Fort Lauderdale Reverses Course, Tells Gyms “Close or Risk Fines”
The City of Fort Lauderdale is reversing course on its gym reopening policy.Gym owners in the city could now be risking fines of $15,000 a day if they decide to open.On Monday, city officials gave gyms permission to open, but are now advising them to remain closed until Broward County declares they can return to business.Broward officials issued an order last week stating that gyms are to remain closed until further notice.Nonetheless, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis signed an executive order on Saturday night that allowed gyms in that city to open.He cited an order by Gov. Ron DeSantis stating that fitness centers across Florida could open as long as they follow safety rules and operate at 50 percent capacity. Now, Broward Vice Mayor Steve Geller warns that gyms that dare to open would be in violation of the county order, bringing on a $15,000 daily penalty.“It’s almost like they want to show who’s boss here,” Trantalis says of county officials.Gyms that opened on Monday do not need to worry about being fined just yet.“We felt it would be unfair to fine them,” Geller explains, citing the contradictory city and county orders.However, county officials will send letters to gyms that opened, informing them they are violating the county order and could be fined if they do not close.“We expect gyms to open sometime next week as long as they follow safety protocols,” Geller said. “We brought in a doctor [at Tuesday’s county meeting] who said gyms should require a 10-foot separation between machines or put up plastic separation or have people wear masks. All we are trying to do is follow safety protocols.”Fort Lauderdale Challenges Broward County’s Order to Keep Gyms Closed
The Blues midfielder posted a photo of himself on Twitter of him receiving the treatment also known as cupping, where heated glass cups are used to draw blood through small incisions.Williams famously underwent hijama after the 2015 Rugby World Cup final and it is believed to help alleviate aches and pains. It is unsure whether the method will help with concussion.Williams left the field just before halftime in the Blues’ 40-33 Super Rugby victory over the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday night for a head injury assessment, and never returned. Williams told Australia’s Daily Telegraph how he was faring.”God willing I’ll be all right, and I’m sure I will be,” Williams told the Daily Telegraph. “The doctors did a great job, I passed the test at halftime but they said because I still felt a bit foggy it was better for me to sit down.”Now there’s a lot more studies around it, they’ll pull you off instead of State of Origin style and chuck you out there.”I remember the Mark Carroll days where you get up and try to keep going.”Dr Mark Fulcher, medical director of New Zealand Football, told Stuff in 2015 there is little scientific evidence to support claims hijama helps aches and pains.”My thoughts are it doesn’t really do very much,” Fulcher said.”It’s a good way to get a whole bunch of bruises, but I don’t think it really helps with injury. There are a few studies out there which pretty much conclude that it doesn’t do anything.”Dr Hamish Osborne, senior lecturer of sport and exercise medicine at the University of Otago, also spoke to Stuff in 2015 and said such alternative practices are common place in sports medicine and likened hijama to having a massage.”People like having massages, so it’s doing something for them but there’s no clear evidence that it has benefited or enhanced performance,” he said. “Maybe it helps enhance recovery but even that’s hard to prove. “But athletes like being rubbed so it falls into that category there.” Both Fulcher and Osborne agreed that if Williams feels like he benefits from hijama then he should continue with the treatment. Although they won’t be recommending it to any of their patients. “If he believes it’s helping his aches and pain then it probably is because that’s a relatively modern understanding of pain,” Osborne said.”If somebody believes in a treatment and they are getting less pain from it then that’s a real affect. Will that work if you give it to 1000 people with pain, probably not. “For the people who it works for, it will work beautifully. How is that happening? No idea.” Fulcher added: “In high-end sport anything that makes you feel good can be effective but it’s certainly not a treatment that I would refer people for.” Photo: Hijama leaves circular red marks on the patient’s body – the effect of the suction involved in the ancient remedy.
