The handelot times issue 25 The Handelot Times Volume XXV A greener World https://www.handelot.com/handelotimes/issue25/index.html Interview with the Sales Director of Riba Mundo- Mirco Sorbo "Relationship is the key to Success" p06 - New crypto trends p12 - Musk and Bezos Clash p42 - Chipset war p16 - Vasu the wise 5 point prescription to successful trading p18, Old Hand Smoke and Mirrors p36, Najibs Corner The money Quest p38 Advertisers: H-asia p02, Erregame p03, Invest in Bulgaria p16, Riba Mundo p36, Newbridge FX p43, Teksmart p51 Recruitment: BSC Canada is hiring! p17 Tiger Team Poland expanding his mini B2B Team p23 02. h-asia 03. Erregame THE HANDELOT TIMES- The Online B2B Magazine for Electronics Wholesalers The tech industry is changing quickly and we want to keep you up to date with the latest news. We are developing ourselves by opening up to new innovations in IT. We are growing and keeping a reliable source of B2B information from all over the world. With The Handelot Times, we will bring you more information about market trends, share cutting-edge ideas, and bring our world together with yours. Handelot.com- 13 years on the market 3 Lines of business: Platform, Magazine and Events 4 Segments: Mobility, Inhome, IT and Medicals The Handelot Times: Design: Adam Mieloszynski Copywriter: Melania Romanelli Copywriter: Kazi Najib Ashraf Copywriter: The Old Hand Copywriter: Vasudevan, K.S. Associates of the organisation: Taha Tuzuner – Business Consultant Team Leader Dima Malovanyi – Business Consultant Team Leader Koushik Deka – Business Consultant Team Leader Khrystyna Terletska – Partner Coordinator Team Lead Alicja Gogola – Business Consultant Alex Livanios – Business Consultant Omar Benabdellah – Business Consultant Jon Rodriguez – Business Consultant Venktesh Prasad – Business Consultant Jack Serdak – Business Consultant Victoria Chen – Business Consultant Carolina Kotulska- Business Consultant Ruslan Panahov – Business Developer Kiryl Trukhan - Business Developer Elza Lerner- Administrative Manager Claudia Aniszkiewicz – Partner Coordinator Dominik Pawelec – Partner Coordinator Katarzyna Mroczkowska – Partner Coordinator Sandra Grabowska Lis – Partner Coordinator Sevara Akhmedova – Partner Coordinator Edgar Arana – Business Developer Tetiana Handziuk – Administration Agnieszka Pulawska – CFO Valentyn Petruchek – Head of Development Alexander Golovnya – Development Cesar Gonzalez Patryk Skowron Advertising: For quotes please email times@handelot.com or call us at +48717152600. 04-05. Quick hits 2 Quick Hits AMD, here is the first B450 motherboard produced in Russia GS Group Holding and Philax began manufacturing the first motherboard based on AMD's B450 chipset made in Russia. Specifically, Philax plans to distribute at least 40,000 pieces on the Russian market. The company specifically chose the B450M Pro4 for the ability to add a TPM module, a very important feature for government agencies. However, the partnership between GS Group Holding and Philax doesn't stop just at motherboards. The two companies also plan to produce up to 50,000 monitors. In addition, there is an 18-month project to design and market motherboards for Elbrus and Baikal processors, chips designed in-house in Russia. Enthusiasts will likely find Philax's B450 motherboard very familiar. This is because the design is based on ASRock's B450M Pro4, possibly part of a licensing agreement of some kind. Obviously, the Philax version does not feature the ASRock branding and does not even carry the model name. While the B450 chipset has a few years to go, it remains compatible with a wide range of Ryzen processors and APUs, including the latest Ryzen 5000 (codenamed Vermeer) and Ryzen 4000 (codenamed Renoir). Adhering to the micro-ATX form factor, the motherboard features four DDR4 memory slots, supporting DDR4-3200 modules and above. Apple and Facebook fly, profits and revenues are boom! The quarterly reports beyond expectations: Apple and Facebook fly to Wall Street after quarterly above analysts' expectations, which overshadow the tensions between Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg on privacy. Cupertino's profit more than doubled in the first three months of the year to $ 23.6 billion on revenues up sharply to $ 89.6 billion. “The quarter reflects how our products have helped consumers at this time in their lives, but also the optimism that there are better days ahead of us,” said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. Facebook closed the first quarter with revenues up 48% to $ 26.1 billion, over the $ 23.1 billion the market was betting on. Net profit jumped 94% to 9.4 billion compared to the expected 6.8 billion. Stellar results that push Facebook stocks into after hours trading, where they earn over 5% by updating historical records. The jump in revenues, explains chief financial officer David Wehner, is linked to the 30% increase in advertising prices, in what is considered a sign of high demand. The quarterly at least temporarily obscure the tensions between Cook and Zuckerberg on the latest update of the iOS operating system. The clash took place remotely on the App Tracking Transparency, which is the transparency on the tracking by the apps that requires the user's consent to track data in applications or on third-party sites for advertising purposes. A function that Zuckerberg did not go down and that highlighted the two different privacy approaches of the two giants. TikTok opens European Center for Transparency and Accountability After inaugurating the first Transparency and Accountability Center in the United States in July 2020, TikTok announces the opening of a similar Center in Europe. It will be based in Ireland and the company expects to be fully operational by 2022. Initially, the facility will operate in virtual mode due to the restrictions for Covid-19. Once operational, the Center can be visited by industry experts, who will have the opportunity to see for themselves how the important task of ensuring the security, data protection and privacy of the TikTok community is managed. “There are over 100 million European users active every month on TikTok and the task of our teams is to continue to deserve their trust, that of institutions and the general public - explains Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety of TikTok - Thanks to the ability to see directly how we operate, experts will also have the opportunity to learn more about our moderation systems, processes and policies”. Google pushes its data centers towards carbon free “Within a decade, we aim to make every Google data center, cloud region and campus run exclusively on renewable energy. I am proud to announce that five of our data centers in Denmark, Finland, Iowa, Oklahoma and Oregon now operate 90% carbon-free energy,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet on Earth Day, which is celebrated today, April 22. Already in 2017 and for the fourth consecutive year, Google has made its energy consumption coincide with 100% renewable energy. The American giant has invested 4 billion dollars in the purchase of clean energy in over 50 wind and solar projects globally, until 2034 and aims, by 2030, to use totally carbon free energy 24 hours a day, seven days Out of seven. "In September 2020, we are committed to proposing new ways in which our products can help 1 billion people make sustainable choices,” continues the CEO. “Soon, Google Maps will default to the route with the lowest carbon footprint and will allow comparing the relative carbon footprint of the various routes. Already some of our products, such as Nest thermostats, allow customers to save billions of kWh of energy". Recently, Big G integrated the Timelapse functionality into Google Earth, which shows how many areas of our planet have transformed as a result of climate change, deforestation and extreme urbanization. PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will be available on Chinese territory from May 15th Sony Interactive Entertainment Shanghai has announced that PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will be available in China from May 15 at a price of 3,899 yuan and 3,099 yuan respectively. At launch, Chinese players will also be able to purchase a selection of accessories including the DualSense controller (529 yuan), Pulse 3D headphones (749 yuan), HD camera (449 yuan) and the DualSense charging base for the price of 229 Yuan. PlayStation Plus subscribers will have access from day one to the PlayStation Plus Collection package which includes twelve games, with a different lineup than in Europe: Final Fantasy XV, Gravity Rush 2, Hardcore Mecha, Helldivers Dive Harder Edition, Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition, Journey, The Last Guardian, LittleBigPlanet 3, Loco Roco Remastered, Ratchet & Clank, Tearaway and WipEout Omega Collection. Sony Interactive Entertainment Shanghai is also preparing the launch of various Chinese localized titles including Sackboy A Big Adventure, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart and Genshin Impact. Among the games coming to PS5 also Lost Soul Aside, developed under the supervision of Sony as part of the PlayStation China Hero Project, the program born in 2014 to enhance local talent and give greater visibility and support to Chinese developers. Helium token and the 5G: markets go boom Another great run by Helium, which in today's markets is among the cryptocurrencies with the highest earnings. This time, however, behind the strong price increase there is not the very short-term speculation that has been dominating the altcoin market in recent days, after the sharp correction of last week. In fact, Helium announced very important news with the next support of a 5G network that will be completely governed by the community, also through the HNT token. This announcement led to a strong increase in purchases of the cryptocurrency, which over the 24 hours had an increase in value close to the double digits. The excellent moment continues for utility tokens, many of which are emerging cryptocurrencies that have decided to use blockchain technologies to offer services other than the exchange of money. It will be necessary to make a brief recap on the functioning of Helium to understand the centrality of this specific network in the world of the alt blockchain, the one that aims to integrate alternative services to the exchange of value. In this case, and it is the original mission of the project that was born in 2013, the focus is on the creation of a network of distributed hotspots, with HNT, the project's cryptocurrency, which is a means of payment for those who provide infrastructure. With the due proportions, we are ahead of what we have seen Siacoin do for the world of storage or, perhaps more meaningfully, by Theta for the world of video streaming. A project that has had mixed fortunes over the years, but still growing dramatically. Today there are Helium hotspots in over 3,800 cities for a total of approximately 28,000 hotspots. The news of the moment is that through the approval of the HIP 27 motion, the system will also be able to begin integrating 5G into its project. For what will become the first 5G network controlled in a distributed way, without central providers and in the hands of a community that operates on a protocol and on opensource hardware. Although the project is unknown to most - even among cryptocurrency enthusiasts - it is good to underline the revolutionary significance of an addition of this type. The Eiffel Tower becomes an NFT The Eiffel Tower becomes an NFT. This is the initiative of OVR, a world that crosses the virtual and the real also through augmented reality systems. A system that allows you to buy virtual land all over the world, which is always auctioned through NFT and which has already seen more than 200,000 auctions complete successfully, with nearly 3,000 currently open and available for bidding. With the whole world being divided into hexagons, like the map of an RPG. What will we take home if we win this (expensive, as we will see) auction? An NFT token that recognizes us, only in the virtual world, the ownership of the symbolic monument of Paris. Of course, we will not be able to close it to the public or start a business there, but with the NFT craze that today is also breaking through in the modern world, it would still be a pretty good collector's item. The procedures for participating in the auction are very simple: you sign up, create your own wallet and then you can proceed with the bet via wrapped Ethereum, a replica of the Ethereum tokens that can be exchanged for the concrete token at any time. 06-09. Interview with the Sales Director of Riba Mundo- Mirco Sorbo Interview_4 1) Q: Mirco, how did you get started in our industry and what did you do before consumer electronics? A: I started dealing with electronics when I was a boy, at the age of 17 (seventeen) years old. Consumer electronics was one of my first work experiences. It was the early 1990s and technology was a new, developing sector. My interest for the “brand new”, in fact, led me to focus my attention on this sector. First I chose to collaborate with shops as an agent, and then one year after I finally got my own shop opened. 2) Q: We know you are quite new in Riba Mundo. Why Riba Mundo and why now? A: I have always had good relationships and business with the owners of Riba Mundo. 