text:
Microsoft’s not even shown off Windows 8 yet, but already Intel’s talking about the potential of using the OS’ PC processors in smartphones – and maybe even Windows 8 itself, some people are speculating.
Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini declared his interests during financials call yesterday, claiming that “we have the ability to put our lowest-power Intel processors running Windows 8, or “next-generation Windows”, into phones, because it’s the same OS stack. And I look at that as an upside opportunity for us.”
The thought of super-fast PC processors (even if they are Intel’s “lowest-power” chips) being used in smartphones makes me all jittery with anticipation. But running Windows 8 itself in smartphones, as well as PCs and tablets? Just because they could do it, I very much doubt Microsoft would just kill off Windows Phone 7 – a platform they’ve invested $US500 million into on advertising alone – just like that. Microsoft may’ve made many, many mistakes in the past, but I doubt even they would be capable of such idiocy. [ZDNET via Crave UK]


text:
Sony is about to unveil it’s much awaited Xperia XR smartphone in an event at IFA, Berlin on September 1, 2016. But as per the mentions on the company site, it seems like the company may release the Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact instead. According to a new leak, the company is ditching its ‘Z’ series smartphones in favor of new ‘X’ moniker.
The company has not confirmed whether Xperia XR and XZ will be one and the same device or two different devices. However, earlier reports were pointing out that the Xperia XR will expect to launch at IFA this year. Therefore it is doubtful whether Xperia XR will launch at IFA or not as the official clarification on this is yet to receive.
A Netherland-based website TechTastic has spotted the specifications of upcoming smartphones. According to this, the upcoming Xperia XZ will feature a 5.2-inch display with 2.5D curved glass. The smartphone is also likely to be equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor paired with a 4GB of RAM. Moreover, the device will offer a 23MP primary rear camera with laser auto focus and Dual LED flash. For selfie-snapping a 13MP front camera is also expected.
The Xperia X Compact will expect to feature a 4.6-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC processor, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, and will power by a 2700mAh battery.
Both these Xperia smartphones are expected to feature with USB Type-C port for charging. The devices are expected to come with quick charging technology.
The Japanese smartphone maker, Sony has limited its efforts on smartphone business. The company is reducing its focus in Indian market because of its unsatisfactory performance in past. Sony is forecasting a merely 0.3 percent of the growth in global markets like India, China, and the US in the future.
The company has recently confirmed about the Android 7.0 Nougat updates roll out for selected Xperia smartphone devices. The company has confirmed the list of smartphone models that will get benefited with Nougat updates. The list includes Xperia Z3+, Xperia Z5 Compact, Xperia Z4 Tablet, Xperia Z5, Xperia Z5 Premium, Xperia X, Xperia X Performance, Xperia XA, and Xperia XA Ultra.
However, the company has not mentioned about the exact time on which the updates will be available on these devices. Check out our list of latest Sony Mobile Phones in India

domain: news


text:
The crisis threatens to derail the country’s fast-growing economy and cause deep divisions among its citizens along religious and secular lines. This comes at a time when five years of robust economic growth is slowing and concern over Turkey’s ballooning current account deficit is increasing.
Spending on household appliances in Turkey dropped 8.3% in the third quarter and 6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. Domestic motor vehicle sales slumped 29.8% in March 2007 for the 10th consecutive month, the Automotive Manufacturers Association said. Interest rates on consumer loans increased sharply in May 2006 following fluctuations in global currency markets. Interest rates have yet to return to pre-crisis levels.
Manufacturers of durable consumer goods and motor vehicles – automobiles, commercial vehicles and agricultural tractors – are turning to exports to increase production and avert a recession. In the first three months of this year, Turkey’s exports reached $23bn, up 25.1% from 2006, the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) reported. TIM said Turkey’s exports could exceed $100bn this year, up from $85.9bn in 2006. Imports totalled $136.3bn in 2006.
Automotive industry exports, including passenger cars, commercial vehicles, agricultural tractors and automotive parts and components, have been the driving force of Turkey’s exports in the first quarter of 2007.
Political crisis erupted in Turkey when, on April 24, the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party named Islamist cabinet minister Abdullah Gül as its presidential candidate, sparking massive anti-government demonstrations and threats by the armed forces to topple the administration.


text:
Top U.S. dollar store chains raised their sales expectations for the year as more Americans look for bargains with inflation at a four-decade high, sending shares of the retailers over 11%.
Shares of Dollar Tree Inc and Dollar General Corp rebounded from a slide that wiped off nearly a fifth of their value last week after huge profit declines at bigger rivals Walmart Inc and Target Corp.
The dollar store chains also reported better-than-expected first-quarter results.
More low-income families were browsing the aisles at dollar stores for cheaper tissues and cereals after federal stimulus payments - which were offered to boost the economy after a pandemic-led slowdown- stopped and prices of essentials soared.
Even customers who typically steer clear of dollar stores could turn to them, as they did during the financial crisis of 2008, Wall Street brokerages have said.
'Value And Convenience'
"Value and convenience are more important than ever to our shoppers and the communities we serve," Dollar Tree chief executive Michael Witynski said in a statement.
Dollar Tree raised its fiscal 2022 net sales forecast to between $27.76 billion (€25.95 billion) and $28.14 billion (€26.31 billion) from $27.22 billion to $27.85 billion.
The Family Dollar parent also increased its earnings per share forecast to between $7.80 and $8.20 from its prior range of $7.60 to $8, as it books margin gains from raising product prices by 25% to $1.25 at Dollar Tree.
Dollar General only reaffirmed its forecast for fiscal 2022 per-share earnings, as sales from consumables with low gross margins including paper, food and cleaning products were rising.
The discounter forecast a 3% to 3.5% increase in fiscal 2022 same-store sales, compared with its prior outlook of a 2.5% rise. Analysts were expecting growth of 2.3%, according to Refinitiv IBES.


text:
Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has announced that it plans to unleash a major software update for its Symbian OS platform.
The software update, codenamed Anna, comes as the company launched two brand new smartphones under the Symbian banner. Nokia is in the process of phasing out its Symbian portfolio in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform.
The update, which will be launched within the next few months, is based on the feedback the company got from its Symbian users, Nokia said. The company said that the update will result in a complete revamp of the platform, bringing in a host of new features and enhancements.
Nokia plans to release the over-the-air update for existing Symbian based devices including the N8, E7, and the C6 along with the more recently launched X7 and E6.
The update will bring new icons and certain 'usability enhancements' to the home screen. Anna will also include a revamped web browser, an on-screen QWERTY keyboard with portrait mode and a new version of Nokia's Ovi Maps.
“The new software shows the importance of Symbian in the transition to Windows Phone 7 and represents a crucial step in the effort to close the gap with rivals,” Ben Wood, an analyst with CCS Insight said in a statement to Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-12/nokia-announces-first-smartphones-with-updated-symbian-software.html) .


text:
72 entrants from 18 countries drove in four different Peugeot HDi diesel cars on 620 miles of normal roads from Paris to Geneva in all weathers. Coinciding with the 2010 Geneva Auto Show, the Peugeot Eco Cup was designed to see if four standard Peugeot HDi diesel models in the hands of everyday drivers could deliver fuel economy to match or beat the official government fuel economy figures.
The best return was a fraction shy of 75mpg and, what is more, this wasn’t in a tiny city car, hybrid or specially-adapted vehicle. It was in a standard production Peugeot five-door 308 HDi 110 model, driven over 620 miles of French and Swiss roads in winter conditions. Even Peugeot’s new seven-seat 5008 MPV returned economy figures of nearly 71mpg US.
Average fuel consumption achieved by the winning drivers (converted to US mpg figures):
Peugeot 308 HDi FAP 110 – 75mpg
Peugeot 207 HDi 90 – 72.5mpg
Peugeot 5008 HDi FAP 110 – 71mpg
Peugeot 3008 HDi FAP 110 – 66mpg
Jon Goodman, Managing Director of Peugeot UK, said: “This project has proved two things; there are many people out there interested in doing their bit for the planet by stretching fuel economy to the max; and this can be achieved in standard Peugeot diesel cars, with our new 5008 seven-seater MPV nearly cracking 71mpg and our 308 five-door family hatch pushing 75mpg. This is a great reminder that, in this dynamic and technology-obsessed industry, genuine environmentally friendly motoring is available right now.”


