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How Many Days Until Sept 19 2021
How Many Days Until Sept 19 2021 – Among asset classes, Bitcoin has the most volatile trading history. The first significant increase in the price of crypto was in 2010 when the price of one bitcoin fell from a penny to $0.09.
Cryptocurrency has gone through many rallies and crashes since its inception. This article provides an insight into Bitcoin’s volatility and some of the reasons why its price does so.
How Many Days Until Sept 19 2021
Price fluctuations for Bitcoin reflect both investor enthusiasm and reluctance to commit. Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin, developed it for use in everyday transactions and to bypass traditional banking infrastructure after the 2008 financial crisis.
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Cryptocurrency has become a medium of exchange. It also attracted traders who began to resist its price changes. Investors have turned to Bitcoin as a way to store value, build wealth and protect against inflation. Institutions are working on creating Bitcoin investment tools.
Bitcoin price fluctuations are primarily caused by investors and traders who bet in anticipation of wealth on the price rise. However, the Bitcoin price story has changed again. In January 2022, Bitcoin began to disappear.
When Bitcoin was introduced in 2009 it was zero. On July 17, 2010, its price rose to $0.09. The price of Bitcoin rose again from $1 on April 13, 2011 to $29.60 on June 7, 2011, a 2,960% increase in three months.
There was a sharp downturn in the crypto market, and by mid-November the price of Bitcoin had dropped to $2.05. The following year, its price rose from $4.85 on May 9 to $13.50 on August 15.
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2012 was a tough year for Bitcoin in general, but 2013 saw a surge in prices. Bitcoin started the year at $13.28 and reached $230 on April 8. The same rapid acceleration in its price occurred a few weeks later on July 4, when it fell to $68.50.
In early October 2013, Bitcoin was trading at $123.00. It reached $237.55 in December and fell to $687.02 three days later. The price of Bitcoin fell in 2014 and reached $315.21 in early 2015.
By the end of the year, the price had gradually risen above $900 in 2016. In 2017, the price of Bitcoin hovered around $1,000, broke $2,000 in mid-May, and then peaked at $345.49 on December 15.
Major investors, governments, economists and scientists took notice, and other organizations began developing cryptocurrencies to compete with Bitcoin.
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The price of Bitcoin fell in 2018 and 2019, with little activity. For example, in June 2019, the price and trading volume rose and the price exceeded $10,000. But by mid-December, it had dropped to $6,635.84.
In 2020, the economy came to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bitcoin price is once again in action. The cryptocurrency started the year at $6,965.72. Pandemic containment and subsequent government policies have fueled investors’ fears about the global economy and accelerated Bitcoin’s growth.
At the end of November 23, Bitcoin was trading at $19,157.16. The price of Bitcoin fell to $29,000 in December 2020, a 416% increase year-to-date.
Bitcoin is less than a month into 2021, breaking the 2020 price record and surpassing $40,000,000 by January 7th, 2021. According to Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, by mid-April, Bitcoin prices exceeded $60,000,000. , went public. Institutional interest further increased its value, and Bitcoin reached $63,558 on April 12, 2021.
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Prices dropped 50% for summer 2021 to $29,796 on July 19th. Another rally took place in September, with prices falling to $52,693, but a major decline took it to a closing price of $40,710. week later.
On November 10, 2021, Bitcoin once again reached an all-time high of $68,789 before reaching $64,995. By mid-December 2021, Bitcoin had fallen to $46,164. It started with inflation and price uncertainty. Due to COVID-19, the release of a new version of Omicron continued to attract investors.
From January to May 2022, the price of Bitcoin continued to fall, with closing prices reaching $47,445 in late March, before falling to $28,305 on May 11, the first time since July 2021 that Bitcoin closed below $30. . , 000. On June 13, crypto prices fell. Bitcoin fell below $23,000 for the first time since December 2020.
Interestingly, Bitcoin’s price trends are similar to those of the stock market, from November 2021 to June 2022, when the market treats it like a stock.
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Like any other currency, product, or service within a country or economy, the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies depends on price, supply, and demand.
If people believe Bitcoin has a certain value, they will buy it, especially if they think its value will increase.
By design only 21 million bitcoins will be created. As Bitcoin approaches its limits, its value will increase, whether demand stays the same or increases.
Bitcoins are produced at a fixed rate using mining software and hardware. This rate halves every four years, slowing down the number of coins produced.
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The price of Bitcoin is bound to rise as its popularity continues to rise and its supply cannot keep up with demand. However, if popularity declines and demand declines, there will be more supply than demand. Then, if it doesn’t maintain its value for other reasons, the price of Bitcoin should fall.
Another factor that affects the price of Bitcoin is related to supply and demand. Bitcoin has become a financial instrument used by investors and financial institutions to store value and generate profits. As a result, derivatives are created and traded by investors. This affects the price of Bitcoin.
Speculation, rising investment yields, irrational growth, panic and fear of investors can also be expected to affect the price of Bitcoin as demand will increase with investor sentiment.
Other cryptocurrencies can also affect the price of Bitcoin. Several cryptocurrencies exist and are growing as regulators, institutions and merchants address concerns and accept them as forms of payment and currency.
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Ultimately, if consumers and investors believe that other currencies will become more valuable than Bitcoin, prices will fall and prices will fall. Or, if sentiment and trade move in the opposite direction, prices will rise along with prices.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency used as a payment method. Investors and traders have started using it as an investment, but its value is very volatile. This is a significant economic risk. Before buying Bitcoin as an investment, it is best to discuss your situation and goals with a professional financial advisor.
Weight ratio varies. Mining usage depends on software and hardware, as well as available energy resources, but the average time to find a block is around ten minutes.
Investing in cryptocurrencies and other initial coin offerings (ICOs) is highly risky and speculative, and this article is not a recommendation to invest in other currencies or ICOs. Because everyone’s situation is unique, you should consult with a professional before making any financial decisions. makes no warranty as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.
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Requires that authors use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reports, and interviews with industry experts. We also refer to original studies from other reputable publishers when appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we use to produce accurate and unbiased content in our editorial policy.
The recommendations listed in this table are from a compensatory partnership. These payments can affect how and where listings appear. does not include all offers on the market.
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Boston-based Gemvara, an online fine jewelry retailer, on Wednesday announced the opening of its first retail store at 129 Newbury St.
Customers can try on jewelry, speak with jewelry consultants, and create personalized pieces on iPads and computer stations in the store, according to the release.
The store will feature a collection of jewelry samples from Gemvara.com, and Gemvara's 29 natural gemstones and nine precious metals.
The Gemvara showroom will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
The theme of the showroom is "Do you dream in Color?"
The store opening follows Gemvara's appointment in August of Janet Holian as its permanent CEO.
Gemvara has raised a total of $51 million in funding since its founding in 2006. Backers include Norwest Venture Partners, Highland Capital Partners, Canaan Partners and Balderton Capital.

domain: news


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As per the UN, the world population is expected to reach a staggering 9.8B in 2050. If we near the said number in the future, it’s estimated that food production will need to be double as compared to today. While the next best solution would hopefully be nothing as horrifying as portrayed in the 1973 American ecological dystopian thriller film Soylent Green, insects could bring in the next food revolution. France-based startup Ÿnsect farms insects to manufacture high-quality ingredients for aquaculture and pet nutrition. It has now raised a notable €190.6M in a Series C extension round.
Largest insect farm in the world
The latest funding round for Ÿnsect was an extension of its Series C round. Astanor Ventures led the round, along with LA-based Upfront Ventures and Robert Downey Jr. ‘s FootPrint Coalition. Existing investors such as Hong-Kong-based Happiness Capital, Supernova Invest and Armat Group also participated, along with initial Series C investors including Bpi France (including Programmes d’Investissements d’Avenir funds), Talis capital, IdInvest, Finasucre, Bois Sauvage, Vis Vires New Protein Capital.
Ÿnsect has previously raised €316M in its first Series C round; this latest funding brings the total investment in the company to €361.4M. The startup says it will utilise the money to complete its ‘largest insect farm in the world’ by 2022 for improving global food security and sustainability. The farm is currently under construction in France and is said to be a negative carbon project. The company will also aim at expanding its product lines and is slated to soon enter the North American market.
The financing for this round was supported by a bank consortium. It includes Caisse des Dépôts (the ‘venture arm’ of the French state), Crédit Agricole Brie Picardie, and Caisse d’Epargne Hauts-de-France..
Addressing the bigger problem
Ÿnsect was launched back in 2011 by founders Alexis Angot and Fabrice Berro. The company aims to become a supplier of protein globally as increasing demand for fish is gradually stressing an already fragile ecosystem. The company currently produces digestible protein and fertiliser products that are to be used in pet foods and crop raising respectively.
The company claims, citing studies, that using its products instead of traditional animal proteins and chemical fertilisers resulted in a 34% yield increase for rainbow trout, a 40% mortality reduction for shrimp, 25% increase rapeseed yield, 25% mortality reduction for sea bass and reduction in skin disease for dogs, among others.
For those unaware about the insect rearing market, there are different types of insects that offer differing nutritional value. Ÿnsect apparently created a patented process for cultivating mealworms, which is claimed to offer notable yield and health benefits over other insect species. The company uses a vertical farm and says it makes for 98% less land usage while reducing the carbon and biodiversity footprints of protein production. Ÿnsect claims to produce zero waste and cites an analysis by Quantis firm, which claims that the Ÿnfarm (farming facility) project is carbon negative.
Image credits: Ÿnsect