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Dear Editor,I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate those who did well in their exams. While Stabroek News Online report “Grade Six results still poor in key areas (SN Online, 4th July 2019) highlighted the fact Mathematics fared well while there were failings in the “other” subjects. As I see it, the real problem is not the “other” subjects per se.The very fact that Guyanese are not educated to a higher standard of ENGLISH is the reason for the failings in “other” subjects, as you need a good grounding in ENGLISH to understand the “other” subjects. Most textbooks in Guyana are written in ENGLISH.You can cherish your CREOLESE DIALECT if you want but Guyanese need to be educated at a higher standard in ENGLISH to pass the “other” subjects. It would be unwise to ask someone fluent in Creolese to write Social Studies exams in English, unless they are fluent in ENGLISH; hence, the failings in the “other” subjects. I am not against Creolese; I am against using valuable resources to promote Creolese when these resources can be better utilized to promote a higher standard of English so that pupils can pass the “other” subjects.For those who did not do so well, the fault is not yours. It is the educational system in Guyana.Yours faithfully,Sean Ori
Despite CCJ ruling…PPP says Budget circular not in keeping with Court ruling…nor Conventions of Caretaker GovtsDespite the passage of a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against the Government and the fact that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has said Government should be in caretaker mode, preparations have commenced for 2020’s Budget. This is in implicit violation of the CCJ’s ruling of the functions of a Caretaker Government following a NCM.PPP Member of Parliament,Bishop Juan EdghillThe CCJ ruled on June 18 that the Government was defeated by a vote of NCM, meaning early elections must be called. But just three days later, the Ministry of Finance issued a circular to commence preparations for Budget 2020 with specific timelines for Budget Debate in November, which is beyond the proposed date for new elections as proposed by the Opposition in a concession to the exigencies of the appeal by the Government to the NCM’s passage.Finance MinisterWinston JordanThe circular, which was leaked to the media, is dated June 21, 2019. The document gives instructions to department heads, permanent secretaries, regional executives and heads of constitutional agencies. The document was issued under the hand of the Finance Secretary, who stated in the correspondence that the missive was penned as the delegated authority of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to Section 13 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act.In it, they are given deadlines for making submissions to the Ministry and completing aspects of Budget preparations. For instance, these officers were given until August 7, 2019, to hand in their Budget submissions.The Budget agencies were given between August 19 and September 27 to consult with the Ministry on their submissions. October 10 was named as the date to present the constitutional agencies’ budgets to the National Assembly.The circular also named November 25, 2019 as the date to present the overall budget in the National Assembly. Affixing his signature to the circular is the Ministry’s Finance Secretary, Michael Joseph.Finance SecretaryMichael JosephIn several parliamentary democracies, such as New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan etc., there are explicit “Caretaker Conventions” and in those that do not, the practice is to follow the precedents in these jurisdictions. A fundamental tenet in these conventions is that only routing functions of the Government must be maintained and there can be no initiative that will bind any new incoming Government to policies with which they do not agree.On Wednesday, following the issuance of the circular, former Junior Finance Minister Juan Edghill lambasted the Government for issuing the circular. Edghill had also urged these technical officers not to succumb to pressure from the Government and to save themselves from culpability in illegal actions.“It is unbelievable that a Government that was defeated by way of a No Confidence Vote on December 21, 2018 who by way of spurious and incredible arguments of a ‘34 majority theory’, used the legal system to buy themselves seven months and counting to implement a Budget that they had no mandate to implement,” Edghill expressed in his a statement on the matter.Edghill noted that rather than offering goods and services to all the people of Guyana, the Government used questionable processes of procurement to award contracts to its “political allies, friends and families to shore up political support”.The letter, which was sent to all heads of Budget agencies and departments including constitutional bodies, came eight days after a definitive and explicit ruling from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and in face of the operationalization of Articles 106 (6) and (7) of the Constitution.“Is someone being delusional, or is it plain stubbornness? Or maybe it is a mentality that is being exposed that this Government believes that it can continue to hang on to power indefinitely. How desperate can one be? So the charade continues. Government operatives used an argument of the ‘34 majority theory’ to implement the 2019 Budget, and now they hope to use the argument of House-to-House registration to buy themselves more time, so that they can formulate, prepare, and present a 2020 Budget,” he added.The former Junior Finance Minister noted that, Winston Jordan, who resigned on December 21, 2018, is presumptuously pursuing a path of provocation by causing the circular to be issued.“We, in the PPP/C parliamentary Opposition, will not allow this folly and untamed ignorance, coupled with the brazen arrogance of this APNU/AFC Government to go unchecked. No Caretaker Government, which is the current status of this Granger-led Coalition, should be allowed to be this blatant and disrespectful in its conduct. To pursue this illegality is to create an environment for collision and confrontation, rather than conciliation and preserving the well-being of our people. “He added that the provisions in the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act provide for a Budget by March/April 2020.