text:
We need bees. They’re the world’s most important pollinator of food crops. In fact, it is estimated that one third of the food that we consume each day relies on pollination mainly by bees. But as much as we are used to seeing them buzzing with work, they need their beauty sleep as well. Recently, wildlife photographer Joe Neely captured two bees snuggling in a flower, and the shot shows a beautiful side of them we rarely witness.
“The story behind this photos [begins when] me and my fiancé Niccole went out to find poppy flowers,” Neely told Bored Panda. “On the way back we saw this patch of pink flowers just off the highway so we stopped to take some photos.”[…]


text:
Fire up the oven - but not THAT much! Italian eateries start selling 'charcoal' pizza with a BLACK crust (but it's not actually burnt - just filled with 'healthy' carbon)
- Activated charcoal, or activated carbon, is used by doctors to treat people who have been poisoned
- Some people swear by it for other health uses, like absorbing toxins and reducing cholesterol
- While some pizza places in Italy have been using charcoal in crust for years, it is just popping up in the US
- Some describe the taste as slightly smoky
- It is not the same charcoal used in a grill; rather, it is like the charcoal used in water filtration systems
Typically, when a pizza comes out of the oven and the crust is black, it means you messed up.
But several Italian restaurants in the US are now selling black pizza on purpose — and not because they're trying to foist off damaged pies on unsuspecting customers.
The newest trend in the pizza world sees chefs adding charcoal to the dough, so the crust comes out of the oven with a dark black color.
Black is the new black: Italian restaurants like Olivella in New Jersey are now selling pizza with charcoal in the crust
The deal: Activated charcoal, also called activated carbon, is mixed into the dough
That sounds like the pizza is just burnt, or else chefs are purposefully adding burnt ash to the crust — but that's not the case.
Activated charcoal (also called activated carbon) as a food and drink ingredient has been becoming increasingly popular in recent years, with health food shops and spas adding it to their offerings.
According to WebMD, some people swear by the ingredient to reduce high cholesterol and prevent gas, though its effectiveness in those arenas hasn't been widely studied.
Some proponents say it traps toxins — and unlike the charcoal used in a grill, this kind doesn't have chemicals and toxins of its own (rather, it's like the kind used in water filtration systems like Brita).
It's thought to lower cholesterol and also absorb toxins (pictured: pizza at Masseria, a Toronto pizzeria)
Eat up: The pizza is not burnt, though some say it has a slightly smoky taste
In addition to the charcoal lemonade and charcoal lattes that have been popping up, pizza places are now getting in on the action.
Masseria, a Toronto pizzeria, has been selling a black pizza crust for a while — and it's a hit.
'The black carbon pizza dough tastes amazing,' wrote one Yelp reviewer, while several others described it as surprisingly light.
Some also say the taste is slightly smoky.
Meanwhile, Olivella Restaurant in North Bergen, NJ recently introduced its own version, and is also selling activated charcoal mozzarella and pasta.
And for those worried that the charcoal makes the pizza inauthentic, chefs in Italy have been whipping up similar items for years — and they're also available in Japan, Indonesia, and the U.K.
Most watched News videos
- Motorcyclist has death-defying crash travelling at high speed
- Distressing footage shows dog's bleeding to death in laboratory
- Sly dog makes off with some tasty snacks in Brazil
- South Park slams LeBron James over his China comments
- Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited a children's cancer hospital
- Man refuses to apologise after throwing punches at pubgoer
- Simone Biles's boyfriend goes crazy celebrating her victory
- Violent street fight in Croydon leaves man lying unconscious
- Upsetting RSPCA clip shows man in Bolton hitting his dog
- Chaos ensues after El Chapo's son is arrested in Mexico City
- Gun battles rock Mexican city after El Chapo's son detained
- Video shows man refuse to defend himself as thugs attack him


text:
It was announced that Tabby, the popular buy now pay later platform from Dubai has raised about $50M in debt financing from San Francisco-based Partners for Growth. It’s the largest debt facility which was raised by fintech from the MENA region which was said by the startup. The startup also raised a comparatively small amount of debt back in December last year as part of its $23M Series A.
The platform was founded back in 2019 and it has been running ever since offering interest-free buy-now-pay-later services in both UAE and Saudi Arabia. The platform itself allows their customer base with deferring their purchases up to 30 days on both their in-store and online shops. They also offer an option to pay in four equal installments from the customers and it’s been made possible for the platform by partnering up with their retailers. The solution it provides is directly integrated with the POS system or online checkout of the merchant for flawless transitions.
“Partners for Growth’s investment will bolster tabby’s capitalization to expand lending capacity and support the company’s growth. The vision is to grow the size of the facility as tabby’s underlying sales scale over time,” stated the startup.
“We’re delighted to partner with a globally reputed private debt institution like PFG. As our transaction volumes and merchant numbers have continued to surpass all our expectations, it was essential for us to partner with an organization that would support our current and long-term growth,” said Hosam Arab, the co-founder, and CEO of Tabby.
“Tabby is one of the fastest-growing companies in the MENA region and they have an attractive market opportunity ahead. We are excited to support the tabby team and provide financing that can enable tabby to scale the platform, harnessing the continuous growth of the buy now pay later sector both regionally and globally,” stated Max Penel, Investment Director at Partners for Growth.
The possibility of raising venture debts is raising with the surge of fintech and other startups extending credit to their customers in their own unique ways. Since it’s pretty cheaper than raising money by giving up equity in these cases. Over the last six months, there has been a significant rise of money in debt by some of the regional startups including Tamara, Trukker, and Trella.


text:
Nassau, Suffolk officials join push for Amazon to build headquarters on LI
Officials in Nassau and Suffolk counties made their pitches Thursday to lure Amazon to Long Island.
Amazon is currently considering where it should build its second North American headquarters.
One location is Belmont Park in Elmont. It is also a desired spot for some sports teams and other organizations.
In addition to Belmont, the Heartland site in Brentwood and Calabro Airport in the Town of Brookhaven are also being proposed.
The e-commerce giant plans to build a $5 billion campus that could employ up to 50,000 people.
All of the proposals are due by Oct. 19. Officials say the average pay for employees at that site would be $100,000.


text:
With just a few days before Christmas, local stores are preparing for those last-minute shoppers.
Monique Fremin, owner of ‘Morgan Claire’ boutique, says, “We open, our regular hours are 10-6, but we open at 9 am, 7 days a week through the holidays.”
Christmas is days away.
Soon everyone will be opening gifts from under the tree.
Some people have already shopped and are ready for the big day.
Shopper Madison Sonnier explains, “I’ve bought way too much stuff. I bought for my family and friends so like 13 people but I got it all done like two weeks ago.”
But there are some still looking for that perfect gift this holiday season.
Monique Fremin tells News Ten she has seen an increase in customers these last few days since Black Friday.
“I think a lot of people wait until the last minute. Black Friday was super busy for us but we noticed the last week or two picked up in the area; lots of traffic for sure,” Fremin adds.
Fremin explains why shopping local at smaller buisnesses is important this holiday season.
Fremin explains “One is to keep the money in the community shopping local, but two, the personal shopping experience. We love our customers and we love everyone in the community and it’s really a personal and closeup shopping experience. You don’t get at your big box stores.”


text:
Electric carmaker Tesla Motors has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese automaker Toyota Motor to deliver two electric vehicles to the world's largest automaker by the end of month.
"Since our announcement in May, Toyota and Tesla engineering teams have made a lot of progress in a short amount of time and it is exciting to start seeing some initial results," Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel said Friday in a statement. "The prototypes will combine Toyota vehicles with Tesla electric powertrains."
Tesla had announced the partnership to develop electric vehicles with Toyota in May, but revealed in a regulatory filing that it hadin place.
The memorandum of understanding was signed Thursday, a Tesla spokesman said, but declined to reveal which Toyota vehicles the company was working on. Earlier on Friday, Toyota President Akio Toyoda told reporters in Japan that Toyota was interested in experimenting with Tesla's approach to using lithium-ion battery cells developed for the electronics industry as a potential alternative to developing batteries tailor-made for its own vehicles.
"We'll see which better meets the needs of consumers. We're taking a multi-faceted approach," Toyoda told a group of U.S. reporters invited to tour Toyota's facilities.
Engineering teams from the two automakers have been meeting and working on the prototypes, Tesla said.
The comments represent the most detail the two companies have provided about the scope of awith Tesla announced in May by Toyoda and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk.
Toyota invested $50 million in Tesla in a private placement after the electric vehicle maker's. Toyota's tie-up with Tesla is seen as a strong endorsement of the seven-year-old start-up.


