating system—currently fulfils approximately 18,000-20,000 orders per day and maintains 20,000-25,000 SKUs in stock.
GreyMatter anticipates and optimizes the movement of SKUs, orchestrating intelligent robots to stage and move inventory based on order flow, item popularity, promise-to-deliver dates, profitability analysis, customer value and satisfaction.
“GreyOrange’s intelligent fulfilment solutions will help us serve the needs of current and future customers for modern, technology-enabled warehouse automation,” said Yotam Ben Ari, ecommerce manager at Gold Bond. “By working with GreyOrange, Gold Bond will be able to react faster to unpredictable market changes as well as offer same-day delivery.”
In addition to the Ashdod operation, the partnership enables GreyOrange and Gold Bond to expand operations in the region, meeting customer needs for warehouse automation and the intelligent and rapid analysis of operational data.
“GreyOrange will provide us with intelligence and flexibility to handle changing SKUs, volumes, workflows and growth over time,” added Ben Ari.
“Gold Bond is a goods-to-person leader in Israel and this partnership is a unique opportunity to access the Israeli market, where 70 percent of the population already shops online and has seen e-commerce growth of 15 percent over the last three years,” said Nigel Lahiri, EMEA Sales Director at GreyOrange.


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We’re almost at the end of the year, in fact we’re so close I’m tempted to crack open a beer now, but before I do let’s look over the top stories of 2016.
This past year has really seen the Chinese mobile industry mature, and the majority of phones that come out of China are pretty damn good! Some are even class leading which has meant some seriously high traffic for certain GizChina stories.
Below I’ve listed the top 10 stores from 10 – 1 (1 getting the most views) along with a brief summary and some comments of my own. Just looking over at the top phone news of 2016 I can already see a pattern, let’s see if you can.
10. 7 accessories for the Xiao Yi Action Camera
I really surprised to see that this is our 10th most popular article of the year, but actually it makes perfect sense. The Yi Camera was affordable, offered great video and really became a thorn in the side of GoPro.
9. GooApple i7 is an iPhone 7 clone
It wouldn’t be a real year of Chinese tech news if GooPone and their merry band of clones did turn up somewhere. This year GooPhone announced details of their iPhone 7 clone before Apple made their phone official!
8. Xiaomi Mi5 Specs Leaked
Xiaomi were a little surprised with us when we posted the final specs of the Xiaomi Mi5 before the phone had even launched. While the renders we published did turn out to be inaccurate, the specs were a little off too!
7. Camera Shootout: OnePlus X vs LeTV Le1S vs Xiaomi Mi4c
Although posted back in 2015 this camera comparison between the OnePlus X, LeTV Le1S and Xiaomi Mi4C remained one of the most popular articles of 2016!
6. Bluboo Xfire 2 tri-SIM
Gizchina News of the week
Casting our minds back we don’t even remember if Bluboo ever did end up launching the Xfire 2. The reason the announcement of the Bluboo Xfire 2 was so popular was due to the claims it would be the world’s first 5-inch phone with 3 x SIM support! This is still a rare feature now.
5. Top 10 4G LTE Chinese Phones and U.S Carrier Support
While those of you in Europe and India don’t have much of an issue with Chinese phone support and compatibility on LTE networks, the same can’t be said for U.S fans of Chinese tech. Things have changed now and companies like Huawei, ZTE and LeEco all ship phones in the U.S but there is still a gap in network support.
4. LeTV Le1S Full Specifications
The LeTV Le1 really set the tone for LeTV (now LeEco) and we were all super excited to hear what features the updated LeTV Le1S would boast along with what improvements the start up had made to their most popular phone.
3. Video: Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 vs LeTV Le1S
I got my hands on both the metal clad budget phones this year from Xiaomi. You wondered how the phones compared to one another and I set about answering your questions with a full, in-depth comparison video. Would you like to see more videos like this in 2017?
2. How To Fix Facebook Messenger MIUI 6
Users of Xiaomi phones on MIUI 6 were having problems earlier in the year with chat head not appearing. Yash sat down and managed to figure the issue out and it proved to be uber popular! The 2nd most read GizChina article of 2016!
1. How To Manage Your Dual SIM Phone
Without looking at last year’s records I’m pretty sure that this was the best read article for 2015 too! This wasn’t a new article for this year and in all honesty it could probably do with an update, but even though it’s an old piece it’s still very relevant today and manages to be our most read article of 2016!
Yep, it totally was a boring year on gizchina…
I second that.
Am with you.

domain: news


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Please take a few moments to urge Gap Inc. to join dozens of companies that are 100 percent fur-free.
It’s easy to help spread peace and joy to all this Christmas by pledging to leave soy milk out for Santa. Happy holidays!
Urge the Embassy of Zimbabwe to do everything in its power to stop the additional capture of innocent elephants and to ensure that the 35 who are currently slated …
Urge officials to provide these animals with a living environment that has more space so that they can swim freely!
Please tell Victoria’s Secret that cruelty isn’t sexy and that you won’t buy its products until the company is 100 percent cruelty-free again.
Witnesses found animals—many sick and injured—crammed into filthy bins, hungry, thirsty, and denied adequate care. Many were “whacked” or died in floods. Help now!
Please add your name to this petition asking that the elephants be sent to a sanctuary!
San Diego Chargers’ Brandon Flowers chooses “ink, not mink” in an exclusive interview and ad for PETA.
Join us in urging Mr. DeLozier to send the bears who are suffering at Three Bears General Store to a sanctuary!
Young birds are shipped out to sea, released in the middle of the ocean, and forced to fly back home. Often less than 1 percent of birds survive.
Please urge officials in Malta to take this crime seriously and to remove the horse from the abuser’s custody immediately.
Undercover Investigation Reveals Hormel Supplier’s Abuse of Mother Pigs and Piglets
Please take a moment to politely urge the four major auction companies to cancel cruel races.
If you think it’s “just a haircut,” prepare to be floored.
Three hundred million turkeys are dying for you to see this.


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Vivo has been working on a foldable smart phone for some time now. Previously rumored to be launched as Vivo NEX 5, new reports claim it will be called Vivo X Fold. This phone is set for launch in China later this year. In the Chinese microblogging website Weibo, a tipster has leaked many features ahead of its official launch.
The recent leak has revealed many of its key features, including its display details and camera specs. Expected to launch on 22 March 2022, it comes with only one storage version – 8GB+256GB. Read on learn more about the expected price, features and other details about Vivo X Fold.
Also Read: OPPO Reno6 Pro First Impressions
Vivo X Fold Specifications (Expected)
This would be the first foldable phone by Vivo and will feature a 6.5-inch outer displays with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Further, it also has curved sides and a hole-punch cutout for the camera. The inner display will be 8-inches with curved sides and a hole-punch cutout for the front camera.
Vivo X Fold will feature four back cameras – a 50-megapixel snapper, a 48-megapixel camera, a 12-megapixel camera with 2x zoom, and an 8-megapixel camera with 5x zoom. There have been no leaks regarding the front camera of the phone. Like most foldable devices by Samsung, Huawei and OPPO, this phone too will have an inward folding design.
Also Read: Upcoming iPhone sale on Amazon
This phone will come with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, the latest flagship offering by Snapdragon for smartphones launching in 2022. A 4600 mAh battery will power the phone and it should last all day long. Besides, it comes with support for 80W fast charging and 50W wireless charging. For their first foldable phone, Vivo is offering pretty solid specs.
We do not know the official price of the Vivo X Fold. However, speculations by Smartprix prices it at around INR 105000 if it releases in India. The expected release date in China is 22 March 2022. If Vivo decides to make it available in India, it may be available for the Indian market some months later.
Also Read: Nokia G20 Quick Review
Always on the quest to learn and share the knowledge. Big fan of books (but not the self help ones) specially fiction. A grammar Nazi who loves to eat, cook, travel and watching thunderstorms.


