Knowledge Update

​Washington, Nov 28 (IANS) US consumers spent about $44.5 billion during this Thanksgiving weekend, slightly below a year ago, the country's largest retail trade association said on Sunday. More than 154 million consumers shopped over Thanksgiving weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, two per cent above the 151 million shoppers last year, Xinhua news agency quoted the National Retail Federation as saying. "It was a strong weekend for retailers, but an even better weekend for consumers, who took advantage of some really incredible deals," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "In fact, over one-third of shoppers said 100 per cent of their purchases were on sale," he said. Average spending per person over Thanksgiving weekend totalled $289.19, about 3.5 per cent lower than $299.6 last year, making the total spending 1.56 per cent lower than the last year, said the NRF. Stronger sales were expected in the rest of the holiday season as less people have finished their holiday shopping compared with last year. "With mid-season shopping behind us, it's not too late for retailers to tweak their online and in-store strategies to help increase traffic and see a big payoff during the last few weeks of the holiday season," Shay said. The total retail sales in this year's holiday season from November to December were expected to reach $655.8 billion, 3.6 per cent higher than the last year, better than the average level of 3.4 per cent since 2009, because stronger US economic fundamentals have driven income gains, said NRF in October.

​New York, Nov 27 (IANS) Nearly three weeks ahead of the next instalment of Star Wars series "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank has unveiled a smartphone dedicated to the science fiction film, a media report said on Sunday. Available in two colours -- Dark (black) and Light (White) side editions -- the device lets you choose your "Force allegiance". The 7.6 mm thin Star Wars mobile phones are made by electronic products manufacturer Sharp and sport a 5.3-inch, full HD (1080p) display, The Verge reported. It runs on Android 6.0 and has skin in both light and dark side themes. The device is powered by Snapdragon 820 processo with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage which can be expanded by a microSD card. Apart from a 22.6 MP primary camera and 3,000 mAh battery for extended running hours, the device also has "Live wallpapers" that make the phone look like an X-Wing or TIE fighter cockpit, a Star Wars Movie Player app that lets a user watch The Force Awakens until the year 2020 and pre-loaded Star Wars: Force Collection card game. The phone, which will go on sale from December 2 in Japan, has Star Wars-themed alarm clock app, Star Wars emoji and Star Wars ringtones.

Washington, Nov 26 (IANS) US online sales surged on Black Friday, with Amazon.com Inc offering the steepest discounts among e-commerce sites as it set the agenda for what has traditionally been the biggest shopping day of the year for brick-and-mortar retailers. Though in-store customer traffic picked up in the afternoon, it paled in comparison to the jump in online sales, NBC news cited analysts as saying. Macy's Inc's website crashed as it saw heavy traffic on Friday. It had to delay customers from entering the site at three different times. Online sales on Friday hit $1.70 billion as of 3 p.m., according to Adobe Digital Index, after reaching $1.13 billion on Thursday, up almost 14 per cent from a year ago. The National Retail Federation expects total sales this holiday season to increase by 3.6 per cent to $655.8 billion, mainly due to the rise in online shopping. This weekend's shopping could reflect signs of faster economic growth in the fourth quarter this year. Administrative assistant Kelsey Gilford, 52, was shopping at Chicago's Water Tower mall on Friday but had already made purchases online on Thursday. "I looked at some online deals on J.C. Penney which were good. I bought a small kitchen appliance yesterday (Thursday)," she said. Amazon.com Inc offered a 42 per cent off, compared with 33 per cent off at Walmart, 35 per cent at Target and 36 per cent at Best Buy. Amazon said Black Friday would surpass last year in terms of the number of items ordered on its website. The Seattle-based company declined to provide specifics. Online shopping continued to grow, with Adobe saying that Black Friday was on track to set a new record by surpassing the $3 billion mark for the first time. It is also expected to become the first day in US retail history to drive over a billion dollars from mobile sales. Mobile accounted for 40 per cent of sales, with 29 per cent from smartphones, and 11 per cent for tablets. Combined with Thursday's $1.93 in online sales on Thanksgiving, the two days are expected to close out at nearly $5 billion in sales. Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst and director, Adobe Digital Insights, said: "We expect Cyber Monday to surpass Black Friday and become the largest online sales day in history with $3.36 Billion." Meanwhile, UK shoppers also rushed to buy Black Friday bargains, as retailers and payment firms reported strong sales. Barclaycard said it had seen a record number of transactions on Friday, while Argos, John Lewis and Currys PC World reported a surge in orders, BBC reported. In the UK, analysts expect sales on Friday to have topped last year's 1.9 billion pound, with people hunting for discounts ahead of an expected rise in prices next year. "The Black Friday promotions at the end of November are the start of a longer, more drawn-out peak season, which begins with most of the activity online and then moves in-store as we get closer and closer to Christmas day," said Richard Jenkings, data analyst at credit reference agency Experian.

