Order food from KRUSH Brands companies in UAE using what3words

What3words, the location technology company that enables people around the world to identify and share any precise location using just three words, is teaming up with Freedom Pizza, a KRUSH Brands company, for its first UAE-based food delivery partnership. This allows customers to have Freedom Pizza delivered to a specific 3 m square without the need for additional directions.

Street addresses across the UAE can be inaccurate: pins can drop in the centre of the buildings, leaving riders struggling to find the correct door or access point and searching through large areas. The what3words addresses are more accurate than postal addresses, the company said. It is also the first addressing system entirely optimised for voice, and available in over 45 languages.

The what3words model is based on a grid of 3 m squares mapped onto the globe. Each one has a unique what3words address, made of three words from the dictionary. KRUSH Brands riders can then deliver anywhere across Dubai with the right words. For example, the front door to Freedom Pizza's Downtown location can be found at '///flicked.host.officers'.

KRUSH Brands has introduced the technology across their portfolio of locally-born companies, including Wildflower Poke & More, Coco Yogo Vegan Kitchen, Salad Jar along with foodpreneur partners Jet Lagged Chef and Viking Bageri.

To find the what3words address for a specific location, KRUSH Brands customers can visit what3words.com or download the free what3words app, then select where they would like to receive their delivery, after which they will see its easy-to-remember what3words address. They can then log in to any of the KRUSH Brands websites or applications to add their precise what3words address to their profile.

KRUSH Brands has a database of over 350,000 customers, with 60% of all orders coming directly on the brand platforms built by their in-house tech team. At least 95% of the orders received will be for delivery which equates to about 10,000+ deliveries per week for the KRUSH Brands delivery team to fulfil. Integrating what3words with their existing addressing system ensures speed, precision and reliability in a hyper-competitive market and allows KRUSH to maintain its 23 minutes average delivery time as demand increases.

KRUSH Brands Founder & CEO, Ian Ohan said: "We are super excited to partner with what3words to provide our customers with easy to use and more accurate and fast delivery. Whether you are at home, the beach, in the desert or one of the UAE's amazing parks, we will find you with what3words. We love its simplicity and believe it is the future of global addressing in the region and internationally. Good ideas matter and what3words is a great one.

"The benefit of what3words for food deliveries are clear. Providing three simple words in your online checkout means no more lost or cold pizza," added Chris Sheldrick, CEO and co-founder of what3words.

"We are really excited to partner with KRUSH Brands in Dubai to give customers a more accurate and seamless delivery experience anywhere, anytime".

Moshi Deep Purple UV Sanitizer available at antė stores in Singapore

Moshi's Deep Purple UV Sanitizer, a portable, foldable device designed to eliminate bacteria and viruses on personal items, is now at antė stores in Singapore.

Source: antė. Moshi's Deep Purple UV Sanitizer sanitises in 4 minutes.

Measuring 21.7 cm by 18.4 cm by 2 cm when folded, Deep Purple features a large cleaning chamber, long-lasting UV-C LED lights and the LumiClear™ transparent platform plus a highly-reflective interior coating to ensure an all-over clean. Each cleaning cycle lasts 4 minutes.

Antė officially launches the Deep Purple UV Sanitizer in Takashimaya and Tangs, as well as at KrisShop, Sift and Pick, with more retailers to follow suit.

Details:

The Moshi Deep Purple UV Sanitizer costs S$249.

Ante @Takashimaya: 391A Orchard Rd Level 3 Ngee Ann City, Singapore 238873

Ante @Tangs: 310 Orchard Rd Level 3 Tangs Department Store, Singapore 238864

Over 15% of plastic production to be of sustainable plastics by 2030

In a new report, The Sustainable Plastics Roadmap: Recycling, Bioplastics, and Alternatives, Lux Research forecasts that we have a long way to go towards sustainable plastics. 

