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The competition between educated people, which contributes to creating added value in technology, has been increasing gradually since the beginning of the pandemic. The quality of educational institutions is what makes the difference. It is important to raise the quality of education that universities provide to train people with multiple disciplines and to have a business mentality that can evaluate them.
Stating that they have opened Turkish universities' human resources data to all of the business world and state institutions, the chairperson of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), professor Yekta Saraç, stressed that YÖK focuses on determining policies in higher education.
“With the YÖK Academic project, the state and business world will be able to reach the human resources of universities,” he said. “Efforts of the scientists working with artificial intelligence or different areas can be accessed thanks to the YÖK Academic project. It is not possible to find such examples even abroad. As the business world focuses on long-term projects and doing global business, I believe it will collaborate more with universities. Existing examples also support this situation.”
No local cloud
There is no comprehensive investment in the education cloud in Turkey, Saraç noted.
“We had to find an urgent solution during the pandemic period. However, the absence of a local cloud causes us to have problems with capacity. Research universities have managed to produce their own solutions. However, we had to find solutions for other universities,” he added.
Noting that they have been focused on equality of opportunity and quality, Saraç said that the council launched the Digital Transformation Project in Higher Education two years ago.
“We made an effort to raise the standards of state universities established after 2006. For the first time, we focused on different specialization areas such as research, thematic and professional practice universities,” he said.
"We conducted studies in three stages. In addition, within the scope of the cooperation initiated between YÖK, network technologies company CISCO and Middle East Technical University (METU) in the field of digital education with another project, a set of training on 'cybersecurity' and 'network management' for academics in eight pilot universities was also decided to be extended to academics in 16 universities in the eastern and southeastern Anatolia regions. With the addition of 16 new universities to the project, the total number of universities reached 24," Saraç said.
Virtual classes ready
Stating that universities are making significant efforts to adapt to the developments in the pandemic period, Saraç noted that in the third phase of the Digital Transformation in Higher Education Project, Sakarya University and 15 other universities signed the Distance Education Platform Provision Protocol, which was carried out under the coordination of YÖK and in cooperation with the Turkish Academic Network and Information Center (ULAKBIM) of the country’s top scientific body, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK).
He added that the platform consists of five main modules, including the Learning Management System (LMS) Module, which enables the creation of weekly virtual course programs and the organization and execution of remote education activities; the Virtual Classroom Module, which was created using open-source software for the video distribution of virtual classrooms; the Announcement Module, where announcements can be made to all students registered in the virtual classrooms; the Online Exam Module, where online exams can be organized; and a Reporting Module, where reports such as student attendance and virtual course execution numbers can be entered into the system.
Virtual laboratory project
Providing information about the studies carried out on equal opportunities in universities, the YÖK chairperson also elaborated on the success of the YÖK Virtual University Fair, which was organized for the first time, and explained the details of the new Virtual Laboratory project.
“With the project prepared by YÖK, two laboratory courses, 'general chemistry' and 'general physics laboratory,' where laboratory applications are the most intense, were determined,” Saraç said.
“Academicians from the leading universities of Turkey in the fields of chemistry, physics and distance education, and software developers within the body of TÜBITAK took part in the project. With the project developed by YÖK in cooperation with TÜBITAK, the general chemistry and general physics laboratory courses in various programs of universities, especially science and engineering faculties and vocational schools, will be held through the virtual laboratory. Six experiments in chemistry and four experiments in physics were completed. It is aimed to complete 14 experiments in chemistry and 10 experiments in physics by the end of this year," he explained.
"This all is expected to benefit approximately 15,000 students studying at various faculties of 18 universities. We aim to increase the number of universities in the project," Saraç added.
Balance in business world rapidly shifts to digital
“Think” summits organized by information technologies company IBM in countries around the world are being held digitally this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking at the Turkish leg of the summit, IBM Turkey General Manager Volkan Sözmen said the speed of digitalization has gained momentum due to the pandemic.
“We have seen that processes that can take years can now be packed into a few months,” he said at Think Digital Turkey. “With the awareness and confidence of our presence in Turkey for 82 years, I believe that history will go back and see this period as the period when digital transformation accelerated and, together, the new technological breakthrough of our country was laid. Considering the uncertainty and constant change, we have been talking about the need for agility and flexibility for years, and this period clearly shows how important it is to build these capabilities in our organizations.”
Stating that IBM aims to strengthen its leadership in the field of technology in Turkey, Sözmen underlined that the most important step necessary for taking advantage of the opportunities created by digital transformation is to raise a generation prepared with the technical and professional skills of the future.
IBM Global Market Senior Vice President Bridget van Kralingen touched on the impact of the pandemic on the business world. "It is clear that the recovery in economies will be gradual. But when I talk to business leaders from many industries around the world, I see one thing clearly: This period, the transition to digital, will accelerate," she said. "The number of phone calls received by a large health institution for health services increased from 1,500 to 43,000 per day. Since all banking customers over the age of 60 can now access digital (services), banks anticipate that many branches cannot be reopened."
AI platform keeps up with fashion trends
T-Fashion, which captures fashion trends by scanning online interactions with artificial intelligence (AI), has received an investment of $2 million ($15.35 million).
Offering AI-based fashion trend predictions to companies operating in the fashion and textile industry, T-Fashion was founded by Turkish high school students Mehmet Ali Peker, Furkan Kırılı and Yiğit Elmas.
The startup participated in try-and-do workshops with an AI-based project in 2018, and has now managed to receive $2 million of pre-seed investment after two years.
Analyzing social media posts, T-Fashion ensures that every firm produces the right products for its customers on time. Its ability to assess the target audience ensures more accurate predictions based on the criteria of color, model and consumer age. T-Fashion guides the predictions according to the needs of the institution and offers an AI-based solution in the selection of colors and models by making location-based predictions.
T-Fashion helps textile and fashion companies to produce the right product, at the right time, in the right quantity, with the insights it offers for companies' target audiences. Companies can thereby increase their sales rates while avoiding overstocking products.
Turkish financial SaaS startup to grow with latest acquisition
Paraşüt, a Turkish software as a service (SaaS) bookkeeping startup, has acquired Shopside, which offers e-commerce infrastructure and integration services.
With its very first purchase, Istanbul-based Paraşüt aims to provide companies in the e-commerce sector with the infrastructure to manage their financial processes much faster and more effectively.
It has been developing a cloud-based invoice and financial management platform for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Paraşüt, which started off as a startup in 2013, broke new ground with its developing and expanding structure and the realization of the acquisition. Having bought Shopside – which offers integration with online marketplaces in Turkey such as n11, Hepsiburada, Trendyol and Gittigidiyor, and with the largest e-commerce infrastructure providers such as Opencart, Shopify and WooCommerce – Paraşüt will now invest in the e-commerce area, which is rapidly rising in value during the pandemic era, and will offer commerce, e-invoice and pre-accounting management.
Aiming to facilitate the financial processes of e-commerce users, it looks to provide a more comprehensive service to its customers with its new move. Meeting with Mikro and Zirve Yazılım under the same roof with the acquisition last year, Paraşüt joined the family of Turkey's largest commercial software companies.
Türk Telekom extends support to female entrepreneurs
Turkey's leading information and communication technologies company Türk Telekom has organized an online charity event with entrepreneur women who improved themselves in the field of digital marketing within the scope of the project, Life is Simple with Internet for Women with Goals.
With its social responsibility approach and understanding of serving everyone, Türk Telekom brought female entrepreneurs together at the online event as part of the project, which was implemented in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Habitat Association and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Female entrepreneurs over the age of 18 who have received digital marketing training in the project and have an open account where they introduce and sell their handmade products met on the YouTube channel of Habitat Association.
The application and interview processes of 188 entrepreneurs were carried out online for the charity event, which was organized in order to strengthen the place of women in society and encourage their participation in the economy. The first selection was made according to the characteristics of the entrepreneurs' products and the pages where these products were sold. Later on, 10 women qualified to participate in the fair after an online interview process.
From the entrepreneur who produced the accessories she designed with other women to the entrepreneur who sold the felt she designed and manufactured to New Zealand, the 10 participants exhibited creative products such as leather bags, decorative items and amigurumi knitting products.


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Detergent brands have been doing sampling in the same way for years – in Lebanon and across the world.
To overcome the difficulty of grabbing people’s attention at traditional shopper marketing points and reinforce its “Dirt is Good” brand purpose, Unilever’s OMO decided to disrupt in-store sampling by moving away from supermarkets and taking its product to people’s clothes, before they go out and get dirty.
The OMO Tag, made completely out of OMO detergent, is a completely water-soluble tag that can be placed inside the washer. One tag is enough to remove the dirt of three garments. To kickstart the sampling, OMO partnered with Sports 4ever, Beirut’s largest chain of sporting merchandise, which will soon add the tag to every sports outfit.
“We are very excited to launch the OMO Tag, a first-of-its-kind innovation in the detergents category that is fun, convenient, easy-to-use and most importantly efficient in fighting dirty stains. The OMO Tag reinforces OMO’s “Dirt is Good” brand purpose, encouraging families to embrace real-life experiences,” says Samer Anouti, home care marketing manager at OMO.
Created by OMO’s agency of record in Lebanon, TBWA\RAAD, the OMO Tag is accompanied by a demo film posted on OMO’s official social pages on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, to introduce the innovation.

domain: news


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It's only been a few months since Tesla's long-awaited Cybertruck made its way to those at the front of the queue, but the arrival has been tarnished for some.
CEO Elon Musk first unveiled the electric pickup model back in 2019, claiming that its "ultra-hard stainless steel" body and "transparent metal" glass were "literally bulletproof."
Though beset with production issues and missing its speculative 2021-22 release, its unique polygonal design – as with anything Tesla and Musk-related – attracted legions of devotees eager to get their hands on the steering wheel.
This unique design isn't without shortfalls, at least according to reports in the Cybertruck Owners Club forum. A trending thread titled "Rust Spots/Corrosion is the Norm" from a user going by "Raxar" states:
Just picked up my Cybertruck today. The advisor specifically mentioned the cybertrucks develop orange rust marks in the rain and that required the vehicle to be buffed out. I know I heard the story of never take out your Delorean in the rain but I just never read anything about rust and Cybertrucks.