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As the U.S. auto industry continues to roar back from the worst recession in more than half a century, car sales appear to have surged to their highest July total since 2006, automakers reported Thursday.
If anything, supply shortages and new model delays could be the only thing holding the market back from an even bigger upturn, industry officials warned, Ford and Hyundai among the makers stretching the limits of their production capacity while Chrysler bangs away at problems with the new Jeep Cherokee model it hopes to launch next month.
There are few makers that didn’t score gains during July, with industry analysts estimating that overall year-over-year sales numbers will wind up at least 15 percent ahead once the last few manufacturers weigh in. Detroit makers all posted double-digit increases, as did the Japanese Big Three – though Nissan’s surge was tempered by a nearly one-third drop in sales by its Infiniti luxury brand.
(Read more: Chrysler Earnings Surge 16 percent, Helps Bail Out Italian Partner Fiat)
Why is the market continuing to heat up? Analysts point to a wide variety of factors including looser credit, a big surge in the housing market that is buoying demand for full-size pickups, growth in small car and hybrid sales as consumers prepare for future fuel price hikes and, perhaps most important, improving confidence in a slow-growing economy.
“Consumer confidence … maintained elevated levels as evidenced by strong retail sales,” said Bill Fay, the group vice president of the Toyota division. Toyota and its Lexus and Scion brands were up 16.5 percent year-over-year.
(Read more: Gas up the Ford F-150 truck! That's gas, as in gas...)
Echoing Fay, many industry observers said one of the most encouraging factors in the July numbers was the fact that retail sales are outpacing fleet demand. General Motors, for example, posted an overall gain of 16 percent for the month – but its retail volume surged 23 percent.
Strong demand for pickups was another factor, as Ford found. The second-largest domestic maker was up 11 percent for July but its F-Series gained 23 percent. And it wasn’t alone.
“We continue to see strong retail sales, particularly with our pickup trucks and SUVs, and that has helped to propel Chrysler Group to our 40th consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth,” said Reid Bigland, head of the maker’s Ram truck brand as well as its U.S. sales chief, as he responded to Chrysler’s 11 percent gain.
But while high-profit trucks might be fueling the improved finances of Detroit’s makers, domestics and foreign brands alike also saw sharp increases in demand for fuel-efficient small cars and hybrids. Ford’s subcompact Fiesta model gained 89 percent for the month.
If anything, Ford is struggling to meet demand in the recovering U.S. market. It plans to add production of its popular Fusion midsize sedan later this year at a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, for example. And it’s not alone. Hyundai has warned that while 2013 sales are on track for another all-time record its market share will likely slip because of capacity restraints on products like the compact Elantra. Sibling Korean carmaker Kia is facing similar challenges.
Meanwhile, Chrysler is struggling to get its Jeep brand back in the black as it prepares for the long-awaited launch of the 2014 Grand Cherokee update and the introduction of the all-new Cherokee model.
"Solid industry sales in July point to a stable market indicating a recovering economy,” said Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager.
A number of analysts and industry planners have lately upgraded their sales forecasts for the full year to around 15.5 million. July’s numbers, when converted to a seasonally-adjusted basis, appear to have come in around 15.8 million.
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. reported a monthly increase of 20.9 percent compared with July 2012, its Civic model setting an all-time record. And while Nissan may wind up lagging the overall torrid July pace, with a 10.9 percent increase, it nonetheless reported record sales for its namesake brand. The Nissan marque surged 16.8 percent but the Highline Infiniti brand slid 33.2 percent as it waited to begin the roll-out of its new Q50 model – which replaced the marque’s top-selling G series.
Mercedes-Benz reported July sales jumped 18.5 percent, as year-to-date sales hit an all-time high of 165,598 units. This makes July the seventh consecutive month of record-breaking sales. German rival BMW – which includes sales of the British Mini brand – gained 10.5 percent for the month.
“July is a pivotal month, setting the trend for the second half of the year and the numbers show the trend is with us,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America, LLC.
After several years of solid growth, Volkswagen sales have been slowing since early spring and the maker reported a modest 3.3 percent jump for July. But officials said they look to new product to rebuild momentum later this year.
Even with stronger levels of consumer confidence, analysts say the automotive recovery would not be taking root without improved credit availability.
“Elevated new vehicle transaction prices are being enabled by the availability of longer-term loans, affordable leases and strong used vehicle values, compounded by the availability of low- interest rates,” wrote John Humphrey, senior vice president of the global automotive practice at J.D. Power.
As for those higher transaction prices, Kelly Blue Book estimated the typical new vehicle rolling off U.S. dealer lots cost $31,795 last month, a 2.0 percent increase from July 2012.
Joe Szczesny contributed to this report.


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Beijing time on November 26th news, China's touch screen network news, a capacity expansion competition is quietly started in the touch screen enterprises, "expansion" almost swept the entire industry. Laibao Hi-Tech invested in Chongqing base; Ultrasonic Electronics raised 850 million yuan to expand production; Changxin Technology's downstream touch module manufacturer; Ou Feiguang completed a $1.45 billion initial fundraising at the beginning of the year, and then pushed 4 billion in less than 10 months Yuan refinancing plan; Helitai backdoor joint chemical project was also finalized this month, and supporting financing exceeded 300 million yuan for expansion.
A series of capital operations all show the ambition of these listed companies to expand their territory. The current real face of the touch screen industry is that most manufacturers are complaining: "Capacity expansion, product price decline, gross profit margin decline, almost no money to earn." "Expansion is to prepare for the next round of industry." Just like a listed company According to the chairman of the board of directors, as a high-tech enterprise, the biggest pressure comes from scientific and technological progress. “Being in it, we can only keep moving forward, even if it is one step ahead of others, it is more than a few days to be comfortable.”
First, the capacity expansion time
United Chemical Co., Ltd. announced that it has acquired the touch screen manufacturer Jiangxi Helitai. The loss-making chemical company will transform the touch screen manufacturer, and the stock price will rise.
United Chemicals issued 669 million shares to Helitai shareholders, Wen Kaifu, etc. at a price of 4.14 yuan per share to acquire 100% of the shares of Helitai held by them. Upon completion of the acquisition, Helitai will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Chemicals, and the original controlling shareholder Wen Kaifu will hold 28.14% of the shares of United Chemicals, becoming the actual controller of the listed company.
At the same time, Helitai also listed a matching financing plan, issued 90 million shares to other specific investors, and raised 373 million yuan for the production capacity of Helitai to build touch screen and cover glass. The total investment of these two projects exceeds 400 million yuan, and the construction period is one and a half years. Upon completion, Helitai will add 18 million pieces of seamlessly integrated touch-sensitive integrated modules and 75 million touch-screen cover glass annual production capacity.
In fact, it is not only the Helitai family that invests in new production lines to expand production capacity, but almost the entire touch screen industry is expanding. This year, a number of touch-screen listed companies have launched refinancing plans to expand their production capacity.
At the beginning of this year, Laibao High-Tech completed 1.75 billion refinancing, invested in the Chongqing base integrated capacitive touch screen OGS project and an AMOLED display panel test line. According to Laibao High-Tech executives, Chongqing Laibao's fifth-generation OGS production line has reached its usable status.
In May, the ultrasonic electronic restart financing amounted to 850 million yuan, and plans to build an annual output of 250,000 square meters of capacitive touch screen, as well as copper-clad related projects. This investment began to be planned in 2011. In 2012, because the price of ultrasonic electronics was lower than the price of the additional issuance, the old case was revived and it has been met recently.
After Oufeiguang completed the financing of 1.453 billion yuan at the beginning of the year, it will push another 4 billion yuan increase plan in October this year, and plans to build a large-capacity capacitive screen expansion and high-pixel camera module expansion project.
The strength of these listed companies' capacity expansion is strong. Other listed companies with stronger strengths have begun to use the capital market for mergers and acquisitions, and strive to vertically integrate and build touch screen manufacturers in the entire industry chain.
In June, Changxin Technology, an upstream touch-enabled device manufacturer, also extended its acquisitions to the midstream module sector, and added a market capitalization of approximately 401 million yuan to acquire Zhangzhou Deput. After the completion of the acquisition, Changxin Technology directly has the production capacity of touch screen modules and becomes a touch manufacturer integrating the industrial chain.
Yushun Electronics also completed the financing of 415 million yuan at the beginning of this year, which is used for the construction of small and medium-sized capacitive touch screens and ultra-thin super-strong cover glass production lines. Recently, the company has also launched mergers and acquisitions to acquire Yashi Technology, which is engaged in the production of small and medium-sized liquid crystal display devices.
According to rough statistics, the total amount of funds raised and planned by the listed touch manufacturers has exceeded 9 billion yuan, and the actual investment will exceed 10 billion yuan. Huge investment has undoubtedly intensified capacity expansion. People in the industry have not forgotten that the touch screen industry is in a midst of fierce competition.
Second, the size of the big and medium is a must
On the one hand, the competition is fierce, and the gross profit declines; while on the other hand, it is also rushing to expand its production capacity. Touch manufacturers are facing a tangled arms race. In the next year or two, with the mass production of these new production lines, how will huge production capacity be released?
Microsoft and Intel Intel jointly launched a new dawn for touchscreen manufacturers. In 2012, the introduction of the Window8 system introduced touch-based interaction into the personal computer field, opening up new market demands for the touch screen industry. Taiwan's Shunhong TPK, Shenghua and Suibao and other touch module factories have increased their production capacity and invested in a large-size touch screen production line of 10.1 inches.
Helitai of Backdoor United Chemicals believes that because the price of large-size touch screen is several times that of small and medium-sized ones, even if the shipment of large-size touch screens is relatively small, there is still a large market space. Therefore, the rapid spread of large-size touch screens will bring new rapid growth points to the industry.
Looking at the new investment projects of listed companies, it is not difficult to find that, unlike the past, the touch screen production lines in the fundraising projects have specifically emphasized the production and prospects of large-size screens in production. For example, Ou Feiguang recently launched a 4 billion yuan financing plan, of which 800 million yuan was used to build large-capacity capacitive screen expansion.
The Chongqing base invested by Laibao High-Tech is also used to produce large and medium-sized touch screens. The company also independently invested in the second phase of Guangming in Shenzhen Guangming Production Base. It was completed on the basis of the original production line and also used for OGS integrated capacitive touch screen. produce. Dong Xiaochao told reporters that Guangming Phase II production line has low touch screen algebra, and it is still insufficient for producing large-size screens. A prominent contradiction is low yield.
"For example, a 10-inch screen, a low-generation line will produce one piece at a time, and a high-generation line can cut at least three pieces." Duche said on the side: "It is also used to produce large-size screens, and high-generation lines can be cut out." The standard size screen is more than the lower generation line, and the yield is naturally higher."
However, as touch screens increase in size, touch technology bottlenecks and barriers can arise. Such as the large size of the touch screen, the linear accuracy is more stringent requirements; as the size increases, the processing power of the touch IC, stray capacitance, anti-interference ability has higher requirements, is also the development of large-size products key. When the touch screen is larger, the line is relatively complicated, which puts higher requirements on the precision of the production equipment and the production environment, and the equipment and the workshop need sufficient capital guarantee.
In addition, the technical route is also a concern of current touch screen manufacturers. In the early stage of the development of capacitive touch screens, the market was mainly composed of two major products, glass structure and membrane structure. The former was represented by Laibao Hi-Tech, and the latter was represented by Ou Feiguang. The traditional capacitive touch screen is made by assembling the cover glass and the sensing layer, and then combining the touch screen and the liquid crystal display to realize the touch and display functions.
In recent years, new technologies in the touch screen industry have begun to develop in two directions. One is the OGS technology that integrates the touch screen sensing layer and the cover glass. This solution is mainly driven by touch screen manufacturers. The other is an in-line solution that integrates the sensing layer with the display, with In-Cell technology from the Apple camp and Samsung-based On-Cell technology.
At the beginning of most domestic touch screens, the model of Taiwan-based leading enterprise Qihong was used, which only engaged in single-stage production. This caused the current domestic manufacturers to have no display screen or very few display screens, and domestic large-scale flat panel display manufacturers rarely Really involved in the field of touch screen. Therefore, the technical route of the embedded solution is missing in the mainland, and most touch screen manufacturers are investing in OGS capacity.
"This is undoubtedly risky. If the technology path is chosen correctly, domestic enterprises will celebrate the same day, but they will soon fall into vicious competition. If the future technological development abandons OGS, then huge investment by domestic enterprises may become a burden." The industry is worried.
However, there are also listed companies that have taken a different approach. For example, Ou Feiguang chose its own membrane technology and independently developed nano silver touch screen technology. Helitai, a backdoor joint chemical company, is also studying graphene touch screen technology. Both of these technologies have abandoned the ITO indium tin oxide conductive film as a key component, and adopted alternative materials to partially avoid the cost burden caused by metal indium price fluctuations.
The rapid upgrading of technology has also made the industry leaders often easy to change. According to recent news, the former touch screen industry leader Taiwan's Shunhong TPK has closed part of its production line in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Ou Feiguang Securities Affairs representative Cheng Xiaoli told reporters: "Although Ou Feiguang's sales are not as high as TPK, the company's current shipments definitely exceed TPK."
In the future, the big market of super large-size touch screens will be dead, and it is still to be verified by the market. An undeniable fact is that China has become a global touch screen production base.
Third, expansion and performance deviation
"This is the best era and the worst era." Dickens's famous saying in "Tale of Two Cities" is used to describe the touch screen industry. The industry leader Laibao Hi-Tech has continued to decline in profit, and the stock price has been falling; while the same city's rookie Ou Feiguang experienced the performance of "Nike curve", the stock price is in the limelight.
Leybold High Tech attributed the unsatisfactory performance to fierce market competition. General Manager Li Shaozong admits that some of the major customer businesses have extended to the upstream of the industrial chain and increased the proportion of self-made. The volume and price of capacitive touch screen products from the original major customers have dropped significantly. Compared with 2011 and 2012, the company's product prices have dropped by about 30% on average this year. The sales revenue of touch screen modules and touch panels has dropped sharply, resulting in no increase in revenue.
The upstream touch device manufacturers are still the same, and the mid-stream touch module is even worse. Yushun Electronics suffered a loss in 2012, and it was still in a loss of mud in the first three quarters of this year. The cover glass manufacturer Star Technology also suffered a certain loss in the first three quarters of this year. Among the listed touch manufacturers, the performance of Ou Feiguang, which is backed by Samsung and Lenovo, is relatively better. Ultrasonic electronics has a complementary printed circuit board business and its performance is relatively beautiful.
“A few years ago, Apple’s mobile phone led the trend of capacitive screens. Domestic 3G licenses were issued, smartphones broke out, and touch screens ushered in spring.” A touch screen manufacturer’s executives said that domestic companies’ performance in the past few years was relatively good, mainly benefiting. The explosive growth of downstream consumer electronics, especially smartphones.
"Under the withdrawal of the Chinese city, as long as it is profitable, everyone will go inside." Li Shaozong said that at the beginning everyone pays attention and some people will do it slowly. Because the touch screen itself is not the absolute threshold, in addition to the funding threshold, in recent years, both Taiwanese companies and mainland enterprises have entered the industry. Domestic companies are more disorderly in the competition.
Despite the aura of high-tech stocks, as a manufacturing company, it is still subject to people. Changxin Technology has revealed a cruelty: "As a highly customized product, each product has a very short life cycle, which requires manufacturers to have a fast climbing speed, before the most concentrated shipments. In three months, the yield can be quickly increased to a very high level in order to achieve economic benefits."
A brokerage electronics industry analyst said that the downstream electronics industry has the dual characteristics of fast update and rapid decline in mature product prices. As the price of downstream products declines, customers will require suppliers to lower prices and pass them upstream to the industry chain.
What's more, mobile phone manufacturers now require touch screen module manufacturers to put the touch screen and LCD screen LCD display together before shipping, and the price of LCD is twice that of touch screen, which is undoubtedly for touch screen module manufacturers. Increased the burden, for touch screen manufacturers, it is particularly important to quickly improve the yield.
For these reasons, touch-screen manufacturers with integrated industry chains are more resistant to risks. Under such a background, the upstream touch component manufacturers want to extend to the downstream business, and the midstream module needs to expand to the upstream business, resulting in a situation of “crowding down”, the market competition is particularly fierce, and product prices plummet.
"The result of the competition is that both lose." A senior executive of a touch-screen upstream manufacturer believes that the best way to solve the disorderly competition in the industry is vertical integration of the industry, rather than rushing to the ground to expand capacity.
(This article comes from: China Touch Screen Network (http://www.51touch.com/) Detailed Source Reference: http://www.51touch.com/touchpanel/news/focus/2013/1126/26594.html)