Lux’s report explores the combined impact of new technologies and approaches on the six major commodity plastics – polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polypropylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) – focusing on the impact of four major types of threats to conventional plastics production: recycling, bio-based polymers, legislation, and alternative materials like paper and metal.

“A combination of negative consumer sentiment about plastics, regulation, and a global focus on sustainability have combined to push the issue of plastics sustainability to the fore,” explained Anthony Schiavo, Research Director at Lux. 

“In 2030, 15% of plastics will be sustainable, fuelled primarily by a tripling of global plastics recycling along with strong regulatory action that bans the most problematic types of plastic products. Chemicals companies will face stagnating demand for oil-derived plastics – even including pyrolysis oil – and must invest in recycling to find growth in the plastics space.”

Lux’s initial modelling effort focused on four scenarios highlighting regional differences in policy and infrastructure. 

“Even in our most aggressive case, there are major unresolved issues with plastics sustainability,” noted Schiavo. “In the likely case, we expect most groups to miss plastics sustainability goals despite making major strides on recycling and alternatives. 

"In addition, the gaps between different types of plastic will grow: The global PET recycling rate could reach as high as 60%, but we expect very little progress in direct PP or PS recycling. Major practical challenges – like the difficulty of waste collection and sorting and the unprofitability of pyrolysis – will still remain in 2030. 

"Companies that move quickly to build their own sustainable supply chains will find success, while those that wait for the ecosystem to fix these problems will be left behind.”

2021 timing for annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting announced

A livestream of the annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting will be available exclusively on Yahoo Finance for the 6th year running. It will be the 2nd year that the event is hosted remotely due to the pandemic.

Source: Yahoo Finance. Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Shareholder's Meeting will be streamed live by Yahoo Finance.

This defining event for the business community worldwide features Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffet, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Non-Insurance Operations Greg Abel and Vice Chairman of Insurance Operations Ajit Jain share their candid outlook on economic recovery, today’s markets, the company, and more.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has again led us to make changes to the annual meeting, but we’re delighted to be in Los Angeles with Charlie Munger and pleased to know that anyone who wants to watch the meeting can do so thanks to the worldwide streaming provided by Yahoo Finance,” said Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

The global livestream will be available in English and Mandarin, with 100% closed captioning, and video on demand (VOD) replays available following the meeting. Audio replays will also be available via podcast on iTunes and other podcast stores.

Also for the first time, Yahoo Finance will also livestream the event on TikTok.

Details:

Yahoo Finance is available on desktop and mobile web via finance.yahoo.com, the Yahoo Finance app, Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Samsung TV+, Roku and additionally on linear broadcast via Fios. 

The Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting will be livestreamed on 1 May ET (Sunday 2 May GMT+8) from:

• 12:30 pm ET (12.30 am next day GMT +8) Yahoo Finance pre-show
• 1:30 pm ET (1.30 am next day GMT+8) Q&A with Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Ajit Jain, and Greg Abel
• 5 pm ET (5 am next day GMT +8) Berkshire Hathaway business meeting
• 5:30 pm ET (5.30 am next day GMT +8) Yahoo Finance post-show

Hashtag: #YFBuffett

NVIDIA announces new Game Ready Driver, out in time for Mortal Shell update

Source: NVIDIA. Mortal Shell performance with the new Game Ready driver. Lighter green bar shows average frames per second with DLSS on.

NVIDIA has released a Game Ready Driver that coincides with the new RTX update to Mortal Shell. The driver adds NVIDIA DLSS and ray tracing to the single-player, action-RPG from Cold Symmetry.

Gamers can expect stunning ray-traced shadows to the game, and a boost to performance of up to 130% at 4K.

NVIDIA Game Ready drivers are often used as a delivery mechanism to add new features for our GeForce users. This Game Ready driver also enhances NVIDIA Reflex support for Valorant, the free-to-play shooter from Riot Games. Reflex’s Boost Mode further reduces system latency in certain CPU-bound scenarios where the render submission thread is the limiting factor. These types of CPU bound scenarios can occur when there are many objects to render on the screen at once.