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Timothy P. Connolly has resigned as executive vice-president and chief supply chain officer for US Foods Holding Corp., effective immediately. Mr. Connolly assumed the role in May.
The company said it will conduct a search for Mr. Connolly’s successor. His role was to oversee US Foods’ supply chain organization, including safety, warehousing, transportation, supply chain strategy, operations and labor relations.
“Tim’s commitment to supply chain excellence and passion for his work have left a positive mark on our organization,” said Pietro Satriano, chairman and chief executive officer of US Foods. “His leadership will be missed. I am grateful for his service and we wish him the very best.”
Mr. Connolly joined US Foods from Uline, where he was senior vice-president of operations since 2016. Before that, he worked for 16 years with Essendant, most recently as chief operating officer overseeing a network of more than 70 distribution centers. Previously, Mr. Connolly managed supply chain operations at Cardinal Health as regional vice president, served as operations manager for Beloit Beverage Co. and was a warehouse supervisor for McKesson.
By Ryan McCarthy
Source: Food Business News
Cargill is investing $150 million in a new plant that produces advanced biofuels from waste and residues, in an effort to further promote circular economy.
The European Parliament has voted to reject the ban on plant-based products using names typically associated with meat products, but has voted in favour of a plant-based dairy ban.
Researchers have developed a portable device that detects how much capsaicin a pepper contains with the help of a smartphone.


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The Minnesota apple breeders who gave us the Honeycrisp and the Haralson have another entrant in the wings: a curiously sweet apple called MN447.
Now they need a catchy name, and they’re taking suggestions. So, if you’ve got a name for a cold-hardy apple with a peculiar, tropical taste, it could mean orchard fame.
No riches, though.
“The winner doesn’t get a tree or anything like that,” said David Bedford, a University of Minnesota apple breeder. And he warns that MN447 is so strongly flavored that “about 40 percent of the people who try it say, ‘Whoa, that’s too much.’ ”
September means it’s apple season again. This year, the local apple crop is thriving, despite a summer of honeybee worries, drought, violent storms and floods.
“We’re looking at a good crop,” said Vince Steffen, president of the state apple growers. Dry weather gave the apples “a really good flavor and a higher sugar content, so you notice the flavors more,” he said.
In the eastern United States, a spring freeze zapped the crop. That may boost apple prices a little, but grocery stores still will have plenty, mostly grown elsewhere. Local apples have a different appeal: just-picked freshness.
“It’s really a seasonal product, and meant to be,” Bedford said. “That’s the beauty of Minnesota apples.”
SURVIVING WINTER SINCE 1878
Minnesota’s apple crop might be pretty skimpy if it weren’t for the U’s legacy of breeding cold-tolerant trees.
“It goes back, actually, to 1878,” said Jim Luby, the U’s top apple expert. When early settlers saw their Old World varieties struggling in Minnesota winters, they sought the U’s help. The U’s breeders have since introduced 25 cold-hardy varieties. Their superstar is the Honeycrisp, introduced in 1991.
“Most of the (U’s) varieties are pretty much regional apples,” Luby said. But the Honeycrisp is “planted all across the United States, in Canada and Europe.”
Patience and persistence are the hallmarks of the apple breeder.
“From the time when we start the breeding to releasing it commercially, it’s 20 to 30 years,” Bedford said. Add another 10 or 15 years for trees to mature and for the marketplace to catch on.
“By the time people get an apple that is new to them, it can be anywhere from 30 to 50 years old,” Bedford said.
At the U’s Horticultural Research Center in Chaska, apple breeders select pollen from one promising tree and pollinate another. Then they wait. Finally, they taste fruit from their acres of young trees.
For Bedford, “That works out to 500 different apples he’s tasting each day,” Luby said. “That’s the endurance part of breeding. You’ve got to find the ones that are interesting.”
Variety MN447 is slated for commercial release in 2008. Yet it dates from the 1920s.
“It’s an old-timer that we inherited, and was selected and used for breeding only,” Bedford said. “We never had any intention of releasing it.”
“It’s not a very pretty apple,” Luby added, citing its blocky shape and small size. “But the unusual thing about it is its flavor – like pineapple or sugar cane. By the time it’s ripe, it’s a really strong flavor.”
The wowsy taste – likened to Hawaiian Punch – can be jarring.
“Some people really hate it, some people really like it,” Luby said. “Those that don’t like it find it pretty repulsive.”
On the plus side, MN447 thrives in frigid weather, and consumer tastes are becoming more adventurous. So, the breeders figured, why not?
“If you think back to when we were kids, pretty much your choices were red apples or yellow apples,” Luby said. “Now, I think consumers are kind of searching for some variety.”
NAMING THE NEW APPLE
For its debut next year, MN447 needs a name. Usually that job falls to the breeders, but the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is inviting the public in.
“I’ve been hounding Dave Bedford for years to let us have a crack at letting us name one of the apples, and he finally said, ‘OK, OK,’ ” the arboretum’s Leslie Cooney said.
The first week brought 200 suggestions, serious and playful: Sweet Mamma. Snowcrisp. Tootsarella. Crunchalicious.
Lynn Storey, of Bloomington, teamed with her mother and sister to submit names, including Nordic Sweetie.
“Being a family of Norwegians, we thought ‘Nordic’ was a pretty darned good idea,” Storey said.
The contest runs through October. Then, the breeders will pick a winner, who will receive bragging rights and a bag of apples. But the publicity makes the breeders nervous. MN447 won’t even be released until next year – and it will take years for orchards and nurseries to grow fruit-bearing trees. So, consumers might be a decade from their first bite.
“This is very early in the game,” Bedford warned. “I’d say next year there’s going to be probably 100 trees in the whole country.”
So, no Crunchalicious (or Tootsarella) for now. But there’s a bounty of other apples, said Paul Hugunin of the state Agriculture Department. The Minnesota Grown directory lists 100 orchards open to the public.
“We have apples that are sweet, apples that are tart and every possible combination in between,” he said.
Tom Webb can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or 651-228-5428.
TO FIND MINNESOTA ORCHARDS
Go to www.mda.state.mn.us/food/minnesotagrown/qlist-apples.htm
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Every apple needs a catchy name, and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is inviting suggestions for its new cold-tolerant, tropical-tasting apple. Some of the ideas submitted so far:
And apple names proposed by the breeders:
THE U’S GREATEST APPLE HITS – AND TWO RISING STARS
The University of Minnesota has been breeding apples for more than a century. But some of its 25 varieties have proven more popular than others. The hit chart:
1. Honeycrisp: Introduced in 1991, this sweet variety has become popular in Minnesota and beyond – and is now Minnesota’s official state fruit.
2. Haralson: Introduced in 1922, it was Minnesota’s most-popular apple for decades, until Honeycrisp came along.
3. Fireside: Introduced in 1943, this big, fine-grained apple was a mainstay for several generations.
4. Honeygold: Introduced in 1970, this yellow apple is Minnesota’s version of the Golden Delicious.
5. Regent: Introduced in 1964, this big red-striped apple is good for baking, eating and storing.
6. Beacon: Introduced in 1936, it was a star in its day, especially at the State Fair. Still available, but rare.
7. Sweet Sixteen: Introduced in 1977, it has a sweet, almost candy-like flavor. But the season is brief and the variety isn’t common.
8. Chestnut Crabapple: Introduced in 1949, breeder David Bedford calls it “an ugly little thing,” but the texture and nutty flavor still has fans.
And some rising stars:
Zestar!: Introduced in 1999, the apple with an exclamation mark. Only now is this big and crunchy apple becoming easier to find at local orchards.
SnowSweet: Introduced in 2006, and so new it’s still nearly impossible to find, this bronze-red apple has a snow-white flesh that resists turning brown.
NAME THAT APPLE
The new apple variety MN447 has a tropical taste. Go to www.arboretum.umn.edu/whtsnw/pdf/applenamingentryform.pdf to help name it. Some of the names submitted so far include “Frostbite,” “Coldsnap” and “Nordic Sweetie.”