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VIDEO: Meijer's Clean Diesel Fleet
Posted on March 3, 2014 | 1439 views
Meijer, a Michigan-based chain of supercenter stores, says it was the first fleet in the country to adopt EPA-2010 emissions trucks. That's one reason David Hoover, director of outbound logistics for Meijer, is an HDT 2014 Truck Fleet Innovator. Learn more in this video and in the March issue of HDT.


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This article was taken from the June 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Our second annual survey of the UK's digital power brokers from innovators to investors, meet the people our panel and readers see as key figures in 2011
29: KEVIN COMOLLI & SONALI DE RYCKER
Both partners have an eye for European startups. De Rycker (21 on last year's Wired 100) is on the board of Wonga. Comolli led Accel's investment in Playfish, recently acquired by EA.
28: IAIN DODSWORTH
TweetDeck has become a hugely popular social dashboard, with growing stream-support and iPad and Android versions. UberMedia and T witter have been vying to buy the firm, which accounts for 13 per cent of third-party Twitter apps, for reported sums of up to $50 million (£30m).
27: ERROL DAMELIN
Founder and CEO, Wonga
Damelin's short-term-loans company has faced criticism for its interest rates, but that hasn't bothered users: Wonga recently served its millionth customer, despite its algorithms rejecting 70 percent of loan applicants as unsuitable.
26: KRISTIAN SEGERSTRALE
The London-based Finn scored the biggest social-sports hit last year with his first EA title since Playfish's acquisition, FIFA Superstars. Playfish is the second-largest social-gaming company in the world, with 55 million players every month -- 37 million on Facebook alone.
25: MIKE BUTCHER
Editor, TechCrunch Europe; Cofounder, Techhub
Now part of AOL since it acquired TechCrunch last September, Butcher is the startups' go-to tech journalist. He cofounded the TechHub workspace and was appointed to the mayor of London's Digital Advisory Board.
24: SHERRY COUTU
Entrepreneur and Angel Investor
Few angel investors are so closely linked to so many high-profile projects. Her investments include LOVEFiLM, Zoopla and visual-recognition company Artfinder. She brings Silicon Valley giants to the UK and is on the venture board of Cancer Research UK.
23: HUGO BARRA
Product Management Director for Android at Google
Previously the global head of mobile products in London, Barra was moved back to the mother ship in California in December to oversee Google's expansion into mobile; the company is pushing hard thanks to the rapid growth of the Android market.
22: BRUNO GIUSSANI
European Director of the TED Conferences
Giussani, a Swiss former journalist, curates the annual TEDGlobal conference, now in Edinburgh in July, and runs TED's European activities, which range from TEDx local events to the TED Prize and TED Open Translation.
21: ROBIN KLEIN
Founder, The Accelerator Group
Robin Klein made his first tech investment back in 1998, when the internet was "the information superhighway" and 56K modems were still considered speedy. Through his company, The Accelerator Group, he went on to bankroll some of the UK's most successful net enterprises: LOVEFiLM, Moo and Mind Candy. Now 63, Klein has partnered with Index Ventures, where his son Saul is a partner (see #31), to set up Index Seed, combining the speed of angel finance with Index's institutional investing experience. By the end of 2011 he will have fronted between £31,000 and £620,000 for 20 businesses.
But Klein's career could have been very different. The dotcom crash almost put him off the web: "Frankly, if I hadn't invested in Lastminute.com maybe I would have come out of all that and thought,
'Hey, this isn't a basis for building a business.'"
But having stayed in the game he has developed a personal strategy: follow smart entrepreneurs rather than industry trends. "Great people figure out the right direction," he says. "It's about working with founders, at times very intensively." Laissez-faire Klein is not, getting daily or weekly data on his investments. As chairman of short-term-loans company Wonga, he goes into its office every Wednesday to work with founder Errol Damelin. "I'm in my sixties now and I could have chosen to do much less," says Klein. "I'll continue as long as I can and hope that people will be polite enough to tell me when I'm no longer adding value, so I can go off into the sunset."
20 NATALIE MASSENET
Men have been underserved by fashion e-tail, but Natalie Massenet wants to change that. With the launch of her new site, Mr Porter, in February, Massenet is looking to recreate the success of her female-centred Net-A-Porter -- in which Swiss group Richemont bought a majority share last year, valuing it at £350 million and netting Massenet a reported £50 million. "We felt men's shopping offline and online is a subset of the female shopping experience, and that wasn't doing justice to men," she says. "We thought they deserved their own space."
The site offers high-end clothing with editorial alongside.
Style advice ("Can I wear brown shoes in town?") sits beside interviews with luminaries such as graphic artist Alan Aldridge, and lists of must-buys. "We don't have those sorts of lists with women," says Massenet, 46 and based in London. "For a man, there are different categories he tends to buy in -- the office, the weekend, sports etc -- so we try to tailor for that. The whole thing is combined with content and commerce. We also entertain you, hopefully, and educate you and inspire you like a weekly magazine.
But everything is shoppable." That combination has won her numerous awards, including E-tailer of the Year and an MBE for services to the fashion industry.
Founded 11 years ago in a west London warehouse, Net-A-Porter now has three million users logging on every month from 170 countries and spending an average of £500. The brand launched The Outnet -- a fashion website specialising in end-of-line clothing -- in April 2009. It has built shopping apps for iPad and iPhone, and created four fashion channels streamed through Google TV.
So what's next? "We're launching Net-A-Porter live. This is a super-exciting development where people can see in real time what other people are buying all over the world."
19: NIKLAS ZENNSTROM
Rdio, Zennström's social music service, outran Skype in the race across the Atlantic. His investment fund recently backed style-discovery site Fashiolista to the tune of $500,000 (£307,000), and he's now investing in Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds.
18: ED VAIZEY
Conservative MP, Tech Champion
Vaizey is jointly in charge of implementing the Digital Economy Act, which makes it easier to penalise copyright infringers. As minister for culture, communications and creative industries, he has controversially championed ISPs' right to abandon net neutrality.
17: RESHMA SOHONI
The early-stage-startup investment programme has secured another
€3 million (£2.6 million) in 2011 and continues to expand its reach. Sohoni's team was instrumental in achieving the government's new startup visa, aimed at enticing foreign entrepreneurs to the UK.
16: CHRISTIAN HERNANDEZ GALLARDO
Head of International Business Development, Facebook
Seventy percent of Facebook users are outside the US. Hernandez, formerly of Google, is driving partnerships from London.
15: WARREN EAST
CEO, Arm Holdings
Thanks to soaring sales of ARM-powered mobile devices (over 90 percent of smart mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad carry its chips), the Cambridge-based microprocessor supplier has had a huge year. It shipped more than 4.5 billion processors in 2010; the share price tripled.
14: ASHLEY HIGHFIELD
MD, Microsoft Consumer and Online UK
Highfield commands the UK front as Internet Explorer battles Chrome, Bing squares up to Google, and Windows Phone 7 fights for smartphone market share.
Kinect's success boosted Microsoft revenues this year.
13: STEFAN GLAENZER
ANGEL INVESTOR; CEO AND FOUNDER, WHITE BEAR YARD
The White Bear Yard founder and ex-Last.fm investor backs micropayment service Flattr and academic-software platform Mendeley. His Passion Capital recently announced a $60 million (£37 million) fund.
12: MICHAEL ACTON SMITH
CEO, Mind Candy
Moshi Monsters have broken free of their virtual world and become real-life toys, available as key rings, soft toys, stickers and Top Trumps. Smith predicts that they will help his company bag £60 million in online and physical sales this year. Soon to be TV characters too.
11: DANNY RIMER
Partner, Index Ventures
Having invested in UberMedia, the company reported to be acquiring TweetDeck, Rimer has opened a new office in Silicon Valley and provided capital for Stack Exchange to expand. He was previously a director of Last.fm, LOVEFiLM and Skype.
Check out who and where the rest of 2nd annual Wired 100 are in our other features:


