Australian clothing brand Cotton On has no plans to exit Asia, nor close any operations in the region, said the retail store giant in a statement on Tuesday (Mar 31).

The statement came after media reports suggested that Cotton On stores in Asia were shutting down, citing a Government Gazette notice on Monday (Mar 30).

The notice referred to the winding up of Cotton On Asia and an extraordinary general meeting held via video call last Wednesday (Mar 25), during which PwC Singapore was appointed as liquidator to wind up the business. A separate notice also called on creditors to submit details of outstanding debts or claims.

“There have been misleading media reports suggesting that Cotton On stores operating in Asia are being closed, this information is incorrect and we have no plans to exit the Asia region,” the company said.

Cotton On clarified that Cotton On Asia, the liquidated entity, never operated any stores or employed staff. “It was an inactive holding company that was no longer required. This has no impact on customers, team members, stores, suppliers, or operations within the Asia region,” the statement added.

Cotton On Singapore, a second entity, continues operating as a retail business.

Cotton On was first started by Nigel Austin in Australia back in 1991. It opened its first Singapore store at Wisma Atria in 2007 and later established its Asia headquarters here in 2014, employing more than 90 staff. As of Mar 31, the Cotton On website listed over 30 stores in Singapore.

According to the group’s website, it operates eight brands across 20 countries and 1,300 stores, employing about 20,000 people. 

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Nothing ever made is truly perfect and indeed, CPU architectures like x86, RISC-V, ARM, and PowerPC all have their own upsides and downsides. Today, I aim to make an architecture that learns from all these mistakes and improves architecture design for everyone.

I’ve consulted with many people opinionated on the matter, both from a software perspective, and from a hardware perspective. I have taken all their feedback in mind while creating this initial draft of the WheatForce architecture (PDF). It is inspired by pieces from many architectures: segmentation inspired by x86, hash table-like paging from PowerPC, dynamic endianness control from RISC-V and PowerPC, and more. Let’s look into each feature in a little bit more detail.

Segmentation

Segmentation is a powerful virtual-memory feature that is tragically underused today. I believe this is due to limited flexibility, so I have added an improvement above the model that x86 had used: every single register can now use its own segment selector. With this added flexibility, one can surely make better use of the address translation powers of segmentation with minimal extra overhead.

Hash Table-Like Paging

PowerPC’s hash table-like paging makes its paging vastly superior to the likes of x86, RISC-V and ARM by decreasing the number of required cache line fetches drastically. Much like a true hash table, the keys (or input addresses) are hashed and then used as an index into the table. From there, that row of the table is searched for a cell with a matching virtual address, which can be accelerated greatly due to superior cache locality of the entries in this row.

Dynamic Endianness Control

RISC-V and PowerPC both have some real potential for better compatibility with their dynamic endianness control. However, both these architectures can only change the endiannes from a privileged context. To make this more flexible, WheatForce can change the data endianness at any time with a simple instruction. Now, user software can directly interoperate between big-endian and little-endian data structures, eliminating the need for a costly byte-swap sequence that would need many instructions. Finally, you can have your cake and eat it to!

Conclusion

WheatForce has observed the mistakes of all architectures before it, and integrates parts of all its predecessors. You can read the full specification on GitHub. After you’ve read it, do let me know what you think of it.

The 400 new jobs are understood to break down as 300 in Ireland and 100 in the US, bringing total headcount to more than 570.

Dublin’s Manna Air Delivery, Bobby Healy’s drone delivery company, has officially confirmed a $50m Series B funding round and announced plans to create 400 new jobs across Ireland and the US.

The round, which brings total investment in the company to $110m, sees funding from ARK Invest -the fund known for backing OpenAI, Anthropic, Tesla and SpaceX – Boston-based Schooner Capital and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), alongside existing investors Enterprise Ireland, Coca-Cola HBC and Molten Ventures.

Today’s (1 April) announcement confirms details first reported last week by Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman, who said that Manna was close to finalising the round, with ISIF, ARK Invest and Schooner Capital among the backers.

The 400 new roles will span robotics, software engineering, mechanical engineering, aviation operations, ground operations and regulatory functions, with a strong focus on STEM disciplines. The positions will be spread across Manna’s Irish operational hubs and its expanding US operations, bringing the company’s total headcount from 170 to more than 570.

The Irish roles are understood to number some 300, with 100 in the US. In Ireland, roles are expected to be split between those working on manufacturing and developing drones, and aviation personnel at operational bases.

“Ireland is the foundation of everything we do. We design and build our drones here, develop our software here, and have spent seven years refining our operations in communities across the country,” said Bobby Healy, CEO and founder of Manna. “These 400 new roles are high-quality STEM positions and we’re competing with some of the largest companies in the world and winning.”