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James Murdoch plans to raise $150 million from ultra rich to invest in Indian startups
- James Murdoch’s
private equityfirm looks to strengthen its investments in India
- It had previously invested in India edtech startups Doubtnut and Harappa as well as news aggregator Dailyhunt
- Murdoch is also launching a special purpose acquisition company in partnership with former Disney executive Uday Shankar
The development was first reported by Bloomberg.
The New York and Mumbai-based equity firm’s portfolio includes Gurugram-based edtech startup Doubtnut, online learning platform Harappa Education and India’s first vernacular unicorn Dailyhunt. Notably, the former Morgan Stanley banker Nitin Kukreja is managing Lupa System’s operations in India.
Besides this, it has also invested in US-based robotics startup Kinema, media platform Vice Media AI-powered Virtual Artist platform Authentic Artists and synthetic data company Synthetaic. It has also invested in Norwegian drone technology company UBIQ Aerospace, Tribeca Film Festival and Art Basel.
Murdoch is the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. He had cut ties with his family’s media businesses such as News Corp and Fox Corp last year, after clashing over its editorial direction. He founded Lupa Systems in 2019 with $2 billion in proceeds from the $71 billion sale of most of the Murdoch family’s 21st Century Fox empire to Disney.
According to previous media reports, Lupa Systems, in partnership with former Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific Chairman Uday Shankar, is also planning to raise $345 million through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) for his new media and technology venture named Seven Island Inc.
Seven Island will focus on media, entertainment, consumer technology, healthcare and education industries in south and southeast Asia. The firm will lay particular focus on India.
“Lupa Systems set up its India presence less than two years ago and has already created a promising portfolio of technology investments. Partnering with Uday [Shankar], to build ambitiously for the long term, will take us to another level,” Nitin Kukreja, managing partner of Lupa Systems India, said in January 2021.
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Digital asset management firm Bakkt‘s new survey revealed that 50% of gig workers are comfortable getting a part of their payments in crypto, while 38% said they could consider earning their whole paycheck in digital assets.
Bakkt’s Chief Product Officer Nicolas Cabrera commented on the survey results that clearly demonstrated the crypto appeal amongst gig workers and said:
“While this group could benefit from increased understanding of how crypto can be used, rideshare drivers, food delivery drivers and other gig workers cite crypto as the next generation of currency and are drawn to the potential increase in the value of their pay.”
The study asked 1,018 gig workers from around the U.S. during June and July 2022. The questions aimed at revealing the participants’ crypto adoption, sentiments, and opinions on payments via crypto.
Amongst the 50% who said they’d be willing to take a portion of their salary in crypto, freelance workers (writers, developers, designers, etc.) have the highest willingness rate with 62%. They are followed by rideshare drivers (52%) and grocery shoppers (55%).
The participants gave varying answers to the question about the portion of salary paid in crypto. 31% of gig workers said they’d prefer 20% or less of their paycheck to be paid in crypto. 34% said they’d be okay with 20-40%, while 21% said they’d prefer to receive 40-60% of their income in crypto
The survey also explored why participants preferred crypto payments. Nearly half of the participants (49%) said a potential increase in value of pay is the most compelling reason to get paid in crypto, despite the current status of the bear market.
Another 26% said they preferred crypto payments because they were issued immediately. On the other hand, nearly one in ten (11%) said they perceive crypto as a long-term investment plan for retirement.
According to the numbers, more than half of gig workers said their income was enough for fulfilling their living needs, as opposed to being “nice to have” income. Considering their perceptions of their gig jobs, their willingness to get paid in crypto indicates a significant adoption rate amongst gig workers.
The most significant barrier against crypto payments appeared in education, with 48%. Only 33% of the participants rated their crypto knowledge as above average or very high, while nearly a quarter (26%) said they were more familiar with traditional investment tools.
Another significantly high-rated barrier appeared when 34% of participants said they still had to pay the bills in USD. Another 33% said crypto was too volatile and didn’t want to risk decreasing their paycheck.


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Earlier this week, a monstrous 4 cameras Motorola phone appeared and left us speechless. Let’s see what this new Motorola phone 2019 can become a game changer for Motorola. Video:
Today, Samsung Korea officially posted online that the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G phone will launch in Korea on April 5, 2019. Samsung confirms Samsung Galaxy S10 5G We know that
Brand new Oppo Reno specs show that the phone is more than what we saw recently. As a beautiful sexy camera phone, the new Reno phone is definitely going to
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The race to a bezel-less phone has been around for years and it pushing manufacturers to do better. That’s why ZTE is willing to unveil ZTE Axon V and Axon
First of all, we got to let you know that Geekbench is one of the reliable sources when it comes to leaking the latest smartphones. And today, the Motorola P40
WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton attended a class speaking invitation in which he made a mind-blowing revelation at Stanford University earlier this week. Brian wants you to delete your Facebook accounts.
Today, we are going to tell you what are the 5 best 5G Phones in 2019 you should get. From 12GB RAM, 4 Cameras and 1000GB ROM, you will definitely
Foldable phone is the new trend starting from 2019. So far, we have seen the Huawei Mate X, Samsung Galaxy Fold and the FlexPai Royole. Now, it’s the turn of
The Moto G7 Play is one of the best budget phones 2019 anyone can get in stores. The G7 Play is complex, cool and light beautiful which matches its price.
Another 48MP camera phone Meizu Note 9 phone makes its debut with impressive specifications. The phone sports 6GB RAM, a strong processor and very powerful battery. Meizu Note 9
What a monster deal, the world best mobile gaming phone Razer Phone 2 Price Drops to $ 300. Hurry up, the deal might be over very soon… Check here for


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Grants Available for SMEs in Stoke on Trent
Written by Hitmix News Team on 24 May 2021
Small and medium sized businesses in Stoke-on-Trent can now apply for grant funding to help them get the most from digital technology.
The council’s already paid out 11 and a half million pounds in Additional Restrictions Grant funding to businesses to help them recover from the pandemic, and is now making up to 700 thousand available.
The aim of the grant’s to help businesses use digital technology to grow as they emerge from the pandemic. Support could include digital marketing, website design, and the use of digital platforms and the purchase of digital equipment.


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Single-track download sales in the US have crashed by 42% since their peak just four years ago – sparking the real possibility that they could become a dead format within half a decade.
In the first half of 2016, single-track download purchases plummeted by 24% year-on-year, falling by 127.3m sales compared to the same six months in 2015.
Should the US download market continue to see that level of sales disappear each year, music purchases on the likes of iTunes would be rendered non-existent by 2020.
According to historical Nielsen figures, H1 2016’s haul of 404.3m US download sales was down 42% – or a painful 293.7m – on 2012’s peak tally of 698m.
2016’s 24% year-on-year fall in track downloads compares to a 10% annual fall between 2014-2015 and a 13% drop in 2012-2013 – a hefty jump in the rate of decline for iTunes.
Consider that a typical hit music download now sells for $1.29 in the US, and the H1 drop in downloads since 2012 represents a fall of comfortably over $300m a year for the music business and its digital retail partners – especially Apple.
Where’s that money gone? Try audio streaming, which just jumped up 97.4% in consumption terms year-on-year in the US.
According to Nielsen, 113.6bn audio streams took place in the US in the first half of 2016. That equates to around 620m streams every day, 26m streams each hour, and 431,000 streams every minute.
And that doesn’t even take into account video platforms like YouTube.
Analyst Mark Mulligan at Midia doesn’t forecast that downloads will be gone completely by 2020 – but that’s when he believes Apple will ‘turn off’ the iTunes store in music.
“By 2020 [Apple’s] download business would be tracking to be 10 times smaller than streaming revenue but, crucially, streaming revenue would nearly have reached the 2012 iTunes Store download revenue peak,” he wrote in May.
“This is the point at which Apple would chose to turn off the iTunes Store. The narrative of services based music business would be complete.”
Clearly, the consumer transition from downloads to streaming is gathering pace – with plenty more damage to be done to iTunes yet.
Case in point: should six-month US track downloads fall by another 127m next year, 2017’s half-year sales sum will hit 277m… less than half the six-month download tally seen as recently as H1 2014.
So what of digital album sales?
They fell 18.4% in the US over the past year – or by 9.9m sales – according to Nielsen’s six-month stats, having remained flat in 2015.
If half-year downloads continued to fall at 9.9m sales a year in the US, they would be in single figures by 2020 and vanish by 2021.
Obviously, you would expect this rate of decline to soften as the years wear on, but the worst for the iTunes store may be yet to come.
With CD declining by 11.6% in H1 2016, it looks like physical albums may have now seen off the threat of being superseded by downloads… as both continue to fall in the streaming age.
Music Business Worldwide