“A Budget which defines the vision, priorities and programmes for the prosperity and development of all the people of Guyana by a Government that is legal, constitutional and democratically elected through free and fair elections is the only one that will be accepted”.Legal implicationsMeanwhile, when asked about this new development, Attorney-at-Law Sanjeev Datadin explained that the issuance of a Budget circular at a time like this is not in keeping with the Court’s ruling. He pointed out that Parliament, in fact, has to be dissolved following the passage of a NCM, so elections could be held.Datadin, who played an important part in the recent CCJ cases as the legal representative for former Alliance for Change (AFC) Parliamentarian Charandass Persaud, found the move puzzling.“The Government can’t engage in doing a budget. What they have to do, the country has to go to an election. We anticipate that will happen within the next three months of the Court’s ruling.”“So we find it very strange that they issued a circular to that effect… because of the No- Confidence Motion, Parliament is supposed to be dissolved forthwith. This is certainly not in keeping with the current situation and it’s certainly not in keeping with the ruling of the Court,” Datadin added.Caretaker GovernmentArticle 106 (6) of the Constitution states: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”Meanwhile, Article 106 (7) states that “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election.”During the post-judgement hearing at the CCJ on Monday, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) lawyer Stanley Marcus and Attorney General Basil Williams both argued that these provisions meant the President and his cabinet had to remain in power until after a new President was sworn in.But CCJ Judge, Justice Jacob Wit, had debunked this argument. He had noted that it is international practice that following a successful NCM, a Caretaker Government is usually left in place with a limited timeframe in which to carry out snap elections.He made it clear that contrary to the Government’s arguments, a provision for a Caretaker Government does not have to be explicit in the Constitution, as this is a standard and recognized international practice.This is a point that has been repeatedly emphasized by the Opposition Leader, who has noted that contracts and decisions taken that are not in line with what a Caretaker Government is ought to be doing will not be recognized by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).Caretaker ConventionsThere is a convention on Caretaker Governments used in New Zealand. Section 6.21 states that “On occasion, it is necessary for a Government to remain in office for a period on an interim basis, when it has lost the confidence of the House, or (after an election) until a new ministry is appointed following the Government formation process”.It continues that “during such periods, the incumbent Government is still the lawful executive authority, with all the powers and responsibilities that go with executive office. However, Governments in this situation have traditionally constrained their actions until the political situation is resolved, in accordance with what is known as the convention on Caretaker Government”.“We, in the PPP/C parliamentary Opposition, will not allow this folly and untamed ignorance, coupled with the brazen arrogance of this APNU/AFC Government to go unchecked. No Caretaker Government, which is the current status of this Granger-led Coalition, should be allowed to be this blatant and disrespectful in its conduct. To pursue this illegality is to create an environment for collision and confrontation, rather than conciliation and preserving the well-being of our people. “He added that the provisions in the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act provide for a Budget by March/April 2020.“A Budget which defines the vision, priorities and programmes for the prosperity and development of all the people of Guyana by a Government that is legal, constitutional and democratically elected through free and fair elections is the only one that will be accepted”.Legal implicationsMeanwhile, when asked about this new development, Attorney-at-Law Sanjeev Datadin explained that the issuance of a Budget circular at a time like this is not in keeping with the Court’s ruling. He pointed out that Parliament, in fact, has to be dissolved following the passage of a NCM, so elections could be held.Datadin, who played an important part in the recent CCJ cases as the legal representative for former Alliance for Change (AFC) Parliamentarian Charandass Persaud, found the move puzzling.“The Government can’t engage in doing a budget. What they have to do, the country has to go to an election. We anticipate that will happen within the next three months of the Court’s ruling.”“So we find it very strange that they issued a circular to that effect… because of the No- Confidence Motion, Parliament is supposed to be dissolved forthwith. This is certainly not in keeping with the current situation and it’s certainly not in keeping with the ruling of the Court,” Datadin added.Caretaker GovernmentArticle 106 (6) of the Constitution states: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”Meanwhile, Article 106 (7) states that “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election.”During the post-judgement hearing at the CCJ on Monday, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) lawyer Stanley Marcus and Attorney General Basil Williams both argued that these provisions meant the President and his cabinet had to remain in power until after a new President was sworn in.But CCJ Judge, Justice Jacob Wit, had debunked this argument. He had noted that it is international practice that following a successful NCM, a Caretaker Government is usually left in place with a limited timeframe in which to carry out snap elections.He made it clear that contrary to the Government’s arguments, a provision for a Caretaker Government does not have to be explicit in the Constitution, as this is a standard and recognized international practice.This is a point that has been repeatedly emphasized by the Opposition Leader, who has noted that contracts and decisions taken that are not in line with what a Caretaker Government is ought to be doing will not be recognized by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).Caretaker ConventionsThere is a convention on Caretaker Governments used in New Zealand. Section 6.21 states that “On occasion, it is necessary for a Government to remain in office for a period on an interim basis, when it has lost the confidence of the House, or (after an election) until a new ministry is appointed following the Government formation process”.It continues that “during such periods, the incumbent Government is still the lawful executive authority, with all the powers and responsibilities that go with executive office. However, Governments in this situation have traditionally constrained their actions until the political situation is resolved, in accordance with what is known as the convention on Caretaker Government”.