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I must ask you not to scream. A Harry Potter virtual reality experience is coming soon, thanks to a partnership with Google. The announcement was made during a live streamed event for Made By Google, which showcased the tech giant's new platforms, including Google Home, Daydream, and Pixel.
Google's new, Verizon-exclusive smartphone, Pixel, comes with unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos and, yes, a headphone jack. Pixel is also the exclusive platform to connect with Daydream, Google's affordable VR headset. Daydream comes bundled with a controller peripheral for $79 USD, but pre-ordering a Pixel from the Google store gets you a code to redeem your Daydream headset and controller at no additional cost.
For many, the real allure of Google's new offerings is its Harry Potter virtual reality experience. Daydream will be home to an exclusive Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them adventure when it launches around the same time as the new Warner Bros. film, later this fall. The controller, of course, will be your wand.
Potterheads have been looking for the Harry Potter answer to "Pokemon GO," and it appears that, in Pixel and Daydream, Google is prepared to give us what we've been waiting for. It isn't the only contender, however. Maguss Wand is still working hard to bring its wand-wielding adventure to would-be witches and wizards everywhere. Rest assured, this won't be a race to market, but a test to see who can create the most ~magical~ adventure.
Catch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in theaters on Nov. 18.
Image: Warner Bros.


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Though Microsoft's second-fiscal-quarter profit declined, company revenue increased, helped by its Windows division, where sales shot up more than 20 percent year on year.
Microsoft revenue increased 2.7 percent to US$21.46 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2012.
Net income shrunk to $6.38 billion, or $0.76 per share, from $6.62 billion, or $0.78 per share, in 2012's second fiscal quarter, the company said on Thursday.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement that the company's "big, bold ambition to reimagine Windows," along with other initiatives like its Surface tablet device and the new Windows Phone 8 OS, are paying off with customers, partners and developers.
The Windows Division generated revenue of $5.88 billion, up 24 percent year on year. However, on a pro forma basis, revenue was up 11 percent to $5.26 billion when factoring in a net deferral of revenue for the Windows Upgrade Offer and the recognition of previously deferred revenue from Windows 8 pre-sales.
The Server & Tools business, which includes products like SQL Server and System Center, posted revenue growth of 9 percent to $5.19 billion.
The Business Division, which includes the Office suite, had $5.69 billion in revenue, down 10 percent. But when adjusted for the impact of the Office Upgrade Offer and pre-sales, pro-forma revenue rose 3 percent. Revenue from server software including Lync, SharePoint and Exchange hit "double-digit percentage growth." Microsoft is expected to ship a new version of the Office suite this quarter.
The Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes the Xbox products, saw revenue decline 11 percent to $3.77 billion.
The Online Services Division, which includes online advertising generated by Web properties like the Bing search engine, increased its revenue 11 percent to $869 million.
Overall, Microsoft said that its pro-forma revenue was $22 billion, when adjusted in part to reflect revenue deferrals for several Windows, Office and video game offers, as well as pre-sales.
Windows 8 sports a radically redesigned user interface based on tile icons that is optimized for touchscreens found primarily in tablets but also in newer "hybrid" laptops and some desktop PCs, like all-in-one systems.
The new OS started shipping in October, and Microsoft has said it is satisfied with the product's sales, a message that is at odds with skeptical views from market researchers like NPD Group and IDC, as well as financial analysts from Morgan Stanley.
In November and again in January, Microsoft said that Windows 8 shipments were "roughly" in line with Windows 7 shipments at the same stage of the sales cycle three years prior.
However, NPD Group declared in late November that Windows 8 had failed to give the consumer Windows PC and tablet market enough of a boost, and that in the first four weeks after its launch Windows device sales fell 21 percent year on year.
Later in early January, NPD Group said that Windows 8 "did little to boost holiday sales or improve the year-long Windows notebook sales decline."
About a week later, Morgan Stanley financial analysts downgraded the firm's recommendation on Microsoft's stock from Overweight -- the equivalent of "buy" -- to Equal Weight, the equivalent of "hold," citing concerns over Windows 8 sales and over the PC market dynamics.
Meanwhile, IDC reported that worldwide PC shipments fell 6.4 percent to 89.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, year on year, a steeper decline than the 4.4 percent IDC had anticipated. A big part of the problem was that Windows 8 failed to jump-start sales, IDC said.
Even while expressing satisfaction with Windows 8 sales, Tami Reller, CFO and chief marketing officer of the Windows Division, acknowledged in January that OEM partners hadn't made enough Windows 8 touch devices to meet the high demand for that type of computer.
"Frankly, the supply was too short," she said then at an event held at the CES show in Las Vegas where she answered questions from a JP Morgan analyst.
"There was some misalignment between where products were distributed and where the demand was," she added.
Some tablets running Windows RT -- the Windows 8 version for ARM chips -- didn't get the type of distribution "that would have been ideal," she said.
Microsoft is counting on Windows 8 to help improve the operating system's minuscule share in the white-hot tablet OS market, where it lags significantly behind iOS and Android. Meanwhile, the PC market, where Windows has historically been the dominant OS, is shrinking.
Last year, Gartner forecast that worldwide media tablet sales to end users would total 119 million units in 2012, up 98 percent compared with 2011, and that Apple's iOS would continue its dominance with a projected share of over 61 percent. Windows tablet shipments were expected to be only 4.8 million in 2012.
Microsoft has been offering Windows 8 Pro upgrades at discounted prices as low as $14.99, but prices will shoot up after Jan. 31 to $199.99.
One special offer lets people upgrade an existing Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 PC and lets them acquire Windows 8 Pro for $39.99 via Windows.com download or $69.99 from a retail store DVD. The other offer, priced at $14.99, is for consumers upgrading a new Windows 7 PC bought between June 2 of last year and Jan. 31 -- they have until Feb. 28 to register for the special upgrade price.
After Jan. 31, people will also be able to upgrade for the first time to the regular version of Windows 8 for $119.99.
Windows 8 Pro is more advanced than Windows 8 in areas like security, networking, virtualization and remote desktop access.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.


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The iPhone 15 Pro Max – which is expected to debut at Apple’s upcoming launch event on September 12 – could be delayed by a few weeks. According to a tipster on In addition to four new iPhone models, the company is also expected to unveil the Apple Watch Series 9, the second-generation Apple Watch Ultra and an updated AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with a USB Type-C port.
Tipster Revegnos (@Tech_Reve) conditions In a post on Later this month, Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
According to a previous report, Apple supplier Sony has struggled with “insufficient production capacity” as demand for 48-megapixel cameras has increased. This year, Apple is expected to equip all iPhone 15 models with the 48-megapixel primary camera that debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro models.
It’s worth noting that the tipster isn’t the first to predict a delay in production of the top-of-the-line model. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF Securities, claimed in a Medium post last week that Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max project was “the last to launch” and mass production of the phone lagged behind other models in the series.
The upcoming iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are also expected to cost significantly more than their predecessors. This is said to be due to the rumored switch to a stainless steel titanium body, while the Pro Max model is also said to feature a periscope camera that could offer improved optical zoom compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Kuo has also predicted that Apple is expected to ship up to 225 million units in 2023, which could see the brand overtake Samsung as the world’s largest smartphone maker. The analyst also claims that the iPhone maker aims to ship 250 million units in 2024, which could solidify the company’s position at the top next year.


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About The FinTech20 India
In recognition of the India's emerging status in FinTech, we launched The FinTech20 India alongside The FinTech50 in April this year to showcase the innovators who are transforming financial services.
The list recognizes start-ups with the potential to become a game-changer as well as high-growth enterprises with the competitive staying power to continue being one.
The Access to Finance50 2019
We are now planning our first global list, The Access to Finance50, launching Q1 2019
The FinTech50 launch (and other video stars)
View some of the FinTechs who made it onto The FinTech50 2015 at this year's launch event at London's landmark 'Cheesegrater' building.


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Current Issue:Browse a digital
copy of our printed
( Jane Northrop )
Milpitas approves citywide plastic bag ban for retailers
Little resistance at hearing for ban that will take effect Jan. 1 at supermarkets; restaurants are exempt; 10-cent charge per paper bag added
Cocktail Chronicles: Haberdasher in San Jose
Haberdasher, on San Salvador Street downtown, is the new incarnation of the downtown speakeasy Singlebarrel.
(Ed Crisostomo/The Orange County Register via AP)
'Star Wars' BB-8 droid is an instant hit
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ merchandise unveiling has fans waiting in line outside stores.


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CHENNAI: To encourage waste segregation
by residents and conservancy workers, the city corporation in the last three months set up 70 recovery centres for dry waste
including metal, rubber, paper, plastic, textile and glass.
The waste deposited in the material recovery centres at corporation ward offices will be re-segregated and sold to rag pickers, NGOs and vendors
for reuse. Corporation officials and conservancy workers are also using innovative ideas to create usable products from waste. At Valasaravakkam, a bean bag has been created after shredding thermocole waste.
Satyarupa Shekhar, director, urban governance, citizen consumer civic action group, said they were creating awareness about these centres among resident welfare associations. “We plan to set up such facilities within buildings as well from where workers can collect them,” she said. Each centre, created at the ward level and at zone level, requires between 300 sq ft and 2,000 sqft of space.
The civic body plans more such facilities and also an awareness centre where residents can obtain technical knowledge on waste management. There will be an office with a computer that will maintain data to track the type of waste and a retail sales point where products made can be sold.
A corporation engineer told TOI the main idea was to ensure waste was segregated. “Those who don’t want to hand it to workers, can deposit the segregated waste themselves. Sanitary napkins, which are not given to workers due to social taboos, can be deposited as hazardous waste,” he said.
The waste deposited at these facilities will not be sent to landfills. “We are tying up with NGOs that can pick up textile material to make clothes, and other selfhelp groups that can use glass bottles to make lamps. Every waste has some value and we can create high value products using it. We are in talks with a NGO that uses tetra packs to make wallets and bags,” said Satyarupa.
Corporation commissioner G Prakash said they would soon set up machinery at these facilities to shred waste and make it industry fuel.