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Tag - S3
An investigation into Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) discovered a sixth of data stores, known as buckets, on the service are left open to public viewing. Further examination showed that a number of items on open display were of a sensitive nature, including source code for mobile games, user log-in details, and various other items of personal information.
Amazon has launched a new data warehouse service at the Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference today, alongside some price changes to its hosting and processing services. The petabyte-scale service called Amazon Redshift will allow users to "dramatically increase the speed of query performance" when large sets of data are being analyzed, and will work with the same SQL-based tools already being used.
Amazon has added a new tier to its cloud services. Amazon Glacier is being marketed as cloud-based backup storage for enterprise with considerably lower storage costs than the similar Simple Storage Service, however it lacks the immediate file retrieval found in S3. Instead, a job submission for files must be submitted and can take hours to process, as well as suffer a charge for backup retrieval.
Developer Ben Spink has updated his flagship file transfer server software, CrushFTP, to version 6.1. The new version offers a handful of major new features along with many interface tweaks and speed improvements, along with the usual assortment of bug fixes. The program, which handles FTP and SFTP file transfer along with HTTP and WebDAV, has now added Amazon's S3 protocol as a support transfer option and is compatible with Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8).
The ITC in a new ruling (PDF) upheld its decision that Apple wasn't violating patents in HTC's original trade complaint. The conclusion followed a minor review and determined that Apple wasn't copying HTC's energy management and phone dialer technology. HTC can appeal the verdict, but may have trouble persuading the court.
(Update: HTC statement) Apple scored a major coup Monday after the International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Apple in a repeatedly delayed decision as to whether HTC was violating Apple patents. An administrative law judge upheld the view that HTC was violating two claims. Some unnamed devices would be banned starting from April 19 to give times for carriers to switch to other hardware.
A final ruling from the International Trade Commission was dealt a second, last-minute delay on Tuesday. HTC said that the final decision, already moved back to December 14, would now be held on December 19. No explanation was given for the setback.
HTC faced another setback Friday after it decided to drop an appeal against a ban on its 3G devices in Germany. The company made the surprise reversal after it decided that it wasn't likely to win against IPCom, which claims all of HTC's 3G hardware violates its patents. IPCom claimed that it would have "no choice" but to ban HTC's hardware before the end of the year, as HTC had "never" had any cash offer that could be enough to cover the patents.
HTC plans to "reevaluate" its buyout out S3 Graphics now that S3 has lost its ITC case against Apple, the smartphone designer said in a statement Wednesday. The brief response didn't give a likelihood but indirectly admitted that HTC had bought S3 solely on the basis of its interim patent win over Apple, which was just overturned this week. HTC had been prepared to spend $300 million.
S3, and by extension HTC, was dealt a major blow on Monday after an Administrative Law Judge dismissed S3's initial ITC complaint. The ruling didn't explain the decision but completely rejected all of the claims across the four patents. An initial ruling had given two wins to S3 but has been overturned.
Now AAPL Stock: The symbol you provided ("AAPL") doesn't appear to be registered
Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj
Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket
The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]
Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera
Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94
Apple employees testing wheelchair features
New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa
SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards
SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If
Apple's third-quarter results due July 26
Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm
Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users
Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE


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COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - It's a crime that bleeds thousands of dollars out of South Carolina retail businesses every year, and legislators are now responding to an increase in professional shoplifting rings by carving out more comprehensive theft laws and penalties.
Part of the problem is South Carolina has some of the most lenient felony theft thresholds in the southeast.
According to the South Carolina Retailers Association, a person would have to steal $2,000 worth of merchandise before being charged with a felony.
Under a proposed Senate bill, prosecutors would be able to charge multiple shoplifting acts in different counties into one count, raising the possible prison sentence to a maximum of 10 years. It's a step towards dismantling shoplifting rings that are drawn into South Carolina because of our lenient theft penalties.
"The Walgreens representative for four counties in Upstate said her chain loses up to $30,000 a month to organized retail crime. And it's similar with big box stores," said Retailers Association representative Jack West.
A companion bill passed the State House last week with no opposition.


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Median home prices for previously inhabited houses reached $252,800 in May; a 3.2% increase since April and a 5.8% increase since May of 2016. However, the increase in home prices has done nothing to lessen home sales with first-time home buyers making up a third of home sales. Currently, homes are staying on the market for only 27 days, the shortest period since NAR began tracking sales in May of 2011. As costs continue to increase experts suspect lower income individuals will be priced out of the market and prices will come down eventually.
Home purchases are on the upswing across the nation. The most expensive homes are in the West with median home prices as high as $368,800 and the Northeast was not much better at $281,300. Southern states were slightly more affordable at $221,900 but the Midwest is currently the most affordable region at $203,900. However, the price increase in the Midwest was also the steepest across the country- up 6.9% since May 2016.
STATE APPROVED CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES


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All posts tagged "Warren Buffett"
Think Strategically: Warren Buffet’s America, Headed for a Correction
We must remember Buffet’s famous quote: “Be greedy when others are fearful”
- Posted March 11, 2017
Buffett’s bite of Apple even bigger than was thought
OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett says he’s investing heavily in Apple, believing that once consumers begin using the company’s products they aren’t likely to stop. The billionaire investor said on CNBC Monday that Berkshire Hathaway now holds...
- Posted February 27, 2017
Warren Buffett sticks to business, avoids politics in letter
Reiterated rosy long-term outlook for the U.S. economy and distaste for high Wall Street fees
- Posted February 26, 2017
Warren Buffett: Don’t Waste Money on Investment Fees
Warns of the damage they do to investment returns
- Posted February 25, 2017
Who are the 8 richest people? All men, mostly Americans
Several have pledged to give it all to charity
- Posted January 16, 2017
Warren Buffett Responds to Donald Trump’s Tax Comments
OMAHA, Neb. – Investor Warren Buffett says he’s never used the kind of tax deduction that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump did, and Buffett says he’s paid taxes every year for 72 years. Buffett sent out a...
- Posted October 10, 2016
Billionaire Warren Buffett Ready to Take on Donald Trump
OMAHA, Neb. – Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he’ll do whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump – including escorting people to the polls himself. Campaigning with Hillary Clinton in Nebraska Monday, Buffett savaged Trump’s business record,...
- Posted August 2, 2016
Amazon’s Bezos Moves Past Buffett on World’s Richest List
Now the third richest person in the world
- Posted July 22, 2016
Apple’s Latest Innovation … A Big Stake for Berkshire
Warren Buffett's Company Buys 9.8 Million Apple Shares
- Posted May 16, 2016
Berkshire Hathaway Event Celebrates What Makes Firm Special
Tens of thousands filled an arena to listen to Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
- Posted April 30, 2016


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Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is already one of the kings of Big Data among tech companies, alongside Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). These companies make a lot of money with the information they compile about users – personal information, preferences, habits, “likes,” buying preferences and other factors that activate advertisers and marketers.
These companies have so much Big Data, would they really need more? At the very least, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) has already been involved in several privacy disputes with users in various countries – mainly in Europe – so it seems interesting that talk is swirling over a new location-tracking app being released by Facebook.
This new app, which is as yet unnamed, is due to launch in March, and Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) says it is designed to help users to know where friends are located if they are nearby. It is reported to be something similar to Foursquare, Find Your Friends by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Latitude by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). The idea is that the mobile app would track your location and would run in the background – even if it hadn’t been opened – and share your location with any of your friends who are in the vicinity. There is no word about how specfic the tracking would be; a user’s location may be just compared to those in the Facebook Places database.
While there may be some benefit to this – those who post repeatedly on Facebook to try to find friends in the area, this reduces that need – there may be some concerns from privacy groups and perhaps some businesses. Could you imagine getting advertising on your phone about your favorite lunch place because he app tracks that you go there nearly every day? Do you find this new Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) app too invasive of privacy, or do you see some benefit for Facebook and businesses that outweigh those concerns? Let us know in the comments section below.
DISCLOSURE: I own no positions in any stock mentioned.
Please see these related FB articles:
Why Weren’t Investors Impressed with Facebook Earnings?
Study Reveals that Facebook Users Come and Go


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Guy Fieri says filming a Super Bowl commercial is like creating a recipe
Guy Fieriis starring in Bud Light Seltzer's new Super Bowlcommercial.
- The commercial introduces the brand's Hard Soda drinks.
Bud Light enlisted Guy Fieri for its 2022 Super Bowl commercial showing off the brand's new drink,
In the commercial, Fieri plays the King of Flavor in the Land of Flavor, whose subjects bring him the new drink. Fieri is known for his
Getting the call to appear in his first-ever Super Bowl commercial from Bud Light was like "being a first-round draft pick," the famed restaurant owner told Insider in an interview. He said the partnership was a "perfect fit," and he immediately accepted the offer and began riffing with Bud Light's team. Putting together all the ideas into a cohesive vision for a commercial on one of TV's biggest nights of the year was like creating a recipe, he told Insider, or how he imagines it must feel for musicians to write a song.
The ad introduces Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda, which comes in four flavors: classic cola, cherry cola, orange soda, and citrus soda. Fieri says his favorite is the orange, which is "unexpected," and takes him back to his childhood.
See the full commercial here.
- Ban on single-use plastic kicks in across India as the country recognises the choking impacts of plastic waste on the environment
- Bank FDs will draw down from mutual funds if interest rates go up to 7.5-8%, says report
- Best smartphones under ₹40,000 in India
- Are we worse off than we were in 2008? Foreign investors seem to think so
- MSMEs run on promoter’s savings and need insurance as much as other businesses