Other features of the new driver include:

- Support for a native integration of NVIDIA Broadcast’s Background Noise Removal feature directly into Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), the most popular broadcasting tool for streamers.

- Support for more G-SYNC Compatible displays, including LG’s 27GP950, 2021 B1 4K Series, 2021 C1 4K Series, 2021 G1 4K Series and 2021 Z1 8K Series, along with the MSI MAG 301 RF.

- Optimal game settings for It Takes Two and Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos.

- The addition of GeForce Experience optimal settings for creative applications, with 34 applications from Adobe Lightroom to Blackmagic Davinci Resolve supported with this release.

Available on or before launch day, NVIDIA Game Ready Drivers provide the best experience for GeForce gamers because NVIDIA engineers work up until the last possible minute to optimise performance and perfect gameplay. As an additional verification of quality, every Game Ready Driver is WHQL-certified by Microsoft.

The Avani world's most Instagrammable hotels in APME

Avani Hotels & Resorts has curated a list of its most Instagrammable hotels, many of which are in the APME region:

Avani+ Samui Resort in Thailand

A marble white infinity pool and private villa pools are positioned to best capture the setting sun. Phang Ka Bay, provides an alternative backdrop.

Avani+ Riverside Bangkok Hotel

Look for the rooftop infinity pool that sits above Bangkok’s skyline.

Avani Ao Nang Cliff Krabi Resort

Target giant limestone features, or its rooftop infinity pool.

Avani+ Luang Prabang Hotel in Laos

Heritage architecture in the background and centuries-old banyan trees surround this hotel's pool.

Avani Quy Nhon Resort on Vietnam’s south-central coast

An arcade of wooden arcs in the lobby frame a central water feature, swimming pool, bay, sky and mountains.

FCC Angkor by Avani in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Go for a poolside photoshoot early in the morning, when the sky and the water are bathed in delicate colours. 

 

Source: Avani Hotels & Resorts. From @wonguy974 - the FCC Angkor by Avani.

Avani Palm View Dubai Hotel & Suites

Explore the minimalist pool deck with the the city’s futuristic skyline in the background - including the iconic Burj Al Arab.

Explore:

View more pictures of the hotels.

Cybercriminals ride on Netflix, WhatsApp usage to deliver malware

Source: Check Point Research. The Google Play page for the FlixOnline app.

Cybercriminals have been caught sharing Android malware disguised as a Netflix content enabler app. According to Check Point Research (CPR), replies containing malware are automatically sent to incoming WhatsApp messages.

The original malware was found hidden in an app on Google Play named FlixOnline. While it claimed to allow users to view Netflix content from all around the world on their mobiles, it actually monitors the victim’s WhatsApp notifications, then sends automatic replies to the their incoming messages that use content that it receives from elsewhere.

The replies say: “2 Months of Netflix Premium Free at no cost For REASON OF QUARANTINE (CORONA VIRUS)* Get 2 Months of Netflix Premium Free anywhere in the world for 60 days. Get it now HERE https://bit[.]ly/3bDmzUw.”

The link can be used to distribute phishing attacks, spread false information or steal credentials and data from users’ WhatsApp accounts, CPR warned.

In this case, CPR notified Google, which removed the app from the Play Store. It had been up for two months, and downloaded approximately 500 times.

The authors of the FlixOnline research, Aviran Hazum, Bodgan Melnykov and Israel Wenik of CPR, said that users should be wary of download links or attachments that they receive via WhatsApp or other messaging apps, even when they appear to come from trusted contacts or messaging groups.

CPR's tips to remain protected against mobile malware include:

- Updating the operating system regularly. Mobile devices should always be updated to the latest version of the OS to protect against the exploitation of privilege escalation vulnerabilities.

- Only installing apps from official app stores. This reduces the probability of an unintentional installation of mobile malware or a malicious application.