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The Week Ahead: Trader Lifestyle is your preview into what’s coming up in our SPEND section this week. SPEND is all about keeping you up to date with the latest cars, fashion, gadgets, events – basically, all your favourite distractions from the trading screen. And don’t forget to check out @LFXJames‘ Week Ahead: Trading Outlook for everything you need to look out for this week in trading.
This week we’re getting organized, clearing out our offices, drooling over our dream cars from the Geneva Motor Show, reading Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders and keeping on top of the latest news and gadgets. Read on to get involved…
Another Monday… time to get organized for the trading week ahead. Start with our Ten Commandments of an Organized Life for simple ways to keep on top of things, and get your office looking ship-shape with our guide to the Best Office Equipment and Gadgets and you’ll be ready to tackle anything. Monday, let’s go!
The Geneva Motor Show starts on Friday, and it’s shaping up to one of the biggest displays of luxury and performance cars in history. There’ll be over 220 exhibitors from 30 different countries, 900 cars on display and over 100 world debuts. So on Tuesday, we’ll be getting into the spirit of things by taking a look at the cars we’ll be watching out for.
In the meantime, take a look back at the stars of January’s North American International Auto Show, including the Ford GT, Bentley Bentayga and Jaguar XE.
On Wednesday, we’ll be sharing the product or gadget that’s got LFX HQ talking this week in the latest Littlefish Loves feature – and that’s all we can tell you ’til then, it’s top secret for now.
Warren Buffett released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders last weekend (the 50th anniversary edition, no les- so on Thursday, we’re going to be discussing the most important lessons we can all learn from his words of wisdom.
In the meantime, you can find out how Buffett got where he is today (and why he’s one of our trading heroes) in Littlefish Legends #4: Warren Buffett, or read up on some Words of Wisdom from Buffett and other trading and business greats in Words of Wisdom: inspiring quotes from wise owls.
Friday afternoons are all about slacking off while reading the latest hilarious news stories to relay in the pub later and watching the latest viral videos of cats, babies and bad dancing. So to help you out, we’ll be picking out the best weird news stories from around the world in Five Lessons Learnt This Week, and selecting the five best vids that have taken the internet by storm in Viral Videos of the Week.
Plus, our weekly SPEND subscriber email will be going out Friday lunchtime. Subscribe now so you don’t miss out on all the latest in Trader Lifestyle:
[subscribe title=”Fish Feed Email Subscription” text=”Use the form below to sign up to regular updates via email.”]
(Don’t forget to check the ‘SPEND’ box!)
And that’s it from us (for now, anyway). Have a great week all!


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Rotten fish is being sold by rogue mobile sellers to unsuspecting North-east residents, sparking a public health warning.
Trading Standards said it has been made aware of elderly and vulnerable people in the area being pressured into purchasing excessive quantities of mislabelled or rotting fish.
Ron McNaughton, head of the Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit at Food Standards Scotland, said those involved are fraudsters looking for quick profit.
He said: “Those who participate in food fraud have a complete disregard for the public they’re selling to. It is well known that fraudsters may target vulnerable groups who are unable to spot when they are being deceived, this is simply unacceptable.”
Mr McNaughton said the fish sold by the rogue traders poses an obvious risk to human health, coupled with a financial loss.
He said: “A problem like this can have an impact on the whole community, from the consumer purchasing potentially harmful produce, to responsible food businesses whose good reputation often suffers while unscrupulous practitioners are able to profit.”
Wilma Urquhart, trading standards manager, said the group have been running their scam across Scotland, and is urging people to check before they buy.
She added: “There are a few things customers should consider when buying fish including checking that pre-packaged fish is labelled with the type of fish, use by date, weight, storage conditions, name and address of the packer and whether it has been smoked, filleted or frozen.
“We’ve had reports that rogue mobile fish sellers are operating throughout Scotland so if you have bought fish and are concerned about its quality you should contact the Scottish Food Crime Hotline on 0800 028 7926 or the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06.”