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Chasing the niche in the e-commerce industry for weddings, online flash sales site Exclusively.in has launched a section called Exclusively.In Weddings.
The section is aimed at NRI brides and grooms in S. Asia and offers a selection of wardrobes and accessories, which can be bought online. Unlike the rest of Exclusively.in, which offers short 'flash' sales, the wedding section will deliver long term, 'always on sale' sales.
Designers such as Ritu Kumar, Payal Singhal, Shyamal & Bhumika, Satya Paul, and others have been roped in to offer fashionable wedding apparel, saris and accessories.
Boutiques for brides, men's sherwanis, bridesmaids outfits and kundan wedding jewelry sets are being offered.
"With Indian weddings growing even more elaborate and extensive every year, South Asians around the world need an online destination that offers easy access to the latest in wedding apparel and jewelry for both the bride, groom and their wedding parties," said Anuradha Duggal, co-founder and executive vice president of Exclusively.In Weddings.
Exclusively.in recently launched a luxury travel deals section on its site. The company claims the Indian wedding market is worth $20 billion. Another startup which offers listings to help ease wedding planning and management is Bigindianwedding.com.


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BANGKOK, 28 June 2011 – The Department of Export Promotion (DEP) has encouraged Thai entrepreneurs to adjust themselves to cyber trade in order to increase their connections with online communities via facebook and amazon.
According to DEP Director-General Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, today’s trend in trade and business competition relies on new technologies enabling trade transactions to be made via social media.
The DEP thus has a policy to promote electronic marketing channels for exporters via www.thaitrade.com, which will be a very good opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
SMEs who are adept at new business strategies and adaptations should take advantage of the new marketing modes and channels to boost their trade efficiency. Besides, the growth of social media such as twitter and facebook remains prospective amid the stagnant economic situation.
Ms Nuntawan said that online sales remained high in the past year and are expected to experience a double-digit growth this year.


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, Kuala Lumpur’s ultimate city center destination for the best in fashion, combines with Debenhams
to bring the latest British designers style closer to their customers by connecting the biggest Debenhams
in Malaysia straight to Bintang Walk.
It is just another occasion in which YTL continues to enhance Bintang Walk after starting the transformation from a criminal infested area 13 years ago into Kuala Lumpur’s main shopping district. The launch of the new escalator is the first of its kind on Bukit Bintang as Starhill Gallery
now allows convenient access to visitors straight to Debenhams
directly from the street.
Encapsulated by a sleek glass frame which complements the contemporary design of Starhill Gallery
, the air conditioned escalator entrance brings visitors to new heights from Bintang Walk in comfort. The escalator will take visitors straight into Debenhams
at Starhill Gallery’s
Explore floor where they will be thrust into the latest Britain fashion.
In addition to the ‘Stairway to Debenhams
’, Starhill Galerry is also set to launch the Debenhams Café
which is available in different sections of Starhill Gallery. Guests can choose to relax with a cup of traditional British tea in the open air ambience of Bintang Walk at the foot of the escalator or on Starhill Gallery’s Explore floor right outside Debenhams
, making it the perfect place to go after an exhilarating shopping experience.
The Debenhams Café
serve a variety of traditional British delicacies daily, including a range of healthy salads, scrumptious Prawn Cocktail Sandwiches, traditional Ham and Cheese Toasties and delicious Steak and Chicken Pies which are served with a helping of Mash Potato.
A new British collection has launched in the Debenhams
store with the Autumn/Winter collection too in November. The latest must-have styles from the top British designers, including Julien Macdonald, Jasper Conran and Henry Holland, will be unveiled with a fashion show on Starhill Gallery’s
Explore floor where models will take to the ramp to showcase the latest exclusive Debenham’s
collections in Men and Women.
“Stairway to Debenhams
is designed to let you discover the best of Britain directly from Bintang Walk,” said Eric Eoon, Executive Director of YTL Land. “The latest and greatest British fashion and some of the finest British dishes are all available from Debenhams at Starhill Gallery
Spread across 37,000 square feet and housing the largest Debenhams’
collections in Asia, Starhill Gallery’s Debenhams
is set to be even bigger and better than ever.
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Ascena fashion labels like Dressbarn or Lane Bryant are not known as a favorite among hip urban millennials, the generation influencing the future of shopping. Nor does the retailer market athletic wear, perhaps the only fast-growing category in women’s clothing.
Instead, Ascena has accumulated brands over the years that cater mainly to suburban or older shoppers, a strategy that has kept it a wallflower player in the flashy world of retail.
But in a deal announced on Monday, Ascena said it would buy the parent company of Ann Taylor and Loft for $2.16 billion, in a move that catapults it into the ranks of the biggest clothing retailers in the United States. Combined, the two companies posted sales last year of over $7 billion, and run almost 5,000 stores between them.
The jury is out, however, on how far those brands can position Ascena for growth. Though well known, Ann Taylor and Loft are hardly dynamic brands in sectors poised for takeoff.
“This is a good move in that Ascena will be by far the most dominant retailer in women’s apparel,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail research and consulting firm.
“The problem is that traditional women’s apparel is flatlining, if not shrinking. The whole landscape is littered with names that have gone dark or gone out of business altogether.”
Ann Taylor’s recent difficulties underscore the challenges of navigating the fast-changing business of selling women’s clothes. Over the last year, Ann, the parent of Ann Taylor, had been pressed by some investors to seek a sale.
Long the go-to label for women’s work wear, especially among suburban working women, the retailer has struggled in recent years to increase sales in the face of waning mall traffic, especially at second- and third-tier malls.
The rise of fast-fashion brands like H&M or Zara — as well as steep discounters like T. J. Maxx — have also flooded the market with inexpensive style options for both the home and office, putting intense pressure on Ann Taylor and other women’s apparel brands to discount their own wares.
And as lifestyles diversify, work wear itself has been eclipsed by demand for athletic wear like yoga and jogger pants from brands like Lululemon, Nike and Under Armour, which are growing at a healthy clip. Ann Taylor has also been slow to improve its presence online, failing to get a foothold in a growing e-commerce marketplace for fashion.
By buying a brand like Ann Taylor, Ascena seems to be “doubling down” on adult brands, a risky proposition, said Jeff Toohig, senior analyst at ITG Investment Research. “The demography across their brands have been pressured over the past couple of years,” he said.
Still, both Ann Taylor and Loft did bring higher price points to Ascena’s brand mix, potentially enhancing its customer base. A work dress was selling for as little as $32 at Dressbarn on Monday, compared with more than $100 at Ann Taylor.
“They seem to think that this upper moderate range will help them sustain themselves,” Mr. Toohig said. And Ascena is hoping that shoppers will return to brands like Ann Taylor for better-quality clothes, rather than “wear it once or twice and throw it away.”
In a conference call, David Jaffe, Ascena’s chief executive, said that on top of improving its lineup, the combined company would save $150 million within three years by sharing sourcing, procurement, transportation, distribution and back-office costs.
The deal “joins two strong and highly complementary organizations” in women’s apparel, he said.
Under the terms of the deal, Ascena will pay Ann Taylor shareholders $37.34 in cash and 0.68 of a share of Ascena, or a total of $47, for each of their shares — a premium of 21.4 percent over Ann’s closing stock price on Friday.
The combined company would have 4,930 stores in the United States and Canada. Guggenheim and Goldman and the law firm Proskauer Rose advised Ascena, while JPMorgan Chase and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised Ann. Goldman Sachs and Guggenheim Securities also arranged debt financing for Ascena.
“They’re trying to hit the whole spectrum. And with Ann Taylor, they’re buying a heritage, and a retailer with scale,” said Oliver Chen, a retail analyst at Cowen & Company.
“But the deal on its own doesn’t offset the competitive nature of the industry. Women’s category is just very challenging.”


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Teavana CEO Andrew Mack in for a venti
Andrew Mack, founder and CEO of Teavana Holdings Inc., stands to have a venti sized payday after his c asics gel ompany was acquired by Starbucks Corp. for $620 million.
Mack, a former Applebee’s restaurant manager, owned 21,510,860 Teavana shares as of early Augu asics gel st. Based on Starbucks offer price of $15.50 a share, Mack stands to pocket $333,418,330.
On Wednesday, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) announced it would acquire Teavana (NYSE: TEA) in an all cash deal and nearly two hours after Atlanta Business Chronicle reported a buyout was expected.
Teavana stores sell loose leaf tea and tea related merchandise across 300 mall based stores. The acquisition would bring Starbucks into the $40 billion global tea market.
Starbucks plans to continue to grow asics gel and extend Teavana’s mall based stores and add a high profile ne asics gel ighborhood store concept that will accelerate Teavana’s domestic and global footprint, the company said.