text:
New figures have shown an over five-time increase in the number of parking tickets issued by councils over the past decade to over four million in 2010, with a recent rise attributed to the introduction of CCTV-equipped camera cars.
Motorists faced fines of up to £105 last year, with automatically generated tickets sent through post instead of being placed on windscreens by wardens.
There was an increase of over 10% in the number of tickets issued in the two years since the camera cars started operating.
TheTraffic Penalty Tribunal criticised the misuse of parking cameras, saying that the automated system erroneously issued tickets to moving cars or where vehicles had a valid exemption for unloading.
There was a 20% rise in the number of motorists who triumphed on appeal against wrongly issued tickets since the camera cars started operating.
Over 8,000 motorists had their parking tickets quashed on appeal last year.
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal said that some camera cars were found parked on double yellow lines, while motorists were not warned about the presence of CCTVs.
Copyright © Press Association 2011


text:
11 Jul China’s Ganfeng to acquire private Argentinian lithium firm in $962 million deal
China’s biggest lithium salts producer Ganfeng Lithium has announced a deal to purchase Argentina-focused Lithea for up to US$962 million, in a furtherance of its plans to secure key lithium deposits around the world.
Privately owned Lithea owns rights to two lithium salt lakes in Argentina’s mineral-rich Salta Province, which forms part of the Latin American ‘lithium triangle’ – along with Chile and Bolivia.
The Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes salt lake projects will initially produce 30,000 tonnes of lithium salts, with an expansion to 50,000 tonnes possible if conditions are favourable, Ganfeng said.
The move by Ganfeng comes as Argentina attempts to improve its mineral investment credentials while demand for lithium – one of its key commodities – continues to increase, predominantly from the electric vehicle (EV) market.
Last year, global lithium production jumped 21%, in response to rising demand for lithium-ion batteries, according to data from the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Ganfeng, which is a supplier of battery grade lithium to EV manufacturers including Tesla, said the deal would help it strengthen ‘the layout of its upstream lithium resources’ and its ‘resource self-sufficiency rate’.
The mining giant has already invested in two lithium projects in Argentina. Ganfeng maintains a controlling stake in the 24.5 million tonnes Cauchari-Olaroz project in Jujuy Province, in collaboration with Lithium Americas Corp. It also owns the Mariana brine project in Salta Province.


text:
Bitcoin ATM Kiosk Evolution
Michael Tomlinson has shown a knack over his career in the self-service industry for being at the center of “the next big thing” at just the right time. And if that history is any indication, he’s done it again.
In 1994, right out of college, Tomlinson joined coin-counting kiosk company Coinstar. At the time, the company had just five machines and a dozen or so employees. People he told about the company thought the idea of counting peoples’ coins for a fee was crazy. Today, Coinstar boasts more than 20,000 kiosks and processes 43 billion coins a year.
Tomlinson left Coinstar in 2010, spending a few years getting reacquainted with his family. Following a stint with a company in the automated retail space, in November 2020 took a position as Chief Revenue Officer with Las Vegas-based digital currency kiosk maker CoinCloud. And considering market trends, Tomlinson may have entered the segment just as it’s about to explode.
“I started interviewing my closest confidants to ask them what they thought of the space,” Tomlinson said. “A lot of the responses I got were similar to my early days at Coinstar where people thought I was nuts to even consider it, but I realized that the Bitcoin space was far greater than anybody could imagine.”
Founded in 2014, CoinCloud recently deployed its 1,250th machine, with 50 installations during the last week of 2020 alone. The company says 61% of the two-way digital currency ATMs in the United States are operated by CoinCloud.
“Our machines meet a critical consumer need because they grant anyone an instant, trusted gateway to the digital economy,” said CoinCloud CEO Chris McAlary in a release announcing the deployment.
“We make the intangible tangible, converting digital currency to physical currency and vice versa on-demand,” McAlary said. “Previously, digital currency users would have to meet in person to trade Bitcoin for cash. Coin Cloud’s integration of DCMs with digital wallets is becoming the cash machines of the 21st century. They are being embraced and taking over at an ever-increasing rate.”
No longer just for assassins
Although there are thousands of digital currencies in use today, the most popular by far is Bitcoin. Other currencies are dubbed “altcoins.” It’s impossible to put an accurate value on the market capitalization of digital currencies, in part because of constant fluctuations, but Bitcoin is estimated to have a current market cap in the vicinity of $600 billion. That’s up from zero at its 2009 origins and just $1.5 billion in 2013. Another popular digital currency, Ethereum, is estimated to have a market cap of more than $112 billion.
Following a few early test transactions, Bitcoin found a home as the currency of choice for black market websites. Silk Road, a site on the dark web known primarily for selling drugs, only accepted bitcoins as payment before being shut down by the FBI in 2013. Other dark web sites purported to offer the services of a hitman in exchange for Bitcoin, although most of those operations turned out to be scams.
Over the past few years, though, more and more traditional merchants have been accepting bitcoins and other digital currencies as payment, including AT&T, Burger King, KFC and Virgin Galactic. Shoppers can also indirectly pay for purchases on Amazon.com via Purse.io. Places where people can purchase bitcoins include PayPal, which recently announced that users will soon be able to purchase that and other digital currencies. And digital currency exchange company Gemini, which acquired financial services startup Blockrize, plans to offer a credit card that offers Bitcoin rewards based on purchases. Bitcoin is now the world’s sixth-largest currency by circulation.
“Today Bitcoin has gotten to a place where institutional investors, banks, and family offices are legitimately pondering involvement as a defense against currency devaluation,” wrote Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network, in commentary emailed to CBS Marketwatch. “This isn’t a gold rush anymore, it’s a good investment.”
Bitcoin grew in value by more than 300% in 2020, approaching $30,000, with one financial industry insider predicting it could top $300,000 by the end of 2021.
“The whole existence of Bitcoin has been characterized by unthinkable rallies followed by painful corrections, the type of pattern that sustains a long term trend,” Tom Fitzpatrick, Citibank’s global head of CitiFX Technicals, wrote in a note to institutional clients that was later leaked on Twitter. “Time will tell if we end up seeing such lofty levels but the backdrop and the price action we are looking at clearly suggest the potential for a major move higher nonetheless in the next 12-24 months.”
Simplifying the Bitcoin buy/sell process
At their core, digital currency kiosks, more commonly referred to as Bitcoin kiosks, operate like traditional ATMs, with one major difference. Instead of allowing users to deposit and withdraw money from their bank accounts, they allow users to conduct transactions in digital currencies.
And like traditional ATMs, they’re finding homes in the same places that host other types of self-service devices: service stations, convenience stores and other outlets seeking to increase foot traffic and revenue.
“Millennials are one of the most common customers who transact with cryptocurrency,” said Marc Grens, co-founder & president of Chicago-based Bitcoin ATM provider DigitalMint.
“If a store has a particular demographic of regular customers that often does not include people between the ages of 18 and 40, it’s worth growing and expanding that customer base by offering an innovative and modern service,” Grens said. “Without much effort, retailers get additional passive income from these cryptocurrency transactions completed in-store.”
Bitcoin kiosks address one of the main hurdles affecting the adoption of digital currencies: Converting cash to bitcoins, and more importantly, converting bitcoins to cash. Until recently, converting cash to a digital currency and vice versa involved using an online exchange. The downside of that method was that some transactions, particularly the conversion of bitcoins to cash, often involved a wait of several days to receive your funds. Also, most of these exchanges operated without regulatory oversight, meaning a consumer had little recourse if the site turned out to be fraudulent.
A Bitcoin ATM allows someone to buy bitcoins or other digital currencies by using cash or debit cards, and in some cases sell them for cash. To date, about 70% of Bitcoin ATMs around the world and 76% of those in the United States are one-way, meaning they’re used strictly for buying digital currencies.
Although the reports purporting to estimate the size of the market for digital currency probably aren’t worth the electricity it takes to post them online, one such report predicts that the global Bitcoin ATM market will top $542.5 million by 2027, up from just $18.4 million in 2019. That equates to a compound annual growth rate of 52.7%. Factors fueling growth include fluctuations in monetary regulations and increasing fund transfers in developing economies, although government regulations that prohibit the usage of digital currencies in various countries are expected to restrain growth.
“The industry has grown over 100% each year the last 5 years,” said Drew Carey, CEO and co-founder of Miami-based Bitcoin ATM maker Bitstop. “This trend will probably continue again for the next 2-4 years as the demand for Bitcoin continues to increase. The total number of Bitcoin ATMs installed worldwide will probably reach 100,000 by or before 2025.”
The two-way segment is expected to grow faster than the segment as a whole as Bitcoin becomes more mainstream. North America is expected to hold a considerable share of the market thanks to fewer legal barriers and the presence of software & hardware providers and integrators.
Factors expected to drive the growth of digital currencies over the next few years include concerns about the value of traditional currencies, especially in light of deficit spending thanks to stimulus efforts in the wake of COVID-19. Also, built into the computer code behind Bitcoin are hard limits on the total number that can ever come into circulation. Of the 21 million that can ever become available, there are already 18.5 million bitcoins in circulation. That’s about 88.4% of the total supply.
In addition, those in the Bitcoin ATM industry see it as a way to provide access to financial tools to those unbanked or underbanked consumers, or those who lack access to traditional banking services. A 2019 report by the U.S. Federal Reserve found that six percent of adults do not have a checking, savings, or money market account, while 16 percent of adults are “underbanked,” meaning they have a bank account but also used an alternative financial service product. Bitcoin ATMs might also be a way to send money to other countries without the high fees typically charged by traditional money-transfer outfits.
“It is truly about allowing consumers that are struggling to get even into the financial segment,” Tomlinson said. “There are 55 million people that are unbanked or underbanked in this country, and there are 47 million immigrants who have familiarity with the virtual currency space. And in many ways, this whole group is ahead of it.”
Bitcoin ATM SIDEBAR
Bitcoin Storage Methods Hampering Value, Experts Claim
Because Bitcoin exists only in the virtual world, owners need a way to be able to store and access their holdings. In many cases, that happens via a software program known as a bitcoin wallet.
A bitcoin wallet is comparable to a physical wallet, but instead of storing physical currency it stores information about a person’s bitcoin holdings, including the secure private key used to access Bitcoin addresses and conduct transactions. Bitcoin wallets can exist either as desktop, mobile or web apps, or as physical hardware.
And like a physical wallet, losing access to your bitcoin wallet can lead to a loss of the bitcoins themselves.
Consider, for example, the case of San Francisco resident Stefan Thomas, who lost the password to the secure thumb drive which held 7,002 bitcoin currently worth about $220 million. The device gives users 10 attempts to enter the correct password before it encrypts its contents. Thomas has already used 8 of those attempts.
In an interview with KGO-TV, Thomas said he had made peace with the loss
“It was actually a really big milestone in my life where, like, I sort of realized how I was going to define my self-worth going forward,” Thomas told the station. “It wasn’t going to be about how much money I have in my bank account.”
Or British man James Howells, who accidentally threw out a laptop hard drive storing 7,500 bitcoins while clearing out his home in 2013. At today’s prices, those bitcoins would be worth around $280 million. Howells has offered the town managing the landfill close to $75 million if he is allowed to excavate the landfill and recovers the drive. To date the town has rejected the offer, citing environmental concerns.
A recent Entrepreneur.com article estimates that 20% of the 18.5 million bitcoins in circulation are unreachable because of lost wallets. Jimmy Nguyen, president of the Bitcoin Association, argues that mechanisms need to be put in place to aid people in recovering their bitcoin holdings bitcoin in cases of lost passwords and similar issues. Current methods of storing bitcoins are hampering its adoption, he said, comparing digital wallets to house keys. Losing your house keys doesn’t mean you’ve lost access to your house forever.
“There is an inconsistency, if not downright hypocrisy – among the bitcoin supporters because they want to advance this narrative that you must have the private keys for the coins to be yours,” Nguyen told Business Insider. “If they want the value of the coin to grow because it’s growing in usage, then you have to adopt a much more open and user-friendly approach to bitcoin.”
More Bitcoin ATM and Bitcoin Kiosk Information
Get some specifics
An easy thing to do to send an email to Joe Sawicki at Kiosk Information Systems (jsawicki at kiosk dot com) if interested in Bitcoin Kiosk options. KIOSK has been doing quite a few and has the experience. Kiosk Innovations (www.kioskinnovations.com) is another Association member who has done numerous Bitcoin.
- City getting Bitcoin kiosk to buy, sell bitcoins | Business | Journal Gazettek
- Bitcoin Kiosk News – City getting kiosk to buy, sell bitcoins | Business | Journal Gazette
- Marijuana kiosk news Bitcoin to the rescue
- Bitcoin ATM News – How Trump became bitcoin’s unlikely savior
- Bitcoin Kiosk News – LibertyX Now Operates 16 Bitcoin Kiosks In Miami
- ATM Kiosk – Steve Wozniak Joins CoinBuzz
- World’s First Marijuana Vending Machine Accepts Bitcoin
- BitOcean Releases Two-Way Kiosks to Compete with Bitcoin ATM
- Robocoin Selects Fujitsu’s PalmSecure for Bitcoin Kiosks
- Denver Area’s First Bitcoin ATM Kiosk
- Bitcoin ATM Kiosk – Flycoin – Digital Money.
- Bitcoinnect To Deploy Genesis1 Bitcoin ATM Kiosks In Macau
Useful Bitcoin ATM and Bitcoin Kiosk Links