2020 was a difficult and complicated year for all of us, and I realized that I was not totally satisfied with my work career. So I decided to change my life to focus on creating something that would suit my personal idea of a company. In Riba Mundo I found the ideal condition to realize my personal expectations: entering into a company with a group of friends with whom I will cultivate my current and future work projects, and where I feel that I can express all my strength and commercial experience together with them. People who understand and share my line of thought. 3) A: What do you expect to bring to Riba Mundo? Q: I am offering Riba Mundo my 27 years of experience and knowledge of the market, a portfolio of strong customers and well-established suppliers over the time, thanks to professional correctness shown in years. I will also bring my utmost commitment and effort so that this “young” reality can be at the height of its main competitors. All together we are carrying on all our cultural and economic heritage of knowledge gathered over years of experience in this sector. 4) Q: Could you please share some of Riba Mundo's unique business approach with us? Moreover, in your opinion, what distinguishes your company from the others? A: What distinguishes Riba Mundo is the approach with customers and suppliers. We try to build lasting relationships that go beyond the working and commercial aspect, also enhancing the interpersonal sphere. We follow the customer not only at the time of sale but also in the subsequent phases by providing him with an accurate customer care service follow up. We mainly aim to build customer loyalty by trying to offer a range of products and prices daily updated, we try to adapt to the needs of the customer by carrying out targeted studies on various market situations, also recommending dedicated products according to the request and need of the geographical area. In Riba Mundo our customers will be able to find a dynamic and helpful team, operators who speak several languages, a range of selected products with updated and competitive prices, a dedicated credit line service with the most known insurance companies, and an order delivery service with 24 hours Express shipment. 5) A: What opportunities do you see in the near future? Q: In the near future I see room for improvement in the development and expansion of the corporate structure. We have just completed the development of a management software created by us, designed to allow us to provide an increasingly broad service of products, brands and categories thanks to direct relationships with the best brands. Furthermore, the management software allows us to calculate the market trend with the historical data of the previous months and try to anticipate it by guaranteeing competitive prices with top-of-the-range products, express delivery throughout Europe, and the access to credit for insured customers. Our goal is to be able to provide excellent service to all our customers, starting from the smallest to the largest, based in all over the world. 6) Q: What are your most immediate goals for Riba Mundo? A: The narrow-term objectives for Riba Mundo are to continue a loyalty program and expansion of our customer package on the one hand, and on the other hand to reach to offer more and more from the brands we deal with, thanks to direct contracts we establish with parent companies. In June we will launch a B2B website for all European stores and retailers, so that they will be able to see our availability in real time and the continuous updates of warehouse stocks and new arrivals. We will launch specific promotions daily, based on the purchase history of our customers. Website advertisement will be shared to everyone in every country to let it know, and we will be always ready to represent our company in all the fairs that will be organized in order to keep direct contact with our customers. The company is dedicated to serving our customers who allow us to grow daily. Because of this reason and because we want to offer an impeccable service to our customers, we are looking for a new warehouse of 4000mq, we have implemented an automatic process of receiving and fulfilling orders until 4.30 pm on the same day which includes a granted delivery in the following day. We apply a daily price update policy to be always competitive, by sacrificing our margin but allowing our customers to always find excellent prices and a wide range of products and quantities 7) Q: How is the European market in general these days? A: The market has started well since the beginning of the year and is reacting. I dare to say that our policy explained above is giving us the results we expected. But every day we wake up and try to improve and give our best to increase our service and reach the targets of excellence that we have set for our customers. We closed the quarter positively achieving what we were expecting, even though we struggled with sudden price changes. April started slower, but the market is now moving more regularly and prices are stabilizing too. It is a market moment certainly not based on large volumes but more on small and medium orders. I foresee an increase in the second half of the year, also considering the attenuation of the anti-Covid measures. I also believe that the market and the customers themselves reward certified and permanently present companies just like ours, with a large warehouse, and a policy based mainly on customer care and assistance, price offering and presence on the market. 8) Q: What do you think will be the biggest impact on our business due to the pandemic? A: I hope that the pandemic will gradually end this year and that in its second half it will be almost imperceptible. The impact has been absorbed by the market, now we must continue and work to improve more and more our direct relationships by taking physical appointments and fairs with the aim to always establish trust relationships. In fact, I believe human contact is always important, and direct relationship has always distinguished me over the years. This approach has allowed me to get to know my customers and suppliers and to bring consolidated relationships on the plate. 9) Q: Do you think we will have a permanent change in the market after the pandemic or rather go back to work as usual? A: I think and believe that we will return to work normally after the pandemic. After this crucial moment it is certain that the great companies like us can optimally aim for a better future and become big. Customers do appreciate the stability of a supplier that, despite any adversities, can always guarantee an always open service with a varied range of products and which is constantly looking for better solutions for its customers. Our mission is to grow together with the customer, by creating an important bond to have a not sporadic but 360-degree relationship. I hope next year to be able to do a new interview joint together with other customers and talk about the great goals achieved by everyone together thanks to our work and sacrifice. 10) A: You're growing the business, of course. I imagine recruiting will be an important part of your job. When you recruit, what do you actually look for in people? Q: Yes, recruiting is the most important part. In Riba Mundo we are a family that is growing but always continuing to be a big family that looks after and respects the person and their job. In Riba Mundo every day we work side by side with enthusiasm and will to achieve our dreams that we have all wished. What I look for during most of the job interviews is whether the person wants to grow and get engaged in the project, feeling to be a big part of it. Sincerity, honesty and respect for colleagues and work will complete the profile. You can only reach your goals if you show respect, unity in the team, if you work with heart and soul, without envy and by leading all to the same goal. 11) Q: Finally, perhaps a piece of advice for the new generations? What advice would you give to the youngest in our sector? A: There is no doubt our sector is not an easy sector to undertake for the new generations, it is absolutely not easy to enter and be able to work out with something. It is a sector in which, if you do not know market trends before, you can easily be demotivated because it is not easy to foresee. When new starters join the market they start always looking for important big customers and big volumes sales. This is one of the main mistakes: just try to be yourself and start with small sales. Be aware and conscious of what you sell well. This sector is based a lot on professionalism and not on the price level. To the new generations I give the advice I learned with life: remember you can only grow by working, being punctual and sincere in relationships, transparent, listening to those who have more experience and are trying to train you. Close to this you must put your determination, enthusiasm, smile, energy to be able to fight everything together and learn and grow every day. "Where There's a Will There's a Way", this will be the most suitable slogan ever. 10-11. Back to a new future_ our 2021 scenarios_2d Back to a new future:  The three possible economic scenarios World economists never agree, but on one thing they are on the same wavelength: there are 3 probable post-pandemic scenarios. In outlining these scenarios, they rely on four fundamental elements: • the resolution of the health crisis • the alleviation of the current crisis • the management of aggregate demand • the overcoming of the inevitable political failures along the way. The coordination between fiscal and monetary policy will still largely determine the success of the management of aggregate demand, which will depend primarily on the resolution of the global health crisis and the implementation of urgent support measures. The effectiveness with which these four basic elements will actually be implemented will also largely determine the type of economic recovery for countries and regions, as well as the behavior of the markets. In the baseline scenario, the post-pandemic recovery begins unevenly, as the gap exists between tech sectors with a low degree of service in presence and sectors that cannot leverage Further digitization is further expanding. Small businesses, especially those operating in the leisure and hospitality sector, are only able to partially recover, leaving behind a long trail of restructuring and insolvency. However, we expect sectors offering in-person services to recover significantly after 2022, as Covid-19 vaccines will be able to ensure herd immunity, allowing for a less fragmented and asynchronous recovery. At the end of 2025, growth will manage to catch up with the long-term trend, while inflation in developed markets will increase to 3% in the United States by 2025. We can see greater coordination among policy makers. Central banks are adapting effectively to the new role, delaying the erosion of the sustainability of sovereign debt. After having exhausted the conventional monetary instruments available (bringing rates to zero), and having achieved lower objectives with the unconventional ones (by stimulating aggregate demand through the expansion of balance sheets), they enter a phase in which the burden of management of aggregate demand is handed back to governments. By carving out this secondary position, central banks are focusing on their new role as facilitators of the fiscal experiment, which requires keeping nominal rates close to the effective lower bound and monetizing fiscal deficits, in order to ensure that debt service costs Public are low enough to facilitate government disbursements and stimulate aggregate demand. At the end of 2021-2025 projection period, central banks will redirect their strategy, as they will finally be able to observe a satisfactory and persistent level of inflation, perhaps even above the target range. In the optimistic scenario, a recovery that echoes that of the 1970s, economic growth maintains momentum after the initial rebound of 2021. The first phase, which solves the health crisis, is more successful. In 2021, several effective vaccines against Covid-19 are put into circulation and the virus does not change its basic cells, allowing these vaccines to remain effective longer. In terms of immediate post-crisis support, the so-called “fiscal cliff” is avoided, with no significant delay between the expiry of the liquidity measures taken by the government and the establishment of a self-sustaining recovery. Feed themselves, generating cash flows. This phase is better managed than the base case, since the European example of the adoption of preventive measures aimed at keeping workers employed longer is adopted on a larger scale. Unlike the baseline scenario, the paradox of parsimony (i.e. excessive savings that inhibits the recovery of aggregate demand) no longer applies. The recovery in the labor market appears robust and very low real rates encourage negative savings by households and businesses, while the economy strengthens. Fiscal stimuli are proving very effective, with higher multipliers due to greater technological fallout in sectors where digitization had not yet expressed its full potential. Aggregate demand overshoots the trend, thanks to a surge in spending: given the slow response from the supply side in the labor and commodity markets to improvements on the demand side, inflation in developed markets exceeds The target of 2% in 2022, and accelerates to 3% when there is a feverish recovery of expenditure. Central banks begin evaluating a rate hike earlier than expected in the baseline scenario, with the Fed starting a new round of monetary tightening by 2023, when US core inflation approaches 3.5%. In this optimistic scenario, a paradox emerges: the coordination of policies has been so effective in restarting the economy that central banks decide to move away from the role of tax lenders, and show their independence. In the pessimistic scenario, the cracks in the global economy are getting wider and wider. The pandemic is barely kept under control, with setbacks in the search for a vaccine due to unexpected mutations of the virus. The distribution of an effective vaccine is therefore delayed until 2022. Economic actors remain in crisis mode, while in the push and pull between lockdowns and re-openings the former seems to be favored. The support toolkit runs out, and a fiscal cliff looms before a self-sustaining recovery can begin. With the exhaustion of fiscal and monetary policy space in some parts of the global economy, another recession takes hold. This W-shaped path is followed by stagnation. Issues such as corporate over-indebtedness, rising income inequalities and eroding trust in institutions and geopolitics are risk factors that would typically have caused a classic recession, regardless of the Covid-19 crisis. However they are still present and aggravated by the pandemic. The role of central banks as fiscal financiers fails, in a context of lower consumption growth due to strong disinflationary pressures, forced deleveraging and a lower “wealth effect”. The result is a prolonged period of disinflation and very low real growth. What scenario do you think will come true in the upcoming years? 