637″ height=”299″ alt=”” src=”/files/u1/news-forthotel-masthead-july-10-2008.jpg” />Photo: Andrew Tylosky/Energeticcity.caThe deadline is tomorrow for the owner of the Fort Hotel. The local eyesore was declared a nuisance property by Fort St. John City Council back in April. The property owner has until tomorrow to give the city his plan for demolition. City Manager Diane Hunter says depending on the plan, Council may consider giving the owner an extension. [asset|aid=96|format=mp3player|formatter=asset_bonus|title=Diane Hunter – Fort Hotel Issues_1_Pub.mp3] Since construction ended on the property it has become a health and safety hazard, a site for vagrants, graffiti, and criminal activity. Last winter, pipes burst inside the building resulting in significant flooding. The Fort St. John Fire Chief has pointed out several safety concerns that would prevent him from sending in fire fighters should there be a fire.- Advertisement -The future of the Fort Hotel will be discussed more fully at Monday’s City Council Meeting once the City knows if they get the demolition plan from the property owner or not. The City wants to make sure all costs associated with the demolition are paid for by the property owner.
MILWAUKEE – They’re off again, and flying. For a seventh year, young whooping cranes took off from a Wisconsin wildlife refuge, led by ultralight aircraft on a 1,250-mile journey to Florida. This time, the project to establish a second migratory flock of the endangered birds in North America is recovering from a Florida storm last winter that killed all but one of the 18 young cranes. The survivor died later, and with several other deaths from various causes, the adult flock in the wild now numbers about 52 cranes. “The population is not safe. We could lose the entire species to storms or oil spills or some sort of catastrophic event,” he said. “So it shows just how important this work really is to get them to the point where they’re self-sustaining and kind of build an insurance flock against this kind of situation.” The whooping crane, which at 5 feet tall is the tallest bird in North America, was near extinction in 1941, with only about 15 left. The other wild whooping crane flock in North America has about 200 birds and migrates from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast. A non-migratory flock in Florida has about 60 birds.160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREGame Center: Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, 10 a.m.The 17 birds that left Saturday from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge were hatched in captivity and raised there by researchers wearing crane-like costumes to keep the birds from becoming familiar with humans. The ultralight pilots wear the same costumes and lead the birds on a trip that takes about two months, with many stops where the young birds are kept in portable pens along the way. After that, the birds migrate in spring and fall on their own. Pilot Joe Duff, co-founder of Operation Migration, the nonprofit that developed the concept of ultralight-led migration, told The Associated Press in a recent interview that last winter’s tragedy has been difficult to overcome. “That whole loss came at the worst possible time,” he said. “Everything was done, all the funds were raised and all the bills were paid and all the work was done – and then you lose the birds.” But it also has broadened the message about saving cranes and other species, and about conserving resources, he said. 
Jim Doherty with the President and his son Ultan Doherty-O’Brien.It’s 25 years since the first community radio licenses were awarded in Ireland and stations began broadcasting around the country. To mark the occasion, President Michael D Higgins held a reception in Aras an Uachtarain for station representatives and members of Craol, the development body for community radio in Ireland.Buncrana man Jim Doherty, former manager at Inishowen Community Radio, was among the specially invited guests. Mr Doherty was a committee member and Chairperson of Craol for many years and played a key role in developing and promoting community radio in Ireland. “It was such an honour to be invited. The President has always been a strong supporter of the community radio sector and recognises the important work it does in local communities. It was great to hear his strong words of support,” said Mr Doherty.Jim is still involved in the sector, working as a consultant, trainer and radio producer. He also works in public service broadcasting, producing radio content for RTE and BBC Radio Foyle.Community licensed stations are owned and operated by the local community and run on a not-for-profit basis. Their purpose is as much about local community development as it is about broadcasting.For about 10 years ICR was one of the most successful and highly-respected community stations in the country but regrettably closed down about 3 years ago. The local community lost a valuable resource as a result. Mr Doherty was subsequently awarded substantial damages by the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Relations Commission over the manner of his departure from the station.“It is so sad and frustrating that ICR has gone and will never return. So many people, paid and voluntary, put such time and effort into building it into something worthwhile and beneficial. This day in the Aras is a recognition of their work too,” said Jim.INISHOWEN’S MR RADIO ENJOYS A GREAT DAY OUT AT THE ARAS was last modified: September 25th, 2015 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Tags:Aras an UachtarainInishowen Community RadioJIm DohertyPresiden MIchael D Higgins
