Nintendo's Tokyo store isn't large enough for its fan base

Just before Christmas, a trip to Nintendo Co.’s flagship store in Tokyo would have required an hour’s wait just to get in and buy a plush Mario toy or a set of chopsticks bearing Luigi’s face. Opened in November on the sixth floor of the renovated Shibuya Parco shopping mall, the constantly packed 300-sq.-meter showcase exhibits the appeal of Nintendo’s intellectual property contrasted against the conservatism that leads it to habitually underestimate its popularity.
Read more: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/12/29/business/corporate-business/nintendos-tokyo-store-isnt-large-enough-fan-base/#.XgoBoiROmaM?source=Snapzu

New industry develops around sucking carbon dioxide out of atmosphere | CBC News

Carbon Engineering's groundbreaking plant is one of many projects hoping to help in the fight against climate change by turning its main driver — carbon dioxide — into a useful product that can be profitably removed from the atmosphere.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/new-industry-develops-around-sucking-carbon-dioxide-out-of-atmosphere-1.5410203?source=Snapzu

Tesla: There’s None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See…

What is a company capable of turning entire industries upside down and ultimately changing the world worth? According to the markets on Tuesday, $420 per share, making it worth $75 billion, greater than traditional carmakers such as Ford or GM. But in practice, Tesla is worth more, much more.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2019/12/26/tesla-theres-none-so-blind-as-those-who-will-notsee/#441b6e54665a?source=Snapzu

Sony has a patent for a new PlayStation controller

On Dec. 26, Sony was approved for a patent on a new type of PlayStation controller. The patent is on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) database, but it isn’t quite clear what Sony intends to do with the controller. The design itself is similar to the familiar DualShock 4 design that most players are used to with the PlayStation 4. The new controller has the same layout for its face buttons, directional pad, and analog sticks. The only real departure on the front of the controller is that there’s no PlayStation button visible on the patent design.
Read more: https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2019/12/27/21039289/sony-new-playstation-controller-back-triggers-ps5-ps4?source=Snapzu

Tesla Patents New Chemistry for Better Batteries

Elektrek reports that Tesla is patenting a new chemical additive to improve lithium ion battery technology. The company's solution—literally, it’s electrolytes with additives dissolved inside—works with nickel manganese cobalt compound (NMC) lithium ion batteries and other kinds.
Read more: https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a30346407/tesla-patent-battery-chemistry/?source=Snapzu

Spotify is pausing political ads in 2020

The move follows stricter bans by other platforms like Twitter and Google
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/27/21039239/spotify-political-ads-paused-music-platform-ban-early-2020?source=Snapzu

A brutal year: how the 'techlash' caught up with Facebook, Google and Amazon

What goes up must come down, and in 2019, gravity reasserted itself for the tech industry. After years of relatively unchecked growth, the tech industry found itself on the receiving end of increased scrutiny from lawmakers and the public and attacks from its own employees.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/dec/28/tech-industry-year-in-review-facebook-google-amazon?source=Snapzu

The New Banking App That Swears — They Won’t Become Evil…..

When I heard there’s a new banking app starting to trend, I had to take a look.I’ll be the first to admit, I haven’t looked at banking options for awhile I figured “they‘re all bad if you really look into it, so why bother?”. Actually… they’ll pay you AND a charity $25 each if you try it, so now you kinda have to for the sake of the children (or whatever).
Read more: https://link.medium.com/H4jjnUQTM2?source=Snapzu

Indie booksellers create community to survive the age of Amazon

The holiday season is the busiest time of year for many retailers, including the country's 2,500 independent bookstores, which, despite Amazon's growing dominance, are flourishing.
Read more: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/12/27/indie-booksellers-create-community-to-survive-the-age-of-amazon?source=Snapzu

Sky shepherds: the farmers using drones to watch their flocks by flight

For some farmers in New Zealand, Britain and Australia, drones are not just a toy – they’re an increasingly vital tool
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/dec/26/sky-shepherds-the-farmers-using-drones-to-watch-their-flocks-by-night?source=Snapzu

10 Critical Lessons For Entrepreneurs Starting A Business

Based on the personal experience check out the top lessons we have for entrepreneurs starting a small business.
Read more: https://2muchcoffee.com/blog/10-critical-lessons-for-entrepreneurs-starting-a-business/?source=Snapzu