12-13. NTF- Last trend on Crypto_2 Last trends on Crypto: the NFTs What are NFTs? We could answer that they are the fashion of the moment and that - at some level - they have a relationship with cryptocurrencies and blockchains. But such an answer is not enough for a phenomenon that is moving millions of dollars every day and that seems to be the latest trend in the crypto sector. Some sector magazines were attentive to deal with it on several occasions. They were the first to speak about Cristiano Ronaldo's NFT in Italy (or rather, a sort of digital card), just as the first to update the readers about auctions at Christie's and also at Sotheby's. Now is the time to find out more - and we will explain in detail what NFTs are and if they are worth investing in. What is an NFT? The acronym stands for Non-Fungible Token, which for private law enthusiasts already explains part of the story. They are non-fungible tokens, i.e. tokens that are unique and cannot be exchanged on par with other tokens. We can make the counter-example to understand what it is. One Bitcoin is identical to another Bitcoin. We can trade them and both sides of the transaction will still have the same value in hand. NFTs, on the other hand, are tokens created according to a standard that makes them unique. Let’s dig in. The name reveals its most important feature: these digital tokens found in a blockchain are interchangeable. By purchasing cryptocurrency, for example bitcoins, each of them will be interchangeable: owning bitcoin “A" or bitcoin “B” within the blockchain will make no difference. The situation is different for NFTS: each of the digital objects is unique in its kind, so much so that it is considered a true digital work of art of the nascent “criypto art”. Proof of the ever-increasing importance of NFTS, even in economic value, is the first auction auctioned by Christie's: the entirely digital work The Last 5000 Days by the artist Beeple sold for 69.3 million dollars, with the possibility To make bets in Ether, the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. The second part of the question concerns what these NTFs can incorporate. They can represent the ownership of intellectual works such as images, texts, but also Tweets (this was the case of a tweet from Jack, the founder of Twitter) or any other representation of human knowledge. Nothing prevents an NFT from also representing the ownership of a physical asset, although in that case it is necessary for an authority to intervene to certify the ownership of the physical asset. Most tokens of this type are created on the Ethereum blockchain, although other cryptocurrencies are including support. At the same time, there are marketplaces where they can be traded. Let’s make another easy example. Among the fungible objects in the real world are banknotes: a 100 euro banknote will have the same value as another, by exchanging them you get the same object. Even the shares of a company are interchangeable with each other. A work of art like Leonardo's Mona Lisa or a statue like Canova's Cupid and Psyche are unique objects in the world. Reproductions can be sold, but the original will always maintain a very high economic value. Owning an NFT, then, means being the only one who has access to the blockchain where the file is stored and therefore having something unique in the world. Having a screenshot of CryptoKitties will be like having a reproduction of a famous painting: the copy will not have the precious value achieved by the original. The NFTS thus open the world to a new genre of digital art: crypto art, where unique works of their kind can be purchased with money or cryptocurrency, to remain with a single owner who can thus collect them. Are NTFs a bubble? This is an automatism of “old-fashioned” economic commentators, whenever something that comes from the cryptocurrency and blockchain environment creates value, apparently, out of thin air. While it is absolutely true that the prices we have seen, for “questionable” works, seem to be out of this world, on the other hand it is true that we are faced with the exact same mechanism of art. That is, the value of a work is established, in the free market, by how much people are willing to spend to obtain it. Can we consider a Picasso sketch to be a bubble if it is sold for € 50,000? It is none of our business. Just as it is none of our business if someone wants to buy a Cristiano Ronaldo digital card for tens of thousands of euros. Certainly there is a fashion, given the relative novelty of the system - which is not that new - and there is a very good chance that in the future what is purchased today will be worth less (although not all cases), but talking about a bubble does not make all this sense. With central banks printing money with no limit whatsoever, with shares of well-known NASDAQ groups with P / E Ratio above 1,000 (when normality was believed to be between 5 and 15 just a few years ago), stay to question how much people do with their NFT money is quite curious. What does the blockchain have to do with it? It is important because it supports the exchange of this type of token. As we said above, Ethereum is today the reference for the sector. And the forecasts on Ethereum, bullish as we had never seen them before, are certainly positively affected by the great popularity of NFTs. Over time, other blockchains, such as Cardano's, will support this type of token and surely the great NTF boom will be, so to speak, distributed. For the moment let's enjoy the small boost that Ethereum has had thanks to the great popularity of non-fungible tokens. 14. Invest in Bulgaria 15. BSC 16-17. Chipset war_ Tsmc vs Qualcomm Chipset war: Tsmc vs Qualcomm The war between the US and China is also a question of silicon. Some call it the “chip war", the “semiconductor war” which is an important, fundamental piece of the great battle between East and West for technological supremacy: a clash between “titans” that sees the great high-tech producers play each other their cards in view of the dominance in digital, in 5G mobile networks, in artificial intelligence and therefore in the production of the chips that make all mobile phones and computers work. The names of the fighters? Snapdragon (Qualcomm), Intel, Exynos (Samsung), A12 Bionic (Apple), Kirin (Huawei), which are basically the big, often unknown but powerful, silicon industry. The war within the war: Tsmc vs Qualcomm Qualcomm designs and develops its Snapdragon processors, which are now used in most Android smartphones, while not producing them internally. Over the years, the San Diego-based company has outsourced manufacturing to two of the largest and most advanced third-party foundries in the world, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung Foundry. In recent years, Samsung has been entrusted with the production of the Snapdragon 820, SoC made with a 14 nm production process, and of the Snapdragon 835 and Snapdragon 845, both with a 10 nm process. For the 7nm Snapdragon 855, however, she turned to TSMC and then returned again to Samsung for both the 7nm Snapdragon 865 and the 5nm Snapdragon 888 launched last December. For processors arriving next year, however, Qualcomm will likely go back to relying on TSMC. Citing industry sources, Digitimes reported that for its next-generation 5G processor to be announced later this year, Samsung Foundry will once again produce it using the 5nm node. However, in 2022, Qualcomm will presumably return to the court of the ambitious Taiwanese company for a processor made with the 4nm process. A stage of chip manufacturing According to a TSMC executive, the foundry is already on track to start producing 3nm chips in 2022, in line with the so-called “Moore's law” according to which the density of transistors on a chip (the number of transistors that can be inserted in a space of 2 nm) doubles every two years. The higher the density of the transistor, the smaller the process node and the more powerful or energy efficient a chip is. Samsung is also making huge investments to achieve the same goal. Compared to the current 5nm process, 3nm chips are expected to deliver 11% higher performance and a 27% reduction in power consumption. These shorter cycles, according to TSMC, would be possible thanks to the EUV technology which is able to create very thin patterns on the wafers used to position the chip components. But there is not only positive news for TSMC which, in the face of a growing number of orders - most of them placed by Apple -, has to contend with an unforeseen drought that has hit the southern areas of the country and which should last for several months. . Water is a key element for chip production and TSMC is purchasing large quantities of it from other basins. According to forecasts, there should currently be no particular problems for production. Markets Trends These are two of the largest listed chip companies on the market. TSMC, the larger of the two with a market capitalization of nearly $ 200 billion, serves as a contract manufacturer for a wide range of clients, including Qualcomm. Qualcomm, the smaller of the two, is both a chip designer and the owner of a large set of wireless patents that is licensed and has, historically, profited from. Shares of TSMC and Qualcomm have been down since the beginning of the year, even though Qualcomm's 21.1% decline far exceeds TSMC's. Considering the downturns of each, investors may be wondering which of the two stocks is the best buy today. Larger markets TSMC offers a wide range of end markets (although manufacturing smartphone chips for its customers is its core business), while Qualcomm's business is almost entirely dependent on the smartphone market. Both companies, in addition to trying to strengthen their positioning in the smartphone market, are looking to diversify beyond that market. The advantage of TSMC is that they are a contract chip manufacturer and the largest and most successful in the world. This means that many companies looking to compete for the same growth opportunities (e.g., high-performance computing, graphics processors, Internet of Things) will likely ask TSMC to build their chips, and TSMC doesn't have to worry about which ones are successful. As long as the successful ones are the TSMC customers. Qualcomm, on the other hand, designs its own chips and is responsible for selling them to customers. If Qualcomm is successful, it could potentially earn more from any segment than TSMC because it will be paid more for its chips than TSMC as a contract manufacturer. If Qualcomm isn't successful, though, it just burned a lot of research, development, and marketing efforts for a disappointing return. Furthermore, while both TSMC and Qualcomm pursue increasingly diversified markets, TSMC has the advantage of being able to move forward after many more markets than Qualcomm could hope for by virtue of its business model of building chips for all. 18-20. Vasu the Wise - 5 Point Prescription for Successful Trading and Distribution _3 5 Point Prescription for Trading and Distribution “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell As we are witnessing a tsunami of change around us, this quote from Colin Powell strikes a chord with my present thought process. Nothing is ever going to be the same and change is the only constant thing in the current times, which is the common knowledge as well. Given the prevailing situation, the IT and electronics Trading & Distribution community must feel, think and act differently, in order to overcome the challenges we are facing. The mantra is: STAY VIGILANT 24 X 7. Here are my 5-point ‘essential’ prescription for the community that can help you stay always VIGILANT and make it a culture to seamlessly steer through the upcoming unknown challenges: 1. EXPLORE BUSINESS ADJACENCY Sam Walton (of Walmart fame) once said that the 3 reasons for success in retail is Location, Location & Location. My 3 reasons for success in the IT & Electronics Trading & Distribution community is Adjacency, Adjacency & Adjacency. The rate at which brands, products and technology are embracing obsolescence is far higher than the past. Also, the product lines that we deal in, very often come under a tremendous margin pressure. On the other hand, market keeps throwing newer opportunities which will involve new learning, building newer customer base, changing the way of working and more. Still, the THE NEW NORMAL is now. In these times of uncertainties, one sure way for traders to stay ahead of the game would be to look at adjacency. 