​Beijing, Nov 21 (IANS) Apple China will offer free battery replacements for faulty iPhone 6s that shut down unexpectedly. Consumers across China have filed complaints on China's microblog service Weibo, claiming their mobile phones unexpectedly switch off despite displaying battery levels over 50 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported. China Consumer Association earlier last week sent a letter to Apple, requesting that it clarify the reason. Stressing the issue is not safety-related, Apple China said in a statement on Monday that the unexpected power-off only affects handsets with certain serial numbers. It agreed to replace the batteries of faulty iPhone 6s manufactured between September and October 2015 free of charge. Other models with the same problem were not included in the current replacement plan.

Beijing, Nov 19 (IANS) The Coca-Cola Company on Saturday announced the reshaping of its bottling operations in China. The announcement was made jointly following an agreement of the Coca-Cola Company and its Bottling Investments Group China, COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages Limited (a subsidiary of COFCO Corporation), and Swire Beverage Holdings Limited, Xinhua news agency reported. As a result, Coca-Cola's bottling operations in China will be concentrated in its two franchise partners, COFCO and Swire. COFCO will own and operate 18 bottling plants, while Swire will own and operate 17. "Today's announcement marks our refocus on core strengths of building great brands and leading a strong, global franchise system," said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company. By refranchising all company-owned bottling operations in China to local partners, Coca-Cola aims to position these companies to leverage greater efficiency throughout China to invest for growth. "China's long and stable economic growth provides great opportunity for sustainable development of the beverages industry," said Zhao Shuanglian, Chairman of COFCO Corporation.

​New York, Nov 19 (IANS) After it launched the HP Elite x3 smartphone in 2016 which was not quite successful, HP is planning to launch another Windows Phone handset in 2017. The company is rumoured to have teamed up with Microsoft for the release of a more customer-focused Windows Phone probably in February 2017, Phone Arena reported. It is believed that HP will develop and sell the smartphone, while Microsoft will offer budget for the same. Microsoft may also provide HP with technology that was used inside Lumia smartphones. "Features like Glance, ClearBlack display, double tap to wake, and advanced camera functionality will be implemented in the HP's Windows Phone handset," the report added. Sources said that that Microsoft has already revealed a new Windows 10 Mobile handset this week in Redmond, and is expected to be officially announced in February 2017. But certain details of the launch were not yet confirmed.

Barcelona, Nov 19 (IANS) Nokia is planning to re-enter the smartphone business in 2017, a slide from Nokia's Capital Markets Day 2016 has revealed. The event that was held on November 15 for investors, the company stated that 2017 will represent "Nokia brand's return to smartphones.," Phone Arena reported on Friday. Since it does not have the required manufacturing facilities, Nokia will rope in Finnish company HMD Global, and Taiwanese giant Foxconn to manufacture the smartphones. Led by former Nokia execs, HDM will "develop, market and sell Nokia-branded phones and accessories", while Foxconn is dealing with R&D and manufacturing, the report added. The first smartphone of Nokia after its come back is rumoured to be the D1C that runs on Android 7 Nougat with a Snapdragon 430 processor, and offers a 1080p display and 3 GB of RAM.