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Twin City Firefighters toy drive to help over 30 families
Now in its fourth year, the Twin City Firefighters Association annual toy drive is making the holiday season of over 30 families brighter.
Donations were accepted by the Monroe Fire Department starting in November. Potential recipients of gifts were able to contact the MFD and register for the program.
"We look forward to it every year," MFD Media Relations Officer Antonio Smith said. "We get excited about, and as the donations start to come in, it feels like Christmas for us."
For Smith, seeing the faces of children when the toy deliveries are made is priceless.
Chief Terry Williams said he sponsored a child at his church this year and was surprised at how expensive children's clothes and toys are now, and it brought home the importance of the drive.
"I know this is truly going to be a blessing for so many families out there who can't afford to buy toys for their kids," Williams continued.
Ocie Jones, Vice-President of the Twin City Firefighters Association, said the toy drive all about giving and making the lives of others a little bit better.
The City of Monroe Engineering Department, Planning and Urban Development, Public Works, Mayor Jamie Mayo's office, MFD personnel, the MPD and the Legal Department were specifically thanked for their assistance. Smith also highlighted contributions by Walmart of Monroe and Tilt and thanked every member of the Twin City Firefighters for their contributions.
Toys will be distributed to selected families before Christmas.


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New Times' Best of Miami 2014 issue arrives June 19. To celebrate, Short Order is paying tribute to Miami's culinary all-stars. These people forged our city's food scene into what it is today -- a thriving amalgam of tastes and cultures. Through their insight and talent, they've given the city a uni ... More >>
C. StilesJerry Powers (right) with fashion designer Calvin Klein (center) and Jason BinnOld habits die hard, it seems. Between 1977 and 1984, Ocean Drive founder and current Plum TV exec Jerry Powers was sued 13 times for money owed."I was dependent on drugs when I did those things," he told N ... More >>
Get ready for the battle of Miami's glossy luxury magazines. Niche Media, the parent company of Ocean Drive, has filed a $20 million lawsuit against former ad sales director Eden Williams for allegedly siphoning off high end advertisers to Plum Miami. That's the recently launched magazine-ex ... More >>
The picture of what exactly happened at Ocean Drive on Tuesday is starting to become clearer. All Purpose Dark points us to a press release put out by Niche Media, the mag's publisher, last night. As we were the first to report, Glenn Albin and Carlos Suarez are indeed heading to New York and will ... More >>
Call it what you will -- mindless fluff, starstruck drivel -- but Ocean Drive has perfected a formula that's the envy of the publishing world
Chris Paciello, the dangerous darling of the SoBe nightlife set, has a reputation for fisticuffs. And mob ties.
For South Beach publishing magnate Jerry Powers, life wasn't always marked by glamour and upstanding citizenship. Some would argue it still isn't.


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Hongkong Post today (April 18) announced that a set of stamps on the theme of "Hong Kong, China - France Joint Issue on Art", together with associated philatelic products, will be released for sale on May 3.
Hongkong Post and France are jointly issuing a set of four stamps on art to showcase vintage paintings and contemporary sculptures from Hong Kong and France, reflecting their rich heritage in art. The two paintings, both works from the 19th century, employ a similar colour scheme with realistic rendering and artists' materials originating from the West, while the two sculptures, created in the 20th century, were both inspired by animals. This marks the 12th joint stamp issue between Hongkong Post and other postal administrations. The stamp issue demonstrates the great passion for art that Hong Kong and France share and showcases the cultural treasures of the two places.
Official First Day Covers will be on sale at $1 each at all post offices from April 19. Stamps and associated philatelic products will be displayed at the General Post Office, Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office, Tsuen Wan Post Office and Sha Tin Central Post Office from the same day. Advance orders for servicing self-provided covers will be accepted at all philatelic offices from April 19 to 25. Further information can be obtained from the website of Hongkong Post at www.hongkongpost.com.


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bottler : Definition, Usages, News and More
- n a manufacturer that makes and bottles beverages
- One unlicensed water bottler told the newspaper: I filter the tap water before filling the bottle because I am a moral person and I don't want to get people sick.
- A PC-based restocking program at the local bottler office analyzes the data and produces a delivery slip that tells drivers which products and locations need to get stocked the .
- In the popular bottler Glacau's various brands, for instance, you will find such legit ingredients as vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and soy.
News & Articles
- Around the water cooler
Get people to swap tea or coffee for soft drinks with breakfast -- that's one of the strategies Coca-Cola's main bottler in Europe is targeting to boost soft drink consumption in the United Kingdom.
June 27, 2013 - Erie Times-News
- Coca-Cola Enterprises' UK growth plan: breakfast
Get people to drink swap tea or coffee for soft drinks with breakfast — that's one of the strategies Coca-Cola's main bottler in Europe is targeting to boost sales in the United Kingdom. Coca-Cola Enterprises ...
June 26, 2013 - Associated Press via Yahoo! News
- Coca-Cola: It's what's for breakfast; company aims to increase sales by supplanting coffee
Get people to drink swap tea or coffee for soft drinks with breakfast — that's one of the strategies Coca-Cola's main bottler in Europe is targeting to boost sales in the United Kingdom. Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. issued a report last week that identifies a variety of ways it can increase ...
June 26, 2013 - The Washington Times
- Laryea Kingston in Glasgow Daily Record
Kingston said: "I love playing for my country and I have made a lot of sacrifices to play for them. I always give my best for my people and am not a bottler."
- Andrew Rawnsley in News24
In the centre-left Observer newspaper, columnist Andrew Rawnsley warned: "The Tories (Conservatives) will try to stick him with the nickname 'Bottler Brown'. That's a soubriquet that he is going hate ...... but there's no doubt that the bottler...
- Gary Fayard in Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
We are 110 percent focused on integrating (bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises) into our operations,Coke's chief financial officer Gary Fayard said recently. "It's more than most humans can handle. It's a huge project."