text:
Tata Sky aims to increase awareness in South India with its ‘Jinga Jinga Jingalala’ campaign
Launches campaign in four South Indian languages addressing varied needs that DTH fulfils
Tata Sky, India’s leading content distribution platform launched its latest campaign in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages to communicate its advantages/superiority over cable in the market. The campaign titled, ‘Jinga Jinga Jingalala’ focuses on how easy and convenient it is to choose Tata Sky to fit an individual’s budget and content needs. With this campaign, Tata Sky attempts to bust the myth of being expensive by introducing tailor-made packs starting at a price as low as Rs. 199/ per month, with an eye to increase and consolidate acquisitions in the South.
Through the campaign, Tata Sky urges customers to make that all important and long impending move from cable to DTH. A pioneer in innovation and a known leader in technology, Tata Sky is by far the most Trusted Brand in its category and is a superior service provider offering a plethora of additional value added services at the same cost as any other cable operator. Providing the best & maximum regional services at an affordable cost, the campaign highlights the brand’s efforts to strengthen its reach in Southern markets.
Anurag Kumar, Chief Communications Officer, Tata Sky said, “So far, people here believed that DTH is an expensive choice & deprived themselves of the quality and innovative services. The recent TRAI channel pricing regime has provided parity in price giving us an opportunity to provide subscribers with quality entertainment using easy and simple steps at an affordable price. Therefore, via this campaign we are not only breaking the myth on pricing, we are also urging people to Not compromise on the ease and advantages that Tata Sky brings to life.”
He further said, “Tamil Nadu/ Karnataka / Kerela/ Andhra Pradesh & Telangana has a huge TV viewing audience that have not yet moved to Digital platforms. The scope & potential to increase our reach in these markets is immense and we hope to educate them with this campaign.”
Speaking on the new campaign, Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather said, “The campaign idea originated from an observation about our childhood. Right from our childhood days we always had a healthy fear of our father, especially when we were doing something that was out of line. Using this observation, we establish the fact that buying tata Sky is not out of line and the father will approve of it.”
With an objective to connect with viewers and address all relevant concerns, this is a 360-degree campaign that will be communicated using high reach and high impact mediums across ATL, BTL and Digital. Tata Sky has found a way to make life Jinga Jinga Jingalala this time!


text:
Jul 1, 2013
Jaslyn Gilbert, multimedia producer in the Office of Web Communications, earned the "Best of Show" award in the 2013 Annual Print Competition held by the University Photographers' Association of America (UPAA).
Apr 30, 2013
As our website traffic increasingly comes from mobile devices (some Radford.edu sites see more than 20% of their traffic coming from mobile devices), we wanted to take this time to remind you of some best practices that not only make for a better web experience for desktop users, but is vitally important for mobile users.
Apr 9, 2013
Continuing what has become an April 1 custom, Web Communications injected a little humor into the university's website on April Fools' Day.
Mar 15, 2013
The Web Communications staff at DoIT offers these social media account management and copywriting tips:
Feb 8, 2013
Radford University has unveiled a mobile-optimized website that uses code that detects the size of a device's screen and scales the site to fit those dimensions. The project launched in two phases on Jan. 28 and Feb. 5.
Jan 28, 2013
Studies have shown that people read content on the web far differently than in print. Read tips for writing for the Web.