Tel Aviv, Nov 18 (IANS) Coca-Cola has designed a "Selfie bottle" that will take your self-portrait which you can instantly share with your friends on online platforms like SnapChat, Facebook and Instagram. The bottle is fitted with an in-built camera at its base and a sensor to detect when it is tilted to 70-degree, at which point the camera takes a snap of its owner mid-drink, Drum News reported on Friday. The "Selfie Bottle" has been devised by Gefen Team for the Coca-Cola Summer Love campaign -- Israel's largest outdoor brand event. "Users tag themselves and their friends in photos on Coca-Cola's social media assets. It really does the trick and makes the partygoers more present and active during the event, knowing they can share their special moments just by drinking," Coca-Cola said in a statement. However, there are no reports when the "Selfie Bottle" will make it to the market.

​Madrid, Nov 18 (IANS) Japanese gaming giant Nintendo on Friday launched Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, the latest games in the series, in Japan and the US, four months after the release of Pokemon Go. The release of the seventh generation of the multi-billion dollar franchise, which has not launched any new games in the series since October 2013, coincides with the 20th anniversary of the launch of the original Pokemon video games and follows the stupendous success of Pokemon Go, which has been downloaded over 500 million times. The new games, designed for Nintendo's 3DS portable game console, will be released in Europe on November 23 and Nintendo has already shipped 10 million copies throughout the world, EFE news cited the company as saying in a statement. Nintendo, who said during the release of its results for the first quarter of the Japanese financial year (April-September) that the success of Pokemon Go helped boost sales of software in the Pokemon series during the same period, hopes the effect is enhanced with the new games. The starting price of the games is 4,980 yen in Japan, $39.99 in the US and 44.95 euros in Europe. The games take place in the Alola region, composed of four tropical islands and an artificial one, and feature a total of over 800 pocket monsters for the players to hunt. A few Pokemon-enthusiasts had recently grabbed pirated copies of the game leading Nintendo to ban them from its online network.

​New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) World-renowned French footwear designer Christian Louboutin says India continues to fascinate people from foreign shores with its indigenous content because designers here are forever exploring the "re-attachment to roots". Thus, "the things that you see in India, you see nowhere else", he feels. In a tete-a-tete with IANS here, Louboutin discussed his latest collaboration with Indian couturier Sabyasachi Mukherjee and steered the conversation to how Indian fashion is painting a story that is making waves worldwide. He said: "I love fashion, but it is not my first obsession. So, when I was in India, there were so many things that I wanted to see other than fashion. I ended up really looking at fashion not much time ago. I'm going to talk about the last seven years. "I have seen a different aspect of fashion industry in India, but what I have to say is that there is a strong identity in the Indian fashion which is based on one very simple thing and it is the re-attachment to its roots." Louboutin was quick to add that it "doesn't mean that when you are attached to your roots then you are not thinking, or are not evolving". "That is really important. I come from a city of fashion. Parisians end up being very confident and snobbish about that. That is a reality. We have everything in Paris when it comes to fashion. But after saying all that, the things that you see in India, you see nowhere. "That is why there's the fascination in most countries as people see that they will never see anywhere else. So, on that page, it is a tap of confidence to the quality of beauty in your country," he added. Louboutin -- whose collaboration with Sabyasachi is for a bespoke range of shoes and handbags -- is delighted with the "strong, vivid, continuing change, but with really strong roots" in Indian fashion. The international designer has himself tread a long way from a single storefront in Paris in 1991 to establishing his name across the world. Louboutin, whose father was a carpenter, made red-soles his trademark. It is said that while growing up, Louboutin spent a year in India before heading to Paris in 1981. But fashion was not on his mind when he first came to India. "All the initial years when I was coming to India, I was not looking at fashion. I was looking at what I would call tradition and quality of different traditions in India. There are so many things that India offers, but if you are a French person, then talking about 25 years ago, there are so many things you want to see in India before seeing fashion," said the man who has designed shoes for celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Lopez. When it comes to designing for stars in Bollywood which, according to Louboutin, is all about sparkle and glitz, the designer wants them to approach his brand -- and not the other way around. "For me, the biggest treasure is when people want something that I am doing. Either you go for someone or you like that people are hunting. I would rather be hunted, than hunting people," he said. As far as his brand's expansion is concerned, Louboutin says it will happen when it is meant to happen. For now, there are two Christian Louboutin stores in India -- one in Delhi and one in Mumbai.