- Enabling ‘remote wipe’ capability on all mobile devices. All devices should have remote wipe enabled to minimise the probability of loss of sensitive data.

- Install a security solution on your device.

Cybercriminals find phishing easier than ever

Consumers beware. Group-IB, a global threat hunting and adversary-centric cyberintelligence company, has found that it is increasingly easy for cybercriminals to obtain user data stolen through phishing, or fake websites which look like genuine ones requesting consumer data.

Source: Group-IB. Types of brands most frequently targeted in phishing kits.

Legitimate services such as Google Forms and Telegram bots are helping help cybercriminals keep data safe and enable them to start using the information immediately. Ready-to-go platforms that automate phishing are distributed under the cybercrime-as-a-service model, which allows more groups to conduct attacks, and widen the scope of cybercriminal activity, Group-IB said. 

According to Group-IB, phishing kits give cybercriminals who do not have strong coding skills a way to effortlessly build infrastructure for large-scale phishing campaigns and quickly resume an operation if it’s blocked.

Group-IB’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GIB) analysed the tools used to create phishing web pages (phishing kits) and discovered that in the past year, they were most often used to generate web pages mimicking online services (online tools to view documents, online shopping, streaming services, etc.), email clients, and — traditionally — financial organisations. Last year, Group-IB identified phishing kits targeting over 260 unique brands.

In 2020, as in the previous year, the main target for cybercriminals were online services (30.7%). By stealing user account credentials, hackers gain access to the data of linked bank cards. Email services became less appealing last year, with the share of phishing kits targeting them dropping to 22.8%. 

Financial institutions turned out to be the third favourite among scammers, with their share totalling above 20%. In 2020, the brands most often exploited in phishing kits were Microsoft, PayPal, Google, and Yahoo.

The analysts further found that phishing kits can do more than generating fake web pages to steal user data. Some upload malicious files to the victim's device. Sellers of phishing kits can deceive their buyers. Apart from selling the malicious tool they created, they may also direct stolen user data to themselves.

“Phishing kits have changed the rules of the game in this segment of the fight against cybercrime. In the past, cybercriminals stopped their campaigns after the fraudulent resources had been blocked and quickly switched to other brands. Today, they automate their attacks and instantly replace the blocked phishing websites with new web pages,” commented CERT-GIB Deputy Head Yaroslav Kargalev.

“In turn, automating such attacks leads to the spread of more complex social engineering used in large-scale attacks rather than separate incidents, as used to be the case. This keeps one of the oldest cybercriminal professions afloat.”

Instarem launches new mobile app for Singapore consumers

Instarem, a digital cross border payments platform has launched a redesigned website and new mobile application for Singapore consumers. Instarem will also be launching a first-of-its-kind consumer debit card, Amaze, for users within the year.

Instarem has refreshed its brand and launched a new app for Singapore.

With the new rebrand, Instarem seeks to go beyond just enhancing consumer remittances globally, to move towards being the change-driver for the complexities around global payments – empowering its customers to do more with their money in an intuitive, transparent, and cost-effective manner. This rebrand also aims to set the foundation for Instarem to eventually become an all-in-one consumer app in coming years.

Yogesh Sangle, Global Head of Instarem, said, “We see the future of Instarem as becoming an essential part of our customers’ everyday lives, offering them the most convenient option for money transfers. Our new identity reflects our belief that money should not be disconnected – it should be simple – and our enhanced offerings bring this belief to life. Our new look better represents who we are today – current, innovative, and global.”

“Our new mobile app provides increased usability for Singapore users that makes it easier for them to navigate and manage their transfers from anywhere in the world. Singapore customers can also expect a new and improved Instarem experience through the launch of a consumer debit card, which allows them to consolidate all their spendings in one,” he added.

Instarem currently operates in six continents and over 100+ markets, serving more than 130+ million customers. More than US$6 billion in transaction volumes are processed annually, and 60% of payments are made in less than 15 minutes.