text:
Sequoia Capital and Shunwei Capital, the investment firm founded by Xiaomi co-founder and CEO Lei Jun, have led a $38 million Series D funding round into PatSnap, a provider of research and development (R&D) analytics.
In an announcement, PatSnap said that it secured $38 million from the three investors, taking its total funding to date to over $100 million.
Qualgro Venture Capital, which invests in technology startups in Southeast Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand, at Series A and Series B also participated in the investment round.
“Since our initial involvement in PatSnap’s Series C round, we have seen the company double its global employee base and on-board new clients at a phenomenal rate, demonstrating that there is real appetite in the market for tools which can help companies accelerate their rate of innovation,” said Steven Ji, Partner at Sequoia Capital.
According to Jeffrey Tiong, Founder and CEO of PatSnap revealed that the company will also open its second North American office in Toronto to better service clients on the East coast, and to support the huge amount of innovation that is taking place there.
While the tech startup has yet to spend the majority of its funding received from its Series C round, it plans to invest further in R&D and continuing to grow its global operations.
Founded in 2007, PatSnap has over 8,000 clients globally, with more than 4500+ clients in China. Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Capital and Qualgro backed the company since 2016 when it raised an undisclosed Series C funding round.


text:
Jul 25, 2013 - #RoyalBaby is the biggest advertunity since the Super Bowl, and companies on both sides of the pond are trying to get a glow via social media, the quick and easy alternative to advertising. Comments
Dec 17, 2012 - Unmetric has unveiled its new Agency Platform, a way to let agencies see how brands stack up against the competition on social media. Unmetric, which calls itself a social media benchmarking company, has clients including Subway, Citibank, Campbell’s... Comments
Hong Kong, May 5-6, 2015
A Buyer's Guide to Affiliate Management Software
Manage your performance marketing with the right solution. Choose a platform that will mutually empower advertisers and media partners!
Google My Business Listings Demystified
To help brands control how they appear online, Google has developed a new offering: Google My Business Locations. This whitepaper helps marketers understand how to use this powerful new tool.
May 6, 2015
12:00pm ET/9:00am PT


text:
The stock is down plenty in recent months but ATB Capital Markets analyst Frederico Gomes still sees value in The Valens Company (The Valens Company Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials TSX:VLNS). Gomes maintained his “Outperform” rating but lowered his target price to $3.75/share from $4.25/share for a potential return of 81 per cent in an update to clients on Thursday.
The Valens Company engages in the development and manufacturing of cannabinoid based products under Health Canada guidelines in the cannabis operations (extraction, post processing and white label manufacturing under standard processing and cultivation licenses) and analytical testing segments.
Gomes’ latest analysis comes after The Valens Company released its financial results for the third quarter of 2021, which Gomes noted to be in line with expectations.
“Valens is undergoing strategic changes as it moves into the CBD market in the US and branded products in Canada,” Gomes said. “With the closing of the Green Roads acquisition and the Citizen Stash acquisition expected to close in Q4/FY21e, we believe that Valens has the elements in place to accelerate growth and drive to profitability.”
The company’s financial results were headlined by revenue of $21 million, which came in slightly ahead of the ATB projection of $20.5 million and the consensus projection of $20.7 million, with net sales up 12 per cent quarter-to-quarter thanks to sales from American cannabis producer Green Roads, which accounted for $4.7 million in sales; Gomes notes that its absence would have yielded a 13 per cent drop in sales with lower business to business sales as the company aims to move away from smaller contracts.
Meanwhile, the company’s EBITDA came in at a loss of $6.2 million, which was worse than the consensus expectation of a $4.2 million loss but still beat the ATB projection of a $7.2 million loss.
“With our operational platform largely built and a critical mass of provincial listings now in place, our focus has shifted to operational efficiencies, implementation of automation initiatives and volume growth to drive margin improvement and positive EBITDA in future quarters,” said Tyler Robson, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder and Chair of The Valens Company in the company’s October 13 press release.
“During the third quarter, we strategically transitioned away from smaller, underperforming B2B partners resulting in a 29 per cent decrease in B2B LP sales revenue quarter over quarter. We have instead taken a fewer, bigger, better approach and focused on building deeper relationships with larger licensed producer partners to drive efficiencies and profitable growth,” Robson said.
Gomes said Valens’ market share has been trending upward in recent months, eclipsing 1.5 per cent in September after breaking one per cent for the first time in June. The company’s most significant positive market share comes from its line of beverages, which accounts for over eight per cent of the national market share in that category.
With the company’s approach shifting toward bigger contracts and an increased focus on business to consumer sales, Gomes has modified his overall financial projections, lowering his 2021 revenue estimate to $82.9 million from $85.2 million, which would come in below the $83.8 million reported in 2020. Gomes also lowered his estimates for 2022 from $220.4 million to $149.2 million, as well as 2023’s estimate from $278.4 million to $205.3 million.
Meanwhile, with a projection of positive quarterly EBITDA in place by the final quarter of 2022, Gomes also modified his annual EBITDA projections to a $20.1 million loss in 2021 (previously $11.1 million), a $14.6 million loss in 2022 (previously a $36.6 million profit with 16.6 per cent EBITDA margin) before turning positive in 2023 at $17.4 million (previously $56 million) to produce an EBITDA margin of 8.5 per cent, driven by improving gross margins and a higher sales base conducive to operating leverage.
Gomes notes a number of significant drivers in the company’s potential growth for 2022, including a 37 per cent increase in provincial listings in the most recent quarter, the growth of cannabis markets in both Canada and the United States, and improvements to operating efficiency and supply chain integration.
Overall, Gomes believes 2022 will mark a significant year for The Valens Company from a financial perspective.
“In the US, we believe that the long-term outlook for the US CBD market is compelling, offering growth opportunities and optionality in the event of favorable regulatory developments in the CBD and THC markets,” Gomes said. “As Valens integrates its supply chain and drives operational efficiencies, we believe that margins will gradually expand.”
Overall, The Valens Company’s stock price has risen by 14.6 per cent over the course of the year, reaching a high point of $4.00/share on May 10.
We Hate Paywalls Too!
At Cantech Letter we prize independent journalism like you do. And we don't care for paywalls and popups and all that noise That's why we need your support. If you value getting your daily information from the experts, won't you help us? No donation is too small.


text:
Nothing celebrates the little town of Calistoga’s down home agricultural roots like its annual tractor parade. Always the first Saturday in December, the parade sponsored by the Calistoga Chamber of Commerce features some 50 tractors and other vehicles decked out in thousands of glittering lights and their holiday best.
Napa Valley’s Holiday Village and Christmas Faire held on December 1 and 2 in nearby Pioneer Park. Last year the parade was selected as one of the Top 10 Holiday Parades by USA Today readers. The parade runs down Calistoga’s Lincoln Avenue on Saturday, December 2 from 7pm to 8pm, rain or shine.
See more holiday events in Napa Valley!


text:
ASG buys a piece of NetVersant
There have been some rumors about this as far back as ISC West, but I just had the first conversation on the record about NetVersant selling off pieces of the company. Joe Nuccio at ASG said he's closed on the Mid-Atlantic portion of the company. No details on the price, etc., but I'm hoping to speak with NetVersant management soon, and I may get a better feel there of how big a piece of the NetVersant pie this is. For reference right now, in the six weeks that ended Dec. 31, the Mid-Atlantic portion of the company did $420,000 in revenue, out of a total of $12 million for the company, according to papers filed with the bankruptcy court. However, everyone knows how bad the fourth quarter was, plus the company was in bankruptcy proceedings, etc. So that's probably not representative. Also, ASG told me they picked up 20 employees, but the salaries and benefits for that six weeks only amounted to $43,000, so unless everyone's making an average of $25k a year, something's wonky there. This helps ASG build their growing heft in the DC area, and fits right in with their footprint, so this makes sense on a number of levels, but this is also one of the better pieces of NetVersant's business, Joe Nuccio, said, with happy customers and a net profit even in that poor six-week period. I'll have more on the wire Thursday.


text:
Tag: marijuana businesses
Whether or not you think pot should be legal, one thing is for sure: it's great for the economy. In the first 18 months of legalized marijuana in Colorado, the state expects to rake in over $180 million in taxes. And that's just the government's take. Many individuals are also lining their pockets, thanks to the green gold rush in states that have approved marijuana for recreational use. Here are just a few jobs that exist today, because of legal marijuana.
There's a new gold rush in Colorado, thanks to new laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use. And just as the businesses that supplied the miners in the first gold rush often struck it rich, the businesses that support the marijuana industry are doing almost as well as the dispensaries themselves.