Reports found that Apple would end up with 21% of the market by year-end, while Google, with its AdMob acquisition, would drop from 27% to 21% as well.According to mobile ad firm Medialets‘ chairman and CEO Eric Litman, “2010 was the year the advertising industry awoke to mobile, with iAd and a host of other innovations driving the change. It set the stage for brands to consider mobile as a separate line item in their advertising budgets for the first time at meaningful scale.”Competing firm Greystripe’s Director of Marketing Dane Holewinski agrees that iAd’s launch was significant. “Apple’s launch of iAds has solidified mobile’s place as a critical brand advertising channel by generating much deserved attention to mobile’s ability to deliver engagement to the fingertips of a brand’s target audience,” he said, while noting that “advertiser criticism of iAds has highlighted the importance of being able to reach a cross platform audience, give brands and their agencies creative control and share campaign data.”Crisp Media VP Marketing Tom Limongello, also pointed out that iAd promoted the use of HTML5. “First, the launch of iAd was like a debutante ball, introducing major advertisers to mobile with much pomp and circumstance,” he said in explaining its significance. “Second, it validated that the best mobile ad experiences come from self-contained rich media units created in HTML5, rather than in separate micro sites or applications. Previously, advertisers were stuck with building separate sites or apps, which made it harder for brands to reach consumers on their mobile devices.”LTE While cellular technology advancements aren’t a major focus of this blog’s coverage area, leaving LTE off this year-end list wouldn’t make sense. The technology, described as delivering a 4G network (despite the technicalincorrectness of that terminology), delivers faster speeds for mobile users. That’s good news for consumers, considering our ever-increasing appetite for mobile data (40 exabytes by 2014!), especially mobile video, which had already reached 90 petabytes per month in February. According to Cisco, mobile video will grow at a compound rate of 131% between 2009 and 2014, a report found, thanks to streaming videos from Netflix, YouTube and others.Says Michael Manzo, chief marketing officer for subscriber optimization software Openet, “Long-term evolution (LTE) or 4G is absolutely the best mobile innovation of 2010. With wireless networks stretched to capacity, this new infrastructure will increase speed and capabilities of mobile devices, as well as provide some relief to existing networks. Though the technology was discussed some in 2009, LTE has become a vital component of the year as wireless operators made large scale deployment announcements, and 4G devices started becoming available to consumers – expect to see even more LTE news in 2011.”What’s more, LTE will succeed over WiMax, says Forrester’s Charles Golvin. “2011 will be the year that the WiMAX window of opportunity slams shut, as LTE establishes itself as the default next generation network technology, becoming even more dominant than GSM.”Foursquare Despite report after report after report with actual, hard data proving that location-based check-in services were only used by a niche group of early adopters, this is one trend that couldn’t be stopped… from being reported on. And no one service this year generated as many headlines as media darling Foursquare. Representative of the ever-expanding group of check-in apps, Foursquare lets users register their location at a particular venue, earn points, badges and mayorships and sometimes even discounts or rewards. But even as Foursquare grew its numbers over 2010, a second wave of arguably more useful location-based services began to emerge. Services providing things likegeo-fencing, travel rewards, new opportunities for location-based ads, and evenservices that use location to fight identity theft are now arriving on the scene. Still, a portion of the population remains unconvinced of the power of the checkin. Plus, with privacy advocates tapping into users’ fears surrounding location-sharing this year when a site called Please Rob Me launched, the check-in may give way to other location-based services in 2011.Says CEO and Co-founder of app recommendation site AppStoreHQ, Chris DeVore, services like Foursquare providing ‘check-ins-for-check-ins-sake’ have “stalled before crossing over to the mainstream.” However, “the idea of location-based CRM and just-in-time local offer delivery have real traction among both consumers and local business owners,” he explained. “Groupon-style local offers are the revenue engine that’s powering this business right now, but the long-term economic value of Groupon to SMBs is still in question. The company that can combine high-volume, offer-powered lead generation with a stickier customer value proposition that truly drives repeat business will have a real hit on their hands.”Forrester analyst Melissa Parrish agrees that location-based services are still just hitting their stride. “Although Forrester data from mid-2010 showed that only four percent of US consumers have ever used a Location-Based Social Network, consumer adoption will continue to grow as the services add utility for users through partnerships as well as product development.”Barcode Scanners Barcode scanning using mobile phones was a huge trend this year – even if it’s about to be phased out thanks to developments in NFC technology. Consumers apparently craved the technology leading to an increase in