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The games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad, which will open in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 28, 1984, represent more than a test of athletic speed, skill, and strength, in a very real sense, they will also challenge the fitness of the free enterprise system. From start to finish, they are a businessman's Olympics -- the first in the 88-year history of the games to be held without reliance on public money.
Unlike Montreal, the site of the 1976 Olympics, Los Angeles was unwilling to shoulder the heavy financial burden of the games -- taxpayers in Montreal footed a $1.5 billion bill for plush new sports facilities. L.A. had actively pursued the Olympics since 1932, when it last hosted them. But it took seven months of negotiations, during which the city ran the risk of losing the games, and suspension of the International Olympic Committee's Rule 4 -- under which the host city assumes financial responsibility for the games -- before the contracts were signed.
Under the agreement, the U S. Olympic Committee and the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee assume responsibility for the financial performance of the games. The LAOOC, headed by Paul Ziffren, a prominent Los Angeles attorney and Peter V. Ueberroth, a California businessman who founded First Travel Corp. and turned it into the second-largest travel company in North America ($200 million in annual sales), has vowed not only to meet the $450 million-to-$500 million cost of the games, but also to produce a profit. "The Olympics must be run like a business," Ueberroth says.
To that end, the LAOOC has decided to avoid construction of new facilities wherever possible, using existing sites instead (for example, the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Forum, Dodger Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Long Beach Marina and Harbor). When new construction is required, builders will be responsible for cost overruns. The committee has also opted to limit the number of corporate sponsors to fewer than 40 -- compared with the 181 signed for the Lake Placid wintergames in 1980--concentrating on companies with significant resources or expertise. Among them are American Express, Anheuser-Busch, General Motors, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Xerox. Similarly, the number of licensees is being severely restricted -- fewer than 40, compared with more than 200 at Lake Placid.
"Generally, licensing has been profitable," explains Daniel D. Greenwood, who is vice-president of the LAOOC, "but, historically, a solid percentage of licensees -- about 30% -- hasn't made money because there was too much product out there.. We've turned some products down because we didn't think the company would make money on them, to do otherwise would be a disservice by us and a bad business deal "
Even though the LAOOC is limiting participation, Greenwood expects licensing to generate $15 million in revenues for the Olympics, $13 million more than Lake Placid produced Thus far, 11 licensecs have been signed; only 2 of them are repeaters. "What we're seeking out in each category," says Greenwood, "are local firms, small firms, medium-size firms and minority firms. Of the present group, 9 are womenor minority-owned companies." The 11, he notes, were selected from more than 2,000 applicants.
Some submitted full-blown proposals with all the facts -- the company's background, financials, distribution system, sales projections, et cetera," he says. "Others sent in a letter, or phoned, and we mailed out forms asking for basic information about the firm." A company's track record, the suitability and quality of the proposed product, and the suggested royalty arrangement were principal considerations in choosing licensees, a standard 19% royalty was required, but guarantees and payment schedules were negotiated. "In one case, a license called for a $25,000 guarantee with a $5,000 payment at the time of signing," Greenwood recalls. "ln another, one that guaranteed $5 million in royalties, $1 million was payable upon signing." In some cases, negotiations with a particular company took more than two years.
"We have no cutoff date," Greenwood points out. "If someone came in with a good suggestion in late '83, we'd still consider it. . . But our deals have to be good business deals for us and for them...
"A lot of eyes are going to be on us in '84," Greenwood notes "The Soviets, the Cubans, other communist countries -- everybody's going to be watching to see how well the first 'free enterprise' Olympics performs."
Ooh La La. Pete Peterson is a short, stocky man with windblown, reddish blond hair, and a boyish, born-salesman charm. He spent three years with Aviva Enterprises Inc., a company that made its fortune wit products bearing the likeness of Snoopy and other Peanuts cartoon characters. In 1978, he helped Eddie Chien set up Ooh La La, a jewelry company based in Monterey Park, Calif., where he is now vice-president of sales and marketing.
By 1980, Ooh La La had established itself with its Hang Ten line of novelty pins -- "World's Greatest Dad," "World's Greatest Lover," "World's Greatest Egotist" -- and was doing $3 million in sales One day, while watching television, Peterson caught Olympic fever: "When the U.S. hockey team won at Lake Placid," he recalls, "I thought, Gee, something's happening. There was a new feeling, an esprit de corps. . . Then I read in the paper that the L A. committee was looking for licensees, and I said, 'Eddie, I think maybe we ought to go for it."
When he contacted the LAOOC, Peterson discovered that some 30 other companies were pursuing the rights to do official Olympic pins. He submitted a four-page proposal -- "I'm not one to do a lot of writing," he explains with a laugh -- and showed the committee sample pins, manufactured at Ooh La La's plant in Taiwan But it was obvious that the financial package was going to be very important. "Our attorney told us, 'You're going to have to come on strong, or you're not going to get anything.' "
Peterson and the lawyer sat down with Chien and other members of Chien's family, who own the company, and set out their plan. "I thought we could do $5 million," says Peterson, "so we said, 'Okay, we'll guarantee them $500,000, with $50,000 up front.' Now I've done a lot of licensing, and no one puts up that kind of money. . Eddie told me, 'You've got to be crazy.' " Finally, though, the family consented.
Ooh La La submitted its bid, and, on December 19, 1980, the company became the third licensee for the 1984 Olympics The gamble was a real one for the company; it had laid out $50,000, and the remaining $450,000 of the guarantee was payable upon the committee's demand the Chien family put up property as security. "If you're going to shoot craps," says Peterson, "well, you shoot craps."
The company designed a series of 38 pins featuring the Olympic logo, a "Star in Motion," and the Olympic mascot, "Sam the Eagle," and began marketing them through its regular outlets -- 2,500 gift shops and card stores. "We got it out to our regular customers, and it died," Peterson admits with embarrassment. "It was just sitting there -- $40,000 in product and displays." After a few uneasy months, the collector's series -- a framed set of all 38 pins that retails for $185 -- began to move, and, a short while later, Peterson discovered one of the principal benefits of being a licensee: the Olympic network.
One of the corporate sponsors, First Interstate Bank of California, had hoped to market Olympic coins but found itself stymied when the coin program bogged down. Peterson approached the bank, and offered it his limited edition collector's set as a substitute. The bank tested it in 25 branches, and it did so well, Peterson explains, "that now they want to take all 20,000 of them." Two years before the Olympics, Ooh La La had sold out its first series of pins.
Peterson intends to introduce two more collector's series (the first 10,000 of the 30,000 sets in each series are reserved for the LAOOC and Olympic companies), and to continue selling individual pins. But for the moment, his attention is fixed on his Olympic bedfellows. "I went over to Anheuser-Busch, and now we've got a tremendous program going for them," he explains. Ooh La La is producing Olympic pins promoting Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser, Busch, and Michelob lines. "We're also doing business with Coke. . .and we're working on a program with McDonald's." After a year of selling, Peterson has revised his projections: He now expects the company will sell $10 million worth of Olympic merchandise.
"A lot of people think, Well, I've got the license for the Olympics, I've got it made," observes Peterson "No Listen, brother, that's only the beginning. . . . We found out that our regular distribution system didn't work, we had to find new ways of selling and merchandising product that we never knew existed. . . .The Olympics has really opened our eyes."
Knapp Communications Corp. Unlike Ooh La La and other licensees, Knapp Communications Corp., the publisher of Bon Appetit, GEO, Architectural Digest, and Home magazines, was interested in image rather than profits when it went after the Olympics. "It wasn't just a business decision," says Raymond E. Hebert, president of Wilshire Markcting Corp., the Knapp division, based in Los Angeles, that will produce fine-art posters and calendars for the games. "We position ourselves as one of the premier, affluent publishing companies in the U.S., and we felt quite strongly that we should be attached to this historic event."
Nevertheless, Hebert admits, a lot of "business" went into making the deal. He spoke with former licensees, weighed the financial risks and opportunities, and prepared a formal proposal. "It was very elaborate," says Hebert, "flip-chart presentations, samples, financial pro formas." After nearly two years of negotiations, Knapp was finally selected over four other companies.
Since that time, the LAOOC and Knapp have signed 15 major American artists--among them, John Baldassari, Richard Diebenkorn, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg -- to execute the posters. As with every other licensed product, each poster had to be approved by the LAOOC. "They have final approval of the images," Hebert explains, "of anything, in fact, that carries the Olympic symbol." Advertising, packages, lettering on the side of a company's truck -- if the Olympics are mentioned, the committee rules on it, and, for some licensees, it has turned thumbs down.
The annoyance factor, Hebert notes, is more than offset by the benefits: quality products and fierce protection of the Olympic name. "There have been problems in the past with competing, unlicensed products," he says, "but I can tell you right now, I know the attitude of this committee -- they'd go right after them." Even the phrase "Olympic Games" is protected.
Knapp will produce a signed edition of 750 posters, which will sell for $250 each as well as unsigned $30 prints. "If one of the images really hits we might sell 20,000 of them," he notes, "and if I don't have every signed poster sold by this time next year, I'll be very disappointed." The prime customers for signed posters will be other licensees and sponsors. Hebert has been negotiating with such companies as ABC television network, GM, and Levi Strauss that have expressed interest in using the posters for promotional purposes.
The company will also put out wall and Olympic items. "We have a very sophisti -- cated marketing plan," Hebert says. "We're going to sell posters by direct mail, as well as through the magazines... and through a retail network -- both national and international -- of museums, galleries, and fine-art stores.
"I can tell you right now," he continues, "that we're going to commit millions of dollars to marketing," a significant investment for Wilshire. "We have a staff that's totally dedicated to this one project."
Good public relations, rather than the profit motive, may motivate Knapp, but the bottom line isn't being overlookedPapel Inc. The bookshelf sitting behind Joe Walsmith, president of Papel Inc., in his North Hollywood office is vibrant with Olympic giftware: The red, white, and blue stars of the logo decorate ashtrays and plates; Sam the Eagle carries the Olympic torch on mugs and dinner bells. Papel, a small company (125 employees, less than $20 million in sales) founded by Phil Papel 26 years ago, has had its license for two years, and has already been transformed.
Stan Papel, son of the founder and currently chairman of the board, "saw it as an opportunity to leverage the company in terms of its image and position in the giftware community," Walsmith explains. "He viewed it clearly as a commercial opportunity. " Although the games are still almost two years away, the investment has already paid off handsomely. An Olympic virgin, like most of the other licensees, Papel had intended to retail its line at hotels, airports, theme parks, and gift shops, as well as at the games themselves. (Its items are already moving well at major Southern California tourist attractions) What it hadn't counted on was the lush opportunity presented by Olympic sponsors
"That opportunity is significantly larger than the retail opportunity," observes Walsmith. "We'll make more profit dollars off of sponsor-promotion activities than we will off retail sales." Papel is already producing a series of collector's beer steins for Anheuser-Busch, manufacturing "official" coffee cups for AMF, CocaCola, Arrowhead Puritas Waters, and Converse, and pursuing programs with all the sponsors, such as Levi Strauss and Buick. "If we were to work out something with McDonald's," muses Walsmith, "say, a Sam the Eagle figurine, I mean, you're talking millions of units."
What sort of financial impact has the license had? "Well," says Walsmith, "using '82 profits as a basis, if we were to do nothing else but Olympic merchandise in 1984, our'profits would be... worst case: 2x, best case: 4x." And Papel, Walsmith makes clear, is not about to sit back and do nothing else; he knows that, as of August 12, 1984, the Olympics will be over.
"We look at the Olympics as an opportunity to increase our capital base and leverage our future," Walsmith explains"Those profit dollars are going to be reinvested in things like an East Coast distribution center and used to strengthen our sales and distribution center and to introduce three new marketing programs in January." He notes that Papel has been able to hire employees it couldn't have afforded before. "We have a new director of marketing, and we just shook hands with a new controller today -- both have great credentials.
"I've been meeting with banks all this week," he adds, "and I can assure you that they're very interested in those profit dollars in terms of the amount of credit they give us today. . . ."
Like many of the licensees that obtain their product from overseas or from subcontractors, Papel will have no problem dealing with the surge in demand, its giftware comes from Japan but is decorated in North Hollywood. "Slapping on decals is relatively simple," says executive vice-president Dick Saklad, "so scheduling production is fairly straightforward." Even so, Papel intends to take no chances. The giftware licensee for the Montreal Olympics ran out of product, Saklad notes, even before the games started. "That won't happen with us," he vows. "We'll crank it out 24 hours a day, seven days a week if we have to, to feed the pipeline. We've got contingency plans -- we can even bring in trailers and work out of them."
For a small, closely held company such as Papel, the Olympics can represent a major stepping-stone. "I don't think there's any question that the Olympics are a unique phenomenon in the life of a company like Papel or Ooh La La," says Walsmith. "It puts us on the map in no uncertain terms."