Manna, which was founded in 2019, designs, builds and operates its drones and software in Ireland. The company says it has completed more than 250,000 regulated drone flights, including 60,000 in Blanchardstown.

It currently operates in Dublin (Blanchardstown), Balbriggan, Moneygall, Oranmore and Cork, as well as internationally in Texas and Finland. The company delivers food, clothing, books and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, and recently simulated hospital sample transport with The Rotunda Hospital. Its principal competitors include Wing and Zipline.

Visiting Manna’s Dublin headquarters today, where the company designs, builds and flies its drones, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke, TD welcomed the announcement saying it represented “a powerful endorsement of Ireland’s standing as a global centre for innovation and advanced manufacturing”.

“The creation of so many highly-skilled positions across robotics, software engineering, aviation and regulatory disciplines underscores the depth and quality of Ireland’s STEM talent base.”

Rebekah Brady, interim director at ISIF, said the fund is “committed to supporting Manna as part of our mandate to invest commercially in ways that deliver long-term economic impact for Ireland”.

Kevin Sherry, executive director at Enterprise Ireland, described Manna as “a standout example of an Irish company with clear global growth opportunities driven from an Irish headquarters”.

One investor source cited in Kleinman’s original Sky News report suggested that the successful conclusion of this round could herald a further, larger capital injection, so Manna certainly continues to be one to watch.

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Anthropic has accidentally revealed a huge chunk of how its AI coding tool actually works.

A debug file bundled into version 2.1.88 of its Claude Code package briefly exposed a 500,000+ line codebase (via VentureBeat). This gave developers an unusually detailed look at the system behind one of the fastest-growing AI tools right now.

The file was pulled quickly, and Anthropic says no customer data or credentials were exposed. However, the damage, at least from a competitive standpoint, is already done. The code has been widely mirrored and picked apart online.

S’pore employers are moving towards skills-based hiring

The Ministry of Manpower released its 2025 jobs report on Mar 20, and the numbers tell a story that would have seemed improbable just a decade ago. 

Academic qualifications were not the main determinant in hiring for 79.6% of job vacancies last year, up from 78.8% in 2024 and 74.9% in 2023. The movement is slow enough to miss if you’re not looking, but steady enough to reshape who gets hired in Singapore.

Employers who have made the shift to skills-based hiring report faster recruitment, access to a broader talent pool, and improved employee performance.

Specifically, the change is taking hold in software development, data analytics, and AI-enabled roles across technology, finance, and engineering—the very positions where Singapore is concentrating its growth, and can see some of the highest pay.

A shift driven by tech giants

This movement did not begin with Singaporean startups going out of the ordinary to see beyond academic qualifications. It actually started with multinational corporations that had the data and scale to test what actually predicted job performance.  

Between 2017 and 2022, the share of Google job postings requiring a college degree dropped from 93% to 77%, according to analysis by the Burning Glass Institute. 

Google co-founder Sergey Brin noted in early 2026 that the company hires “tons of people who don’t have bachelor’s degrees.” They would rather employ individuals who “just figure things out on their own in some weird corner.” 

Google isn’t alone in this approach.

IBM built an apprenticeship program explicitly marketed with the tagline “No Degree? No Problem!” in 2017. It went even further and stripped bachelor’s degree requirements from half of its job openings in 2021.

Today, IBM’s share of United States hires without degrees approaches 20%. The company has proven that capability can precede credentials—and that the door opens wider when employers look at what candidates can do, not where they studied.

Firms in S’pore are starting to follow, particularly in the age of AI

Now, firms in Singapore across finance, logistics, and retail are starting to follow.

Beyond academic degrees, companies now look for curiosity, problem-solving, and the ability to learn. This is skills-based hiring—and it’s becoming the default, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence.

More companies are adopting AI into digital workflows, and the tech is rewriting what “entry-level” and “job-ready” mean.

A Sept 2025 report from Morgan Stanley predicts that AI could impact 90% of occupations to some extent. This shift means hiring teams must focus on candidates whose skills align with long-term company goals, many of which will increasingly involve AI.

Thus, what matters is not what someone learned five years ago, but their capacity to learn what is needed five years from now.

Singaporeans are increasingly embracing this mindset, with growing numbers tapping into lifelong learning initiatives like SkillsFuture to stay relevant in a rapidly changing job market.

Over 606,000 Singaporeans tapped into SkillsFuture-supported training in 2025, up from 555,000 in 2024. Of these, 458,000 used their SkillsFuture Credits—a sharp increase from 260,000 the year before. 