Tesla secures $1.29 billion loan from Chinese banks for Shanghai factory

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc entered into agreements with lenders in China for a secured term loan facility of up to 9 billion yuan ($1.29 billion), according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. The electric car maker said it has also signed agreements for an unsecured revolving loan facility of up to 2.25 billion yuan, adding that both the loans will be used for its Shanghai car plant. (bit.ly/2tU35dI)
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-china-loan/tesla-secures-1-29-billion-loan-from-chinese-banks-for-shanghai-factory-idUSKBN1YU19F?source=Snapzu

Amazon has its best holiday season ever

Amazon said this holiday season was another record-setter. The overall retail sector had a big year too, signaling that the decade-long economic expansion in the United States still has some legs left in it.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/26/business/amazon-holiday-sales/index.html?source=Snapzu

Family of Pablo Escobar to sell new smartphone

Esocbar Inc. is hoping to use the worldwide fame of the family's name to sell a foldable smartphone, which they say will hit markets in January 2020. Chris Dignam has more.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/family-of-pablo-escobar-to-sell-new-smar-id646870114?source=Snapzu

The Town That Lost Its Walmart

For a small town in Texas, the three-decade presence of the world’s largest retailer was a point of civic pride. Then, 18 months ago, all that changed.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/24/business/walmart-edna-texas.html?source=Snapzu

‘I feel cheated’: Thousands of fake online stores are rushing to cash in

“This is organized fraud on a massive scale,” said Gabriel Openshaw, Overland Sheepskin’s vice president of e-commerce.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/12/24/i-feel-cheated-thousands-fake-online-stores-are-rushing-cash/?source=Snapzu

How to Dominate Your Branded Search in Google

Make the best impression on your customers by learning how to dominate branded search in Google.
Read more: https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/branded-search-google/?source=Snapzu

Comcast And Starz Reach Carriage Deal; Lionsgate, NBCUniversal Swap Streaming Fare – Update

UPDATED with stock movement, Wall Street reaction. Resolving a closely tracked negotiation, Comcast and Starz said Monday they have entered into a long-term carriage deal, more than a week before t…
Read more: https://deadline.com/2019/12/comcast-and-starz-reach-carriage-deal-with-lionsgate-nbcuniversal-content-pact-1202816318/?source=Snapzu

The $15 Minimum Wage Doesn’t Just Improve Lives. It Saves Them.

A living wage is an antidepressant. It is a sleep aid. A diet. A stress reliever. It is a contraceptive, preventing teenage pregnancy. It prevents premature death. It shields children from neglect.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/21/magazine/minimum-wage-saving-lives.html?source=Snapzu

Digest News Regarding Business Development

Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the digest news regarding business development as well as tech development!
Read more: https://2muchcoffee.com/blog/weekly-news-digest-31/?source=Snapzu

Why the US is one of only a few countries with no paid time off

If Araceli Torres worked anywhere in the European Union, she’d be guaranteed four weeks of paid vacation every year by law, the standard set in 1993, plus another eight to 10 paid holidays. If she worked in Brazil, Libya, Turkmenistan, or Oman, the law would allow her 30 days of paid vacation. In her home country of Mexico, she’d be entitled to six.
Read more: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/24/21035628/new-york-paid-time-off?source=Snapzu

The Holidays Suck For Gig Workers

In 2019, gig workers across the United States suffered a series of changes to their pay algorithm that have left many scrambling to pay for food and utilities, and seeking assistance from charities over the holidays.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mz77/the-holidays-suck-for-gig-workers?source=Snapzu

Scientists Gene-Edited Tomatoes to Make Them Grow Like Grapes

Look for them on the Mars menu someday.
Read more: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/green-tech/a30310123/gene-edited-tomatoes/?source=Snapzu

Amazon’s new area of domination: its own package delivery

There’s a reason your Amazon deliveries are increasingly showing up in an Amazon-branded van: The company’s own delivery network is already monstrous, and growing fast. The online retail giant announced on Thursday that its Amazon Logistics division was on track to deliver 3.5 billion packages globally in 2019 — which accounts for approximately half of all of its worldwide orders, according to a spokesperson. (For comparison, UPS, which was founded 112 years ago, delivered 5.2 billion packages and documents for all of its customers in 2018.)
Read more: https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/19/21029932/amazon-logistics-delivery-network-fedex-ups-usps?source=Snapzu

AirPods were a $6 billion business for Apple this year and will be even bigger next year, top analyst says