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This week, the District of Columbia began charging shoppers 5 cents for each plastic bag. Consumers and grocery-store clerks are in for a headache.
A nickel might not seem like much. But anyone who has lived recently in Hong Kong and experienced their 6-cent bag tax knows how burdensome that levy makes commerce. There, grocery-store clerks must cram as much as possible into a single, side-split reusable bag – or face a perturbed customer. (Never underestimate the public’s desire to save a buck.) Milk, butter, and eggs become Tetris blocks; and consequently, the checkout lines grow longer and longer as clerks painstakingly pack for maximum space efficiency.
But that is not all. Customers once re-used their grocery bags to dispose of trash; now, in Hong Kong, they buy trash bags. This suggests the tax is not effective in reducing bag consumption; it certainly doesn’t encourage conservation of resources. But it does, evidently, cause delay and hassle for everyone.
The nice thing about living in Washington is that voters choose all of their city-council members, unlike Hong Kongers. Next time they’re voting, the harried shoppers of D.C. might remember this lesson in the unintended consequences of government meddling.


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Microsoft Begins Getting Windows 8 Pro Preorders Right Now
Today, Microsoft declared that they are set to get Windows 8 Pro preorders right now. The customers can preorder Windows 8 Pro upgrade from retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, and Microsoft Retail Stores. The new Windows 8 Pro comes with a price tag of $69.99.
However the people who are desirous to upgrade their Windows digitally can do so on Oct. 26 via the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant at www.windows.com. This will cost them only for $39.99. Microsoft will continue the Windows 8 Pro promotion until January 31, 2013.Microsoft, Windows 8


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A new Monterey Hospitality Association and California Restaurant Association partnership adds value-oriented benefits to better serve its members and local hospitality industry
Monterey County Hospitality Association, the region’s advocacy trade-based organization for the local hospitality industry, announces a reciprocal partnership with the California Restaurant Association to bring value-oriented benefits to MCHA members. New extended benefits include discounts on everyday restaurant-oriented products and services, comprehensive training tools, and essential legal compliance resources - all of which provide a competitive advantage to MCHA restaurant members.
“In light of the recent policy changes at the state level, this partnership is more important than ever for restaurant owners and managers,” comments Rick Aldinger, board chair of MCHA, CRA board member and Big Sur River Inn General Manager. “As of just last month, restaurants are now responsible for all food handling certification for employees. This partnership will extend direct discounts to restaurants, and offset MCHA’s revenue-based dues.”
This first of its kind partnership with California Restaurant Association, aims to expand restaurant resources by giving restaurants the opportunity to support their local advocacy efforts, while also receiving benefits and knowledge from the state level. “The CRA seeks to amplify the voice of restaurants in state and local policy making,” adds Peter Fenollo, Director of Industry Engagement at the California Restaurant Association. “As the statewide advocacy organization for the restaurant and food service industry, the CRA zealously fights for policies which foster a positive business climate for the industry. When legislation is being considered that may impact restaurant businesses, the CRA will encourage MCHA members to join forces, uniting our voices to advocate for legislative outcomes that support the prosperity of California restaurants.”
With this mutually beneficial partnership, the CRA and MCHA have the opportunity to advocate for their restaurant members locally and support the success of all California restaurants.
"We are thrilled to work with the California Restaurant Association to bring additional benefits to local restaurants. While supporting the local hospitality industry through MCHA membership, restaurants can now receive benefits and discounts that directly help their bottom line while making a difference via advocacy at the state level. It's a win-win for all," says MCHA Executive Director Kristin Horton. Benefits restaurant members will receive from this partnership include:
- Workers compensation insurance
- Comprehensive and supplemental health insurance plans
- Credit card payment and point of sale systems
- A full suite of employee hiring and training tools
- Music streaming licenses
- Legal compliance webinars
- One free ticket to the Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo
“We hope that MCHA and CRA’s collaboration will encourage a brighter future for restaurant members, enhanced business opportunities, and stronger advocacy in influencing policies,” adds Aldinger. “This partnership highlights MCHA's dedication to continually advancing the interests of its members and fostering success within Monterey County's hospitality industry.”
To learn more about MCHA’s advocacy efforts, restaurant benefits and programs, contact MCHA Executive Director Kristin Horton at firstname.lastname@example.org or visit mcha.net to join today.


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Indonesian travel platform Travelio has raised $2 million in a pre-series A investment round led by Shanghai-based VC Gobi Partners. Funding will be used to expand accommodation offerings, product development, widen market reach, and increase new hires.
“This is a milestone for Travelio, from a conventional company to one that opens itself for other opportunities,” Director of Travelio, Christina Suriadjaja said.
Existing investor PT Surya Semesta Internusa Tbk (SSIA), Singapore’s Anthill Ventures, executives from Kuok Group, and China-based angel investors Zhenzhen Sun, Partner of Proxima Ventures and Tian Gu, and CEO of Travel+Leisure Magazine also participated in the round.
Travelio was launched in 2015 as a platform where travelers can search through a wide range of accommodation including apartments, villas, houses, and hostels. Users can set their own rates and send personalized offers to property owners.
Hendry Rusli, director of Travelio said, the company plans to double its listings in Indonesia as well as other countries.
“Funding from Gobi Partners will allow us to achieve sustainable growth. We also have strong partnerships with notable hotels such as ShangriLa, Banyan Tree, and Melia,” Rusli said.
The platform currently has over 12,000 accommodations in 14 countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Australia and New Zealand.


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Intersections, Inc. (NASDAQ:INTX) Chairman Michael R. Stanfield sold 5,000 shares of Intersections stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.05, for a total transaction of $10,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,000,862 shares in the company, valued at $2,051,767.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
Shares of Intersections traded up $0.13, hitting $2.17, during trading hours on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. 49,400 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,313. Intersections, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.46 and a 12-month high of $5.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 31.06, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.
Intersections (NASDAQ:INTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 10th. The business services provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $39.08 million for the quarter. Intersections had a negative net margin of 3.61% and a negative return on equity of 2,678.05%.
Intersections Inc provides identity risk management and privacy protection services in the United States and Canada. The company's Personal Information Services segment offers privacy, personal information security, and identity theft monitoring and remediation services for consumers to understand, monitor, manage, and protect against the risks associated with their personal information.
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Ford makes an unusual gambit on the connected car front, as Mazda unveils its new infotainment platform. Andrew Tolve reports.
In this week’s Brief: Ford, Livio, Mazda, Aha, Apple, Nissan, Harman, BMW, Sprint, Zubie and Jaguar Land Rover.
Automakers have been loath to adopt an industry standard for in-car connectivity for fear of surrendering a unique brand experience. It, therefore, came as a surprise when Ford announced the acquisition of in-car connectivity specialist Livio, which builds products and software tools to support standardized smartphone-car connectivity. Livio works with an array of auto OEMs, and its software is compatible with commonly used apps and all major smartphone devices.
Ford says it will harness Livio’s expertise and solutions internally to enhance its connected offerings but also allow Livio to continue to function in an independent, entrepreneurial fashion. “Ford is acquiring Livio to advance connectivity for our customers and to lead the way in in-vehicle connectivity for the entire automotive industry,” says Bill Coughlin, president and CEO, Ford Global Technologies.
Last week, the two companies withheld details of the acquisition, although various reports suggest that Ford will purchase Livio for less than $10 million.
In other news, Mazda introduced its new infotainment platform, Mazda Connect, which is based on a head-up display concept that creates different zones for different types of information. The first zone, an Active Driving Display, sits above the steering wheel and projects info like vehicle speed and turn-by-turn navigation. The second zone sits atop the central dashboard so that drivers don’t have to look down to engage with their infotainment system. Mazda Connect will feature Aha by HARMAN’s web content platform for automobiles.
Apple continued to push iTunes Radio, its Internet music streaming service, into the automotive sector with an exclusive advertising partnership with Nissan. Nissan says that it will integrate iTunes Radio, Apple’s answer to Pandora, into a number of its 2014 models, including the Nissan Versa Note and the Nissan Leaf. Nissan will also include Apple iAd, which allows targeted advertising to certain demographics. “It's a great way for Nissan to reach the right audiences in the right markets,” says Jon Brancheau, vice president of marketing at Nissan North America.
Harman says that BMW is set to improve its infotainment offerings for 2014 vehicles with 3D city models and location-based services like real-time weather information, Google Street View or local search within Google’s online POI database. Vehicles will also come with the new iDrive Touch controller that includes an integrated, touch-sensitive pad to enable written character entries such as telephone numbers and address information.
Sprint released its Sprint Drive First app for Android-powered smartphones. When users are traveling faster than 10 miles per hour, the app disables phone functionality, directs incoming calls to voicemail and silences email and text message alerts. Anyone texting the driver will receive an automated, customizable message indicating the recipient is driving. Emergency personnel can override the lock feature as can the user if he or she is a passenger in another vehicle (although parents or account holders can choose to receive notifications when the app is overridden). Users can download Sprint Drive First for free from Google Play.
On the aftermarket front, mobile app company Zubie launched the Zubie App, a free download from the Apple App Store that allows users to stay apprised of where other family members are on the road. Users are notified when family members leave specific destinations — e.g. school, home, work — or when they travel outside of a set boundary. The app also includes a car-pooling feature. The full-priced solution, due out this fall, also includes an OBD2 plug-in device that enables vehicle diagnostics and tracking.
Finally, Jaguar Land Rover unveiled details of its future plans for advanced R&D in the U.K., which will focus on new connected technologies and cutting-edge innovation. The company plans to invest £50m into a new National Automotive Innovation Campus (NAIC) in Warwick, where it will collaborate with academics from leading British universities and members of its supply chain. Jaguar Land Rover expects that it will more than double the size of its advanced research team to 500 people by the time the NAIC opens in 2016.
"We will announce the details of the specific research projects on which our NAIC research team will collaborate in due course, but these will be long-term, multi-disciplinary challenges — such as electrification, smart and connected cars and human machine interface — which will help us create some key new technologies that will deliver a low-carbon future,” says Antony Harper, Jaguar Land Rover's head of research.
The Weekly Brief is a round-up of the week’s top telematics news, combining TU analysis with information from industry press releases.
Andrew Tolve is a regular contributor to TU.
For all the latest telematics trends, check out Telematics Japan/China 2013 on Oct. 8-10 in Tokyo, Telematics Munich 2013 on Nov. 11-12 in Munich, Germany, Telematics for Fleet Management USA 2013 on Nov. 20-21 in Atlanta, Georgia, Content and Apps for Automotive USA 2013 on Dec. 11-12 in San Francisco, Consumer Telematics Show 2014 on Jan. 6, 2014, in Las Vegas.
For exclusive telematics business analysis and insight, check out TU’s reports: Telematics Connectivity Strategies Report 2013, The Automotive HMI Report 2013, Insurance Telematics Report 2013 and Fleet & Asset Management Report 2012.