2. DO YOUR BUSINESS HEALTH CHECK Not just for trading but for any business to be successful, the owners or the executives MUST know what is weighing their business down. And this can be done only when they take a dispassionate look at how their business operates. A descriptive analysis can only spin the wishful thinking. A deep dive into the business at a transactional level leveraging the power of data is the only way to obtain real insights, understand behavioral patterns, foresee potential risks in the making and explore positions of strength that exists in the company. If you are not doing your operational business health check, then it is like running a car without its due maintenance. Health check pays itself as it will help you to ward off several instances that will cause your pockets to see losses or diminished returns. 3. QUARTERLY MOVING BUSINESS PLAN WITH CLARITY AND ACTION Every plan MUST last no more than 3 months. One may have an annual plan and four quarterly business reviews. The catch here is: the mind still dwells and prefers to stay stick to the plan, while recognizing / taking cognizance of the dramatic changes in the external world and the internal performance aspects. I call for a mindset change here - the same mindset with which the end of the year is seen, we might look at the end of the quarter in the same way. This means there are hard decisions to be taken on inventory, purchase, sales, customer handling, business adjacencies, margins et al. This is an important step towards getting VIGILANT on our business, as we steer through a highly VUCA led world. 4. ROBUST REWARD AND INCENTIVE PLAN The salespeople in any trading organization are its true foot soldiers! You will need them the most in these days, as survival and growth depends on ‘the collective change’ that the company will be able to bring about. This means, implementing a transformation from the inside and it should be led by the business owners, themselves. A ‘well balanced & mutually fair’ rewards mechanism that drives both growth and change is the formula to drive this transformation. In addition, drawing out a robust reward system is as crucial as managing the inventory in the organization. 5. STAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR SUPPLIERS A commendable sourcing strategy and its practice play a crucial role in the success of an IT & Electronics trading & distribution company. For this very reason, building a relationship stronger and closer than ever before is essential today and it cannot be taken for granted. Buyer need not to have the upper hand all the times in a volatile and uncertain market condition. Chalk out planned activities towards building and strengthening your supplier relationships at all levels of your entity. It must be a reward item for the members of your team involved in dealing with suppliers. CONCLUSION A true hallmark of a leader is how one steers the business in testing times, especially such as the current one. Based on the above 5 prescriptions, NOW is the time when the leadership must demonstrate strong conviction in running the organization. Percolating these prescriptions down the line in the organization becomes crucial to build a culture and ensure continued success. KEY TAKEAWAYS: 1. EXPLORE BUSINESS ADJACENCY 2. DO YOUR BUSINESS HEALTH CHECK 3. QUARTERLY MOVING BUSINESS PLAN WITH CLARITY AND ACTION 4. ROBUST REWARD AND INCENTIVE PLAN 5. STAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR SUPPLIERS For the above, I have made 21. Tiger team_1 22-33. VIP Gold + services_12 Mobility: 0048 CZ s.r.o. Czech Republic Praha 123tel Belgium Beringen AC Electronic Limited China Hong Kon AK Partners Group United States New York Al Shaab Electronics United Arab Emirates Dubai AL THANAYYAN INTERNATIONAL United Arab Emirates Dubai Aldis Trade d.o.o. Slovenia Velenje AMC Elektronik Vertriebs GmbH Germany Bonn Amir Group United Arab Emirates Dubai AMS Incentives United States New York AODELI COMPANY LIMITED China Hongkong, China Ara Global Group Inc United States DORAL AT7 GmbH Germany Wuppertal Best Global Distribution FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai BIDSENSE S.R.L. Romania Brașov Blessings Telecom Fze United Arab Emirates Dubai Bluefin Century s.r.o. Slovakia Bratislava Bluepoint Corporation Ltd United Kingdom Milton Keynes BM ELEctronics FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai BOMAX SRL Italy Milan Brio Impex Fze United Arab Emirates Dubai BSC GLOBAL INC Canada MARKHAM Captains Freight Services USA United States Miami FL Cell Axis FZCO/ Intracell Telecom United Arab Emirates Dubai Celltel Middle East Fzco United Arab Emirates Dubai Central point Europe s.r.o. Slovakia Pezinok Challenger S.A. Paraguay Ciudad del este Combigrama Portugal Portugal Lisbon DEXIN(HONG KONG) TRADE COMPANY LIMITED China HongKong Dhruv Enterprise India Gandhinagar Dndtrade GmbH Austria Vienna Dotson IT Asset Management Corp United States Dallas eD system Czech, a.s Czech Republic Ostrava ENO telecom GmbH Germany Nordhorn Erregame S.p.A. Italy Napoli Euromedia Investment Group, S.L. Spain Torrent Europespares B.V. Netherlands Lelystad Eurostar Global Electronics Ltd United Kingdom Newcastle-under-Lyme F & E Trading United States New Jersey FLC LOGISTICS FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai FON4AB UNIPESSOAL LDA Portugal Lisbon Fragra Design SRL Romania Baia Mare Galactica Aliança SA Spain Valencia Galaxy Telecom Netherlands Rotterdam GK telecom Netherlands Ijssel Global Resource Trading Sh.p.k Albania TIRANE Globe Impex Limited United Kingdom Rusilip Gotel GmbH Germany Mannheim Gsm Company VOF Netherlands Heemskerk Gsm Creative Solutions sp. z o.o. Poland Cracow HK HUI BAI ZHOU ELECTRONICS CO., LIMITED China Hong Kong Hong Kong Cooline technology Limitd China Hong Kong HTP France Villeneuve-le-Garenne INFO TECH France Paris Inntoo Sp. z.o.o. Poland Krakow Intrade d.o.o. Slovenia Maribor Italian shop srl Italy Roma ITSS-DAMM Germany Sonneberg JP Teck BV Netherlands Beverwijk Jupiter GSM FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai Kamkwat Limited China Hong Kong KANSKY a.s. Slovakia Bratislava Komputronik S.A. Poland Poznan KR-Net LTD China Hong Kong Krishna Wireless United States Doral KROWN MOBILES TRADING LLC United Arab Emirates Dubai KSTelecom B.V. Netherlands Beverwijk LACHMI ENTERPRISE (S) PTE LTD Singapore Singapore LANDOTECH MOBILE SP Z.O.O Poland Kraków LFE distribution, LLC United States Miami LMD GROUP GOLD LTD Israel Ramat Gan Lucky Srl Italy Milan Mardin Gsm LLC United States Doral MBD Telecom LTD Cyprus Nicosia Metropolitan Trends GmbH Germany Hamburg MGC Srl Italy Salerno MMM-Agramservis d.o.o. Croatia Zagreb Mobile Source Pty Ltd Australia Meadowbrook mobilesilver.co.uk ltd United Kingdom Bolton Mobilshop GmbH Germany Aalen Mobiparts SRL Romania Constanta Naam Electronics Fze United Arab Emirates Dubai NET WIRELESS INC United States New York NORTHGLOW Ltd United Kingdom Oldham NOVAPHONE WADOWSKI CHACHLOWSKI SP.K. Poland Warsaw P.C.Distribution SPA Italy Napoli Pantheon Distribution GmbH Austria Biedermannsdorf Parktel sp. z o.o. Poland Wroclaw Peak Trade Global China Hong Kong PHF GmbH Germany Paderborn Phoneport24 GmbH Germany Mannheim PINES Sp. z o.o. Poland Wroclaw PPA International AG Germany Schönefeld Prestige Group Srl Italy Bari PXT / PHOENIX Trade Slovakia s.r.o Slovakia Mlynica Rainbow International Distribution Romania Bucharest RAMA Electronics Trading LLC United Arab Emirates Dubai Real Tech Services​ Ltd United Kingdom London RIBA MUNDO TECNOLOGIA SL. Spain Valencia RIBSON COMPANY, INC United States Florida Rline Srl Italy Roma RMT SPA Italy Roma RS Global B.V. Netherlands AMSTERDAM Runphone international company limited China Hong Kong Sanwa Enterprises China Hong Kong SELTE SPA Italy MILANO SG SPA Italy Milano SGM Socher Inc United States New York Shenzhen Ibuygou China Shenzhen Sisu Net AB Sweden Örsundsbro SK & ASSOCIATES LTD United Kingdom Cheshire Smalltronic.pl Sp. z o.o. Sp. K. Poland Wyszków Smart Routes Group Kft. Hungary Budapest Smart Telecomm LLC United States Scottsdale Smart4all Technologies Ltd Greece Athen SMARTCOM DISTRIBUTION S.R.O. Czech Republic Praha soletefo Spain Madrid Sound Business France Paris SPK Telecom FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai STELLAR ELECTRONICS LIMITED China HONG KONG Swift Telecom FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai Tech Supplier United States Ridgefield Park Tehno Plus doo Montenegro Podgorica Tekpoint GmbH Austria Vienna TelePart GmbH Germany Holzmaden TeLePLus GSM Retail B.V. Netherlands Amsterdam TEQPHONE GmbH Germany Bad Nauheim Tinex GmbH Germany Bruchsal TPC Technology FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai Triple J'S Hong Kong Limited China Hong Kong Turan Trade Slovakia Bratislava TVD SERVICES (UK) LTD United Kingdom Reading UV phone ltd Israel haifa VADIMPEX Handels GmbH Austria Baden bei Wien Virkin International Corporation United States Waltham Vitel Mobile United States Doral, MIAMI Volte-Tel / MILIOPOULOS DIMITRIOS & SIA OE Greece Thessaloniki VON GmbH Germany Oberstdorf Vtech Electronics Tecnology Limited China Hong Kong WOWO Distribution Limited China HK X7-telecom GmbH Germany Graben Neudorf XTG S.A. Poland Wrocław Yonida International Trading Corp. United States New York ZOE TRADE S.L. Spain Burgos Inhome 123tel Belgium Beringen A2C GROUP d. o. o. Croatia Rijeka AC Electronic Limited China Hong Kon ACTION S.A. Poland Piaseczno ADESIFLAVA PRIVATE LIMITED (www.mibyapl.com) China Hong Kong AK Partners Group United States New York Al Shaab Electronics United Arab Emirates Dubai AL THANAYYAN INTERNATIONAL United Arab Emirates Dubai AODELI COMPANY LIMITED China Hongkong, China AT7 GmbH Germany Wuppertal BATNA Sp. z o.o. sp. k. Poland Czestochowa Best Global Distribution FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai BEYOND GAME S.L.U. Spain Barcelona BIDSENSE S.R.L. Romania Brașov BOMAX SRL Italy Milan BSC GLOBAL INC Canada MARKHAM Captains Freight Services USA United States Miami FL Challenger S.A. Paraguay Ciudad del este Click Europe Limited United Kingdom London Combigrama Portugal Portugal Lisbon Craving Comps L.L.C. United States Eatontown DEXIN(HONG KONG) TRADE COMPANY LIMITED China HongKong Dndtrade GmbH Austria Vienna Dotson IT Asset Management Corp United States Dallas eD system Czech, a.s Czech Republic Ostrava ENO telecom GmbH Germany Nordhorn Erregame S.p.A. Italy Napoli Euromedia Investment Group, S.L. Spain Torrent F & E Trading United States New Jersey FLC LOGISTICS FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai FON4AB UNIPESSOAL LDA Portugal Lisbon Fragra Design SRL Romania Baia Mare Galactica Aliança SA Spain Valencia Global Resource Trading Sh.p.k Albania TIRANE GLOBAX Sp. z o.o. Sp. K. Poland Poznań Globe Impex Limited United Kingdom Rusilip Gsm Creative Solutions sp. z o.o. Poland Cracow HK HUI BAI ZHOU ELECTRONICS CO., LIMITED China Hong Kong Hong Kong Cooline technology Limitd China Hong Kong Hong Kong Oneto Ltd China HK Infinity Plus Ltd. United States New York INFO TECH France Paris Inntoo Sp. z.o.o. Poland Krakow Intrade d.o.o. Slovenia Maribor Italian shop srl Italy Roma ITSS-DAMM Germany Sonneberg JP Teck BV Netherlands Beverwijk KR-Net LTD China Hong Kong Krishna Wireless United States Doral KROWN MOBILES TRADING LLC United Arab Emirates Dubai LACHMI ENTERPRISE (S) PTE LTD Singapore Singapore LAMEE SOFTWARE S.L Spain Madrid Lucky Srl Italy Milan MBD Telecom LTD Cyprus Nicosia MGC Srl Italy Salerno Mobile Source Pty Ltd Australia Meadowbrook mobilesilver.co.uk ltd United Kingdom Bolton Mobiparts SRL Romania Constanta Neptune direct Inc United States Marietta NET WIRELESS INC United States New York NORTHGLOW Ltd United Kingdom Oldham NOVAPHONE WADOWSKI CHACHLOWSKI SP.K. Poland Warsaw P.C.Distribution SPA Italy Napoli Pantheon Distribution GmbH Austria Biedermannsdorf Peak Trade Global China Hong Kong PXT / PHOENIX Trade Slovakia s.r.o Slovakia Mlynica Rainbow International Distribution Romania Bucharest Real Tech Services​ Ltd United Kingdom London RIBA MUNDO TECNOLOGIA SL. Spain Valencia RMT SPA Italy Roma RS Global B.V. Netherlands AMSTERDAM SELTE SPA Italy MILANO SG SPA Italy Milano SGM Socher Inc United States New York Shenzhen Ibuygou China Shenzhen Shenzhen New Way Technology Co., Ltd. China shenzhen Sisu Net AB Sweden Örsundsbro Smart Routes Group Kft. Hungary Budapest Smart Telecomm LLC United States Scottsdale SMARTCOM DISTRIBUTION S.R.O. Czech Republic Praha SPACO, S.A. Spain Madrid SPK Telecom FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai T W International General Trading L.L.C. United Arab Emirates Dubai Tehno Plus doo Montenegro Podgorica TelePart GmbH Germany Holzmaden Triple J'S Hong Kong Limited China Hong Kong Turan Trade Slovakia Bratislava Virkin International Corporation United States Waltham WOWO Distribution Limited China HK XTG S.A. Poland Wrocław IT 123tel Belgium Beringen AC Electronic Limited China Hong Kon ADESIFLAVA PRIVATE LIMITED (www.mibyapl.com) China Hong Kong AK Partners Group United States New York Al Shaab Electronics United Arab Emirates Dubai AL THANAYYAN INTERNATIONAL United Arab Emirates Dubai ARTRONIX Malaysia Kuala Lumpur AT7 GmbH Germany Wuppertal BATNA Sp. z o.o. sp. k. Poland Czestochowa Best Global Distribution FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai BIDSENSE S.R.L. Romania Brașov