Explore:

Singapore users can download the mobile app for Android and for iOS.

Singdaptive launches asynchronous vocal coaching app

Singdaptive has launched Exchangely, a vocal coaching app.

Source: Singdaptive. An Exchangely session pack allows student singers to send videos to Singdaptive's instruction team for later feedback, instead of performing on the spot and getting immediate feedback.

On Exchangely, a singer and a lead instructor at Singdaptive exchange videos in which the instructor gives feedback, insights, exercises and tasks which are targeted directly at the singer’s goals. Interactions happen at the singer’s own pace and on a learning platform that allows singers to connect with the Singdaptive team, experience quizzes, and track progress.

According to Singdaptive, online lessons traditionally limit singers to a lone singing teacher at a scheduled time. During testing with singers from around the world, the advantages of an asynchronous approach (where both parties are not online at the same time) became clear, the company said.

Singers sharing their videos in a safe and private manner experienced increased confidence; while Singdaptive instructors, thanks to team-based consultation and the time for careful analysis, were able to provide extremely effective feedback and advice. The model also allows singers to be guided by a team of coaches and industry professionals rather than a lone instructor.

Details:

A single Exchangely Session Pack costs US$150 and is equivalent to up to four weeks of face-to-face lessons with a vocal coach or singing instructor, said Singdaptive. The pack includes 3+ video exchanges, 10+ tasks and a selection of premium video lessons available from Singdaptive's on-demand learning library. Two- and three-session packs are also available.

Explore:

View the Exchangely introduction video.

A gap between knowing about cybersecurity and protecting yourself: Acronis

Singapore’s Acronis, a global cyberprotection provider, has found a disconnect between the understanding that data must be protected and the actions to reach that goal. 

The global survey, released on 31 March (World Backup Day), polled 4,400 IT users and professionals in 22 countries across six continents, including Singapore, and dispels the myth that simply adding more solutions will solve cybersecurity and data protection challenges. 

“This year’s Cyber Protection Week survey clearly illustrates that more solutions do not deliver greater protection, as using separate tools to address individual types of exposure is complicated, inefficient, and costly,” said Serguei “SB” Beloussov, Founder and CEO of Acronis. 

“These findings confirm our belief that the smarter approach is cyberprotection, which unifies data protection, cybersecurity, and endpoint management in one.” 

The survey found a significant gap in awareness among users in Singapore of what IT and cybersecurity capabilities are available to them, which could cause them to lose valuable time, money, and security: 

 Over six in 10 (63%) of IT users would not know if their data had been modified without their knowledge because their solution makes determining that kind of tampering difficult. 

 More than four in 10 (43%) of IT users don’t know if their anti-malware stops zero-day threats, because their solution doesn’t make that information easily available – only 32% claim to actually have it. Having easy access to such cybersecurity insights is critical to ensuring data is protected.

If those responsible for ensuring data privacy don’t know they are culpable, they cannot implement strategies or evaluate the solutions needed to address the requirements. That ignorance puts the business at tremendous risk of major fines for potential compliance violations in 2021.

For anyone using multiple solutions to solve their IT and cybersecurity needs, the lack of transparency into such information only gets worse. Not only must they remember which solution provides a particular data point, they are constantly switching between consoles to find the details they need – leading to inefficiencies and missed insights.

Individuals’ lax approach to protection

The survey also revealed a lax approach to data protection among Singapore’s IT users: 

 Ninety-two percent of IT users spent more time on their devices last year, yet only half of them took extra steps to protect those devices 

 Four in 10 (41%) admit to not updating their devices until at least a week after being notified of a patch, or even longer

 Nearly all (97%) IT users reported performing backups (5% back up daily), yet 69% have irretrievably lost data at least once, suggesting that they don’t know how to back up or recover properly 

The efforts of individuals to protect their data aren’t keeping pace with threats, which is likely due to false assumptions (such as believing Microsoft 365 backs up their data) or a reliance on automatic solutions.