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Electric cars are a polarizing matter among automotive enthusiasts. While a small group of ardent EV loyalists exist, a large portion of car people look at them with varying levels of contempt. However, let’s not kid ourselves, electrification is an inevitability. Even if EVs don’t proliferate like rabbits in springtime, standard powertrains will continue to evolve and electric automobiles will account for some of the most extreme performance models on the road.
We’ve already seen what Tesla can do if given enough money. The Model S P100D can already hit 60 mph in just over 2 seconds — putting extravagantly priced, flamboyant supercars to shame.
More vehicles are coming to fit this mold. Porsche has been working on a rival for Tesla’s sedan for a while now, and recently released the specs. While the Germans seem to have developed a strong performer, ready to feed plenty of internal combustion vehicles a crow supper, it doesn’t appear to be quite as fast as Tesla’s best. Either that, or Porsche is downplaying the Taycan’s (formerly the Mission E) technical specifications.
The Taycan will use a pair of permanently synchronous motors, similar to the 919 Hybrid, with one driving each axle. Combined, the system should produce nearly 600 horsepower (440 kW).
“We opted for a permanently excited synchronous motor in the Taycan,” said Heiko Mayer, Porsche’s drive unit project leader. “They combine a high energy density with strong sustained performance and maximum efficiency.”
That places is right next to the Model S in terms of power, though the figures Porsche gave for acceleration fell short by a second or so. According to the manufacturer, the Taycan should launch from a standstill to 62 mph in “well under 3.5 seconds.” Meanwhile, 124 mph (or 200 kph) should take less than 12 seconds.
Since the numbers Porsche provided are benchmarks for the worst-case scenario, we can assume they’ll come down slightly. However, the most expensive Model S still trumps these figures. Its acceleration in Ludicrous Mode is blistering and can comfortably sweep past 124 mph in about 11 seconds. But that doesn’t mean Porsche failed.
Most likely, the German manufacturer will unveil a high-performance model later in the Taycan’s life. While the automaker has confirmed no such vehicle, having a tamer, more cost-effective model makes sense. Believe it or not, Porsche cares about volume.
The Taycan’s battery pack should be good for a range of 310 miles, but it’s the charging system that has us the most impressed. By taking advantage of the vehicle’s 800-volt system, the vehicle is capable of charging stupidly fast. According to the manufacturer, a depleted pack can take on enough energy to cover 248 miles in only 15 minutes. That’s exceptional, assuming you can find an outlet able to handle that kind of current.
Porsche also claims it’s testing the crap out of these vehicles, saying that it has already produced “three figures” worth of prototypes overseen by 40 specialists. The company is shipping them all over the globe to abuse them and ensure an unparalleled level of reliability — which will be further helped by a $7 billion investment into “electromobility” through 2022.


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There are only few days remaining for the start of MWC (mobile world congress) which will showcase the latest devices that are to be released in this year.
Before the launch of MWC already a device from Samsung has leaked and its Samsung galaxy S2 plus but not the highly anticipated Galaxy S3. The reason for this is not clear why they are not announcing the successor of the Galaxy S2.
Samsung galaxy s2 plus which will be showcased in this year’s MWC is just a beefed up version of the highly popular Galaxy S2 that was released in the previous year. While continuing with Samsung’s trend of releasing new device every year, this year you will be disappointed because instead of getting to see a brand new device with high specs you will be seeing a device with beefed up specs.
Initially Samsung planned to release Galaxy S3 in April but current rumors suggest that they won’t be releasing Galaxy S3 this April maybe due to them releasing Galaxy S2 plus in February. But Samsung promised that they will be unveiling their flagship at some special event that they will hold sometime in Q2 of this year.
Galaxy S2 plus is a device that will refresh the previous Galaxy S2 model with some new features adds more functionality while keeping the same old looks. There will be some buyers who will argue that getting this plus version isn’t worth it because it features more or less the same performance as the original galaxy S2 but there are some also who might argue otherwise.
Some people would say that the original isn’t as powerful as it was before or gadget enthusiasts who like owning gadgets. But on the whole it’s worth the wait for a completely new gadget that will be unveiled in the next 6 months because it will feature the most warranted changes and also you will be experiencing big performance gains that you won’t be noticing with the galaxy s2 plus.
The galaxy S2 Plus rumors are confirmed that it will be running on Android 4.0 ICS sporting a more powerful GPU that will give you quality performance in gaming and other HD contents. If you plan on waiting for the release of Galaxy S3 then you will be also getting ICS with it and quad-core processor that will make sure that any and all games or apps will run smoothly and effectively.
This year MWC will prove what kind of device Galaxy S2 plus will be although some of the specs and benchmarks have been released but nothing concrete on what the real life performance would be like.
So there you go some of the reasons why you should go for galaxy S2 plus or why you should wait for Galaxy S3 which will be released after 6months.
Key Features of Galaxy S2 plus:
- 4.2inch Super AMOLED display with 800×480 resolution
- 8MP rear camera
- 1.5Ghz dual core processor Exynos 4212 (30% faster CPU, 50% faster GPU)
- Pre-installed Ice cream Sandwich


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Lumenus' upcoming LED-equipped smart clothing line is designed to help to keep cyclists, runners and motorcyclists safe on the road. Just how smart is it?
Kyocera's Hydro Wave is a waterproof smartphone that can take a beating. And it's easy on the wallet, too.
Luke Skywalker has been absent from all three "Star Wars" trailers, and the director says there's a good reason for this.
For Road Trip 2015, CNET talks with the University of Michigan's Peter Sweatman about the rapid merging of computers and cars, and the fake city in Ann Arbor where it's being put to the test.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles at first denied the Associated Press' request for the information, but has now changed course.
If you're hitting the road or the skies this holiday season, use these tools to make your journey less of a headache.
The navigation app based on driver-contributed traffic data has been updated to work with the iPhone's new pressure-sensitive technology.
With no shortage of automakers working on robo-cars, and with Uber already a "sensor platform on wheels," we're well on the way, says MIT vet Kevin Ashton.
Nissan says it will sell a self-driving car by 2020, so I hopped in a prototype and went out to play in Tokyo traffic.
There's a part of us that's a little bit scared of Yamaha's motorcycle-riding robot, but there's also a part of us that's really intrigued and excited to see how the project improves riding experiences in the future.


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The owners of MONEYGUN are breathing sighs of relief after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from TGI Fridays’s attorneys in response to the West Loop bar’s Halloween costume — a tribute to the chain called “TGI-MONEYGUN.” In keeping with Netflix’s humorous response to the Stranger Things pop-up, TGI Fridays’s legal crew isn’t suing MONEYGUN — its letter called it “a rite of passage to dress up as your hero for Halloween.” As long as MONEYGUN switches names and avoids copyright infringement, TGI Fridays won’t sue. In fact, the chain sent MONEYGUN a gift — a package filled with buttons and other pieces of Fridays’s flair.
TGI Fridays’s letter mentions how the chain needs to “protect our brands and to take action against any use that might cause confusion or diminish the value of our trademarks.”
“I’m concerned that your event — featuring ‘TGI’ branding, our logo, a variation of our IN HERE, IT’S ALWAYS FRIDAY slogan, and so on — would cross that line,” the letter (see below) read.
MONEYGUN staff, according to a rep, was delighted to receive the treasure trove of gifts from the chain. It has since changed the name of its Halloween party to “Wear The Flair (WTF) MONEYGUN.” MONEYGUN still may serve super-premium mudslides and to try to promote an atmosphere where “it feels like it’s the end of the week all the time.” It is urging customers to wear their finest suspenders and join the staff in sporting flair: the items Fridays employees wear, as popularized in Mike Judge’s 1999 film Office Space.
The pop-up starts today and goes through Wednesday. For those keeping score at home, this is the second Halloween pop-up name change in a week. Beauty Bar changed its name after the owners of Zero Gravity, a suburban nightclub that closed last year, threatened the West Loop dance club with a lawsuit.


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Samsung, Comcast Partner to Launch Xfinity TV Service
Innovation for Smart TVs and Galaxy Tablets aims to enable a more seamless search across TV, DVR recordings and VOD.
LAS VEGAS -- In yet another move aimed at improving the way in which consumers discover and access content, Samsung and Comcast have partnered to launch the Comcast Xfinity TV service on Samsung Smart TVs and on Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab devices.
The new Xfinity TV service, developed with a Web-like interface, is aimed at enabling a more seamless search across TV, DVR recordings and VOD. The companies suggest that on the tablet, the Xfinity TV experience is a "virtual television guide and a mobile video player all in one."
Features include the ability to watch streaming TV shows and movies on demand directly on the tablet. Consumers can access that content across multiple devices. The service's roadmap includes the ability to begin watching a movie on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, then pause and resume watching it on a Samsung Smart TV or vice versa.