BOMAX SRL Italy Milan BSC GLOBAL INC Canada MARKHAM Captains Freight Services USA United States Miami FL Challenger S.A. Paraguay Ciudad del este Combigrama Portugal Portugal Lisbon Craving Comps L.L.C. United States Eatontown DEXIN(HONG KONG) TRADE COMPANY LIMITED China HongKong dndtrade GmbH Austria Vienna Dotson IT Asset Management Corp United States Dallas eD system Czech, a.s Czech Republic Ostrava F & E Trading United States New Jersey FLC LOGISTICS FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai FON4AB UNIPESSOAL LDA Portugal Lisbon Galactica Aliança SA Spain Valencia Globe Impex Limited United Kingdom Rusilip Gsm Creative Solutions sp. z o.o. Poland Cracow HK YINGSHUN COMMUNICATION LIMITED China Hong Kong INFO TECH France Paris Inntoo Sp. z.o.o. Poland Krakow Italian shop srl Italy Roma ITSS-DAMM Germany Sonneberg Krishna Wireless United States Doral LACHMI ENTERPRISE (S) PTE LTD Singapore Singapore Lucky Srl Italy Milan MBD Telecom LTD Cyprus Nicosia MGC Srl Italy Salerno Mobile Source Pty Ltd Australia Meadowbrook Neptune direct Inc United States Marietta NET WIRELESS INC United States New York NORTHGLOW Ltd United Kingdom Oldham P.C.Distribution SPA Italy Napoli Pantheon Distribution GmbH Austria Biedermannsdorf Parktel sp. z o.o. Poland Wroclaw Peak Trade Global China Hong Kong Rainbow International Distribution Romania Bucharest Real Tech Services​ Ltd United Kingdom London RIBA MUNDO TECNOLOGIA SL. Spain Valencia RMT SPA Italy Roma RS Global B.V. Netherlands AMSTERDAM SGM Socher Inc United States New York SIV Trading GmbH Germany Hamburg Smart Routes Group Kft. Hungary Budapest Smart Telecomm LLC United States Scottsdale Tehno Plus doo Montenegro Podgorica TelePart GmbH Germany Holzmaden Triple J'S Hong Kong Limited China Hong Kong Turan Trade Slovakia Bratislava Virkin International Corporation United States Waltham XTG S.A. Poland Wrocław Service 365 Days Freight United Arab Emirates Dubai AIR EXPRESS POLAND Sp. z o.o. Poland Wroclaw Captains Freight Services HK LTD China Hong Kong Captains Freight Services USA United States Miami FL DREAM CARGO SERVICES SRL Romania BUCHAREST FLC LOGISTICS FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai Interken Freighters (UK) Ltd United Kingdom Feltham MASA LOGISTICS FZCO United Arab Emirates Dubai NewbridgeFX United Kingdom London Qualilog s.r.o. Czech Republic Praha VELARA TRAVEL United States Boston 34-35. Riba mundo_2 36-37. OldHand_Smoke and Mirrors_2 Smoke and Mirrors It seems that the next huge push on society will be a Green one. The controlling elements seem to be making that more obvious as each and every day transpires. The World Economic Forum, the WEF, - a platform compiled of the most powerful companies, influencers, celebrities and politicians in the world - has released a documented proposal called The Great Reset, which is based on resetting the economies of the world post Covid-19 purely orientated around sustainable business processes and ethics. The real questions to ask ourselves here are: 1. what will that mean for ordinary people, us, in terms of consequences and commitments; 2. what is the real distribution of the costs that will make the world green again. At face value the Green Story seems to be comprised of two different elements. They are the circular economy and the development of sustainable energy. Coming from a farming background I have absolutely no problem with the conservation of energy, neither do I have it with saving and recycling any type of product whatsoever. These aspects are built into my DNA. I also believe that most people have common sense, and a circular economy approach is basically plain common sense. I do however believe that we live in and have created a blame culture and within that culture lie a smoke and mirror effect that is out of our control, particularly when we look at the development of the green culture within the corporations. Every major corporation in the world is now engaged in a sustainable approach of some description, but the burden of that development seems to lie well and truly on the head of the masses and not the corporations. When in fact it is the huge corporations that have created the problem in the first place. To put it simply, if I am going to be blamed for causing a problem which incidentally and historically created a huge amount of wealth along with the resulting problem of carbon dioxide overproduction. As a consolation price I would have at least liked to have had a share of that wealth. But to be blamed for that problem by the very people that caused it in the first place and then to be asked to pay for it having not shared any of the profit, I find that a real insult. In fact, it’s worse than an insult, it’s disgusting. By law a corporation exists for one reason only and that reason is to return profit back to its shareholders. So, the notion that a corporation shares the corporate responsibility that it is currently preaching is ridiculous. There is no such thing as corporate social responsibility. Even worse than that, in the first instance, the over production of carbon dioxide on this planet has occurred due to the profit driven policies of corporate implementation, achieved through intensive farming, intensive fishing, intensive energy production etc. The list is endless. So as long as we remain a capitalist society where profit is king then this will not change. Regardless of the smoke and mirrors effects that corporates portrait, corporates and indeed all businesses are only interested in the bottom line: profit. I am not saying for one second that profit is a bad word, of course it’s not: that’s how we survive, through profit. What I am saying is that corporations are responsible for the majority of the over production of carbon dioxide for their huge profits, so therefore they must be the ones who bear the majority of associated costs to rectifying this problem and we must not allow them through smoke and mirrors to lay that burden heavily on our shoulders. Within our sector and due to this green world directive, there has been a substantial growth in the technology recycling business. The used Smartphone business has been growing at an average annual 14% with worldwide sales expected to exceed $65B by 2025. This is a real growth business in our sector and is classified as been a part of the circular economy. This is positive growth that contributes to the problem of the overproduction of carbon dioxide. On the other hand, there are many corporate companies declaring that they are ethical in their approach to the reduction of carbon dioxide and their application of sustainability. when in fact their only motive is profit and when the scales are balanced with a negative dollar then they are in fact unscrupulous in their business approach. In 2008 Detroit, USA, was destroyed by the world financial crash. Over the next five years it was left in devastation and the city finally filed for bankruptcy in 2013. JP Morgan Chase headed by CEO Jamie Diamond stepped in after the city’s bankruptcy with a $200M rescue package. We all know what banks charge. The irony of this is that it was the banks back in 2008 that caused the devastation of Detroit along with the devastation of millions of other people and businesses all over the world. They then reappear years later hailing to be the saviors of the world. This is a typical example of smoke and mirrors and we can accept this behavior no more. This is exactly what is occurring right now within the green agenda. The very organizations responsible for creating the problem in the first place are appearing to be the organizations that are professing to be willing to solve the problem, and those organizations’ only agenda is profit at all costs (and all the time). We have a moral duty to look after our planet and we have a moral duty to look after the people on it, that’s a fact. Still, be aware that morality is a choice and when it comes to morality big corporates are normally at the back of the line. Keep the Faith The Old Hand 38-40. Najib Corner THE MONEY QUEST VS THE HEALTH OF OUR EARTH THE MONEY QUEST VS THE HEALTH OF OUR EARTH A few weeks ago, I went back to school. I mean: it had been a total re / unlearning experience. Plus, what a roller coaster ride has been! I am mostly flirting with Mobile Phone, Accessories or Gaming product trading, when one of my customers asked me for a strange product that I hadn’t delved it in earlier - a thousand pieces of GPU’s to be made available as soon as possible. I didn’t take it too seriously, but his constant pestering made me look around, and call it luck that I was able to find the product. What happened afterwards has been a material of legends, as the margins that I was able to demand were something legendary (obviously I won’t share them within this article). Moreover, the frenzy on this trade being associated with Crypto Currency had been wild. Since my first call, in fact, the prices have raised by more than 300% and there are no signs of these subsiding soon. Everything from Bitcoin, Etherium, Dogecoin and I guess soon there would be a Catcoin and a Pigcoin and whatever is shooting through the roof and the miners need machines, and they’re willing to sell their ancestors for these ones. As I understood from one of the manufacturers, AMD and NVIDIA are now dominating the world of GPU’s and their target customers; plus, those who were supposed to be gamers are now bitterly complaining. The 10 Billion $ gaming Industry has been suffocated by products and they are not willing to pay a 1000$ for a 300$ graphic card. Both AMD and NVIDIA are also aware that Crypto might pop any day like in the past, but their classic customer base is here to stay. That’s why NVIDIA has announced that their cards would be blocked for mining - starting next month - and AMD would follow that call soon. A wild time indeed, as a new financial system is on the horizon. In fact, while making money from thin air is a reality, Bitcoin billionaires are known for flouting their Lamborghinis, so that the opportunity looks too real to let go. I must admit that I am still looking for “The” product, and even got my friend Patryk to get me some sources. With the pandemic hitting hard in India, irregular shipments for GPU’s are being received from there to the UAE, as people are more concerned about living than making money, at least in that part of the world. Still, that’s not stopping some people to export as many cards out of the country as possible. Middle East is no exception of catching on that train, and several countries have started to push on private mining activities. Still, there’s definitely a catch: the cost of making money shouldn’t be at the expense of the environment, but who gives about that any way. How much energy does an industry deserve to consume? Right now, organizations around the world are facing pressure to limit the consumption of non-renewable energy sources and the emission of carbon into the atmosphere. But figuring out how much consumption is too much is a complex question that’s intertwined with debates around our priorities as a society. The calculation of which goods and services are “worth” spending these resources on, after all, is really a question of values. As cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin in particular, have grown in prominence, energy use has become the latest flashpoint in the larger conversation about what, and who, digital currencies are really good for. On the face of it, the question about energy use is a fair one. According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), Bitcoin currently consumes around 110 Terawatt Hours per year — 0.55% of global electricity production, or roughly equivalent to the annual energy draw of small countries like Malaysia or Sweden. This certainly sounds like a lot of energy. But how much energy should a monetary system consume? How you answer that likely depends on how you feel about Bitcoin. If you believe that Bitcoin offers no utility beyond serving as a ponzi scheme or a device for money laundering, then it would only be logical to conclude that consuming any amount of energy is wasteful. If you are one of the tens of millions of individuals worldwide using it as a tool to escape monetary repression, inflation, or capital controls, you most likely think that the energy is extremely well spent. Whether you feel about that topic, Bitcoin has a valid claim on society’s resources depending on how much value you think Bitcoin creates for society. (HBR) This is a question that’s being asked, and governments should utilize their power of regulation to look into it as it was not just bitcoin but the new emerging currencies backed by tech billionaires. Then it’s a matter of disposing the hardware as the processing power required for mining goes up every week. New hardware is brought in only after the return on the old ones has been achieved and then it’s disposed.. and so on, the cycle continues. It’s important to keep this into consideration before we have another crisis, apart from the carbon emissions come to fore. And it’s not just the GPU’s that are in shortage: HDD are in a very short supply too. The rush to get a hold of hardware is a burden to the earth and we are all its stakeholders responsible to shoulder the responsibility. 