text:
Nokia on Tuesday announced a slew of new products, including its first Windows tablet, the Lumia 2520.
Two phablets with 6-inch screens, the Lumia 1520 and 1320, were also in the lineup.
Features that distinguish the 2520 from other tablets include the use of Zeiss lenses for the first time in a tablet; Nokia Storyteller, an app that lets users curate and relive images and videos as a story on a map; and Nokia Video Director, which lets users edit videos shot on the 2520 and on Nokia smartphones.
“It’s designed for people who like to take photos on their smartphones and edit them on tablets,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.
“That’s probably the segment that will be most interested in the 2520 and it’s not the biggest segment — but at least it’s something, and the tablet’s differentiated from others,” Enderle continued.
The phablets “can be used as pretty decent readers, so they’re a good alternative to having to carry both a phone and a tablet,” Enderle suggested.
The 2520’s Specs
The 2520 has a 10.1-inch full HD ClearBlack IPS LCD capacitive multipoint touch display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution.
It is the first tablet to be built around a 2.2 Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, and to have a built-in modem. The 2520 runs Windows RT 8.1.
The 2520 has a 6.7 MP camera and will come preloaded with the Dragons Adventure interactive game Nokia developed with Dreamworks Animation; Nokia’s HERE offline Maps; Nokia Music with Mix Radio; and Microsoft Office and Outlook.
It gets 80 percent charged in one hour and has a microSIM card slot and a micro HDMI connector.
Enterprise security features include a mobile VPN, remote-wipe capability over the Internet, device lock, device passcode and user data encryption capability.
The tablet has NFC to enable photo-sharing with other devices, and it can serve as a WiFi hotspot for up to eight other devices. It’s also equipped with GPS.
The Lumia 2520 will be available in red and white or in cyan and black. It is scheduled to ship in Q4 and will cost US$499. AT&T has already announced it will carry the 2520.
The Nokia Power Keyboard, which has a keypad and gesture trackpad and two built-in USB ports, will be available for another $150. It offers an additional five hours of battery life.
Reactions to Nokia’s Tablet
Nokia’s Lumia 2520 could potentially be a high-performance device, Jeff Orr, senior practice director for mobile devices at ABI Research, told TechNewsWorld.
The closest is the Asus Padphone Infinity, which also has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 but is a smartphone that docks into a tablet enclosure, Orr said.
The tablet market this year will be $72 billion worldwide, and North America will take 47 percent of that, ABI Research has predicted.
However, the Lumia 2520 might not be able to carve out much of a share for Nokia, because “any time Nokia has launched a device other than a mobile phone, it’s been a disaster,” Orr pointed out.
“They had the Nokia Booklet, and data-only devices that looked like smartphones but didn’t have voice capability, and none of them took off,” he noted.
The addition of an LTE modem in the 2520 “is a great attempt to see if they can change the game,” Orr suggested. “I believe whoever can lead the charge by including a modem could be a bellwether for the rest of the market.”
However, Microsoft’s Surface 2, which also runs Windows RT, could battle the 2520 for market share.
“They’re coming from similar parents,” Orr said. “You should expect them to quarrel like siblings.”


text:
Write what you are looking for and press enter to begin your search!
Free Fire Reveals Their Own Bandersnatch
Today, 15 September saw Garena’s first ever offline event in Malaysia in commemoration of the finale to their “Free Fire Untuk Semua” campaign.
All of this was to commemorate Garena’s “Free Fire Untuk Semua” (Free Fire For Everyone) campaign which began in January. As the name implies, the campaign’s objective was to gather Free Fire players from all walks of life around one shared passion: Free Fire.
Bringing the campaign to a close is yet another partnership with local Malaysian celebrities from the past Free Fire Untuk Semua iterations such as Zizan Razak, Ismail Izzani, the girl group DOLLA and Bunga. All seven celebrities star in the aforementioned interactive browser game which was shot entirely on a green screen set — one of Malaysia’s firsts.
The Free Fire Untuk Semua Finale media event gave a first look into the film, A behind-the-scenes video promoting the film reveals that the celebrities had to shoot their scenes and multiple stunts separately on different days.
The event featured a tour of the latest campaign’s film’s actual set and props, including the exact jeep that Zizan Razak used in filming. There was also an exclusive viewing of Garena’s brand new interactive browser game—kind of like Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch—which will be available tomorrow 16 September at 8:00 PM (GMT+8). New and long-time players will be able to enjoy the web game as the main protagonist as you join and meet local celebrities. In line with the message of “Free Fire Untuk Semua”, the website is also playable in three languages – English, Malay and Chinese.
The web game will also offer players a chance to win exclusive themed in-game prizes, merchandise, or even autographs from local celebrities. Stand a chance to win a physical loot box of your own, much like the one featured in the web game. In the loot box, you’ll find an exclusive limited edition Free Fire varsity jacket, along with signed cards from the seven celebrities featured in the web game.
That’s not all, as exclusive in-game prizes from previous Free Fire Untuk Semua iterations will make a comeback in the missions featured in the Finale happening from 12 – 29 September.
Players looking to redeem collection items like the Timbered Charmer (Nebula) Bundle and the Bronze Horse loot box can exchange their existing Untuk Semua tokens in the Finale Exchange Store, which will run in multiple phases throughout the event period.
The coming weekend will also feature rare item drops, like the elusive Magic Cube Fragments, which can grant players a free costume bundle upon accumulating 100 pieces, on top of the Rap Swag emote.
Look forward to an action-packed Malaysia Day weekend with the Free Fire Untuk Semua Finale, featuring exciting web and in-game events for all players.
By Mr Toffee|August 11, 2020
Europe's biggest video game convention and LAN party is having all of its remaining 2020 events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the ...
By Mr Toffee|April 15, 2021
Enjoy the prospects of killing zombies in an open world game? Love to cruise the countryside apocalypse on your bike? Want to relive that famous weddi...
By Alleef Ashaari|June 22, 2023
Amazon Prime Video has announced that Shin Kamen Rider will premiere on Amazon Prime Video around the world in over 200 countries on 21 July 2023. ...
By Alleef Ashaari|August 2, 2021
By Alleef Ashaari|February 9, 2022
By Mr Toffee|April 20, 2024
By Alisha Alix|April 19, 2024
By Alleef Ashaari|August 2, 2021


text:
Walmart to expand its opening price point private label nationwide in late third quarter
Mars names Jean-Christophe Flatin president of global chocolate division
MCLEAN, Va. — Mars has appointed Jean-Christophe Flatin as president of global chocolate, effective Oct. 1. Flatin, who currently is global president of Royal Canin, a unit of Mars Petcare, replaces Grant F. Reid, who recently moved into the role of office of the president for Mars.
As head of the global chocolate business, with such brands as M&M's, Snickers, Dove, Galaxy, Mars, Milky Way and Twix, and a growing population of more than 17,000 employees, Flatin will be responsible for setting the global agenda for all aspects of this dynamic business. He will be a member of the Mars leadership team, reporting directly to the office of the president.
"We are very pleased to have a leader of Jean-Christophe's caliber at the helm of the global chocolate business," Reid said. "Jean-Christophe's proven leadership, strategic mindset and background in finance and general management will help continue the growth of this important segment within our business. It's always fantastic when we live out our goal of promoting from within our own business. Appointments like this remind us of how fortunate we are to have such depth and diversity of talent within Mars."
Since becoming president of Royal Canin in late 2007, Flatin has led his team to become one of the fastest-growing business units at the Mars. He has held various roles at or collaborated with Mars for the past 22 years.
McDonald’s, Kraft will bring café experience to store shelves
OAK BROOK, Ill. — McDonald's and Kraft are collaborating to bring McDonald's McCafé brand to retail shelves across the United States, beginning in early 2015. The packaged coffees will give consumers a convenient way to enjoy the McCafé experience in their own homes.
"We understand there is huge demand for at-home options, and we've built great success with our McCafé coffee in restaurants. So, it was a natural next step to provide customers with McCafé coffee to enjoy in their own home," said Greg Watson, SVP McDonald's U.S. menu innovation. "We have always been committed to serving delicious, high-quality beverages at a value, and we're happy to provide consumers another great way to enjoy McDonald's McCafé coffees."
Consumers will see the following coffee formats and varieties when the product launches:
- Roast and Ground: Premium Roast, Breakfast Blend, French Roast, Colombian, Premium Roast Decaf, French Vanilla, Hazelnut and French Roast Whole Bean (12-oz. bag); and
- Single Cups: Premium Roast, French Roast and Premium Roast Decaf.
The partnership between the two companies places them both in a lucrative position in the at-home coffee category, according to Nina Barton, VPcoffee for Kraft Foods.
"This partnership will allow us to leverage each company's best-in-class capabilities, putting us in a prime position to drive further category growth and deliver one of America's largest, fastest-growing coffee brands to coffee lovers nationwide," Barton said. "By tapping into the loyal McCafé fan base already built by McDonald's and leveraging our deep coffee category expertise here at Kraft, we have the ability to reach a larger audience than ever before, really giving this brand room to thrive."