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Canadians seem to be treating cannabis more responsibly since legalization, according to the newest cannabis survey from the Government of Canada.
For the past five years, Health Canada has undertaken their Canadian Cannabis Survey in order to track cannabis use and perceptions both before and after legalization.
Although still only three years into legalization, the newest figures paint a picture of more responsible attitudes towards cannabis in Canada, even as reported rates of use increase very slightly.
Note: The annual survey itself highlights that the way they do their polling may result in more pro-cannabis respondents than would be reflected in the general public. Respondents are recruited by mobile and landline telephones and, if they pass a screening test, are sent a link to an online survey. Nonetheless, the figures provide a baseline of data to gauge perceptions and use habits over time.
A few more Canadians admitting to using cannabis
The number of survey respondents who are willing to admit to cannabis use has gone up slightly over the past five years, from 22% in 2017 to 25% in 2021. These rates of increase are seen across three age groups, those 16-19, 20-25, and 25+, and are all well within the margin of error.
Age of Initiation
Although a few more Canadians appear to be consuming cannabis, the average age for a Canadian to be introduced to cannabis has increased since legalization. The 2017 survey showed the average age a Canadian would first be introduced to cannabis was 18.7 years. This number has slowly climbed to 20.4 years of age in 2021.
The number of survey respondents who think cannabis can be habit forming has increased from 77% in 2017 to 89% in 2021. Interestingly, the percentage of those who report using cannabis in the past 12 months has also increased, from 64% saying it can be habit forming in the 2017 survey to 93% in 2021.
New ways to use cannabis
The ways Canadians use cannabis is changing, as well. Although smoking cannabis still remains the most common mode of consumption, the use of vape pens and cannabis oils, edibles, and beverages, as well as inhalable/dabbable concentrates has increased, while smoking has declined.
In the 2017 Canadian Cannabis Survey, 94% of respondents who were consumers reported smoking, 34% reported eating cannabis “in food”, 20% reported using a vape pen and 14% a dry flower vaporizer.
In 2021, Smoking has declined to just 74% of consumers, while 54% now say they also “eat it in food”.
Twenty-eight percent (28%) now also report using a vape pen, 22% report using ingestible oils or capsules, 15% report drinking cannabis beverages, 10% report using a dried flower vaporizer, 9% report using topicals, and 6% report dabbing. (Many of these are new questions not tracked over all five years).
How do Canadians get cannabis?
How Canadians have acquired cannabis has obviously changed as well. While pre-legalization the only legal source for cannabis was through Health Canada’s medical channels, either purchasing from a licensed producer, growing your own, or having someone who grows it for you.
Since October 2018, though, an increasing number of regulated cannabis stores and online platforms exist to also provide access. In addition, illicit market sources continue to change and evolve.
In 2017’s cannabis survey, only 19% of those who reported using cannabis for medical purposes reported getting their cannabis through the then ACMPR medical system (now replaced by the Cannabis Act).
The most common sources for this medical cannabis were from a friend or family member (33%), a compassion club or dispensary (23%), or a “Dealer” (22%).
By 2019, the first full year of legalization, the top sources to obtain cannabis were from a legal storefront (24%), from a friend (22%), from a legal online source (13%), from an illegal storefront (7%), grown by or for them (6%), and from a “dealer” (6%).
More Canadians buying from legal sources
In 2020, those who reported sourcing cannabis from a legal storefront jumped to 71%, while 29% reported purchasing from a legal online source. Six percent (6%) said they grow their own cannabis.
The 2020 report also asked about sources of illicit cannabis, with 58% of respondents who reported using cannabis in the past 12 months saying they bought it from someone they knew. Another 22% said they got it from an illicit online store, 20% from a “dealer”, and 19% from an unlicensed store/dispensary.
By 2021, 81% of those respondents purchasing cannabis were getting at least some of their purchases from a legal storefront. Another 28% reported using a legal online source while 6% still report growing at home.
In 2020, of those respondents who reported sourcing their cannabis from illicit sources, 58% say they purchased it from someone they knew, 22% from an online store like an MoM, 20% from a “dealer”, and 19% from an illicit store/dispensary.
These numbers held more or less the same in 2021, except for sales at unlicensed stores dropping to 11%. It’s also worth noting that some consumers may believe an illicit storefront or even an online store they are purchasing from is legal, which could skew these numbers.
Attitudes about driving and using cannabis have changed over the past five years, too. Although there was considerable concern from law enforcement and some politicians that cannabis-impaired driving would increase with legalization, those reporting having done so have actually decreased.
In 2017, 39% of survey respondents who had used cannabis in the past 12 months had driven within two hours of using cannabis, with 40% of those saying they had done so in the past 30 days. By 2021 that had cut by nearly half, with just 21% reporting having driven within two hours of consuming cannabis, and only 35% reporting having done so in the past 30 days.


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A new campaign by Tobacco Free Florida is offering a gift card incentive for eligible participants to encourage people to quit smoking.
From now through Friday, March 31, new participants in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties can receive a gift card for joining one of two programs through Tobacco Free Florida while supplies last. At the end of the quarter, participants in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties will be offered the same incentive from Saturday, April 1 until Friday, June 30 while supplies last.
“The incentive program is just a way to bring attention and a resource to people who are struggling to quit tobacco. It is our hopes that by providing this incentive that they will take the opportunity to use the resource of the incentive to help them in their quit journey,” said LaToya Livingston, tobacco program director.
Smoking adults can join Tobacco Free Florida’s in-person and virtual Group Quit sessions. Those looking to quit can participate in a two-hour single session and receive a $50 gift card or attend a four-week program that meets for an hour once a week and receive up to $125 in gift cards. For the four-week program, participants will receive a $50 gift card for the first session and a $25 gift card for each of the next three sessions they attend.
The nine-county gift-card incentive was made possible with a $2.7 million grant from the Florida Department of Health. The Area Health Education Center in the USF College of Medicine received the grant to support the incentive program. Livingston and her team hope to see a 35 percent increase in the number of participants in their programs following the gift card incentive.
Tobacco Free Florida offers free programs to support those on their journey to quitting tobacco. While the incentive program is only available for a limited time and while supplies last, people can seek free resources and support groups through the organization.
For more information on Tobacco Free Florida or on how to quit smoking, visit https://tobaccofreeflorida.com/.


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Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Graeme Samuel speaks to The Business
The campaign for a crackdown on fees and charges at airports is taking off. Ride share providers, retailers and rental car operators have now joined the airlines' campaign for the government to limit price increases by airports.
Former ACCC commissioner Graeme Samuel is leading the charge for airlines against the airports.


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Kyle Torpey 02/09/2014 News,
Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox web browser and Firefox OS, recently launched its first smartphones in India for the affordable price of $33. The phone is known as the Intex Cloud FX, and it could do more for Bitcoin adoption in the developing world than any of the high-profile startups in Silicon Valley.
After all, how are these people who are in desperate need of access to banking, online commerce, and hedges against inflation supposed to use Bitcoin if they aren’t connected at all times? Although Bitcoin is already available to feature phone users through text messaging, these new phones from Mozilla allow individuals to have more control over their bitcoins.
Mozilla’s Plan for Developing Nations
Mozilla featured the Bitcoin logo in a 2013 video advertisement.
Although the Intex Cloud FX is the first smartphone running Firefox OS in Asia, Mozilla has already launched similar phones in various countries around South America, Latin America, and Europe. The company plans to stick to the low-end smartphone model, and it could be a serious challenger to Google’s AndroidOne program. In addition to offering their affordable smartphones in India, Mozilla also hopes to launch products in Russia and Africa before the end of the year. It will be interesting to see how Mozilla’s first foray into India’s smartphone market could affect the decisions of mobile providers in other nations. After seeing the launch of their first devices running Firefox OS in 2013, the wireless phone companies in South Africa did not seem impressed


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Amazon makes Alexa more expressive with new 'skills,' assistant to be 'more human'
Users of Amazon's artificial intelligence-driven smart speaker may soon be able to hear an entirely different sounding Alexa in the coming days. Amazon has announced that they will be implementing a number of new speaking skills for the virtual assistant, which are aimed at making her sound more human.
Some of the changes that will be implemented will allow Alexa to whisper, pause for emphasis, and adjust the pitch and volume of her voice for specific words and phrases. Developers may also program Alexa to "bleep" out certain offensive words to make the device more child-friendly. App developers for Alexa will reportedly be getting access to a brand new type of standardized markup language, called Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML), which can be used to alter Alexa's voice in certain situations.
There are of course an unlimited amount of things developers can use the new markup for that may include new "skills" apps for Alexa. According to Tech Crunch, Alexa already has a pleasing personality, to begin with, but the virtual assistant can sound quite monotonous and robotic at times, especially when she is reading long lines of text and neglects to take pauses and breaks, which is unnatural for humans. Amazon wants to change this by allowing developers to have Alexa pause or break at appropriate points as well as change her tone depending on the context of what she is reading out.
In addition, Amazon has also implemented new "speechcons" to the virtual assistant, which are basically words that need to be expressed in a more colorful way as per a report from GSM Arena. Alexa pronounces and says these words differently, which is of course aimed at making her sound more engaging and natural. Words such as "ahem," "eureka," "wow," "yay," abracadabra," and other terms are automatically pronounced differently. Amazon is also expanding this to include regionally specific expressions such as "Blimey," "Bob's your uncle," "Donnerwetter," and other language-specific expressions.


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Well, that took no time at all. On May 19, 2021, the first class action was filed against the owners of the Colonial Pipeline by a putative class of customers, based on alleged elevated fuel prices as a result of the cyberattack. Consumers are obviously the end-point of this and almost any supply chain, but there are bound to be B2B lawsuits as well, by entities at both ends of this critical supply chain point. We’ll be tracking these, so stay tuned!
Read the full article here.


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Williams Senior Thrift is making a difference in the community
WILLIAMS, Ariz. — Great clothes and unique finds can be found at many thrift stores, but the Williams Senior Thrift Shop is unique because it not only sells needed items, but also donates its proceeds back to the community.
The shop opened nearly 30 years ago and has been managed by volunteer Mary Martin for the past eight years.
“Everything goes to charity. None of us get paid in there,” Martin said.
Along with Martin, Kathy Dalton, Mona Martinez and Vicki Cahill keep the shop running.
Over the years, the shop has donated to numerous charities including Williams High School, Williams Elementary-Middle School, Heritage Elementary, Head Start, Williams Little League, Williams Police Department, Williams Volunteer Fire Department, High Country Fire Rescue, Williams Public Library, Williams Aquatic Center, Williams Kiwanis Club, Williams Mountain Men, the Greater Williams Community Fund, the Williams Senior Center, Calvary Chapel, Williams Animal Action Group, disabled veterans, Habitat for Humanity, Hope For The World and Save-Meant-to-Rescue.
“We want to thank everyone for their donations of items and money, and for our faithful customers,” Martin said.
The shop does not accept furniture or appliances because of space, but takes anything else as long as it’s in good condition, Martin said.
Donations can be brought directly to the shop during open hours, or left in front of the outside shed or under the porch if weather is harsh.
The shop also accepts monetary donations.
“Right now our store is absolutely thriving because people cannot afford to go to Flagstaff anymore to buy things,” Martin said. “We saw kids get used items for Christmas presents, and they were very happy with that.”
The next plans for the thrift shop is purchasing tables for the city of Williams.
“They don’t have enough. Whenever something’s going on, the city is running around gathering up more tables,” Martin said.
Profits from the thrift store allow Martin and the rest of the team to make a difference in the community.
When asked what her favorite part about the thrift shop was, Martin replied with, “everything.”
“I just love these old folks. I love the young folks that come in,” Martin said. “I find that the kids in Williams are very unspoiled. They’re not used to demanding the best of everything and brand names. They’re just happy with what they get from the thrift store that their parents buy for them. That’s wonderful.”
Williams Senior Thrift Shop is located inside the Williams Senior Center.
“What people don’t realize is the food nutrition program is run by the county. We’re just in the city building, so we are separated,” Martin said. “All the donations come from the thrift store. And we even donate to the nutrition program sometimes if we want to have a party or want desserts and ice cream or something different than what the county wants to pay for.”
The Thrift Shop can be found at 850 W Grant Ave. They are currently operating under their winter hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays.