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A long-time business in downtown Richmond has announced that it will be closing its doors this summer.
The popular Mike’s Hike and Bike on Main Street will be closing after 15 years in business at the end of June.
“Mike’s Hike and Bike, as everyone knows, will no longer exist,” owner Michael Hale said Wednesday.
However, Hale said the reason for the closure was not due to lack of activity. Hale and her family will move to a community in the West Country.
Hale said the decision to close her business was not an easy one.
“It’s kind of like taking my child off the life support system,” he explained. “It’s depressing and sad and exciting and all at the same time. I love going to new places, Richmond is the longest I’ve lived since I was 18, so we’re going somewhere new and let’s start a new adventure and the whole family is nervous and excited.
There is some good news.
The bike part of the store might live on, as someone has expressed an interest in buying that part of the business and continuing to operate.
Hale said the backpack and kayak portion of the store will be discontinued and he won’t be getting new inventory for either business.
Mike’s Hike and Bike is located at 309 W. Main Street in Richmond. Their hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.


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Asahi Abandons (English-language) Print .... for iPad
In the teeth of the recession, newspapers cut days of publishing to make ends meet. More than 80 dailies cut back days, mainly last year. Now with the prediction that as many as 50 million iPads will be sold in the next two years, according to yesterday’s EMarketer report, it’s clear we’ve got a new path. Have an unprofitable, or barely profitable print product. Bag it, and go to the iPad.
One of these early moves comes in Tokyo.
Asahi, the New York Times’ partner in Japan, is soon eliminating (good report from Andy Sharp on that market) its daily English-language edition that fit nicely into the back of the International Herald Tribune’s Japan edition. Now, the IHT will continue publishing, but without the Asahi pages.
Asahi is pricing its English-language paid iPad app for $9.99 monthly and for $5.99 for Kindle.
According to Sharp, all the English-language papers from Japanese publishers are losing money. Asahi was down to about 20,000 circulation. Yomiuri, one of the remaining English-language publishers — and incidentally, at 10,000,000 for its national edition the largest newspaper by circulation (in Japanese) in the world — counts about 32,000 for its English-language edition.
Look for lots more announcements like this — replacing marginal print with tablet products — over the next several years.


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CFPB Report Claims Arbitration “Less Beneficial To Consumers” than Individual or Class Litigation, Foreshadows Attempt to Impose Restrictions in Future
On March 10, Director Richard Cordray of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“Bureau” or “CFPB”) presided over a Field Hearing on Pre-Dispute Arbitration Clauses, discussing what he described as the “key findings” of the Bureau’s long-awaited 700-page Arbitration Report to Congress published earlier that morning. Reed Smith attorney Deepa Zavatsky attended the hearing, where Cordray expressed the CFPB’s view that pre-dispute arbitration is not a “better alternative” to litigation, and he foreshadowed the Bureau’s likely adoption of limitations to such mandatory provisions in consumer contracts.
CFPB suggests consumers do not understand arbitration clauses and class action waivers The Report reveals the Bureau’s belief that arbitration is still unknown and unused by the vast majority of consumers. Discussing the controversial CFPB-run 2014 telephone survey of credit card customers, Cordray noted that of survey respondents who even knew what arbitration was, three-quarters did not know if their financial contract contained an arbitration clause. Of respondents who believed they knew, over half were wrong about whether their contract did in fact contain such a provision.
Moreover, Cordray claimed that more than half of surveyed consumers whose arbitration clauses had a class action waiver still believed they could participate in class litigation. Even though a quarter of respondents’ arbitration provisions allowed a consumer to opt-out of the arbitration clause, only one surveyed consumer recalled being asked whether he wanted to exercise that opt-out, according to Cordray.
CFPB claims consumers benefit much more from class actions than from arbitration The Bureau also determined, Cordray stated, that consumers appear to receive less benefit from arbitration than from litigation. According to the Bureau, in 2010 and 2011 the studied arbitrations resulted in awards of less than $400,000 to consumers, but consumers were ordered to pay $2.8 million to their financial institutions in the arbitrations. By contrast, according to the Bureau’s study, class actions resulted in more than $2.7 billion paid to consumers, with their attorneys receiving $500 million, or 18 percent of the total awards.
CFPB says study of credit card costs shows no price difference based on arbitration clause, but marked difference in likelihood of consumers pursuing claims Cordray’s comments highlighted the Bureau’s apparent opinion that pre-dispute arbitration clauses have a chilling effect on consumer claims that is not outweighed by apparent benefits. According to the CFPB’s survey, when faced with a dispute relating to credit cards, only 2 percent of consumers surveyed would actually litigate or arbitrate the claim, with the vast majority preferring simply to cancel the credit card. The findings also indicated in Cordray’s view that it is rare for a financial institution to exercise the arbitration clause to move an individual suit into arbitration, but extremely common for an institution to raise that clause as a barrier when faced with a class action. Cordray disputed the argument from industry representatives that arbitration results in defrayed litigation costs and thereby leads to cost savings for borrowers. He said the Bureau’s study revealed that the cost of credit cards did not vary based on whether they contained an arbitration clause or not.
CFPB recommendation to restrict pre-dispute arbitration seems likely, if not inevitable The Director’s comments were met with vigorous dissent from industry representatives, who disputed the methodology of the study and specifically challenged the CFPB’s conclusions about the purported benefits of class actions to consumers. Not surprisingly, consumer advocates strongly supported the CFPB’s claims. The Bureau is seeking further input from the public, and no rulemaking or timeframe for any such action has yet been adopted. However, the tenor of Director Cordray’s comments, coupled with the Report, led Reed Smith associate Nick Smyth, who spent four years as an Enforcement Attorney at the CFPB, to predict that the Bureau will eventually recommend severe limitations on the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in financial contracts, similar to those in place with respect to residential mortgages: “I expect the Bureau will attempt to prohibit mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses and class action waivers through rulemaking, but the rulemaking process will be lengthy (at least three years), with many more opportunities for the industry to weigh in, before any such rule would take effect.”
Moreover, litigation over any rule prohibiting pre-dispute arbitration is likely, given that the rule would stimulate a flood of new class action litigation against financial institutions. Smyth added that he believes any such rule would permit financial institutions and consumers to mutually agree to enter binding arbitration after a dispute arises.
Deepa J. Zavatsky is a Senior Litigation Associate in Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group in Princeton and New York. She represents lenders and financial institutions in consumer-facing individual and class actions in state and federal courts.
"Abusive” further defined by court as CFPB case against ITT Tech moves forward
On March 9, District Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued her long-anticipated order on the motion to dismiss in CFPB v. ITT Educational Services, Inc., No. 1:14-cv-00292 (S.D. Ind.). Judge Barker denied ITT’s motion to dismiss the Bureau’s unfairness and abusiveness claims but granted it on the Bureau’s TILA claim. At 67 pages, the order provides one of the longest and most thorough judicial opinions about the Bureau’s abusiveness authority to date.
CFPB complaint alleged that ITT coerced students into taking on private loans In its complaint, filed in February 2014, the CFPB alleged that ITT Tech, a for-profit college, pressured students into enrolling by using high-pressure sales tactics and offering no-interest loans, called “Temporary Credit,” which were good for the student’s first academic year. Students needed these loans to fill the “tuition gap” between what federal loans and grants covered and the cost of ITT’s tuition. The Bureau alleged that ITT knew from the outset that many students would not be able to repay their Temporary Credit balances at the end of the first year or fund their next year’s tuition gap. Instead, according to the Bureau, ITT’s financial aid staff rushed students through a process of refinancing the no-interest loans and paying for the gap with high-cost private loans that ITT had designed and helped manage. It alleged that ITT knew as early as May 2011 that more than 60 percent of the students who received the private loans would default.
Creating oppressive circumstances for consumers satisfies the “abusive” standard The order helps put some meat on the bones of the Bureau’s authority to prevent “abusive” acts and practices. The CFPB’s complaint alleged abusive practices under two of the four prongs of 12 U.S.C. § 5531(d), highlighted below:
(d) ABUSIVE.—The Bureau shall have no authority under this section to declare an act or practice abusive in connection with the provision of a consumer financial product or service, unless the act or practice—
- materially interferes with the ability of a consumer to understand a term or condition of a consumer financial product or service; or
- takes unreasonable advantage of—
- a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer of the material risks, costs, or conditions of the product or service;
- the inability of the consumer to protect the interests of the consumer in selecting or using a consumer financial product or service; or
- the reasonable reliance by the consumer on a covered person to act in the interests of the consumer.
First, CFPB alleged that ITT took unreasonable advantage of the inability of consumers to protect their interests in selecting or using a consumer financial product or service. The judge rejected ITT’s argument that it did not take “unreasonable” advantage because ITT’s conduct is similar to the conduct of college financial aid offices across the country. She wrote, “the Bureau has alleged conduct that—we hope—is not simply par for the course; at any rate, the ‘everyone else is doing it’ defense does not support a motion to dismiss absent an argument that the allegations are legally invalid or factually implausible.” On the meaning of “inability of the consumer to protect” her interests, the judge wrote, a “reasonable reading of the statutory language . . . is that it refers to oppressive circumstances,” which the Bureau sufficiently alleged. Interestingly, she cited a law review article that suggests that this prong of the abusive standard “is a statutory codification of the common-law doctrine of unconscionability.”
Second, the CFPB alleged that ITT took unreasonable advantage of the reasonable reliance of consumers to act in the consumers’ interests. Judge Barker wrote, “‘Reasonable reliance’ is a familiar concept in tort law, and it is a question of fact generally not appropriate for resolution on a motion to dismiss, or even summary judgment.” To the extent that future courts follow Judge Barker’s lead, this position could mean that the Bureau in the future will only need to sufficiently plead that the defendant took “unreasonable advantage” to withstand a motion to dismiss.
Abusiveness captures conduct that may not be unfair or deceptive In rejecting ITT’s argument that the CFP Act’s prohibition of abusive practices is unconstitutionally vague, the judge wrote that the legislative history “suggests that the term was added, in part, to enable the Bureau to reach forms of misconduct not embraced by the more rigid, cost-benefit standard that had grown up around the terms ‘unfair’ and ‘deceptive.’” She wrote that the statute itself provides “significant guidance” as to the term’s meaning.
The Bureau’s authority and structure are not unconstitutional Judge Barker rejected ITT’s arguments that the Bureau and its investigation of ITT and/or its authorities were unconstitutional, noting that two other district courts have also rejected arguments that the Bureau is unconstitutional.
The Bureau has jurisdiction over ITT as both a provider of financial advisory services and as a service provider to the private lenders ITT argued in its motion that the Bureau lacked jurisdiction over it because it was merely an educational institution, and that the financial aid counseling ITT provided did not fall within the CFP Act’s definition of “financial advisory services.” The judge disagreed, writing that, at a minimum, the Bureau had pleaded conduct that “would fall within the realm of ‘credit counseling’ and ‘assist[ing] a consumer with debt management,’” two of the activities in the Act’s definition of financial advisory services. The judge also held that the Bureau had alleged conduct that would qualify ITT as a service provider to the private lenders, citing ITT’s involvement in operating and maintaining the loan program, including its payment of credit union membership fees for students and the stop-loss guarantee it provided the private lenders.
The Bureau has sufficiently pleaded unfair practices The judge applied the three-part unfairness test to the CFPB’s complaint, holding that: (1) allegations that ITT coerced 8,600 students into private loans with interest rates as high as 16.25 percent and origination fees as high as 10 percent adequately described a substantial financial injury; (2) allegations that ITT threatened to withhold transcripts or expel students if they failed to make up their “tuition gap” described a situation that was not reasonably avoidable; and (3) whether the harm is outweighed by countervailing benefits is a factual question and that the Bureau’s detailed allegations of the harm were sufficient to state a claim.
The TILA statute of limitations for civil actions bars the CFPB’s TILA claim The only silver lining for ITT and its lawyers is that Judge Barker dismissed the Bureau’s TILA claim as time-barred. This ruling may make the Bureau reluctant to bring federal district court claims under TILA for conduct that is not continuing. However, the order does not limit the Bureau’s ability to bring such claims in an administrative proceeding.