its use. Mobile barcode scanning was up 700% in 2010, a report released this fall revealed. But reaching this momentum didn’t occur without a few stumbles – Google ran a fairly unsuccessful campaign placing QR codes in newspapers, for example. But later on, magazines like Entertainment Weekly and others had more luck with its embrace of the cross-platform Microsoft Tag to link to movie trailers and ads from the pages of its glossy magazine. Allure magazine also found that their Microsoft Tag campaign resulted in 444,572 scans.Retailers got in on the action too: both Amazon and eBay launched mobile applications that included barcode scanning features this year, Amazon through an update to its mobile app, and eBay through the acquisition of Red Laser. Best Buy launched its own consumer electronics scanning app, Bing’s iPhone app added the functionality in June and Google launched Google Shopper.Alexander Muse, Co-Founder of mobile scanning app ShopSavvy has seen major growth over 2010 as well. “Our year-over-year growth rate is north of 300% ,” he said. “What started as a novelty in 2008 has become a standard way to shop for millions of users across the globe.”Blake Scholl, Co-Founder and CEO of Kima Labs, makers of the barcode-scanning app Barcode Hero, has seen similar trends. “The first generation of barcode scanning apps was all about comparing prices — but we’re already starting to see a smarter, second generation of apps that connects in-store shoppers with their social networks and community experts to help compare products and find the best item — not just the best price.”NFC Most of the advances in NFC came at year-end, but they came fast. Apple quietly recruited an NFC expert in August, but hasn’t made any announcements about the technology yet. RIM did the same in November. However, Google’s Android mobile operating system – the latest version known as Gingerbread – now supports the data transfer technology, short for near-field communications. Although limited for now, full support is arriving soon. Also, over the course of the year, we’ve seen preliminary initiatives, programs and announcements involving NFC from PayPal (via a partnership with NFC-related startup Bling Nation), Bank of America, Visa and others. As 2010 draws to a close, Visa has officially launched In2Pay, an NFC-enabled mobile payments solution, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have teamed up on Isis, a carrier-led NFC mobile payments service and the technology got an official trademark.Vishal Jain, a mobile analyst with The 451 Group says that NFC and location-based services “will together drive mobile advertising into an entirely new dimension unlike web based performance advertising that has always focused on generating awareness. The effect would be seen in how loyalty programs, advertisers and POS terminals work in tandem. Availability and understanding of geo-targeted data, and NFC tags will enable the end to end reach and conversion process of a campaign.”And Thomas Husson, a research analyst at Forrester, agrees that NFC means more than mobile payments. “It will enable a range of applications and services from various industries, linking together mobile marketing, mobile CRM, and mobile commerce.” He, however, may disagree with it appearing on this list, saying that NFC “had some traction in 2010 but still suffered from the lack of a critical mass of devices,” but that next year, “the market will finally move away from the trial stage in regions where NFC infrastructure is in place.”Jeff Miles, director of mobile transactions at NXP, definitely believes this was NXP’s year. “Although NXP co-invented NFC jointly with Sony in 2002, 2010 was clearly the year that NFC made its entrée into the heart of the consumer’s world,” he said. “With almost all the world’s top manufacturers and carriers backing the technology and developers accessing open source NFC implementation, 2010 opened the gates for new ways of extending the reach of mobile devices, driving creative applications and adding real value to consumers.” Why IoT Apps are Eating Device Interfaces Role of Mobile App Analytics In-App Engagement Mobile technology has seen major advances over the course of 2010, with new platforms, new services and new usage trends all taking hold to spread the adoption of not just the mobile Web, but the Web itself. The number of smartphone owners are increasing, mobile operating systems are proliferating and apps have become the new go-to tools for accessing mobile content on the go.When you look back at the past 12 months, it’s almost hard to narrow a list down to only 10 top products, in fact – there’s so much innovation happening around mobile today. But we think the list below stands out as representative of the most important products from the year.iPhone 4 In June, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the newest iPhone at a packed press event in San Francisco. The iPhone 4 introduced a number of mobile innovations, including front-facing cameras for the phone’s new Facetime video chat feature; gyroscopic controls that let developers create more advanced games and other apps using location and the position of the device in 3D space; an updated OS that introduced multi-tasking; app folders; and more, and perhaps most memorably, an updated design where the antenna wrapped around the outside of the phone, leading to degraded performance. Ah yes, Antennagate 2010, which only showed that not only can Apple make mistakes, doing so has no impact on its sales whatsoever. iPhone 4 sales reached record numbers, despite the buzz around its signal issues.