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It was just announced that Vizmo is one of the 25 finalists of the annual Israel National Entrepreneurship Contest (BizTec). We are very excited about this.
The selection was made by the BizTec judges- a group of serial entrepreneurs, angel investors, VCs and industry experts.
Founded in 2002, BizTec is Israel's most prestigious startup contest, funded by Intel Capital, Canaan Venture Partners, the Technion and more.
We're looking forward to participate in the finals in June.


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Recently, LG announced that their dual-screen smartphone will be ready for release next month. Yesterday, their patent for a specially designed foldable phone was approved. The device bears resemblance to the Samsung Galaxy Fold, but with a Z-Fold folding system.
The design patent was filed in China on 6th March 2019, and included 18 sketches of a rectangular-shaped folding device with two displays; one of which is a flexible screen.
The smartphone unfolds according to the Z-Fold principle, which is also used in brochures for the retail trade.
After you unfold the phone, you’ll see a flexible screen which is twice the length of a regular screen and folds open in width like a tablet.
Additionally, the housing accommodates a second display, which is half the size of the flexible main display. This allows you to create an even wider screen surface.
The second display also serves as a front display. Because of its unique hinge, the front screen bends to become a part of the inside main display.
The smartphone looks like it accommodates a dual camera on the back, but shows no sign of a front-facing camera. This makes it likely that the company are working on incorporating an under-screen camera, and possibly under-screen fingerprint sensor too.
In the sketches, two physical buttons can be seen on the right of the phone. The bottom shows a microphone and speaker, but no 3.5 mm headphone jack or USB-C port; suggesting that the device can only be charged wirelessly.
Check out the patent here.


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Boasting exponential growth since its inception in 2012, Jumia became the first e-commerce site to bring the coveted Play Station 4 to Nigeria.
The company announced the offering after just two days of the release in the US.
The Nigerian would-be Amazon is following the global giant’s footsteps in becoming a super networked business, although there is still a long way to go.
Jumia started with a relatively similar aim and manifesto to Amazon, which puts customers at the heart of its operation.
In the same vein, the Nigerian site also reaps benefits from being one of the pioneers in Africa’s emerging online retail market. “Being first is good, but it is not everything.
What fuels Jumia’s success so far is somewhat akin to Amazon’s evolution into a Five-star business network” – said Vivek Sood, CEO of Global Supply Chain Group.
Jumia is not shy of innovation either, given the fact that people are still skeptical about online retailing as well as online payment in Africa.
The Lagos-based retailer launched a range of online payment options but steers its technology-shy consumers by accepting cash on delivery and offering free returns.
“It’s very important that people know it’s not a scam,” said co-founder Tunde Kehinde.
They even take a step further and deploy a direct sales team of 200 to educate Nigerians about secure online shopping, which also serves as a means to build trust.
Now with pick-up stations spanning over 6 locations, a warehouse facility, 200 delivery vehicles in Nigeria and 4 other country-specific microsites,
Jumia seriously strives to become a one stop shop for retail in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Here you are collecting cash and reconciling payments almost like a bank desk, here you are building a logistics company,” said co-founder Raphel Afaedor.
Both co-founders and Harvard Business School graduates built the business from $75 billion in funding and are bringing “a couple of million” dollars in monthly revenue, a growth rate of nearly 20%.
Vivek Sood, author of the book “Move Beyond the Traditional Supply Chains: The 5-STAR Business Network”, said:
“Jumia is taking the right steps towards building the five cornerstones of a super networked business: innovation, efficiency, profitability maximisation, product phasing and result-oriented outsourcing.
With the promising results so far, perhaps we could see the next perfect example of a 5-star business network besides Amazon.”


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Apple has launched its latest device iPhone 11 Pro and the wait is over now for the iPhone lovers who have been eagerly waited for this device since its launching announcement declare. One of the best things about this device and why all the people are crazy to buy this newly released iPhone 11 pro? Here, is the reason that It will be the first-ever iPhone by Apple which supports dual physical SIM. And the other thing if you guys noted out that Apple makes a change in its model name that is previously released all the iPhones have their model name in roman numbers like iPhone XI, XI Pro, and XI Max.
But this newly released device has its something different name like all other mobile making companies used these types of names to give their devices. Here, the naming of the latest Apple iPhones is iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone 11 instead of the roman numbers. Moreover, the Apple iPhone 11 Pro will come with a triple rear camera and the latest iOS 13 update with amazing UI and new wallpapers. So download the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max wallpapers from this site.
Specification Of The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max
The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max variants to come with a 6.5-inch Super Retina OLED display with a resolution of 2224 X 1668 pixels. Whereas, the iPhone 11 comes with a 6.1-inch PS LCD capacitive touchscreen panel. These all three devices have storage from 4GB or 6GB RAM and 128GB/256GB/512GB storage.
How To Download iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max Wallpapers
Here, you can download the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max official wallpapers and leaked wallpapers in high resolution of 1436 x 3113 from the launch event at Apple website. Here, we have some preview images of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max wallpapers.
here, we have a Zip file for you where you can download the zip files from below to your device, and extract it to your devices, and set your favourite lock screen and home screen wallpaper.


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The Attacat Month In Numbers – March 2011
Attacat have recently launched the new InTime Data website. InTime Data are one of the UK’s largest survey companies and provide a wide range of both commercial and medical surveys. Attacat specified the website by providing wire-frames and copy writing services as well as managing the web development project for InTime […]
Back in December I blogged about the importance of local search, and promised a follow up post about Google’s new local ad product – Google Boost. Boost was initially launched in selected U.S. cities in October 2010 and rolled out across the rest of the U.S. in late January. It is now being tested […]
A few interesting local search statistics.
The Attacat Team could take your
web presence forward


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Statista - 10/03/2014
Online statistics portal, Statista, notified customers of a data breach that occurred with their system. The breach was noticed when the company internally started receiving spam emails. The company investigated and approximately 50,000 of its customers username and password combination were compromised.The company has not said whether or not the breach goes beyond access to username and passwords, but at present, this seems to be all that has been affected.The company notified users almost immediately and assured them that the compromised passwords "cannot be used by third parties due to masking procedures". The company did not encourage customers to change their passwords. Experts are questioning how secure the passwords are for those that created accounts prior to December 2013 and have stated that "the passwords of those who signed up before this data were stored in the Statista database as MD5 hashes. As many experts will tell you, MD5 passwords can be easily cracked". The main risk for those affected would be a higher incidence of spam and phishing emails, potentially impersonating Statista.


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Sen. Tom Coburn’s yearly ‘Wastebook’ cites 100 examples, big and small, of questionable government spending like a $347,000 alternative medicine grant to measure the benefits of massage on rabbits.
When Aldon Rutherford spends time at his ranch he comes home with good memories, beautiful pictures and, last August, two tick bites.
Barbecue is a serious business here in the Lone Star State and Texans have been going hog wild over pulled pork, so check out these great DFW restaurants to get your fix.
Federal health officials say a Dallas-based meat distributor is recalling about 8,200 pounds of beef and pork products because they weren’t inspected and were improperly labeled.
Pitmasters from Oklahoma and Texas rolled into downtown Dallas with their smokers and secret recipes and began cooking pork ribs for Round One of the 2012 Texas Oklahoma Red River Barbecue Shootout.
Republicans vying to for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison squared off in Dallas Wednesday. But the frontrunner, David Dewhurst, chose not to attend.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service will announce Tuesday that it has lowered its temperature recommendation for cooking pork to 145 degrees.


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Meal deliverers misleading clients with hidden service costs; unrealistic offer
Meal deliverers mislead customers in multiple ways, Consumentenbond said based on its own research. For example, Deliveroo and Uber Eats hide service costs, and Uber Eats makes its range of restaurants appear much larger than it actually is, the consumers' association said.
Companies are legally obliged to clearly state all costs in advance, but with Deliveroo and Uber Eats, these "only appear like a jack in a box at checkout," according to Consumentenbond. "It is therefore not immediately clear to consumers how much they have spent on their order."
Uber Eats shows consumers restaurants at a distance of up to 30 kilometers away from them. This makes it seem like customers can choose from many more restaurants than they actually can. Deliveroo's offer also sometimes seems larger than it is.
According to Consumentenbond, Thuisbezorgd.nl does not mislead its customers, but it does have a price guarantee that it often doesn't live up to. According to the company, a meal would never be more expensive than when ordered directly from the restaurant. But during a sample check, that promise turned out to be false in almost half of the cases, Consumentenbond said.
Thuisberzorgd.nl said it is happy "that the Consumentenbond recognizes our transparency," but its conclusion about the price guarantee is incorrect. "The price guarantee of Thuisbezorgd.nl applies to the delivery price list of a restaurant and not to the takeout price list," a spokesperson said.
The Consumentenbond said it indeed compared Thuisberzorgd.nl's prices with the restaurants' delivery list. "You have to either keep the promise or not make it at all," a spokesperson for the consumer's union said.
Deliveroo said it is transparent and honest about the costs it charges, including delivery and service costs. "These are made clear to the customer before a customer places an order on the 'basket' page. We also clearly explain how these service costs are calculated in our app, in our 'frequently asked questions, and in our terms and conditions."
Uber Eats said it would study the Consumentenbond's conclusions. "Because there should be no surprises for users who order a meal, we always show the service fee clearly before an order is settled. The number of restaurants shown obviously depends on the search filter that the user sets, so we don't recognize ourselves in the image that misleading numbers are shown there," said Uber Eats.
Consumentenbond shared the results of its investigation with the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets.