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Is Reshoring Still a Reality?
November 9, 2010
In 2009, many U.S. manufacturers began to bring offshored production closer to home. As the economy slowly improves, will the "reshoring" trend continue or will offshoring to low-cost countries pick up again?
"After a decade of rapid globalization, economists say companies are seeing disadvantages of offshore production, including shipping costs, complicated logistics and quality issues," the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year.
According to a survey of major third-party logistics providers in 2009, CEOs in North America and Europe reported that, on average, nearly one-quarter of their customers had taken steps during the past year to shorten supply chains. Of the 35 CEOs surveyed, 20 reported that some of their major customers had shifted manufacturing activities from Asia to North America, Central America or Eastern Europe.
And, for a brief period, the move to repatriate work to the U.S. (onshore) or nearby locations (nearshore) after initially outsourcing it to far-flung, low-cost countries seemed to be taking hold.
"Costs to do business in previously lower-cost countries are steadily increasing due to labor rates and currency fluctuations," Mitch Free, CEO of online sourcing marketplace MFG.com, told Machine Design this summer. As a result, more manufacturers either have or are seriously considering a backshore strategy to save costs, improve quality, and better manage brands and technology, he said.
According to MFG.com's latest MFGWatch survey of North American manufacturers, in mid-2010, nearly one-third (38 percent) of respondents said they will begin investigating onshore or nearshore options for production currently performed in low-cost countries, up from 31 percent in the first quarter.
Moreover, as domestic manufacturers reassess the total costs of their products, a significantly higher number of large North American manufacturers have already repatriated production or moved production closer to North America. The survey, conducted in June, found that 13 percent of large North American OEMs had already returned some production from low-cost countries in the first quarter of 2010.
According to a survey of 3PL leaders this fall, 27 of the 31 CEOs surveyed noted that some of their manufacturing customers began to move toward nearshoring options over the past year. In North America alone, 14 out of 16 executives reported a shift of some customer manufacturing back from Asia to North or Central America.
The increased interest in reshoring or backshoring is at least partly due to risks inherent in managing production across extended supply chains (e.g., costs, supplier reliability, etc.). According to the MFGWatch survey findings, 44 percent of North American manufacturers experienced a significant disruption to their supply chain that forced them to select or contact alternative supplier sources, up from 35 percent in the previous quarter.
Despite these signs of repatriating work to the U.S. becoming more prevalent, other data indicate that offshoring to low-cost countries is picking up again.
While many companies actively pursued nearshoring and onshoring in 2009, or expected to do so in the future, Grant Thornton's 2010 survey of U.S. manufacturing executives concluded that the trend remains active but dampened since last year.
"[N]earshoring appears to have lost some momentum over the past year," Grant Thornton explains. "While some companies brought operations closer to the U.S., fewer did than in our 2009 survey. Fuel prices one driver of nearshoring came down, at least temporarily. So, too, did raw materials prices such as steel."
Interestingly, in the auditing and risk management firm's 2009 survey, 45 percent of companies projected they would move sourcing closer to the U.S., "but this largely did not come to pass. Despite their plans, one year later, only 20 percent report that they actually did so. Moreover, only 12 percent of respondents project that they will move facilities closer to home in the coming 12 months, a steep drop-off from the projections from our 2009 survey."
In fact, Grant Thornton found that 82 percent of respondents made some portion of their supply chain purchases internationally, up from 77 percent last year. China remains the top choice, with 28 percent sourcing from that country, up from 22 percent in 2009.
A separate 2010 survey, of 100 chief financial officers (CFOs) at leading technology companies located throughout the U.S., forecast China would be the leading location for future outsourcing in the high-tech industry. According to the BDO 2010 Technology Outlook Survey, CFOs are currently outsourcing to more locations, and 28 percent of respondents said they are looking at Chinese service providers in particular. Southeast Asia was the second favorite at 22 percent and India was a close third at 20 percent. In contrast, last year the United States topped the accounting and consulting firm's list at 22 percent.
"Last year, fraud issues and international strife caused U.S. companies to focus on domestic services as opposed to outsourcing," according to Don Jones, a partner in BDO's Technology Practice. "This year, however, the economy has significantly squeezed margins and companies have had to resume outsourcing to reduce their operating costs. Asia and India are the leading outsourcing locations because both regions have already built the necessary infrastructure to quickly support increased demand."
BDO's annual technology survey of high-tech companies concluded that when 2010 ends, it will have mirrored 2008 when it comes to offshore outsourcing locations: China and India will garner almost 80 percent of the high-tech business because of their low-cost offerings.
Despite the diminished nearshoring highlighted in its 2010 survey, Grant Thornton believes that U.S. companies serving U.S.-based customers with operations in Asia will continue to bring operations closer to home, including to U.S. soil. Among the companies that are currently nearshoring, the largest group is actually repatriating some aspects of sourcing to the U.S. Nearly six in 10 (59 percent) of those moving operations closer to home are locating those operations in the U.S., followed by Mexico (49 percent).
The Supply Chain in Uncertain Times: Is Nearshoring Losing Momentum? Grant Thornton, February 2010
The Shifting Geography of Offshoring: 2009 Global Services Location Index A.T. Kearney, May 18, 2009
Geography of Offshoring is Shifting A.T. Kearney, May 18, 2009
Backshoring Gains Momentum as More U.S. Companies Bring Production Home by Kenneth J. Korane Machine Design, July 7, 2010
Top Supply Chain Industry Trend Penske Logistics, Sept. 27, 2010
Competition and Government Regulation Challenge Tech Sector Funding... BDO, Feb. 16, 2010
Caterpillar Joins 'Onshoring' Trend by Kris Maher and Bob Tita The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2010
Where Are Buyers Going Next? by Anand Ramesh Outsourcing Center (Everest Group), Sept. 1, 2010
Re-shoring Article Link Library National Tooling & Machining Association
Re-Shoring to Bring U.S. Manufacturing Jobs Back Home
National Tooling & Machining Association and Precision Metalforming Association, May 12, 2010