text:
Three Buys down but not defeated
Cisco stronger than it looks
Cisco Systems ($24; CSCO) shares have fallen 8% since the company declared July-quarter earnings slightly above expectations but issued disappointing guidance. The company also announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs, about 5% of its work force, though some of the workers will be reallocated to other positions within the company. Cisco's explanations make sense:
• Weaker sales and profit targets for the October quarter reflect not competitive issues, but economic uncertainty. CEO John Chambers said Cisco continues to gain market share, calling the guidance conservative.
• Layoffs represent a diversion of resources to newer, faster-growing businesses from segments with less potential.
• Cost trends are mixed, with production expenses rising and operating expenses falling. Layoffs and resource reallocation should help address the cost issues, but not overnight.
The bad news masked a recovery in Europe (orders up 6%), a 3% increase in U.S. government orders (up from an 11% decline in the year-earlier quarter), and impressive growth in Cisco's wireless and cloud-computing businesses. Cisco could remain under pressure in the near term, but the stock retains its Focus List Buy and Long-Term Buy ratings. Don't be afraid to buy on the dip.
Keep your money in J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan Chase's ($52; JPM) legal woes continue to mount, with the U.S. launching new investigations into its hiring practices in China and participation in domestic energy markets. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating allegations that J.P. Morgan curried favor from Chinese officials by hiring their children, known as "princelings." In one instance, the bank hired the son of a top executive at China Everbright Bank and later won multiple deals with the bank. J.P. Morgan also managed the initial public offering of a railroad after hiring the daughter of an official.
The U.S. Justice Department is also investigating claims that J.P. Morgan manipulated U.S. energy markets. Just last month, the bank agreed to pay $410 million to settle allegations brought by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In related news, J.P. Morgan reportedly plans to put its commodities business up for sale in early September. J.P. Morgan Chase shares may remain under pressure in the near term, but the recent news should have little effect on the financial giant's revenue and profits. J.P. Morgan remains a Focus List Buy and a Long-Term Buy.
B/E Aerospace set to soar
B/E Aerospace's ($69; BEAV) stock has pulled back about 6% from its all-time high near $74 set earlier this month, giving investors another opportunity to scoop up shares of a company well positioned in the robust aerospace industry.
Global air traffic and capacity at commercial airlines continue to expand at a healthy clip. Record backlogs at Boeing ($105; BA) and Airbus will put pressure on plane makers to increase production rates, while airlines try to gain market share by upgrading cabin amenities. Demand for wide-body planes remains strong, a sweet spot for B/E Aerospace because the larger planes require more seating products and food-preparation and storage equipment. While the strong delivery cycle for new aircraft drove B/E Aerospace's 12% sales growth in the first six months of 2013, management says its aftermarket business should continue to improve in the second half of the year and into 2014.
B/E Aerospace will expand its consumables-management business with the planned acquisition of Blue Dot Energy Services for roughly $75 million in cash. Blue Dot offers parts distribution, rental equipment, and on-site services for the oil-and-gas services industry, a new market for B/E Aerospace. B/E Aerospace is a Buy and a Long-Term Buy. Boeing is rated A (above average).
A patent trial held this week could shape the course of future revenue streams for Mylan Laboratories ($36; MYL) and other generic-drug makers. Eli Lilly ($53; LLY) is defending the patent for lung-cancer treatment Alimta, its second-biggest drug. Alimta generated $1.27 billion in sales in the first half of 2013, roughly 11% of its total revenue. The drugmaker seeks to block generic competition until Alimta's secondary patent, covering the method of administration, expires in 2022, rather than when patent protection for the drug's basic compound ends in 2017. Should Lilly prevail, other drugmakers could have more luck defending secondary patents for their own treatments, delaying the release of generics.
Mylan also faces the postponement of its proposed $1.6 billion acquisition of Agila Specialties, an Indian maker of generic injectable drugs. India's government is looking to revamp laws for foreign investment to ensure lifesaving drugs remain well stocked and moderately priced for its residents. Foreign investment into India's pharmaceutical industry totaled $1.1 billion in the 12 months ended March. Mylan is a Focus List Buy and a Long-Term Buy. Eli Lilly is rated B (average).
Wal-Mart Stores ($73; WMT) said July-quarter earnings per share rose 6% to $1.25 excluding a tax-related charge, matching the consensus estimate. Within the U.S., same-store sales slipped 0.3% at the core Walmart business, below internal expectations, but rose 1.7% at Sam's Club. Total revenue advanced 2% to $116.95 billion, paced by 3% growth from international operations. Management, citing cautious consumer spending and unfavorable currency trends, lowered full-year targets for both sales and per-share profits. For the October quarter, the retailer expects earnings per share of $1.11 to $1.16, implying growth of 3% to 7%. Wal-Mart Stores remains a Long-Term Buy.
Apple ($501; AAPL) has reportedly asked its suppliers to begin shipping two new iPhone models — including a low-end version — in early September. According to published reports, Apple will show off its devices Sept. 10. A cheaper iPhone model could revive Apple's sales in China, especially if Apple secures a deal with China Mobile ($54; CHL), the world's largest carrier with about 700 million customers. Apple is a Buy and a Long-Term Buy.
Alliance Data Systems ($202; ADS) said average receivables for its private-label unit rose to $7.07 billion in July, up 23% from the year-earlier period. Alliance Data Systems is a Focus List Buy and a Long-Term Buy.
Visa ($178; V) shares rallied after the Federal Reserve said it will appeal a judge's decision that its rules for debit-card fees were illegal. A U.S. district judge ruled on July 31 that swipe fees set by the Fed were illegal, resulting in retailers being overcharged by billions of dollars. Visa is a Buy and a Long-Term Buy.
No changes were made this week in Dow Theory Forecasts.


text:
We all have seen ‘Vevo’ latched onto most music videos on YouTube but we probably do not know what Vevo is or stands for. Well, as the company’s fate reveals, most people don’t.
The video-hosting service has sensibly decided to shut down it’s website and apps in coming weeks.
Vevo, an abbreviation for ‘video evolution’, was set up in a joint partnership between Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group in 2009. It hosts music videos only from Universal and Sony.
In a blog post released on Thursday, the company announced that
Going forward, Vevo will remain focused on engaging the biggest audiences and pursuing growth opportunities.”
In simpler words, the company is focusing on it’s profitable strength: YouTube.
Inversely Proportional Relationship (Vevo = 1/YouTube)
Vevo was originally designed as a designated streaming service for music videos that would generate proceeds from more elite advertisers.
They made a distribution deal with YouTube via which they received a cut of revenue from uploading videos on the Google-owned website.
But YouTube’s empire has expanded tremendously. The company recently unveiled its paid subscription service YouTube Music Premium, a service oriented towards streaming music which strips out ads and lets users download music as against to the borderline redundant services provided by Vevo.
Ironically, the timing of Vevo’s withdrawal comes just as YouTube branches out.
What lies ahead for Vevo?
Vevo will not compromise on the belief behind it’s purpose: the power of music videos.
It will continue to be the primary seller of Vevo-specific advertising on all distribution platforms including the sponsorship of video premieres.
The company also stated that it will invest in original content including the dscvr and LIFT emerging artist programs.
Connecting artists to new audiences, while helping tell their stories, and growing an advertising-based revenue stream that benefits all of our partners, are key considerations that drive how we develop and adapt our business. Belief in the power of the music videos will always remain at Vevo’s core.”
Fortunately, Vevo music videos and original content will still be available on YouTube. Users having playlists on Vevo will reportedly be able to convert them to YouTube playlists.
(Image credits: Vevo facebook page, Digitunes.in)


text:
GRAND RAPIDS – Two strong women have opened Phoenix Training GR. It’s the newest personal training studio in Grand Rapids.
At the beginning of the year we introduced you Katrina Goei, owner of Trio Fitness Supply in Grand Rapids, and now she has teamed up with Sarah Kaebel for a new fitness company.
Both women struggled with the question of whether to stay at home with their families or get a job. They mastered the challenges of the pandemic and pushed on and soon found each other through their love of fitness.
Katrina provided Sarah with home fitness equipment, and it wasn’t long before they bonded and partnered as entrepreneurs.
“She really hugged me because I was going to start a business and I just loved it,” said Katrina.
Sarah discovered her love for exercise as an adult while struggling with a chronic illness.
“I didn’t know that I could have this zest for life and this confidence in strength,” said Sarah. “So that really made me want to give this to other people.”
She’s trained and exercised with her friends and now has a place to do personal training, group classes and more.
Phoenix Training GR is holding a grand opening on Saturday, September 11th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.