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€319 priced Founders Edition to be sold by Nvidia
According to the latest report which suggests that Nvidia partners will not sell the €319 priced GTX 1060 Founders Edition, Nvidia has finally announced the European MSRP for the Geforce GTX 1060, set at €234 exc. VAT.
Turbo, Dual and Strix Gaming
Following Nvidia's official announcement of the mid-range Pascal-based GTX 1060 graphics card, Asus is tempting us with no less than three upcoming custom GTX 1060 graphics cards.
Adjusts power distribution between PCIe connector and slot
AMD has issued its new Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.7.2 drivers which promised a fix for RX 480 power issues and it appears that these work as advertised, even without a significant performance hit.
Custom PCB and Windforce 2X cooler
Since Nvidia has officially announced its third Pascal-based Geforce GTX 1060 graphics card, a couple of custom versions have already been teased, including the Gigabyte's GTX 1060 G1 Gaming edition which will have a custom PCB, Windforce 2X cooler and unavoidable RGB lighting.


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Restaurant customers fled as members of the Bajrang Dal raided the restaurant in Thane, but there were no reports of injuries, police said. In southern Bombay, another McDonald's was surrounded by demonstrators from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who shouted slogans and smeared cow dung.
McDonald's says it does not use any animal extracts in its French fries in India, where the cow is considered sacred by most Hindus. But it confirmed it uses some beef flavoring, though not beef fat, in its American fries.
The Shiv Sena, another Hindu group, said it would protest outside the corporate office of McDonald's in India on Saturday.
The protests were touched off by front-page newspaper reports about a lawsuit filed in Seattle on Tuesday.
An Indian-American lawyer accused McDonald's of using beef fat in the preparation of French fries more than a decade after it said it would cook its fries in vegetable oil.
Most of India's Hindus - 85 percent of the population - are vegetarians, although with urbanization more Indians are becoming meat eaters.
McDonald's Corp. in the United States announced in 1990 that its restaurants would no longer use beef fat in making French fries and that only pure vegetable oil would be used.
The fast-food chain released a statement Wednesday saying it has never claimed the fries it sells in the United States are vegetarian. The statement said the recipe for the fries uses a ``a minuscule trace of beef flavoring, not tallow.''
Tallow is shortening made from beef fat.
McDonald's India, which opened its first restaurant in India in October 1996, now has 28 outlets in New Delhi, Bombay, Pune, Jaipur and on the Delhi-Agra highway.


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Welcome to the world of a young nutritionist making money using soya protein ingredients to enhance the nutrition, functionality and economics of meat and bakery products.
As a third year student pursuing a Bachelors’ of science degree in Food Science and Technology in 2007, Martin Ssali embarked on a three-year rigorous research and development of a new soy food for the market.
Presently, they produce marinated tofu popularly known as soya meat locally. “This product when fried tastes like fish fillet for some and beef muchomo for others,” the 27-year-old entrepreneur, now employing eight staff, adds.
On October, 1, 2010 they made their first breakthrough, selling their first product. “Since then we have never looked back,” the entrepreneur who has taken his innovation another step confesses.
“We have developed the very first soya sausage in East Africa. This is a project that has taken us more than a year in development, due to the technology involved in structuring non-meat products to give a meat product taste and feel,” Ssali, the technical director, Smartfoods Limited, explains.
The product will go fully commercial by April this year. They are also catering for vegetarians through vegetarian burgers. “These are soy-based but will leave one asking for more,” he adds.
His latest innovation is canned beef in which you will have 25 per cent beef, 15 per cent soy protein powder and 60 per cent water. The product is canned and heated at high temperatures.
In the canned beef he is providing a nutritious meal at a price half that of imported canned beef.
But all this began with his aspiration to do food business differently from what some local producers do– copycat products. He wanted to introduce well-researched products suited for consumers’ tastes and preferences.
He also had the interest to tap into the untapped food industry. “… and this was the soy foods industry that was already big in Europe, America and Asia, an industry that is well researched globally due to the health benefits soy-products offer people and filling the gap in Uganda’s convenient food and health markets,” he says.
The only soy foods on the Uganda market during his research were in flour form yet the global industry has soya bean in meat products like beef sausages and canned beef with alternatives like vegetarian sausages and burgers.
“I was also inspired by lecturers in Makerere like Mr. Abel Atukwase, and Prof. John Muyonga who always implored me to develop strategic developments that would steer Uganda’s food industry and stimulate the economy,” he recounts.
The winner at last year’s Young Achievers’ Awards in the Business and Trade category, advises.
Ssali also maintains financial discipline as the spine of his business. “We only keep cash on hand to run the daily cash operations. The rest is always banked as soon as we get it from our clients. Bank withdrawals are only by cheque and for specific purposes,” he adds.
Ssali’s Smartfood Limited runs an hour production two to three times a week at the Food technology Business incubation centre, Makerere University. “The other days we deliver products to supermarkets and collect our payments too. We supply Tuskys, Quality supermarket Ntinda and Lubowa; Capital shoppers, Nakawa and Ntinda; Millennium, checkers, Super Supermarkets Bukoto and Ggaba and Italian supermarkets among others.” He never tires from thinking and researching. “We are in a competitive environment where customers just shift to another product,” he shares.
“We won the Innovations at Makerere (I@MAK) innovations business award in 2009, worth $ 5,000 (about Shs11.7 million) which helped us improve our research and take products to the market,” he recollects.
His Smartfoods also won the East African, University, and Agribusiness Innovations Award in November 2010, at Hilton Hotel in Kenya where his business was recognized a month after commencing. He was also recognized at the World Initiative for Soybean in Human Health Conference in Illinois.”Due to my work and specialized interests, I was also voted last year to head the National Soyabean Network- a national umbrella NGO that promotes production, utilization and marketing of soya in Uganda,” he adds.
His journey has had bumpy points, “A good idea deserves funding, but in Uganda, it is still hard. Most financial institutions have high interest rates and are unwillingness to invest in new business ideas, for fear of their failure,” Ssali points.
Source: All Africa.Com – 21 Feb 2012


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The Ford Motor Company, perennially No. 2 in the American automobile industry, finished first in the second quarter of this year, one of the few times in recent decades it has earned more than the General Motors Corporation, the nation's leading auto manufacturer.
Ford reported profits of $1.08 billion, or $4.02 a share, a 54.7 percent increase over the $698 million, or $2.50 a share, it earned in the second quarter of 1985. Per-share figures reflect a 3-for-2 stock split paid June 2.
G.M., with sales 60 percent greater than Ford's, has been struggling to reduce costs, and earned $978 million in the period. It was the first time since the third quarter of 1979 that Ford's income had exceeded G.M.'s Record Performance The quarterly profit was also a record for Ford, which had never before earned more than $1 billion in a quarter. Its best previous three-month financial performance was $909 million in the second quarter of 1984, the peak earnings year for the industry.
Analysts attributed the earnings gain, which came in a period when G.M. and the Chrysler Corporation reported declines, to successful product introductions, the rebuilding of dealer inventories and higher overseas income, helped by the decline of the dollar.
''Ford seems to be doing all right,'' observed Harvey Heinbach, an analyst with Merrill Lynch. ''Overseas was very, very strong, their unit volume in North America increased 14 percent and they appear to have their costs under control.''Continue reading the main story
Ford's current prosperity stands in sharp contrast to the early 1980's, when it struggled to sell cars that appeared out of date and was losing so much money that some analysts were wondering if it might have to follow Chrysler in seeking Federal financial assistance. Ford had losses of $1.5 billion in 1980 and $1 billion in 1981. Market Recovers
However, since then the car market has recovered and Ford has almost completely revamped its model line-up. Its newest models, the midsize Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable cars, are selling quickly. Sales of its mini-van, the Aerostar, have been improving.
The company had worldwide sales of $17.3 billion, up 25 percent from $13.8 billion in 1985's second quarter.
Ford's overseas earnings in the quarter more than tripled, to $286 million, from a year ago.
In the United States, Ford earned $792 million, an increase of 30 percent. Mr. Heinbach noted that the company benefited from factory production that outstripped retail sales as dealers sought to build their below-normal inventories. ''That was worth an extra 130,000 units,'' he said. Auto companies record their profits when cars are sold to dealers, rather than when the dealer resells them to the public. Financing Unit Strong
Like G.M. and Chrysler, Ford's earnings were sharpened by a robust performance by its financing subsidiary, the Ford Motor Credit Company, which earned $157 million, an increase of 44 percent. In total, unconsolidated subsidiaries and affiliates added $214 million to Ford's pretax income.
Analysts said they expected Ford's performance to continue to be strong in the third and fourth quarters of this year, based on production schedules in this country and a strong contribution from overseas.
Ford officials said that the company's pretax income of $2.89 billion for the half exceeded G.M.'s pretax income of $2.14 billion, the first time in at least 30 years Ford has led at mid-year. If Ford were to finish 1986 with higher pretax income than G.M., they said, it would be the first time since 1924 that Ford would have finished in front of its rival.Continue reading the main story