41. Newbridge FX_1 42. Star Wars, a clash between Bezos and Musk for the moon_1d Star Wars, a clash between Bezos and Musk for the moon Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the two richest men in the world, dream of space and fight on the moon. Amazon's owner Blue Origin filed a 50-page complaint against NASA's decision to award Tesla's visionary billionaire SpaceX a contract to build a spacecraft for the return of American astronauts to the moon. In recent weeks, NASA has declared SpaceX the sole winner of the $ 2.9 billion tender. One decision, is Blue Origin's accusation, based on “incorrect bidding assessments”: the benefits of Bezos' company's proposal have in fact been underestimated while the technical difficulties for SpaceX have been minimized. “It is strange for NASA to make these kinds of mistakes," says Bob Smith, the number one of Blue Origin, noting how the American space agency should have assigned the order to two companies, as it always has in the past, and would not have Had to decide based on the price. SpaceX does not comment but in a tweet addressed to the New York Times, Musk cuts short: Blue Origin has never even arrived in orbit yet. SpaceX's victory is a blow to Blue Origin and an embarrassment for Bezos, who was personally involved in the project. And it shows how the “star wars” between the two world scams are only just beginning. In addition to the NASA slap, US authorities have also granted Musk permission to move his internet satellites to a lower altitude than planned. A move that Blue Origin and other companies have strongly opposed as there is a greater risk of collision due to possible excessive traffic. However, the battle over NASA is not the first clash between Bezos and Musk over public contracts and funds, which are decisive for their space ambitions. The tug-of-war has been going on for years and neither leader seems willing to back off an inch. Bezos has been repeating for years that seeing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon when he was five was a 'defining moment', the one that made him understand how the space race was his greatest ambition. Musk, for his part, has many ambitions: of the challenges he has launched, starting with Tesla, many have been successful. And now with the race to Mars and the moon he aspires even higher. But if for Tesla the competition has been limited for years, for the space his race is against an equally rich and ambitious Bezos. In short, the star wars have just begun. When the American space agency has decided to choose SpaceX only, this decision eliminated competition opportunities, significantly shrinking the supply base. For this reason, Jeff Bezos' company filed a protest to the Government Accountability Office against NASA, contesting the space agency’s award of the contract. First, in fact, Blue Origin said NASA did not give SpaceX's competitors the opportunity to compete significantly on price. While Elon Musk's company was given the option to haggle over the price instead, it was reported. Blue Origin - which had planned a $ 6 billion lander - was penalized, especially after cutting the budget allocated by Congress for the project. In short, we just have to wait and see how NASA will respond to the accusations. Meanwhile, Elon Musk argues that returning to the moon in 2024 is doable. 43. Top Products Top Manufacturer Top Brands Top Models_1 JUNE 2021 Phones 5037 Used 3631 Computers 1880 TVs 1829 Components 1774 Storage 1769 Samsung 42120 Xiaomi 36489 Apple 35664 Lenovo 10550 Huawei 8992 SanDisk 8057 Top brands Samsung 10217 (s) Xiaomi 8382 (s) Apple 7469 (s) Lenovo 2631 (s) Huawei 1979 (s) Sony 1773 (s) HP 1685 (s) SanDisk 1569 (s) Asus 1515 (s) Oppo 1236 (s) TOP MODELS Galaxy A12 280 (s) Galaxy A21s 280 (s) iPhone 11 64GB 258 (s) Redmi Note 9 254 (s) Redmi 9 251 (s) iPhone 11 128GB 229 (s) Galaxy A02s 213 (s) Galaxy A51 210 (s) AirPods Pro 207 (s) iPhone 12 128GB 190 (s) 44-45. VR is ready for the future_ here is Oculus Quest 2_2 VR is ready for the future: here is Oculus Quest 2 For virtual reality it was time to take a new step forward and Facebook wanted to push in this direction immediately. During the Facebook Connect, the communication giant has definitely raised the curtain on Oculus Quest 2, the new VR headset. The device will have a screen that is 50% larger than that of its predecessor, with a refresh rate of 90 Hz - for better user / player comfort - and with a very economical price for what is offered: we are talking about $ 299 of the list. Excellent technical specifications Oculus Quest 2 features the Snapdragon XR2 platform, based on the Snapdragon 865 mobile processor. This chip is the one found in this year’s top-of-the-line smartphones. Which usually cost at least twice as much as this viewer. The RAM has increased to 6 GB. In addition to the processor, there is a specialized engine for tracking objects, which allows you to manage movements while immersed in virtual reality. It uses four cameras to track your movements. The resolution for each individual eye is 1832 × 1920 pixels, which is 50% better than the last edition. The screens, however, are not OLEDs as in the previous edition. This data could influence the quality of the colors and the depth of the black. The refresh rate should go up to 90Hz (although most games are 72Hz). The field of view is also reduced compared to the original, which in some settings reaches 70 ° against the 90 ° of the Quest 1. A problem for some users may be pupillary distance adjustment. It is not manageable smoothly but with three fixed settings. The minimum is at 58 mm, average at 62 mm and the maximum is at 68 mm. Some may find it annoying that they cannot adjust the pupillary distance better. The first tests of online use agree in certifying the autonomy of Oculus Quest 2 in about two hours, depending on the game or application you are using. Connection to the PC and recharging take place with a USB-C cable (the official one costs 99 euros). The Link technology to connect it to the computer has been improved over the years and seems to have a good degree of maturity, even if we wait to try it to be able to express ourselves on stability. The viewer is stand alone and can also be used without connection. With a resolution of 1820 x 1920 (the previous one stopped at 1440 x 1600), the display says goodbye to OLED technology in favor of LCDs, for a faster image rendering and because that of blacks was not considered satisfactory by users and By insiders. However, Oculus has anticipated that the 90Hz refresh rate will not be available from launch, when you will be stuck at 72Hz awaiting full support. On the other hand, it has been confirmed that the viewer will weigh 10% less than the previous one; For greater comfort, the band to wear to wear on the head has also been revised - and plates (those that adhere to your face) of different shapes will be launched, to meet the needs of different faces. All games for Facebook's new VR headset The Oculus Quest 2 games and applications portfolio is the same as the previous model, offering a good number of games and some interesting applications. There are both commercial titles like the Vader Immortal series, which tells the story of the world's most famous villain from Star Wars. Jurassic World Aftermath is also coming soon, so we can try both the Force and tame dinosaurs in virtual reality. But there are plenty of other popular games like SuperHot VR, National Geographic documentaries, and Virtual Desktop to work with. Most of the applications are free and almost all games cost less than 30 euros. Oculus Quest 2 accessories In the package you will find the viewer with the two controllers, the charging cable, two AA batteries, the power supply and the spacer for the glasses. To enjoy the virtual reality experience, you really don't need anything else. However, you can buy the Oculus Quest 2 case for 49 euros, the face protection kit for 39 euros. The Oculus Link cable costs 99 euros and is 5 meters long. The Elite strap costs 49 euros, while the one with battery and case 139 euros. Replacement controllers cost € 79, faceplate and cable € 19, and power supply and visor strap cost € 29. Oculus Quest 2: price and availability Usable either as a standalone wireless device or connected to a PC, Oculus Quest 2 will officially launch on October 13th. You can already buy the new Oculus Quest 2 at a price of 349 euros for the version with 64 GB of memory. The version with 265 GB of memory instead costs 449 euros. You can buy it both on Amazon and on the official website. We remind you that to use it you need a Facebook account. 46-48. Apple releases iOS 14.5, more privacy, app control and monopoly issues_3 Apple releases iOS 14.5: more privacy, app control and monopoly issues As expected, Apple has released the iOS 14.5 update for its iPhones, starting with the 6S model onwards. Among the various innovations made, the most awaited one concerns the greater control over user privacy, created with App Tracking Transparency (ATT). A turning point that has moved many hi-tech big names, primarily Facebook, to denounce the negative impact that the feature will have on advertisers’ advertising revenue. According to the release notes, the update mainly fixes a bug related to the new App Tracking Transparency feature that may have prevented some users from receiving requests from the apps. “This update addresses an issue with App Tracking Transparency where some users who previously turned off 'Allow apps to request tracking' in Settings may not receive prompts from apps after turning it back on. This update also provides important security updates and is recommended for all users" By activating the request for app monitoring in the iPhone settings, users will receive, upon opening a new application, a request notice on the green light to track online activities. If not granted, the app will work the same but will not collect information for the so-called IDFA, “identifier for advertisers”, the identifier with which advertisers build targeted campaigns. App Tracking Transparency is a new new feature that requires apps to obtain specific permission from users first in order to track their activities in order to deliver targeted advertising. Until now, there was no possibility of being able to decide and all the apps we installed had free access to the so-called IDFA - Identifier for Advertisers -, a random code that Apple associates with each device. The “Revolution of asking” The novelty was welcomed by most of the associations that deal with the protection of privacy. As the New York Times explains, the question remains about the actual effectiveness in permanently blocking the tracking of users. There are other ways to track people's behaviors, such as what is called “fingerprinting”. Thanks to the characteristics of the device, from the screen resolution to the model, some tech companies are able to determine our identity and therefore follow us in our activities. And just like this solution, there are many others and others will be designed by the developers. That said, the real revolution of App Tracking Transparency lies not in the total blocking of app tracking but in the direct and open request for consent from the user to do so. The reactions: Facebook on a war footing There are different reactions from those companies that base their business on data tracking. While Google - a direct competitor in Apple's mobile operating systems - has decided to go along with Apple and remove the tracking solutions that exploit IDFA from its iOS apps, on the other hand there is clear opposition of Facebook and more. At the official launch of the feature, for example, a group of technology and advertising companies mobilized in Germany by resorting to the Antitrust Authority for the future loss of advertising revenue. Data collection is in fact one of the most flourishing industries in the tech world, which produces about 227 billion dollars in revenues a year: information about us, our online behavior, every single click (or tap) on the screen is recorded when we are on the app both later. An average of 6 trackers are included in each app. Trackers are those tools that allow third parties this slow monitoring of our every action. While we are using the app (or the site) and also when we have exited it. They follow us, like little spy-bugs, and continue to observe us. To understand our interests and therefore better categorize ourselves for the delivery of advertising. And this is how, for example, the economic model on which the main social networks are based, primarily Facebook, works. Which has long been opposed to Apple over its choices designed for privacy, which Zuckerberg has called “a regulation based on profit”. His stance also landed on a page in some American newspapers in December - including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal - where he explained how these features will harm the world of online advertising. Without the possibility of tracing users, it will not be possible to target them and therefore we go to disassemble that model on which many small activities are based - says Zuckerberg - with a decrease in revenues of up to 60 percent. Apart from that, Facebook more generally accuses Apple of anti-competitive behavior. With a monopoly on the world of apps in the iOS ecosystem thanks to its App Store, it can afford to revolutionize how it works as and when it wants. And in this case, his moves are dangerously damaging the business of the most important social network in the world. Is there really an advantage for Apple? The Wall Street Journal raises another doubt about the actual motivation behind Apple’s turning point for the privacy of its users. According to representatives of the online advertising industry interviewed by the newspaper, the new restrictions on data tracking would lead advertisers to prefer advertising spaces provided by Apple rather than those purchased through third-party companies. This is for the advantages that - from now on - Apple can offer. If the user chooses not to be tracked, sources who have worked on the new function explain, advertisers who purchase space from third-party platforms will have to wait three days to get details on their ads. Not only that: they will only receive aggregate data, such as the total number of users who have clicked on the banner. Those who choose to agree directly with Apple would receive more information on user behavior. And above all they would receive them immediately. A spokesperson for Cupertino denies the possible advantage acquired with the App Tracing Transparency. We are talking about a market that for Apple, at the moment, is very contained. These are advertisements that appear mainly on the App Store and are inserted by app developers to make their software appear among the first results. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, it is a market that could grow by two billion dollars in the next fiscal year. Unlocking with mask Another novelty of iOS 14.5 is the possibility of using your Apple Watch, already connected to the iPhone, to automatically unlock the screen when wearing a mask, without entering codes or being recognized via Face ID. When you click the power button on your phone, a vibration on the Watch will indicate that you have logged in. Support is for iPhone X and later on. New for Siri With iOS 14.5, Siri no longer has a default voice, but it will be possible to select the one you prefer during the first setup of the device; moreover, those who speak English will be able to choose among voices more representative of the diversity. The new Siri voices use Neural Text to Speech technology to deliver an extremely natural rendering. Siri's voice in all European Countries also changes and now takes advantage of this technology. The Apple emojis We can take advantage of the introduction of the icon that replicates a syringe with the vaccine to add more emojis to its vast catalog. Many focus on inclusion, with couples of various genders and ethnicities kissing and a face of a woman with a beard. The integration in various languages ​​of Siri of the natural language engine also goes in this direction, which makes the assistant's voice much more similar to that of a human and eliminates the default selection on the female tone. What about Facebook ADS? Apple's decision to allow users not to be monitored by apps and not to allow them to share their information with third parties has already irritated Facebook, but not only. Apple Over the air IOS and iPadOS 14.5.1 can be downloaded in “over-the-air" mode on all compatible devices through the appropriate menu in the system settings. To download it is necessary to be connected to a Wi-Fi network and it is advisable to have at least 50% of residual charge or better, to keep the device connected to the mains during the update. Other updates of the new operating system bring support for AIrTags in accessories to be added to the Where is app, compatibility with Xbox One Series X and PlayStation 5 gamepads and Dual Sim on 5G network. 49. Teksmart- Open Partnerships_1 50-51. The new frontier of gaming_ ecco ASUS ROG Phone 5_2 The new frontier of gaming: here is ASUS ROG Phone 5 For the ASUS ROG Phone family, the time has come to welcome a new descendant: we are talking about ROG Phone 5, recently presented in a dedicated event by ASUS, and which wants to represent the new frontier of gaming platforms on mobile. The phone, offered in standard, Pro and Ultimate variants, is equipped in all cases with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 5G Mobile Platform - ideal for both gaming and to establish itself as a vanguard of the fastest connection technologies. Furthermore, for the first time in a smartphone we find up to 18 GB of LPDDR5 memory. The new ROG Phone also boasts the renewed GameCool 5 dissipation system, which is accompanied by a refreshed Armory Crate, the "control panel” full of features and possibilities that we showed you closely in our review of the previous ROG Phone 3. To complete the equipment we find the AMOLED HDR 10+ display capable of showing very fluid images, thanks to the refresh rate of 144 Hz, and a latency of only 24.3 ms to the touch. “The state-of-the-art display has been a hallmark of ROG Phone since its first generation, and the ROG Phone 5 series continues this tradition. Featuring an industry-leading 300Hz touch sampling rate, the Samsung-made 144Hz / 1ms AMOLED display delivers an extremely smooth gaming experience with very low touch latency. The result of the collaboration with the leading visual processing company Pixelworks®, the image quality - already extraordinary - is further improved thanks to the excellent color fidelity with Delta-E 1, to the new always-on HDR technology, which improves non-HDR images. , and a screen protected by Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus ™ solution, stronger than ever. The ROG Phone 5 series is built to last and to win”, explained ASUS in its official note. AirTrigger technology is also back, which “simulates” the triggers of the controllers allowing you to put pressure on the side of the phone, thus interacting with your favorite games. However, it is not the only one, as ASUS explains. “Total control is the watchword for the ROG Phone 5 series, which, with the radically updated AirTrigger 5 system, now offers gamers three distinct ways to interact with their ROG Phone 5, allowing a level of game control. Unmatched. AeroActive Cooler 5 now also features two additional physical buttons, allowing for an authentic console-like gaming experience.” To animate all these, of course, you need a battery up to the level: in order not to let gamers walk away, it has equipped its ROG Phone with a 6000 mAh battery, with a 65 watt HyperCharge charger - ideal for fast charging. To ensure a longer screen access time and, in general, extend the life of the huge 6000 mAh battery, the ROG Phone 5 series has been perfected using new software optimizations and energy saving mechanisms: each user will be able to set, for For example, a maximum charge limit, charge the battery slowly and steadily, or schedule charging times. There is no shortage of passive energy saving mechanisms, to limit inactive apps and provide up to 67% more energy savings. The ROG Phone 5 series always guarantees the best energy efficiency, whatever the use. The emphasis is also placed on the audio sector of ROG Phone 5, with a double symmetrical speaker that allows a full-fledged stereo experience. In addition, and those who play with wired headphones will be happy, the 3.5 mm jack remains, which has now disappeared from many smartphones: The GameFX sound system of the ROG Phone 5 series now incorporates a dual 7-magnet symmetrical speaker for truly balanced stereo sound effects. Optimized in collaboration with Dirac audio specialists, the projected sound quality will capture the user's auditory perceptions to take them to another dimension. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack input and a hi-fi-grade ESS DAC for loseless audio processing. ASUS ROG Phone 5 availability and pricing Below availability and prices for the different models: ASUS ROG Phone 5 16 GB RAM and 256 GB storage: already in pre-order, € 999 including VAT ASUS ROG Phone 5 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage: already in pre-order, 899 € VAT included ASUS ROG Phone 5 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage: from April on the official ASUS website, 799 € including VAT ASUS ROG Phone 5 Pro 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage: from April to € 1,199 including VAT ASUS ROG Phone 5 Ultimate 18 GB RAM and 512 GB storage: from May (limited edition) to € 1,299 including VAT. ASUS points out that anyone who purchases any model will be entitled to a three-month Stadia Pro Pass, included with the phone. 52-53. TrenDevice Days_ refurbished smartphones and tablets, the ecological choice for those who care about the environment_2 54-55. Apple, there comes the new family of iPhones_2 Apple, there comes the new family of iPhones Apple sets a new event on October 13, new iPhones are expected, including 5G ones, so much so that the slogan of the invitation is "Hi, Speed”. The live broadcast will begin at 10 am local time, and like the last two Apple keynotes, it will be organized only digitally, without any invitation to the press. In addition to the iPhone, 4 models expected, other news such as the AirPods Studio headphones are not excluded. As expected, iPhone 13 was not presented during the Apple spring event, during which the new iPad Pro 2021, Apple AirTags, the new iMac 2021 and other new devices far from the world of telephony arrived. IPhone 13 (or iPhone 12S) will be the new iPhone of 2021, the one to consider for those who want to buy a new iPhone this year. Numerous rumors have already leaked about it, and will increase more and more as the months go by, but now we can get a clearer idea of ​​what to expect from the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 13 mini. Last year the iPhone 12 series brought with it 5G connectivity, a new design and a very powerful SoC. What can we expect from the iPhone 13? For the moment we have heard from numerous sources that huge changes are not to be expected: according to the most reliable rumors, in fact, Apple is simply focusing on a renewal of the design, an improvement of the components and more powerful cameras. Of course, these are only hypotheses that have not yet been officially confirmed, and things could change over the next few months. Below you will find everything we know about the new iPhone 13, the hypotheses on the news we might find and a wish list with all the news we would like to see about the new generation of iPhone. IPhone 13: straight to the point What is it about? IPhone 13 will be the new iPhone 2021 When does iPhone 13 come out? Probably in September 2021 How much? We expect a starting price of around € 800 Over the past 10 years, Apple has (almost) always unveiled the new smartphones at an event held regularly in September, releasing the devices to market about ten days later. All this changed precisely in 2020, due to the global pandemic of Covid-19, due to which the production process of the iPhone 12 was delayed. IPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro came out in October, while iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max arrived in November, apparently due to some supply issues during the manufacturing process. This delay is said to have caused an increase in sales. IPhone 12 at the best price and the best offers (also for iPhone 11) If we had to bet on a date we would say that iPhone 13 will probably be unveiled in September 2021 (and an Apple analyst agrees with us), but nothing is officially scheduled yet and it is very unlikely that we will know anything for sure before the actual event of Launch. Even according to the latest rumors, iPhone 13 will be marketed starting from the third week of September so the presentation would take place towards the beginning of the month. However, one or more models may hit the market in October. It seems that the production of the chipsets for the iPhone 13 is ahead of the schedule, which suggests that iPhone 13 will most likely be ready for release in September. Little is also known about the price of the iPhone 13, although we expect it to be similar to that of the iPhone 12 series: the latter costs more than the iPhone 11 series, thanks to the advent of 5G and other technical improvements. In the course of 2021 we will certainly know more and we will be able to make more reasoned hypotheses. Below are the current prices of the iPhone 12 series, at the moment we are confident that they will remain similar for the new iPhone 13 as well. IPhone 13: design and display We expect a very similar design to that of the iPhone 12 series, and also a display with the same technology. With the iPhone 12 series, in fact, Apple has made significant improvements to the screen, also choosing a different design for the latest iPhones. According to the latest rumors, Apple will be able to reduce the thickness of the photographic module and will introduce a new matte black color for the Pro models. One of the features we hoped would come with iPhone 12 is a higher display refresh rate, but we were disappointed. According to some recent news, this feature could be introduced with iPhone 13, which would therefore give a more fluid user experience during gaming sessions and scrolling the home of your favorite social networks. IPhone 13: camera As for the camera, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (who often proves reliable when it comes to information about Apple) has suggested that the iPhone 13 will be equipped with a six-element or seven-element f / 1.8 lens. The Pro models currently on the market have a five-element f / 2.4 lens. Kuo subsequently reiterated that claim, suggesting that Sunny Optical may be the supplier of choice for the production of this lens. This news has reached us even more recently thanks to a note from Barclays analysts, according to which the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max will feature improved ultra-wide-angle and telephoto cameras. This should bring superior low-light performance, an aspect already improved in last year's iPhones, which first offered night mode via ultra-wide-angle cameras. 