Nearly 123,000 mid-career individuals specifically chose courses designed to boost employability, up from 112,000 in 2024. These are not hobbyists killing time, but workers betting that skills, not credentials, will be the currency of the next decade.

The results suggest they are not wrong. 73% of respondents to SkillsFuture surveys reported that training improved their work performance, up from 69% in 2024. Moreover, two in three respondents attributed career advancements directly to their courses. 

The door is still there, but it is no longer the only way in

It’s no longer about where you went to school. The pathway to hiring has become more flexible, as seen from how a portfolio can open doors that a transcript cannot.

But here comes the uncomfortable reality: Singapore’s education system and its labour market are running on slightly different timelines.

The system still sorts students by qualifications. The market increasingly sorts them by capabilities. The firms now following, in finance, logistics, and retail, are playing catch-up in a game where the rules are still being written.

But that doesn’t mean your degree is useless—it’s just insufficient, as nearly 80% of job vacancies don’t consider your educational qualification when hiring.

What you can do is starting to matter more than what you studied. The workers who understand this distinction—and who invest accordingly in skills that demonstrably transfer to the work itself—are the ones who will define the next decade of Singapore’s economy.

The door is still there, but it is no longer the only way in.

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Also Read: ⁠GDP is growing—so why does it feel like there are “no jobs everywhere” in Singapore?

Featured Image Credit: iStock

To close out its 100th anniversary in appropriately over-the-top fashion, Bang & Olufsen has introduced the final two models in its five-part Beolab 90 Special Edition series: the Zenith and Monarch. They join the previously released Phantom, Mirage, and Titan variants, all built around the company’s flagship Beolab 90 loudspeaker, which remains in regular production. These aren’t incremental updates or lightly tweaked finishes.

They are ultra-limited, design-forward statements aimed at buyers who treat six-figure audio purchases the way most people treat a weekend Costco run. If you’re weighing one of these against a Bentley SUV and Porsche 911 Turbo on a random Monday and still have enough left over to feed an entire girls soccer team Chick-fil- A and imported herring, Bang & Olufsen knows exactly who you are and would like to have a word.  

Founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, the company didn’t just shape the look of modern audio gear—it built its reputation on turning serious engineering into functional art. A century later, Bang & Olufsen is marking the milestone the only way it knows how: by leaning harder into statement products that remind everyone why the brand still commands attention 100 years on.

The Original Beolab 90 

The original Beolab 90 landed in 2015 as Bang & Olufsen’s 90th anniversary statement, and it wasn’t subtle. It hit like a controlled detonation. I was there for the debut, and the reaction hasn’t changed since: this thing is a brute, but a smart one. The engineering is serious, the power is borderline absurd, and the design doesn’t ask for your attention—it takes it. You don’t forget hearing a Beolab 90. Not the first time, not the tenth.

Each speaker packs 8,200 watts of built-in amplification driving 18 Scan-Speak drivers, powered by 14 ICEpower amps and four additional Class D units. It’s a ridiculous amount of hardware, housed inside an angular, multi-faceted enclosure that sits on a curved wooden base. The whole thing looks less like a loudspeaker and more like something pulled from a modern architecture exhibit.

And it’s not just brute force. The Beolab 90 backs it up with real flexibility: extensive wired and wireless connectivity, including WiSA, plus a deep toolkit of calibration and room optimization technologies to shape how it performs in your space. This isn’t a flagship that leans on looks alone. It earns it.

Active Room Compensation: Adjusts for room acoustics, furniture placement, and speaker positioning to deliver a more precise soundstage with clearer spatial cues.

Beam Width Control: Lets you dial in how focused or wide the sound dispersion is, shifting from a tight sweet spot to broader room coverage for more relaxed listening.

Beam Direction Control: Enables selection of one of five acoustic “front” positions, allowing the system to redirect the primary listening focus based on your room layout.

Active Bass Linearization (ABL): Dynamically manages bass output relative to volume and available power, enhancing low-end presence at lower levels while protecting the drivers from overload.

Now that the fundamentals of the Beolab 90 are clear, Bang & Olufsen is marking both its 100th anniversary and the speaker’s 10-year milestone with five limited releases: the Beolab 90 Titan Edition, Phantom (Shadow), Mirage, and the new Monarch and Zenith editions, all developed through B&O’s Atelier program.

Beolab 90 Monarch Edition

The Beolab 90 Monarch Edition leans into textural sophistication and Danish furniture design heritage, but compared to its sibling, this is the “restrained” one—if anything in this price range can be called that. It’s still sculptural, still a little intimidating, but at least it doesn’t look like it’s about to wake up in the middle of the night and make a decision about your family or dog.