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A former professional poker player, Mauro Velazquez, is intending to work with his earnings to produce a new sport which will let bitcoin to collect from real-world places.
The sport, Coinding, was created to be virtual scavenger hunt (similar to Geo-Caching) with gamers finding and gathering bitcoin from places around the world. Gamers will undoubtedly have the ability to regain bitcoin deposited about the roads by the game’s developers, or collect them by completing challenges. Mauro Velazquez, Coinding’s Argentinean creator, said:
“We are using the capacity to give away fragments of bitcoins to ensure more folks may go into the bitcoin economy prior to going through the barrier of actually risking cash to purchase them.”
Velazquez said he had a-team of 8 working on the sport, which will be planned for launch in 90 days. It will not be unavailable on iOS and Android.
Coinding is planned to enter a shut testing stage in three weeks, Velazquez said. Presently, users may join up with the mailing list and area bitcoin in places of their choice of the startup’s. The sport will likely be count on CoinMap to furnish its information. CoinMap is a popular open source map of real-world places that take bitcoin.
According to Velazquez, Coinding’s deposit of bitcoin will come from a number of resources, including benefits in the developers and businesses who want to entice bitcoin users with their institutions.
Coinding is uncommon, as it is a bitcoin startup that isn’t directly involved in the storage, creation or supply of bitcoin. Velazquez said:
“All of that’s essential, but there’s today a need for second-level start ups that take advantage of the huge benefits these core businesses are supplying.”
A Lucky Hand
Velazquez was operating on Battlepro, a company when he discovered bitcoin combining games and cash. Battlepro, that was nevertheless being analyzed, was made to let cash is competed for by professional video gamers. It was recommended as a “universal ability-based gaming site”.
However, 8 weeks ago, Velazquez discovered bitcoin from Casares, the chief executive a cellular digital wallet app, of Lemon Wallet.
“We started becoming more and more involved in the bitcoin universe and seeing how it could change how practically everything works,” Velazquez said.
Velazquez decided to abandon Battlepro and concentrate the efforts of his team’s on a bitcoin- related merchandise, which became Coinding.
Read more on Best Poker Rooms with Bitcoin.


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Earlier this month BlackBerry announced its new phablet, the BlackBerry Z30, in Malaysia. The company didn’t exactly say when this device would be released in North America. Well, here’s a sign that the release just might be around the corner. BlackBerry’s new phablet has made the customary FCC pit stop, it needs approval from this regulatory body to be sold in the market. A GSM version that has passed through touts 4G LTE support on both 1,700MHz and 2,600MHz bands, which hints that the device may be coming to major Canadian carriers such as Bell, Rogers and Telus soon.
This particular model does not have support for the 700MHz and 1,700MHz 3G that AT&T and T-Mobile would require, respectively. Moreover, the rumored Verizon branded model which was pictured recently hasn’t made the FCC stop as yet. It is not known at this point in time which of the remaining major U.S. carriers will be offering this device, no confirmation has been received from any one of them as yet. It also remains to be seen if BlackBerry will directly sell an unlocked GSM version of the Z30 through its website. We reported yesterday that the company has once again started direct online sales, it is currently selling the Z10 and Q10 through its website, in the U.S.


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In a major relief to domestic steel producers, the government on Monday announced the levy of 20 per cent safeguards duty on steel imports of certain specified standards.
Last week The Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) on Monday said it is likely to impose a safeguard duty on imported hot-rolled steel flats and coils of 600 mm or more width, in order to protect domestic steel makers from dumping of the product by exporters from countries such as China, South Korea, Japan and Russia (See: India weighs safeguard duty on steel as imports surge).
The levy of 20-per cent safeguard duty is applicable on imports of hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and alloy steel in coils of width of 600 mm or above.
The duty, which is based on the value of the product concerned, will be valid for a period of 200 days, a finance ministry release stated.
The safeguards duty, announced by the Director General of Safeguards, followed investigations into alleged imports of cheap products and preliminary finding of injury caused to domestic industry.
The safeguards duty is being imposed amidst a downturn in global metal prices, which has already dented the wholesale price index for 'basic metals, alloys and metal products' – which forced a 1.9 per cent downward revision in August.
While steel prices have been falling since October 2014, the decline accelerated since June this year amidst a global slump when producers started dumping steel on other markets.
The Directorate General of Safeguards had, on 9 September, recommended imposition of safeguard duty on hot-rolled flat steel products for 200 days. Hot-rolled steel products account for almost 80 per cent of India's steel imports.
Meanwhile, domestic producers of aluminium met finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday to seek relief, even as it had started cutting production.
Steel makers have managed to get a safeguard duty even while the market share of imports remains at 12
The aluminium industry claims that it is worse off than the steel industry as cheaper imports have taken a market share of 56 per cent against the 12 per cent share of imported products for the steel industry.


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Companies worldwide are exploring the adoption of blockchain, which enables all participants in a business network share a system of record, offers scalability and is low cost
The financial world’s excitement over adopting the cryptocurrency Bitcoin has undoubtedly see-sawed ever since the code was first released on 9 January 2009 by a person who assumed the name, Satoshi Nakamoto (http://bit.ly/21pI0gT).
However, there is no such uncertainty among companies globally when it comes to exploring the adoption of blockchain—the underlying technology that powers Bitcoin.
Banks and financial institutions have clearly been the first movers. Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. (RBS), for instance, is aiming to pilot a service based on blockchain technology. Visa Inc. is planning to use blockchain to improve its digital payments processes. ICICI Bank Ltd, India’s largest private bank, too is gearing up to use blockchain technology (http://bit.ly/1TSKr95) to make banking more robust and secure.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger shared via a peer-to-peer network that maintains an expanding list of data records. Each participant has a copy of the ledger’s data, giving everyone a ledger that reflects the most recent transactions or changes. Thus, blockchain reduces the need for establishing trust using traditional methods. Blockchain acts as an open ledger and reduces the duplication of access to data or checking of data. The other benefits are scalability and lower cost.
Blockchain holds the potential for all participants in a business network to share a system of record. This replicated, shared ledger provides consensus, provenance, immutability and finality around the transfer of assets within business networks—reducing costs, complexity and time, underpinning shared, trusted processes, enabling trusted record-keeping and improving discoverability, according to a January Finextra white paper by International Business Machines Corp. (IBM).
The benefits of blockchain are not restricted to banking and financial institutions. Blockchain has been recognized as a “game-changing digital technology for enterprise transformation", according to a January report by IT services provider Persistent Sytems Ltd. With good reason.
Many companies are trying to build applications on top of blockchain to offer solutions across industries. Consider the case of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M), which has identified pilots in financial services, supply chain, solar charging and electric vehicle charging, among others, where it can use blockchain technology (http://bit.ly/1U4xYCl).
For instance, in automobiles, if there’s a potential part failure, you can use blockchain to know exactly who supplied that part, etc.—traceability becomes much easier.
On 23 September, coindesk.com reported (http://bit.ly/2d9l5rx) that the world’s largest mining firm by market value—BHP Billiton—intends to begin using the Ethereum (a blockchain custom-built by Switzerland-based Ethereum Foundation) to improve its supply chain processes by recording “movements of wellbore rock and fluid samples and better secure the real-time data that is generated during delivery".
Even governments have realised the value of blockchains. Australia Post has set out a plan to use Blockchain in election voting while Estonia is already using Blockchain in its tax and business registration systems. And so are other governments like the US, UK, Russia, Sweden and Singpaore (http://bit.ly/2bxhOg1).
On 1 May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Delaware, the US state that incorporates the most public companies, is exploring the use of blockchain technology to move more of its paperwork to cheaper systems.
The very next day, coindesk.com reported that the Commonwealth Secretariat, the executive arm of the 53-member Commonwealth of Nations, launched a blockchain-powered secure communication tool geared for governments and law enforcement agencies.
Developed in partnership with UK-based start-up Digital Identity Security Company (DISC), the project is designed to offer a secure means of communication for government and law enforcement agencies within the Commonwealth.
It’s no surprise, then, that venture capitalists and companies are increasing their investments in blockchain. The total venture capital investment in bitcoin and blockchain start-ups exceeded $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2016, according to coindesk.com.
IBM, on its part, has earmarked $200 million for a decentralized and distributed Internet of Things (IoT) platform incorporating the blockchain database technology. Information technology services firms Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Infosys Ltd and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., too, have boosted investment in blockchain technology and are exploring ways to build applications around it.
The success of blockchain lies in the fact that it establishes trust, accountability and transparency. “In a blockchain you have to get to a ‘truth’, and that’s the trust model also known as consensus," explained Gururaj Rao, an IBM Fellow. Consensus is a method for validating the order of requests, or transactions (deploy and invoke), on a blockchain network. One way to do that, he added, is by using the PBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance) algorithm.
“There was the BFT, Byzantine Fault Tolerant model, and then there is a practical version of it (PBFT), and now that’s going to be further improved in terms of the efficiency," Rao said.
Companies across sectors will begun adopting blockchain technology faster if the blockchain records are “encrypted and digitally signed", Rao suggest. “Blockchain records must have access policy, privacy and confidentiality," he insists.
Rao points out that companies that want to adopt blockchain technology must first identify the problem they are trying to solve. They should also “have the awareness of what a smart contract can do".
The other part, he says, is around deployment—what deployment model do you want? Is it something that requires a high security business network? Is it something that needs to be on-premise? Is it something that can be a managed service, meaning cloud?"
Rao advocates an “OpenSource" model to establish a common foundation for blockchain systems, which can enable interoperability and allow businesses and organizations to build applications on top of that foundation for specific industries. IBM, for instance, is a founding member of the Hyperledger project—a Linux Foundation collaborative project whose 81 members include Accenture Plc., Intel Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co—which is developing a blockchain atop Ethereum, according to a 4 October report by Fortune (http://for.tn/2durOtA).
The Hyperledger project (https://www.hyperledger.org/about) was set up to advance blockchain technology by identifying and addressing important features for a cross-industry open standard for distributed ledgers that can transform the way business transactions are conducted globally. According to Tapscott Group chief executive Don Tapscott, blockchains could revolutionize the world economy.
In an interview with McKinsey’s Rik Kirkland (http://bit.ly/1s2rrMp), Tapscott explains how blockchains may facilitate collaboration and tracking of all kinds of transactions and interactions. Tapscott, co-author of the new book Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business, and the World, also believes that blockchain could offer genuine privacy protection and “a platform for truth and trust".
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By: Vincenzo Morello
Toronto lost $8.35 billion in economic activity from tourist spending due to the travel restrictions and lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis Destination Toronto released on Thursday.
The analysis found that the industries most affected by the reduction in tourism spending were retail, which had a $1.67 billion loss in economy activity, food and beverage lost $1.3 billion, accommodations lost $1.2 billion and attractions and entertainment lost $707 million.
“Simply stated, 380,000 attendees didn’t come to Toronto over the past year. As a result, they didn’t stay in hotels or visit attractions, didn’t spend money in our retail shops, or eat in our restaurants,” Scott Beck, the president and chief executive officer of Destination Toronto said.
“Prior to the pandemic, Toronto had been riding a wave of momentum and experienced annual growth in visitor spending for over a decade.”
The analysis from Destination Toronto stemmed from a visitor economy study that was produced by Tourism Toronto in partnership with the Toronto Region Board of Trade and released in 2019. According to the study, Toronto’s 27.5 million visitors generated an economic impact of $10.3 billion and supported 70,000 jobs.
Another sector that was hit hard by the pandemic was the meetings and events industry. Destination Toronto tracked 463 conferences and events that were cancelled or postponed since the pandemic began, costing $833 million in losses.
“We are working non-stop to get through this pandemic so that we can safely restart and reopen our city,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “One of the hardest hit areas during the pandemic has been the hospitality and tourism sector but I am absolutely confident that this sector will come back strong with more jobs than ever before.”
Destination Toronto works in partnership with the City of Toronto, the Greater Toronto Hotel Association and the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries to market and promote the city to global travellers.


