will.i.am carries Olympic torch
The Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am has carried the Olympic flame through the English city of Taunton to the cheers of thousands. He was the surprise addition to the torch relay on Monday and performed a short Michael Jackson moonwalk as the crowd roared. The musician, whose real name is William Adams, says he's known for about a year that he'd carry the torch but was told not to reveal it. When it all started, he held his phone in the air, asking residents to follow him on Twitter. * AP
Lady Gaga allowed second Manila show
Lady Gaga was allowed to hold a second concert in Manila last night after state censors ruled her act was within legal bounds. Officials who monitored the first show on Monday found no violations of the permit banning "nudity, blasphemy and lewd conduct". Close to 40,000 fans attended her two dates. Conservative Christians staged protests, calling Gaga's songs blasphemous.At Monday's concert, Lady Gaga said she was "not a creature of your government" before belting out her controversial song Judas. * AFP
Houston's last recording released
Whitney Houston's final recording, a song titled Celebrate, is to be released. The track is a duet with Jordin Sparks from Houston's last movie, a remake of the film Sparkle. The song debuted on Monday on Ryan Seacrest's website and will be available on iTunes from June 5. Sparks performed a tribute to Houston on Sunday night at the Billboard Music Awards, singing I Will Always Love You as Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina wiped away tears. Sparkle opens in cinemas in August. * AP
Iranian film noir casts spell in Cannes
An Iranian film noir about an academic who returns home after two decades in the West to a family and country he no longer recognises made a splash at the Cannes film festival. A Respectable Family is the feature debut of the 39-year-old Tehran documentary maker Massoud Bakhshi. "I wanted to explore things that are not necessarily shown in the media, things from everyday life," Bakhshi said. His priority is to show the film in Iran. "Maybe it will take time." * AFP
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Date: Sunday, November 25
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
MATCH INFO
What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23
Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
EMILY IN PARIS: SEASON 3
Created by: Darren Star
Starring: Lily Collins, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park
Rating: 2.75/5
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.