Sales of Apple's wireless headphones are poised to grow by 150% in 2020, according to a top analyst from Bernstein.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/20/airpods-a-6-billion-business-for-apple-will-be-bigger-next-year.html?source=Snapzu

iPhones made from rejected parts scam nets $43M

Apple is reportedly investigating a massive fraud by Foxconn managers who sold iPhones made from rejected parts.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2019/12/18/iphones-made-from-rejected-parts/?source=Snapzu

This is how Hyperloop TT wants to sell Chicago and Pittsburgh on high-speed travel

For all of the lofty promises around Hyperloop, we're now at the point where the companies making it have to stop speaking in poetry and start selling, in prose. Especially when you're talking to the lawmakers and public servants who'll need to justify spending up to $25 billion on the world's first working Hyperloop system to connect Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/17/hyperloop-tt-chicago-and-pittsburgh-route-plan/?source=Snapzu

Netflix releases worldwide subscriber stats by region for the first time

While the US and Canada have a combined 67.1 million Netflix subscribers, membership is growing faster abroad.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/17/netflix-reports-membership-revenue-by-region/?source=Snapzu

'It's pretty staggering': Returned online purchases often sent to landfill, journalist's research reveals

From unopened shampoo to unworn clothes, perfectly good products end up in dumpsters and landfill sites. Why? The Current went dumpster diving with a seasoned scavenger to find out.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-dec-12-2019-1.5393783/it-s-pretty-staggering-returned-online-purchases-often-sent-to-landfill-journalist-s-research-reveals-1.5393806?source=Snapzu

Amazon is delivering half its own packages as it becomes a serious rival to FedEx and UPS

Amazon Logistics keeps growing at a rapid clip
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/13/21020938/amazon-logistics-prime-air-fedex-ups-package-delivery-more-than-50-percent?source=Snapzu

Visa warns that hackers are scraping card details from gas pumps

Visa warns of malware at gas pumps that could scrape your credit card data.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/16/visa-gas-station-fraud-malware/?source=Snapzu

Prime Leverage: How Amazon Wields Power in the Technology World

Software start-ups have a phrase for what Amazon is doing to them: ‘strip-mining’ them of their innovations.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/technology/amazon-aws-cloud-competition.html?source=Snapzu

6 Social Media Predictions for 2020 [Infographic]

What's coming next for social media marketing? Check out these predictions from the team at Awario.
Read more: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/6-social-media-predictions-for-2020-infographic/568994/?source=Snapzu

This town is giving families $500 a month. The results are remarkable

Recipients have used the money to apply for better jobs, spend more time with their children, or save for better housing
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/10/town-gives-families-500-dollars-month-results?source=Snapzu

Vertical Farms Are Coming to U.S. Grocery Stores

On a recent Saturday morning, two young girls stood in front of a large case with glass walls in the produce section of a QFC (Quality Food Centers) grocery store in Bellevue, Washington. They stared up at plants arranged under bright lights, then turned to fill a bag with sugar snap peas. Their curiosity was shared by many other customers as they took in the newest addition to the grocery store: a vertical farm.
Read more: https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/12/vertical-farming-local-food-grocery-stores-infarm-plants/603457/?source=Snapzu

Exclusive: documents show Foxconn refuses to renegotiate Wisconsin deal

Foxconn won’t tell the state exactly what’s happening at the plant.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/13/21020885/foxconn-wisconsin-deal-renegotiate-tax-subsidy-lcd-factory-plant?source=Snapzu

Meet the Activists Risking Prison to Film VR in Factory Farms

This animal liberation group actually wants to be put on trial. Their goal: force jurors to wear VR headsets and immerse them in the suffering of animals bound for slaughter.
Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/direct-action-everywhere-virtual-reality-exposing-factory-farms/?source=Snapzu

This Is What Racism Sounds Like in the Banking Industry

A JPMorgan employee and a customer secretly recorded their conversations with bank employees. Jimmy Kennedy earned $13 million during his nine-year career as a player in the National Football League. He was the kind of person most banks would be happy to have as a client.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/business/jpmorgan-banking-racism.html?source=Snapzu

Apple's 2020 iPhones' price will be hiked, but only by $50: Ming-Chi Kuo- Technology News, Firstpost

Kuo confirms that iPhone 2020 price hike wouldn't be too much and will likely not be over $50 than the existing iPhones.
Read more: https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/apples-2020-iphones-price-will-be-hiked-but-only-by-50-ming-chi-kuo-7777191.html?source=Snapzu