56-58. Samsung and its new smartphone low-cost Galaxy M12 _3 Samsung and its new smartphone low-cost Galaxy M12 Samsung has announced the new Galaxy M12 in Europe. Successor to the Galaxy M11, the smartphone features a 6.5-inch Infinity-V display with 90 Hz refresh rate, a powerful processor and a long-lasting 5,000 mAh battery. All for a price of 179.90 euros. “In 2019 we launched the Galaxy M series which was immediately a huge hit with Galaxy fans. We have designed our new smartphone with the aim of enriching the lives of young consumers thanks to the 5,000 mAh battery, combined with fast charging technology, to always guarantee maximum operation. Galaxy M12 is configured as a reference point for a satisfying experience in this price range”, commented Paolo Bagnoli, Head of Marketing of the telephony division of Samsung Electronics Italy. Powered by a 2 GHz octa-core processor, Galaxy M12 promises advanced performance and energy savings. The model boasts a four-lens camera: 48MP main, 5MP Ultra Wide-angle lens, 123 ° wide field of view, 2MP Macro lens and 2MP depth sensor. The selfie cam is 8 MP. The memory department sees a total of 64 GB of storage space, expandable via microSD up to 1 TB, and 4 GB of RAM. The equipment is completed by a USB Type C port and fingerprint recognition on the side key, for quick and safe access. To make everything run, version 11 of the Android operating system, enriched by the apps of the Samsung ecosystem, such as Health, Galaxy Apps and Smart Switch. Let’s see a primary review. A surprisingly good budget phone The Galaxy M12 is one of the most affordable phones in the Galaxy M series, but unlike two years ago when the lineup was first introduced, being one of the most affordable doesn’t mean having totally boring spec sheets. The Galaxy M12 comes with a huge battery like pretty much every other Galaxy M smartphone, but it is also unique for sporting a 90Hz display, which took everyone completely by surprise when the phone was announced. The rest of the spec sheet isn’t too special, though. That 90Hz refresh rate is tied to an LCD display with HD resolution, and battery charging speed maxes out at 15W. The 48MP main rear camera is accompanied by low-resolution ultra-wide, macro, and depth sensors, the software is the Core version of One UI 3.1 (which means most good Samsung features have been stripped away), and it is powered by the low-end Exynos 850 chipset. But does that mean the Galaxy M12 shouldn’t be on your list when you’re out shopping for a new phone? Galaxy M12 design With Samsung’s M series phones, the prettiness of the design is often inversely proportional to how good the spec sheet is. For the devices with impressive specs, like the M31s or M51, Samsung chooses to go with a plain and boring design. For devices that don’t have too many attractive specs, the company puts more focus on the design, and the Galaxy M12 is yet another example of that. The M12’s rear panel looks very classy, with a multitude of diagonal lines running across most of the back and the rest having a plain untextured look, which is where the Samsung logo resides. The phone could easily pass for something more high-end than it actually is thanks to that design, and the texture on the rear panel also makes for excellent grip. As you would expect, the Galaxy M12 is a rather heavy phone, tipping the scales at 221g, but you get two-day battery life in exchange. The bezels upfront are also quite large, at least when compared to costlier M series and A series phones. Again, nothing you wouldn’t expect at this price point from a Samsung device, though it is becoming very outdated at this point and is something I would like the company to change. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button, and like all capacitive fingerprint readers, this one reacts instantly and has very high accuracy. And, for those wondering what you get in the box, there’s only a 15W charger and a USB-A to USB-C cable. No case, no earphones. Galaxy M12 display The 90Hz refresh rate is the only saving grace of the Galaxy M12’s display. The screen isn’t very sharp, the colors are dull, and brightness levels aren’t too hot, either. Surprisingly, the high refresh rate works very good, despite the Exynos 850 being a very humble low-end processor focused purely on efficiency. It works better on the M12 than it does on the A32, which costs almost twice as much. Except for the occasional lag when switching between apps or going to the home screen, the M12 is able to offer fluid scrolling and animations in most apps. However, like the Galaxy A32, which also has a 90Hz screen, the notification shade and quick toggle area are permanently locked to 60Hz for some reason. 90Hz mode also gets turned off when you’re using apps like YouTube in picture-in-picture mode and navigate through the user interface and other apps at the same time. Galaxy M12 cameras For a cheap phone, the M12 takes fairly solid pictures with its 48MP primary camera outdoors during the day and even in the nighttime when there’s a good amount of artificial lighting around. With very little artificial lighting, photos come out noisy and dark, and there’s no night mode to get around that. In fact, the camera app has very few modes – you only get Pro, panorama, portrait, and food modes to choose from. The 8MP ultra-wide camera barely gets the job done. There’s a watercolor effect in photos taken in even bright daylight, and color reproduction isn’t very accurate. Nighttime ultra-wide pics have a lot of noise and very poor dynamic range. As for the 2MP depth and macro cameras, the less said about them the better. Selfies are often very soft, though skin tones are mostly accurate. Video recording, meanwhile, is a very basic affair. It maxes out at Full HD 30 frames per second, and videos are shaky with just a little bit of movement thanks to the lack of optical image stabilization, which is standard fare for Samsung’s mid-range and budget phones, or it was until the Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 came along. Galaxy M12 software The Galaxy M12 runs One UI Core 3.1 atop Android 11 out of the box, and the feature set is extremely limited. No Always On Display, no built-in screen recorder, no Samsung Pay, no Bixby, no Secure Folder… the list goes on. You get basic features like one-handed mode, Dual Messenger, theme support, Game Launcher, and motions and gestures like Lift to wake and Double tap to turn on screen. Quick Share for quickly transferring files to other Galaxy devices over Wi-Fi Direct and Music Share for sharing Bluetooth audio devices with others are present as well. The Galaxy M12 will probably get two major OS updates, same as earlier devices like the Galaxy M10, but don’t expect to see those updates bring many new features considering how the software is so bare-bones out of the box. Galaxy M12 battery life Thanks to the efficient Exynos 850 chipset and the 6,000 mAh battery, the Galaxy M12 can last two days on a single charge with light to moderate use. And one full day is possible even with heavy use. If battery life is one of your biggest concerns, the Galaxy M12 will make you very happy. Just don’t expect ultra fast charging. It supports 15W charging (a 15W charger comes in the box) which takes two hours and 45 minutes to fill up the battery from 0 to 100. Galaxy M12 audio / call quality The Galaxy M12, like all of Samsung’s recent mid-range and budget phones, has very quiet speakers that can be inaudible with even a bit of ambient noise around. Plus, there are no earphones in the box so you will have to get your own, though having Dolby Atmos means you can have a good wired and Bluetooth audio experience. Calls, which have to be taken on the earpiece to be able to listen to the other person properly, work fine, and so does network reception. However, like other M series phones, you don’t get support for carrier aggregation, so you can only connect to 4G/LTE networks, not 4G+/ or LTE-A networks. 59. Price per Magazine 1 60-61. Samsung, here are the new Galaxy Book, Book Pro and Pro 360_2 Samsung, here are the new Galaxy Book, Book Pro and Pro 360 Samsung launches the new Book series laptops, the most powerful in its collection. It starts with the Galaxy Book in a traditional format, 15.6-inch LCD screen and graphics of your choice between Iris X, Iris UHD and Nvidia GeForce MX450. Ram memory of 4, 8 or 16 GB and storage up to 512 GB. There is also the LTE connection. The novelty is the presence of a fingerprint reader on the power button, to enjoy a greater security measure, taking advantage of the access speed via biometrics. Then the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360, both available in 13 and 15-inch sizes. To distinguish them is the possibility, on the 360, to completely fold the screen back on itself, thus passing from a use in notebook mode to the tablet. For this, its panel is touch and Super Amoled, with an S-Pen already in the box. In addition to the two diagonals, under the body of the Pro 360 runs an iCore Gen 11 processor from Intel i7, i5 or i3, with optional graphics between Intel Iris and integrated. Ram memory ranges from 8 to 16 or 32 GB (the latter only on Galaxy Book Pro 360 15) and storage up to 1 TB. There is no lack of 5G, only on 13 ', while both formats integrate fingerprint scanning on Power Key. Classic aesthetics for the Galaxy Book Pro that however pushes performance forward: here too the same processor and Ram options as the 360 ​​but with the opportunity to benefit from GeForce MX450 graphics on the 15 'model. Present the slot for sim cards, but only LTE and only for 13 inches. All families integrate the Windows 10 Home or Pro operating system and improved keyboard. The Galaxy Book Pro series also acts as a smart home hub with the integration of the SmartThings platform which allows, among other things, to turn off the lights and manage the various connected appliances, both Samsung and third-party brands, if supported. Prices from 700 to 1,700 euros. The first reviews No doubt about it, Samsung has done a crazy job in terms of space optimization and build quality. The new Galaxy Book Pro 360 is probably one of the thinnest and lightest convertibles. It is not easy, indeed, it is almost impossible to find a competitor who is able to do better when it comes to thickness and weight. The first is reduced to just 11.5 mm while the scale stops at 1.04 kg. All while maintaining an absolutely solid solution characterized by a practically flawless assembly. The hinges offer the right resistance, it is possible to open the screen with one hand but at the same time the seal is good and the panel does not rock when we use it away from a stable support surface. Of course, you can completely rotate the display and use the solution in tent or tablet mode. This flexibility, if not understood, is further amplified by the excellent portability. Excellent feedback from the keyboard which has well-spaced island keys characterized by a nice precise click. The stroke is not very deep but you type well and you quickly get used to the layout. The touchpad is also good, not huge, but which makes good use of the space available on the palm rest and allows us to use the system gestures without any problem. A few words also about the provision of ports. The reduced thickness does not allow you to insert too bulky connectors and therefore we find 3 USB-C, one with Thunderbolt 4 support, a microSD card reader and a 3.5 mm audio jack. In short, sufficient to satisfy most needs and easily expandable with adapters from a few euros. In the package we also find the S Pen, supported by the touch display, and transportable attached to the metal rear panel thanks to a magnet. About the display: it is a 13.3-inch Full HD AMOLED that really leaves you speechless for color rendering and contrast. The blacks are obviously very deep and we have very bright and bright colors. At first glance, the brightness is good and, despite some reflections due to the glossy panel, we are able to work outdoors, especially in dim light. Let's spend a few words about what is hidden under the body of this Galaxy Book Pro 360. The CPU is an 11th generation Intel Core: in our case it is a Core i5 1165G7 but the version marketed in Italy has a Core i7 1175G7 . In both configurations, however, the graphics component is assigned to an Intel Iris Xe Graphics chip, capable of providing adequate performance for what is the target of a product of this type. Also RAM and storage, here respectively 8GB and 256GB, differ from the equipment of the model on the market in our country, which is 16GB and 512GB. If already in this way the system seems to us reactive and fluid, even with several programs open at the same time, we can imagine comparable or superior performance for the variant that we can currently buy on the Samsung website. It is also right to mention the software because on board this Book Pro 360 we find the Windows 10 operating system in the Pro version which has been enriched with a series of applications that integrate perfectly with those present in the One UI, the interface that characterizes the Samsung smartphones and tablets. The apps we find here have the same feel in terms of design and allow the user to keep all their data in sync. We therefore find for example Samsung Notes, Samsung Gallery, Smart Switch and DeX. Consider that there is also a sort of Airdrop, still not active but coming soon, which will allow you to quickly transfer the contents from the smartphone to the PC, exactly as happens with the Apple counterpart. In short, the ecosystem is acquiring more and more value and, among Windows notebook manufacturers, Samsung is probably the company that has the greatest integration with the other devices in its portfolio. 62. Handelot Offices
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