“Apple’s continued success proves 1) apps and the Web are becoming more important than the ability to make a voice call; 2) consumers have little problem with Apple’s heavy handed control of the end-to-end experience, in fact they appreciate it; 3) no one has come close to matching Apple’s alchemy of great hardware, software, and marketing,” explains Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research. iPad Apple’s introduction of the iPad in March, to put it simply, has forever reshaped the mobile computing landscape. The iPad is part mobile (it runs the iPhone operating system, now called iOS instead of iPhone OS), and part “real” computer (you can do actual work on it using Apple’s office suite). In other words, the iPad is a device that straddles two worlds. Some, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckberberg, have said “iPad isn’t mobile” and we mostly agree – it’s more computer than smartphone, despite the apps it runs. But to leave it off a year-end list of mobile products? Sacrilege! The iPad has completely changed what mobile computing means to us – it’s a worthy replacement to notebooks and netbooks, even eating away at the latter’s sales. And it has prompted competitors to make major changes in their own device offerings, too. Next year, we’ll see more Android-based tablets, tablets from HP-Palm running HP’s newly acquired Palm webOS and even new Microsoft tablets running Windows.But is the iPad mobile? Maybe, maybe not. Says ?Michael Mullany, VP of products at mobile app builder Sencha, “The iPad is the Starbucks of computing devices – a third device between your phone and your laptop that you didn’t even know you wanted. But once you get that first hit, you’re hooked (and it doesn’t even have caffeine).”Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps puts it more simply: “The Pad is the right product for the right time.” She also noted its dual uses. “Consumers are primed for mobile media consumption and casual couch computing, and the iPad delivers on both fronts. One-quarter of iPad owners use their iPad for work, too – it’s becoming the must-have accessory at meetings and events.”Android This was Android’s year. The mobile operating system from Google has seen dramatic increases in terms of phone sales, market share, adimpressions, apps, you name it – any way you measure the mobile landscape, Android is there, climbing higher and higher. In September, analyst firm Gartner made waves with its prediction that Android would become the number two mobile OS worldwide by year-end. By November, Android reached the top spot in the U.S., and yep, number two worldwide based on shipments.“Android swamped the market in 2010 and in 2011 it will become the share leader via lower cost, entry level smartphones,” says Forrester’s Golvin.HTML5 Although not even a fully ratified standard yet, HTML5 was a booming technology this year. Much of its growth can be attributed to Apple’s decision to not support Adobe Flash on its mobile devices, most notably its iPad computer. As the debate over the decision reached a fever pitch, Apple CEO Steve Jobs finally detailed the reasons for his decision in a long missive posted to Apple.com. Flash is proprietary, has poor security and doesn’t perform well on mobile devices, Jobs said. By May, 46% of Web users were ready for HTML5, a study revealed, and plenty of major Web properties were too, including YouTube, Vimeo and a host of online publications that Apple touted in its “iPad-Ready” list of websites. Technically, these sites, which included news organizations like CNN, The New York Times, Reuters and others, were HTML5-ready, which made them “iPad-Ready.”“After 5 years of hard work by the working groups, HTML5 hit critical mass, giving developers and designers a slew of rich Web technologies for media, graphics and storage that are built right into the browser,” says Mullany. “It’s what we’ve been waiting for since the birth of the Web 20 years ago.”Mozilla’s Vice President of Products Jay Sullivan agrees with the impact HTML5 has had on mobile this year, as well. “New, emerging technologies like HTML5 are enabling the Web to bring the same rich, compelling experiences users are used to on their desktop to mobile devices. Users are able to view crisp video and play interactive video games on their mobile devices using HTML5 technologies,” he said. “In addition, HTML5 increases innovation by saving developers the time and resources they would spend testing and optimizing their native applications for multiple devices by allowing them to build beautiful applications for one platform – the Web.”App Stores Apps Stores are a product, but their proliferation is also a trend – in fact, it even made our list of top trends of 2010. In addition to stores for mobile operating systems (iTunes, Android Market, Ovi, Windows Phone Marketplace), other stores came into their own as well, including carrier app stores, third-party stores like GetJar, device app stores, tablet app stores and more. Some reports even indicate that certain segments of the market are switching from the browser to apps as their primary way to access the Web via mobile devices.The trend prompted tech publication Wired to publish what may have been one of its most controversial articles this year: “The Web is Dead,” a catching headline that immediately prompted a visceral backlash from Web supporters. But some of the article’s content was actually right on: the Web is becoming further and further encapsulated into these mobile apps. It’s not dead, really. But the way we choose to access it from our phones is definitely changing.Application stores have succeeded because they make “downloading and purchasing applications easy for consumers,” says Distimo, makers of an app store analytics tool for developers. “Combined with the increased capabilities of devices, these application stores accelerated the market in both device sales and application downloads. The Apple App Store, for example, grew from 141,331 applications in January 2010 to 323,859 applications in November 2010 (US).”