20 travel trends for 2020

From micro-stays in rustic off-grid cabins to alpine hiking in Piedmont and feasts of soft feta and local olives on small Greek islands, these are the 20 travel trends we predict for 2020
Read more: https://www.olivemagazine.com/travel/top-travel-trends/?source=Snapzu

Fewer than 10% of Americans are buying $1,000 smartphones, report says

We've already seen indications that American consumers are holding onto their smartphones longer than before, posing challenges for companies like Apple and Samsung for whom mobile phone sales are important to the bottom line. A new NPD report reiterates that point but adds that fewer than 10 percent of American smartphone buyers spend more than $1,000, effectively ruling out flagship phones like the iPhone 11 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Note10 that gather most of the marketer and media attention.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1631563?source=Snapzu

This Multibillion-Dollar Corporation Is Controlled by a Penniless Yoga Superstar

Baba Ramdev renounced the material world. So why is he selling toothpaste, instant noodles, and toilet cleaner?
Read more: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/this-multibillion-dollar-corporation-is-controlled-by-a-penniless-yoga-superstar?source=Snapzu

Seaplane makes 'first' commercial electric flight

An all-electric powered seaplane has taken flight in Vancouver, Canada, in what the operators describe as a "world first" for the aviation industry. The short test flight by Harbour Air and magniX involved a six-passenger aircraft fitted with an electric motor.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50738983?source=Snapzu

Apple CEO Tim Cook says monopolies aren't bad if they aren't abused

Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended the existence of monopolies in business while also denying that Apple has a monopoly in any sector. In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review in Tokyo on Wednesday, during which Cook discussed a range of topics including Apple's treatment of competitors, he said a monopoly "by itself isn't bad if it's not abused."
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-apple-monopolies-not-bad-if-not-abused-2019-12?source=Snapzu

Fossil fuel firms 'could be sued' for climate change

The world’s most polluting companies could be sued for their contributions to global warming, a major human rights inquiry has found in what has been described as a “landmark victory for climate justice”. The head of a Philippines Commission on Human Rights panel, which has been investigating climate change for three years, revealed its conclusions on Monday that major fossil fuel firms may be held legally responsible for the impacts of their carbon emissions.
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/cop25-madrid-climate-change-greta-thunberg-fossil-fuel-lawsuit-a9239601.html?source=Snapzu

Video: Company surprises its 198 employees with $10 million holiday bonus

Employees of St. John Properties got the surprise of a lifetime after the company's founder announced the company is giving a $10 million bonus to be divided amongst its 198 employees. That includes nine people who work at the company's Salt Lake City office. During the company's annual holiday party, St. John Properties founder and chairman Edward St. John shocked his employees with the news.
Read more: https://kutv.com/news/offbeat/video-company-surprises-its-198-employees-with-10-million-holiday-bonus?fbclid=IwAR2sKhYlIdxyC80Ne2qLEJMUFdXZIFPuYxkNrRQQ82vKFAzC_IPYtqrkR90?source=Snapzu

Polish startup quietly tracking 1.1bn mobile phones raises $12m

Polish-Chinese tech-startup Cosmose, which has software tracking the exact location of a massive 1.1bn people around the world, has closed a $12m seed funding round to expand its operations into Japan and open a new office in Europe.
Read more: https://sifted.eu/articles/cosmose-raises-12m/?source=Snapzu

Apple launching iPhone financing plan today for Apple Card users: 0% interest over 24 months

Apple is today launching its zero-interest iPhone financing plan for Apple Card owners today. As reported by TechCrunch, the purchase method will roll out today across Apple retail stores, Apple.com and the Apple Store app on iOS. If you have an Apple Card, then you will be able to buy a new iPhone through that …
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2019/12/10/iphone-installments-plan-apple-card/?source=Snapzu

'It's really over': Corporate pensions head for extinction as nature of retirement plans changes

The practice of companies sending monthly retirement checks to their former workers is headed for extinction, and remaining pension funds are in tough financial shape. Nearly two-thirds of pension funds are considering dropping guaranteed benefits to new workers within the next five years, according to a human resources consulting firm that studied the matter.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/12/10/corporate-pensions-defined-benefit-mercer-report/2618501001/?source=Snapzu

Redbox no longer rents video games, and it will end game sales this year

But you might be able to buy some games for cheap before they’re gone.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/9/21003320/redbox-video-games-rentals-purchases-movies-business?source=Snapzu