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Adweek's annual #Brandweek summit will explore the ideas behind breakthrough successes, discuss solutions to pressing challenges and explore new opportunities in the Metaverse. Join leaders from Alo Yoga, Hyundai Motor America, Frito-Lay and more, Sept. 12–16 in Miami. Sign up early to save.
How can marketers establish working creative relationships in ways that feel authentic to both brands and diverse collaborators? Experts from YouTube and Google had a lot to share on the subject during this year’s IAB NewFronts.


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Community Design With A Side of Pie
The space is used as a headquarters for Project M- a small group of creatives are selected every year as part of the project team to travel to different locations, identify a problem, and solve it.
"On May 1 of this year, Brian Jones was among the group of four designers who arrived in Alabama after attending an M Blitz in Maine during the month of March that launched a movement called Free Pie. "Free Pie was designed to gather people together with pie in an effort to promote conversations with neighbors and strangers, and to bring humanity back into downtown areas," he says. "We used real plates and utensils from a thrift store to reduce waste and to encourage everyone to hang around and talk." It created such a successful, instant community for the small town, they decided to continue the experiment in Alabama, where a new group of designers would be arriving in June for a month-long session."


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One of Boson Protocol’s technology chiefs claims the metaverse has reached the point of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ it will dominate the future of commerce.
Holly Atkinson, Head of Metaverse Technology, has been researching what mainstream use of the metaverse could mean for advertising and marketing.
Recently, Boson Protocol announced it had built Boson Portal – a sort of ‘virtual mall’ for Decentraland users to browse virtual items in the metaverse and have the physical item delivered to their door.
Atkinson told Coin Rivet the metaverse can be viewed as a new iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe.
“It has often been defined as an alternate digital reality where people can socialise and play,” she explained.
“The term originated in a 1992 science fiction novel titled ‘Snow Crash’, but its meaning is evolving far beyond the initial notion of the convergence of physical and virtual realities.”
She said that, 20 years ago, it was unlikely advertisers would have believed you if you told them they would be spending such a significant amount of their budget on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Yet in the last decade, online platforms have become the lifeblood of countless companies, allowing them to reach much wider and targeted audiences than ever before.
“Projected global social media advertising revenue of $153.7bn in 2021 is expected to grow to $229.6bn in 2025,” she said.
“It might seem like a pie in the sky notion when we hear people saying how the metaverse will change the way companies and consumers interact.
“However, in the past few months, we have already reached a point where the question is not whether the dominance of the metaverse is going to happen, it is a question of when that is going to happen.”
Atkinson further stressed that great examples can be seen in everyday life.
“Fashion conglomerates such as Gucci, Vans and Ralph Lauren have each already demonstrated their commitment to the metaverse via their respective entries into the space,” she described.
“Gaming platform Roblox, seen as darlings of the metaverse, are valued at a whopping near-$50bn.”
She also added that near-million dollar virtual land purchases in the likes of Decentraland – an open metaverse – were on the rise, while the company’s market cap increased five times in the wake of Facebook’s Meta announcement.
Atkinson also stressed that if companies want to be prepared for the future, they will need to adapt their businesses to take advantage of the metaverse sooner rather than later.
Metaverse enables new experiences for buyers and sellers
Atkinson said around 86% of Gen Z members nowadays use their mobile devices as gaming platforms.
“In addition to this, an estimated 18% of people in the United States will be users of virtual reality (VR) technology in 2021,” she added.
“Gaming and VR industries are rapidly on the rise and will give way to even more immersive experiences within the metaverse, presenting new opportunities for marketers and advertisers. ”
Atkinson also pointed out that the metaverse enables new and exciting experiences for both buyers and sellers that have never before existed. In-store retail allows customers to visit a shop, outlet, or a fashion show to participate in or experience any brand activation or a related event hosted by the brands themselves.
“The advent of the metaverse removes the need to go in store and allows brands to have direct contact with their customers without requiring intermediaries,” she explained.
“Virtual fashion shows within the metaverse are already a reality, but they are by no means the extent of what the metaverse makes possible.
“For example, companies can now advertise within the metaverse by working with a company called ‘Metaverse Billboards’.
“The composable nature of the metaverse means that any sort of advertising campaign or activation activity is possible – all we need is to bring together the brightest minds in creativity and technology.”
She also suggested that, within the metaverse, items could be displayed in an entirely new and immersive way.
“Imagine being able to try on outfits at a virtual store before you buy them for both your avatar and your wardrobe, or complete an in-game quest to win a unique pair of highly-sought-after shoes,” she elaborated.
“All of these monumental advances towards bridging the gap between the digital and the physical can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home, which is particularly relevant in the times we live in where travel is still restricted in many parts of the world.”
Atkinson argued that the version of ourselves we present in traditional social media is somewhat rooted in reality.
“Within the metaverse, consumers can present a version of themselves that is not constrained by physical boundaries but only limited only by the boundaries of their imaginations,” she says.
“The technology now exists to allow individuals to buy a virtual product for their avatars within the metaverse, and then purchase a physical representation of that item in the real world.
“Brands that offer consumers the opportunity to make such in-game purchases redeemable in store have a unique chance to create new, lasting brand relationships with digital citizens never experienced before.”
Lessons to be learned from Facebook
The convergence of massive fashion and technology companies moving into the space will, said Atkinson, undoubtedly have a profound impact on the space itself.
“For example, Mark Zuckerberg’s rebranding announcement saw a massive uptick in searches of the term ‘metaverse’, and his entry into the space will have reverberations for some time to come.”
This has, according to her, evoked justified concerns; the idea of creating a limitless world merging the digital and the physical should be actualised openly, free from the domination of big tech companies, lest this alternate reality becomes controlled by centralised oligopolies, similarly to the world of social media.
Still, she stressed, there are lessons to be learned from Facebook’s successful experience in transforming digital advertising and offering companies an opportunity to vastly increase ROI and communicate with consumers in new ways.
“The metaverse is already upon us, and for brands, retailers and consumers alike, there is an immense opportunity not to be missed,” she concluded.
Holly has been working in the blockchain space as a developer for a number of years with companies such as The Sandbox, Tracr, and Ørsted.
She is also a physicist and member of Meta Gamma Delta DAO which supports women-led projects in Web3.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.


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Feb 17, 2010
China is no stranger to food safety scares but the latest case of dodgy products has grabbed more attention than most. That's because it involves American soft drink giant Coca-Cola.
The company is assisting the Chinese police in an investigation into two cases of alleged mercury poisoning in customers who drank cans of the company's Sprite lemonade.
The two incidents, which took place three months apart in Beijing, have received high-profile coverage in local media.
The company issued a statement ruling out contamination at its Beijing bottling plant, adding that it believed a third party had "maliciously" added the mercury after the canning process.
Tags: Coca-Cola,Food Safety,Sprite Lemonade,Mercury


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Ludorum, creators of preschool TV series “Chuggington” has partnered with online shopping destination Gilt Groupe for a five-day retail event on Gilt Baby & Kids. The sale will take place May 6-11, just before National Train Day on May 12. Products will include toys, DVDs, puzzles, games and bedding. Customers will also have the opportunity to purchase the new Chuggington DVD, “Wilson and the Ice Cream Fair,” before it hits retail on May 15. The third season of “Chuggington” premiered in the U.S. March 26, with new episodes airing through 2013.
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