?Forrester analyst Thomas Husson, also noted the large numbers of app downloads we’ve seen over the course of the year. “Willing to replicate Apple App Store success with its 7 billion cumulative downloads, a catalogue of 300,000 applications available, application stores flourished in 2010,” he said. “Android Market and GetJar both passed the 1 billion download market in 2010 while Nokia’s OVI is now delivering 3.5 million downloads a day.” But few stores offer publishers the reach they want, he cautioned.Ouriel Ohayon, co-founder of app discovery platform AppsFire, agreed with that assessment. Although app stores “provide a deep ecosystem of content creation, monetization and distribution,” he said, “they fail in being efficient discovery platforms.”But the app movement is far from over. CEO Ben Keighran of the app discovery service Chomp said that the trend of app stores “is linked to the next great technology movement, the ‘Appification’ of the Web.’ All the innovation currently going on is around this present day movement. The number of IOS apps downloaded per year is 5 billion. Compare that to the 17.1 billion Web searches a month and it’s clear that the demand for apps has exploded at a phenomenal rate.”iAdAlthough not registering as high on consumers’ radar, Apple’s influence on the mobile ad industry was felt this year, too, with the launch of iAd. Announced alongside the new Apple mobile operating system, iOS4, iAd was Apple’s attempt to improve the mobile ad experience through the use of rich media and interactive ads. At its best, iAd represented a push for better, more attractive ads, leading others to launch cross-platform solutions that did the same; at its worst, it treaded dangerously between innovation and anti-competitive behavior when it seemed Apple had begun to boot apps using competing products from the App Store. But as the year drew to a close, it was clear iAd was doing well. Tags:#2010 in Review#mobile#Trends#web#Year in Review Related Posts sarah perez What it Takes to Build a Highly Secure FinTech … The Rise and Rise of Mobile Payment Technology
John Lloyd Cruz a dashing guest at Vhong Navarro’s wedding “We really needed this game. This would have assured us in the playoffs, but because of what happened, we need to work harder in our next game,” he said in Filipino.The do-it-all guard gave his all as always, and his efforts were mirrored in the stat sheets with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists.FEATURED STORIESSPORTSWATCH: Drones light up sky in final leg of SEA Games torch runSPORTSLillard, Anthony lead Blazers over ThunderSPORTSMalditas save PH from shutoutDespite his gaudy numbers, Thompson couldn’t get his mind off of his missed floater which would have swung the lead back to the crowd favorites in the final 20 seconds of the game.Still, the Digos City native would rather keep his eye on the positives with Ginebra, at 5-5, has the luxury of rest before going plunging back into action Rain or Shine for its final assignment on March 2. AFP official booed out of forum Read Next Caram provides spark to revive Bolts’ playoff bid Trending Articles PLAY LIST 00:50Trending Articles00:50Trending Articles00:50Trending Articles01:29Police teams find crossbows, bows in HK university01:35Panelo suggests discounted SEA Games tickets for students02:49Robredo: True leaders perform well despite having ‘uninspiring’ boss02:42PH underwater hockey team aims to make waves in SEA Games01:44Philippines marks anniversary of massacre with calls for justice01:19Fire erupts in Barangay Tatalon in Quezon City Typhoon Kammuri accelerates, gains strength en route to PH MOST READ Don’t miss out on the latest news and information. Slow and steady hope for near-extinct Bangladesh tortoises
Globe Business launches leading cloud-enabled and hardware-agnostic conferencing platform in PH “It could be a disadvantage that we may be out of our rhythm because of the long gap, but we’re looking at it as our chance to rest and prepare well for Rain or Shine,” he said.Thompson also isn’t putting too much on the Gin Kings’ failure to live up to everyone’s expectations as one of this conference’s top contenders.“Everyone has their opinion on the teams. They might think that we’re contenders, but for us, every team can contend. We don’t think that we’re higher than them. All we want is to work hard and make it to the quarterfinals,” he said.“Again, we have our eyes set on Rain or Shine. Our target is to make it to the top six so that we’ll be in a best-of-three series.”ADVERTISEMENT LATEST STORIES NEXT BLOCK ASIA 2.0 introduces GURUS AWARDS to recognize and reward industry influencers PBA IMAGESBOCAUE — Scottie Thompson would have wanted Ginebra to have formalized its entry to the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals with a victory over Meralco at the cavernous Philippine Arena on Sunday.Instead, the Bolts claimed the rematch of last year’s finals, 84-82, to stay alive in the playoff race and complicate matters for the Gin Kings.ADVERTISEMENT 2 ‘newbie’ drug pushers fall in Lucena sting Brace for potentially devastating typhoon approaching PH – NDRRMC View comments