Wood in Motion: Angled and curved rosewood lamellas follow the contours of the aluminium cabinet, creating a 360-degree visual rhythm that nods to classic fabric covers while adding real texture and tactility.

Dynamic Knots: Six wooden knots connect the lamellas, with the front knot incorporating a subtle light-through-wood stripe that adds depth without screaming for attention.

Architectural Flow: A rosewood top ring frames the speaker, while the lower base panels continue the lamella pattern, tying the entire structure together in a cohesive, sculptural form.

Material Dialogue: The interplay between rosewood and ochre-coloured aluminium feels deliberate and balanced, blending natural warmth with precision engineering.

Textured Acoustics: Semi-transparent fabric sections reveal glimpses of the drivers beneath, reinforcing that this is still a serious piece of audio equipment—just dressed like high-end furniture instead of a sci-fi prop.

Beolab 90 Zenith Edition

The Beolab 90 Zenith Edition takes a very different path with less restraint, and more spectacle. It’s a study in textural precision and sculptural excess, the kind of design that makes you stop and wonder if it’s genius, madness, or both. We’re honestly torn. Is this Rick James with metal cornrows, or something a high priest would wear in Dune? Either way, subtlety didn’t get an invite.

Pearl Architecture: Six panels feature 289 anodized aluminium spheres each, arranged in seven pearl-inspired finishes that shimmer and shift with the light. It’s mesmerizing—and just a little confrontational.

Facemask Precision: The machined aluminium facemask is pearl blasted and anodized in dark grey, giving it an oyster shell vibe that feels both organic and slightly armored.

Top Lid Inlay: A circular mother-of-pearl inlay crowns the speaker, matching the sphere dimensions and adding a luminous focal point that draws your eye whether you want it to or not.

Sculptural Flow: Curved panels follow the cabinet’s contours, integrating the layered textures into the overall architectural form without completely taming the visual chaos.

Material Harmony: Polished aluminium elements and semi-transparent fabric attempt to balance the design, blending acoustic function with a tactile, almost ceremonial aesthetic that you’re either going to admire—or quietly question.

Specifications

Pro Tip: As of now, all Beolab 90 variants; including the Monarch, Zenith, Titan, Phantom (Shadow), and Mirage Editions, share the same internal architecture and specifications. If Bang & Olufsen indicates otherwise, we’ll update the chart accordingly.

The Bottom Line

Bang & Olufsen is not chasing volume here. The Monarch and Zenith editions exist to reinforce a point. The Beolab 90 remains one of the most technically ambitious loudspeakers ever built, and B&O can still wrap that engineering in designs that feel closer to gallery pieces than traditional hi-fi.

What is unique? The performance has not changed, and that is intentional. You still get the full Beolab 90 platform with 8,200 watts of amplification, beamforming, room compensation, and one of the most adaptable active speaker systems available. The premium is in the materials, finish, and exclusivity.

What is great is that B&O left the core alone. The Beolab 90 remains a reference level system that can adapt to real rooms in ways most speakers at this level cannot. What is not so great is the price and the design risk. These sit in the middle of the six figure range, and the Zenith in particular will divide opinion and raise some questions from your therapist.

Who are these for? Not anyone chasing value. These are for buyers who want top tier performance and a visual statement that makes everything else in the room feel ordinary. In the context of ultra high-end Danish audio, that price almost feels reasonable when you look at what Børresen is asking for its top models.

Pricing & Availability

Following the debut of the Phantom (Shadow) and Mirage Editions at Bang & Olufsen’s San Francisco Culture Store in December 2025, the Beolab 90 Monarch and Zenith Editions are set to make their first public appearance at the same location before heading out on a global tour. Prospective buyers will have a chance to see them up close and hear them in a more controlled setting than the usual trade show chaos. Only 10 pairs of each edition will be produced, which tells you everything you need to know about who these are really for.

Each pair includes a certificate of authenticity, and buyers will also receive a miniature aluminum Beolab 90 sculpture in the matching finish, packaged in a custom aluminum case. It’s equal parts accessory and reminder that you didn’t just buy speakers, you bought into the mythology.

U.S. pricing has not been officially confirmed, but estimates put both the Monarch and Zenith at around $520,000 per pair. In the UK, pricing is reported at £410,000, with EU pricing at €480,000 per pair. For context, the original Beolab 90 launched in 2015 at roughly $78,000, climbed to $135,000 in 2023, and now sits at $211,800 per pair in 2025. Inflation is one thing. This is something else entirely.

The Monarch and Zenith can be ordered from bang-olufsen.com.

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