Action items for Cyber Protection Week

The challenges of protecting and securing data, applications, and systems will continue to grow in the post-pandemic world. To ensure that data is protected, Acronis recommends five simple steps:

 Create backups of important data. Keep multiple copies of your backups, with one local copy for fast recovery and one off-site in the cloud to guarantee recovery if disaster destroys your copies.

 Update your operating systems and applications. Outdated systems and apps lack the security fixes that stop cybercriminals from gaining access. Regular patching is required to avoid exploits.

 Avoid suspicious emails, links, and attachments. Most malware infections are the result of social engineering techniques that trick unsuspecting individuals into opening infected email attachments or clicking on links to websites that host malware.

 Install antivirus, anti-malware, and anti-ransomware software while enabling automatic updates so your system is protected against malware.

 Consider adopting a single cyberprotection solution to have the central management and integrated protection needed to meet today’s IT requirements.

Ascott Star Rewards celebrates 2nd anniversary with promotions

The Ascott Limited’s loyalty programme, Ascott Star Rewards (ASR), is celebrating its second anniversary with the Celebrate The Little Joys campaign, offering double bonus points and complimentary tier upgrades to reward and thank its members.

Membership in ASR has grown over 400% since its launch in 2019. ASR members contribute about 90% of Ascott’s direct bookings online and over 60% of ASR members are repeat guests. ASR members also spend 36% more with Ascott compared to non-members.

The Discover ASR mobile app was introduced in October 2020, and has received 130,000 downloads. To date, over 1.3 million fans and followers of ASR connect and engage across the Discover ASR social channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Tan Bee Leng, Ascott’s MD for Brand & Marketing said: “We appreciate the strong support from our ASR members and are celebrating ASR’s second anniversary by providing our members with more rewards. Amid the challenging COVID-19 environment, we continue to stand by our ASR members and launched a series of initiatives to allow them to maximise their membership.

"These include offering members bonus ASR points if they had chosen to be refunded in ASR points* for their booking cancellations; ASR points purchase feature, ASR Elite Status Match and CapitaStar-ASR Points Exchange programmes which allowed ASR members to gain more perks or upgrade their membership tier. In December 2020, we launched Southeast Asia’s largest promotion with about S$13 million worth of goodies up for grabs on Shopee.”

“The launch of Discover ASR mobile app was also key to providing our members with contactless services along with the introduction of our Ascott Cares commitment to provide our guests with a safe home away from home. ASR members can look forward to more from us as we continue to improve our offerings to strengthen ASR’s position as one of the most rewarding global loyalty programmes in the serviced residence industry,” added Tan.

ASR’s anniversary deals run from 1-30 April 2021:

Double bonus points

ASR members who have booked and completed their stay from 1 April 2021 to 31 May 2021 can receive bonus points from their stay. ASR members who have booked their stay from 1-15 April 2021 will receive double bonus points from their stay, while members who have made their bookings from 16-30 April 2021, will receive 2,000 bonus points each night.

Today, ASR members can also purchase ASR points directly and use the points when they are ready to rediscover travel or towards their next staycation. From 1-30 April 2021, ASR members can purchase from as little as S$100 worth of ASR points to start earning bonus points, receiving up to 50% bonus points.

Complimentary tier upgrades

ASR members in the Classic tier will be further rewarded with a complimentary upgrade to the Silver tier for a year when they book their stay before 30 April 2021 and complete their stay during the promotional period of 1 April 2021 to 31 May 2021. Existing Silver, Gold and Platinum tier members will be rewarded with 5,000 ASR points when they book and complete their first stay within the same promotional period.

Details:

ASR members can book their stays at www.the-ascott.com or via the Discover ASR mobile app. ASR has no cap to points earned, no minimum points redemption and no blackout dates for redemption.

ASR membership is complimentary. Sign up.

*For stays booked before 20 April 2020.