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V-Nova insight as LCEVC is promoted to international MPEG standard
Company provided foundational technology for new codec enhancer
MPEG-5 Part 2 LCEVC (Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding) has been promoted to MPEG/ISO final draft international standard. V-Nova co-chaired the standard’s development and provided its foundational technology. Company CEO and co-founder Guideo Meardi told SVG Europe, “people didn’t think it would be possible to create an MPEG standard out of the technology of a small company”.
MPEG-5 Part 2 LCEVC is the first internationally accredited enhancement standard for any existing and future video compression scheme. It enhances the compression performance of any base video codec (e.g., AVC, HEVC, AV1, EVC or VVC) and offers improved picture quality at up to 40% lower bitrates for both live and VoD delivery. Additionally, it provides a 2-4x improvement in encoding computational efficiency.
“I’m very glad we went out two and a half years ago and said ‘we will standardise and it will be an MPEG
standard’. I was pointed at as mad by many people, who never thought we could make it!” Meardi told SVG Europe. “We owe thanks to a lot of support from many industry leaders, including some very big companies, who went with us to MPEG saying ‘we know this technology works and this problem can be solved’.
“This standard is co-authored by a lot of companies. The technology, the IP, is V-Nova. But the work that has been done is very collaborative work, mostly by a lot of customers. They were telling us ‘fix it here, improve it there, I need this and that’ etc. and together with them we have crafted a standard that is so much better than the starting point. Getting to this finalisation is very important, because from now on it can be deployed.
“The unique thing about this standard is that it’s a completely new astral body in the codec universe,” said Meardi. “Sometimes I think that codecs in deployment are like stars in a beautiful night sky. When you see the light of a star, that light was emitted several years ago. So it’s like you are looking into the past. And the same is true of a codec: when you see a codec in operation it may have been standardised 10 or 20 years ago.
“LCEVC is something completely different because it is like the moon. It’s not a codec; it’s a codec enhancer. It’s not a star; it’s a different astral body. It needs the light of another star in order to shine, so it needs another codec. It enhances another codec that is already there.
“But you get its light in 1.3 seconds, not in years, so it is immediately applicable and immediately useful – and actually brings out a lot of light. It’s quite shiny, just not a star!”
“LCEVC can be implemented immediately because it doesn’t require any new hardware,” he continued. “So it doesn’t require new devices to adopt new silicon and then the replacement cycles of consumer electronics – in other words wait seven years before 70% of the people can use it.
“This already covers 100% of devices: it’s a software upgrade of the app, a software upgrade of the transcoders and you can also watch it from a web site with HTML-5 at low battery power – and it just works. It’s something that is quite innovative.
“When you talk about a codec enhancer – compressing more and being faster – that’s technical. But what problem does it solve and when should it be applied? First of all, compressing better means more quality – and we know that in sports, quality and resolution are important. People want to see the ball, the players and the emotions.
“The element of speed is very important for sports because it is live. Consider the constraints of live encoding and low latency, because monetisation models in sports and esports are migrating more and more from subscription/advertising to new models like betting.
“You have the constraint of live, the constraint of low latency, the constraint of concurrency because everybody is watching the same stream and you could have bottlenecks. And people want to watch the content on many different devices. Essentially, LCEVC helps all of those things,” said Meardi.
LCEVC to enable new business models for sports
In live sports delivery when serving millions of concurrent streams to all kinds of devices, LCEVC provides greater reliability, reducing buffering events and increasing quality. It also helps to minimise latency, facilitating new business models such as betting and other real-time interactivity applications.
Luis Vicente, Group CEO Eleven Sports said, “As a leading global sports and e-sports media destination, we are extremely excited by the game-changing opportunities presented by MPEG-5 LCEVC. It will change the world of sports, media and entertainment video delivery, providing a better service at a substantially lower cost. I am also convinced that it will play an important role in our journey towards zero latency. We are definitely looking to become an early adopter.”
“It will change the world of sports, media and entertainment video delivery, providing a better service at a substantially lower cost” — Luis Vicente, Eleven Sports
Hyper-scale operators like social media and e-sports platforms are also looking at LCEVC as a tool to drive enhanced user experiences through higher quality and faster stream start-up whilst also reducing per user costs.
Karam Malhotra, global VP revenues and growth and CEO India, SHAREit said, “As one of the world’s largest social networks, LCEVC provides us with the opportunity to drive growth and profitability, by increasing user engagement while reducing operating costs.”
Fathi Albatie, broadcast services lead at Al Jazeera Media Network said, “LCEVC will become a cornerstone of video content distribution thanks to its compatibility with all baseline codecs (H.264, HEVC, AV1 etc.). I can see LCEVC shaking up the streaming business immediately.”


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KGA advertising calls it quits
MIDDLETOWN -- The city has lost one of its most successful advertising agencies.
After 22 years in business, KGA Advertising, on the fifth floor of Main Street Market at 386 Main St., has closed its doors, leaving 40 employees jobless.
Ken Gronbach, who started the agency in Essex before moving downtown, could not comment on all the reasons for the company's liquidation due to pending legal matters, but did say "we were helped.
"It's the consequence of bad decisions," he said. "Forty of my people are out of work. That was the most difficult part; I've never had to do that before."
Gronbach gave a long list of the agency's successes in advertising for companies such as Canon GHO, Pilot Pens and Namco.
"We've watch Bob's Stores go from 10 million to 400 million in sales. We've watched Better Bedding go from having two stores to 15," he said. "That's the real irony here. We're not going out of business because we didn't do a our job well. It's a separate issue."
Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce President Larry McHugh called the lost of KGA "a blow to the community.
"I'm saddened by the closing of KGA and my heart goes out to Ken and his employees," McHugh said. "I think with the way the economy has changed it's especially tough for those in advertising, and KGA was one of premiere agencies in New England."
While Gronbach is shaken by the loss of his company, he says it has not shaken his commitment to Main Street Market, which he and his wife, Linda, have owned and operated since 1998.
"KGA and Main Street Market are separate enterprises," he said,
"I do not foresee any problems for Main Street Market; we've made enormous sacrifices for Main Street Market."
He called the market "a complete success" as an incubator for small businesses and said they continue to get numerous inquiries from new businesses wanting to move in.
"Main Street Market was never meant to be a cash cow; it was meant to give young people a chance at running their own businesses and succeeding," he said.
"A lot of times I pass [It's Only Natural] and there's lines to get in. It's so gratifying to see that," he said. "Very gratifying."
Sometime by the end of the year, Gronbach said he plans to start a new Internet-based business "that will work in marketing, but not in advertising.
"I've got to do something else. For a while I thought of going into law enforcement. Maybe I could take [FBI Director Louis] Freeh's job. I couldn't screw it up anymore than it already is," he said laughing.


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Last week, I had a cox with a new orleans, the first of two coxes in the US. It was an outage, and we didn’t have our cell service to stay connected with each other. I’m sure the cox would be a bit worried about being disconnected from their internet connection, but I was just happy that there would be at least one cox in the US to keep me connected to my inbox.
I’m really happy to see that coxes are still common across the US. They allow people to stay connected with each other even when their internet connections go down. But there are two problems with the cox: 1) the internet outage and 2) the cox. The internet outage didn’t last as long as it could have, thanks to a cox that was able to bring back the internet.
The internet outage has been caused by a CoX that was able to bring back the internet. The cox is a website that can reroute your internet connection back to your ISP and allow you to stay connected. Like I said, it’s not that big of a deal. But the cox is also a website that tries to make money from your connection. The cox gives you a “free” internet connection but says it’s a money-making venture.
The cox website is not new. It’s been around since at least 2008, when it was named as one of the reasons for the internet outage in the first place. However, it’s been in the news lately because its coxed out for a few days. The cox also happens to work like a good chunk of internet providers, as it has the ability to cut off your internet connection to your ISP immediately when you’re online.
The cox is a new internet service provider (ISP) who provides internet to you. They’re in the business of making money off your internet usage so they can make it bigger and bigger. They can put your internet connection to sleep to charge more money for it.
The cox has all the features you need for a full internet connection. That being said, it’s the only way you can get your internet connection to work on your computer with cox, you can do without it. The cox is not a new internet provider, it’s just a new service provider. It’s not for the money.
Ive not read the article, but its seems like theyll need to get a whole new network. Like something that was built in the 1800s with the same features as a 4G system, but for 10 million people.
The cox is one of the older internet providers. It currently has approximately 6.5 million customers. That would be the equivalent of the population of New York City with about the same number of people. A company like cox should be able to do a lot more with the population of a city, but it’s probably just not going to happen.
The cox network seems like it’s going to be a major thing for your website, but it should be enough to make people who don’t want to use it to build their own websites in an effort to get them to build their own websites.
Cox has a reputation for being a company that takes big risks, but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything crazy enough to piss away that reputation. I’ve been trying to get in touch with its CEO for a few months now, and I’m unable to get a hold of him. I’ve also reached out to one of its customers, who’s an internet startup in New Orleans.


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Samsung is gearing up for a major shift in its production strategy as it seeks to tap into the rapidly growing market for electric vehicle components. According to the CEO of its Electro-Mechanics division, the company is preparing to pivot away from its traditional focus on smartphones and PCs and instead focus on the rising demand for automotive and automobile technologies.
Samsung is already a major supplier of EV batteries to a number of leading automakers, including General Motors, Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo. However, the company is now looking to vastly expand its production capacity and develop its own offerings based on new technologies like iron phosphate (LFP) or solid-state batteries.
The LFP battery market is currently dominated by Chinese manufacturers like CATL and BYD, who supply cells for Tesla's best-selling vehicles. Samsung is hoping to diversify its portfolio of performance EV batteries with LFP cells of its own, which are seen as pivotal for the next wave of mass electrification that will see many automakers introduce sub-$25,000 electric cars.
In addition to LFP and 4680-style battery technologies, Samsung is also investing in solid-state batteries. The company has reportedly equipped a pilot solid-state battery production line that will begin trial production runs in 2024. Samsung plans to leverage its experience producing solid oxide at high temperatures to create a stable oxide electrolyte that can be used in solid-state batteries instead of the flammable liquid polymer electrolyte currently used in many EV cells.
Solid-state batteries offer several advantages over traditional lithium-ion batteries, including higher energy density and improved safety. Samsung plans to announce its solid-state battery solution once an engineering prototype is ready, with mass production set to begin in 2027.
As the deadline for commercialization of many other solid-state battery projects approaches, Samsung is hoping to establish itself as a leading supplier of EV components and capture a significant share of the growing market. With its extensive experience in developing cutting-edge technologies, the company is well-positioned to succeed in this rapidly evolving industry.