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Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s could sign £2bn deal to supply newsagent chain McColl’s as grocers continue fighting to secure their futures
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s could sign a £2bn deal to supply newsagent chain McColl’s as grocers continue fighting to secure their futures.
The pair are said to be discussing a deal which would see Sainsbury’s flog its products to McColl’s 1,400 stores.
Sources hinted an even wider proposal might be on the table, and McColl’s has previously been discussed in City circles as a possible takeover target.
Expansion plans: The pair are said to be discussing a deal which would see Sainsbury’s flog its products to McColl’s 1,400 stores
It raises questions about a separate Sainsbury’s plan to buy convenience firm Nisa for a reported £130m.
Nisa currently has a five-year contract to supply McColl’s with up to £500m of goods every year – a deal which accounts for around 40 per cent of the former’s £1.2bn revenue.
But this partnership is coming up for tender, meaning a rival could swoop in.However, an insider said the outcome of the McColl's contract did not affect the Sainsbury's proposal.
The tie-up talk comes as grocers battle German discounters and American tech giants.
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India withdraws the ‘Most Favoured Nation’ (MFN) status granted to Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack, India on Saturday hiked the basic customs duty on all goods imported from the neighbouring country to 200%.
The government also announced its plans to initiate diplomatic steps to ensure the complete isolation of Pakistan in the international community. This decision to withdraw the status was taken soon after Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber attack at Pulwama, killed 44 CRPF jawans.
“India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect,” Union Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted on Saturday evening.
Union government says that withdrawing the status will hurt Pakistan at a time when it is struggling financially, the move is mostly symbolic because bilateral trade between the two countries comes up to barely $2 billion a year. India mainly exports cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel to Pakistan while importing fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices.
The MFN status is given to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between two countries. Although India had granted the status to Pakistan in 1996, Islamabad did not reciprocate despite it being required to do so as a member of the World Trade Organisation.


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NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - T-Mobile US Inc's quarterly profit topped Wall Street analyst estimates as the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier raised the lower end of its expected range of customer additions for the year.
Net income was $550 million, or 63 cents a share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $366 million, or 42 cents a share in the year-earlier period.
Revenue was $10.02 billion, up from $9.31 billion a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 46 cents per share and revenue of $10.01 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company said it now expects to add 3.3 million to 3.6 million customers who pay a monthly bill, up from 3 million to 3.6 million.
Reporting by Anjali Athavaley; Editing by Nick Zieminski


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Horatio Pagani is an Argentinian engineer whose spent the past two decades hand-building exquisite supercars. Kim Kardashian may be the most famous woman in the world, for reasons that escape many, including us. Yet it somehow seems apt that when the breadwinner of the Kardashian clan went shopping for supercars this week, she would spend an hour checking out the first Pagani Huayra in the United States —how long does cialis last for – cialis once a day reviews – viagra cialis canadian pharmacy – generic viagra canada
a 740-hp beast that could be hers for just $2 million.
Full Story: Yahoo


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Looks like Kohl’s can’t catch a break, and may only have himself to blame for that. People walk near Kohl’s department store on June 7 in Doral, Florida (Joe Riddle, Getty Images)
Estimated reading time: 3-4 minutes
NEW YORK — It looks like Kohl’s isn’t catching a break, and only himself can be blamed for it.
The department store chain presented a door to door outlook for 2022 on Thursday, saying it expects full-year sales to decline 5% to 6% compared to a year ago and is expected to drop higher to prevent shoppers. Blames inflation – especially its middle-income consumers – from spending more at its stores. The company also reported a decline in sales and profit for the quarter ended July 30.
Kohl’s stock fell more than 7% on Thursday.
But the economy is not its only problem. Kohl’s, similar to other large chains, including Target and Walmart, is stuck with too much excess inventory that it can’t clear. The chain’s inventory in the quarter was up 48% over the same period last year.
“We have adjusted our plans, implemented actions to reduce inventory and reduced spending for a softer demand outlook,” Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass said in a statement.
With more than 1,100 US stores and annual sales of approximately $19 billion, Kohl’s is the largest department store chain in the United States. But the company has struggled to find a way forward for itself.
Kohl’s floated and then withdrew the idea of selling itself to Franchise Group, a holding company that owns The Vitamin Shoppe and other retail brands, which the company said was due to financing issues and a difficult economic environment. was due to.
The retailer is employing a variety of tactics to stay relevant, especially for younger consumers. It recently partnered with popular cosmetics brand Sephora to open mini-Sephora stores at their locations. Kohls said the move has helped it gain a million new customers since last August who are smaller, more diverse and shop more frequently than the average consumer.
And last week, the retailer announced that it was rolling out a self-pickup option at all of its stores for online orders within a two-hour window.
But all these efforts, although necessary for Kohl’s, cannot completely hide the chain’s most fundamental problem, said Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData Retail.
“In our view, the main source of Kohl’s woes is internal. Most notably, the company has lost ground in terms of merchandising and range planning and appears to be taking a random approach to buying. The result is unrelated products. The disturbance is due to a “very serious drop in shoplifting standards, which has worsened in stores,” Saunders said in a note on Thursday.
Saunders said, “It used to be that while a little nostalgic, Kohl was disciplined and clean in his presentation. It’s all gone out the window in the past year.” “In such an economic environment, consumers will quickly abandon purchases and stores that require a lot of effort for little reward.”
Kathryn Miklosic, who lives in the Toronto area, said she has shopped at department store chains for decades, and is such a devoted Kohl’s fan that whenever she travels to the United States, she takes a Kohl’s card and a Kohl’s card with her. Takes discount coupons.
“I usually spend several hundred dollars on each trip,” she said. “As a cross-border shopper, I enjoy getting clothes in the US that are different from the stores here. (Kohle’s) sales are amazing and until recently so much for clothing, purses, home goods, and seasonal decor. All the options were there.”
But his last visit to Kohl’s in Watertown, NY, on August 13, was disappointing. Miklosik said he left the store “in a panic attack from the jumbled mess and chaos.”
“On this trip I spent $12.10 on a reusable shopping bag with Kohl’s logo, and two stuffed animals with the proceeds going to the Kohls Cares Foundation,” she said. “I even told the cashier that I was so overwhelmed that I had to leave, and I’d probably try again the next day. I didn’t.”


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Photo: April L. Sanders
If you want to understand why Zynga is struggling, look no further than a recent report from App Annie, an analytics firm that tracks Android and iOS apps.While Zynga has far and away the biggest audience for social games and rakes in cash from its Facebook titles, it has openly admitted that it has had a hard time making money on mobile.
And it’s not like other American companies are ruling the charts—Zynga archrival Electronic Arts has just one title in the top 10.
It turns out that the real success stories in mobile games are scattered around the world. The best moneymakers are from companies in Finland, Sweden, Japan, and South Korea. Maybe you haven’t heard of them—but you’ve probably played one of their games.
Publisher: Backflip Studios
DragonVale, a game in which you breed your own pet dragon, was released in September 2011 by Backflip, a studio based in Boulder, Colo. It's still going strong.
This kingdom-building simulation is a big hit for Kabam, a Silicon Valley games startup that has raised $125 million from investors including Google and Intel.
This British publisher has challenged Zynga on Facebook games--but on mobile, it's just crushing it.
FarmVille players might find some parts of this Finnish games maker's agricultural simulation familiar. But Inside Social Games has actually said that Zynga's FarmVille 2 sequel is 'reminiscent' of Hay Day. Never mind who's copying whom--Hay Day's a hit.
Publisher: GungHo Online
This popular puzzle game may be generating between $54 million and $75 million a month, according to reports of GungHo's financials. (That's for both iOS and Android versions.)
Another financial hit for the Finns--this medieval battle game is reportedly making more than $1 million a day. The secret: carefully rolling out features so new users don't get overwhelmed.
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We have confirmed that the Apple class compliant driver that Sonic Port / Sonic Port VX relies on for audio can be problematic on iOS 13. We have seen this across multiple iPhones. Our QA department has logged a bug with Apple to resolve this, but being that this is Apple’s driver, we have no control over if/when this will be fixed. We’ll continue to test iOS 13 beta releases as they become available. We will update this article with any relevant information as it comes.
Update: We’ve tested the latest iOS 13.2 release and the problem with Sonic Port and Sonic Port VX persists. We will continue to dialogue with Apple in an effort to resolve the problem.
Edited by Line6Tony