text:
Glasgow’s primary shopping centre, Silverburn, marked its 15th birthday. The celebration featured the city’s top talent. It also included various giveaways from occupier brands and family-friendly activities.
Adding to the jubilant atmosphere, Silverburn’s 15th birthday was a special highlight. Adding to the jubilant atmosphere, Silverburn’s 15th birthday was a special highlight. The 1,500,000-square-foot shopping centre has been under Workman management since late 2021, but General Manager David Pierotti has been with the centre for each of its 15 years.
And a lot has happened in Silverburn’s first 15 years: the centre has played host to a birth, a proposal, and even a reported ghost-sighting.
In 2007 there was a ‘Royal Opening’ with Princess Anne, and a few years later in 2015 the centre completed a £20m leisure extension, which provided its impressive Winter Garden F&B offering.
Anchored by Tesco, Next and Marks & Spencer, Silverburn has welcomed new brands including Heavenly Desserts, TAG, and Doner Shack during the past year.
Building Community is at the heart of Silverburn, which is committed to supporting local stakeholders:
- 85% of people who work in the centre are from the local area.
- More than £2m has been invested in skills training.
- During lockdown, the centre’s Giving Back programme saw £20,000 donated between 10 deserving local charities.
Here’s to #ShopSilverburn‘s next 15 years!


text:
Parcel flows between Spain and China set to speed up
Alibaba's logistics affiliate Cainiao Network has signed a memorandum of understanding with Spain's state-backed postal and logistics service provider Correos Group.
The partnership will improve parcel traffic between China and Spain, and support e-commerce packages from the AliExpress platform, which targets overseas buyers.
The collaboration also plans to boost exports by small and medium-sized Spanish companies to Europe and ultimately to the entire world through warehouse management, sorting and delivery.
Cainiao and Correos' current partnership has allowed deliveries from China to reach Spain in around 10 days and will be delivered onto consumers within 72 hours.
"The collaboration will enhance logistics efficiency between China and Europe through technological improvements," commented Cainiao President Wan Lin.
The Spanish postal service is also offering AliExpress merchants physical exhibition spaces for online merchandise through its nationwide network of branches.
Correos will work with Cainiao on specific logistical solutions to speed up the distribution of packages.
Last year, Alibaba decided to invest over 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion) to build delivery networks that fulfill domestic deliveries within 24 hours, and global orders within 72 hours.
Some 3,000 logistics companies and service providers are partnering with Cainiao Network to promote swift delivery solutions.


text:
Recall on all Chevy Bolt Vehicles Due to Battery Problems
GM announced in August of this year that all Chevy Bolts, from 2017-2022, have been recalled due to a fire problem when their batteries were fully or almost nearly charged. The Bolt is an all-electric vehicle that was launched in 2017. In 2020 when GM announced that some Bolts might have a fire problem with their batteries, they stated that the cars have the potential of an unattended fire in the high-voltage battery pack underneath the backseat’s bottom cushion. At the time, GM suggested that owners of the 2017-2019 cars could keep driving them however, they couldn’t top off their batteries when charging.
After five Chevy Bolts had caught fire and two injuries were reported, GM decided to recall all Bolt cars and proposed to replace all of the batteries. Owners are also warned to not park their cars near other vehicles until the repairs were performed. The problem is not knowing how long it will take GM to come up with replacement batteries for all of the cars in recall.
Sorrels Law represents individuals and business who have been injured by the wrongful acts of others. Whether it involves a physical injury, personal injury, wrongful death, product failure, fire, explosion, medical malpractice, breach of contract, fraud, business theft or business disputes, call the lawyers at Sorrels Law at 713-496-1100. Or email at firstname.lastname@example.org. The Sorrels Law website address is www.SorrelsLaw.com.


text:
Moscow police detain man who threatened to blow up bank
The man, carrying a bag from a food delivery courier service, entered the Alfa Bank branch office on a main Moscow thoroughfare on Saturday afternoon.
Alfa Bank said its employees at the office escaped through an emergency exit. It was not immediately clear if any customers were caught in the incident.News reports said the man made unspecified demands. (AP) IND IND
- COVID death toll in Delhi mounts to 288; 412 fresh cases
- These Indian states have seen the worst economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Global mobile phone shipments to decline 14.6% in 2020: Gartner
- The latest travel advisory allows hotels to release Indians returning from abroad after 7 days of quarantine — the rest is ‘self isolation’
- Redmi Earbuds S brings a true wireless experience at ₹1,799


text:
RPM International today reported record net income and cash flow, despite a decline in net sales, for its fiscal 2010 second quarter ending Nov. 30, 2009.
RPM International, a holding company, owns subsidiaries that are leaders in specialty coatings, sealants, building materials and related services serving both industrial and consumer markets. RPM's consumer products are used by professionals and do-it-yourselfers for boat repair and home improvement.
RPM's net sales of $858.7 million were down 3.5 percent from the $890 million reported in the fiscal 2009 second quarter.
Net income for the quarter grew 34 percent, to a record $55.9 million from $41.7 million a year ago, while diluted earnings per share improved 30.3 percent, to 43 cents from 33 cents.
"Our net income in the second quarter continued to benefit from cost-reduction programs initiated in the prior fiscal year. Modest consumer segment sales growth continued, while sales in our larger industrial segment remained under pressure in line with our previously stated expectations," said Frank C. Sullivan, chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement.
Net sales for the first half of fiscal 2010 decreased 5.4 percent to $1.77 billion from $1.88 billion a year ago. Net income improved 15.9 percent to a record $128.9 million from $111.2 million in the fiscal 2009 first half.
Diluted earnings per share for the first half of fiscal 2010 increased 16.3 percent, to a record $1 from 86 cents a year ago.
"We continue to anticipate a loss for the seasonally weak fiscal third quarter ending Feb. 28, 2010, but operating results should be significantly improved from the same period last year," Sullivan said. "As a result, we are revising our fiscal 2010 guidance upward to a range of $1.30 to $1.45 compared to the adjusted $1.05 per diluted share earned last year."


text:
Travis Scott Teases Another Nike Air Max 1 Collab Colorway
Earlier this week, the Houston rapper was spotted in what many speculated as an upcoming Nike Air Trainer 1 Mid collaboration. Now, Travis Scott has again been spotted in a colorway from his upcoming Air Max 1 “Cactus Jack” series.
The hip-hop mogul posted a photo with a background seemingly full of clothes, bags and trunks, but what shone through out of these was his much-awaited Air Max 1 “Cactus Jack” sneaker in an all-new colorway.
The pair is placed very prominently on the Louis Vuitton trunk that La Flame is seen leaning against. This particular colorway is the “Saturn Gold/Tea Tree Mist/Tent”, part of his upcoming Air Max 1 collection, designed by Travis himself.
The kicks are rumored to drop sometime during this holiday season and are allegedly priced at $160 USD.
For more updates
A Blunt Story Launches Sustainable Sandals with UNCRUDE and UNWASTE
A BLUNT STORYTM, an up-and-coming name in footwear, has now come up with sandals made from waste plastics and petroleum derived petrochemicals, discarded without a second thought in the fashion and footwear industry. The brand believes it is time to speak up against the over…


text:
Source: The Current Daily
Global fashion brands Mango and Neiman Marcus let shoppers try on products through their “intelligent mirrors”, while Louis Vuitton is focusing on creating virtual product exhibitions on social media.
As the Internet of Business aptly puts it, “blending bricks and clicks with innovative IoT implementations is looking good for retail, especially for shoppers whose hands are always on their mobiles, at home and in the street.”
Lastly, with the ready-to-use AR kits from Google and iOS, the technology is more accessible than ever. For this reason, over the coming years, we can expect to see it adopted by smaller retail players on the market.
With the current spike in online and in-app purchases, comes the opportunity to better understand customer intent. Retailers, especially those with an e-commerce presence or consumer mobile apps, can leverage the data they collect on consumers and engage in customer profiling and segmentation. This entails analyzing a variety of information, such as in-store activities, purchase history, or a sudden change in shopping patterns.
With such data, retailers can offer heavily personalized, AI-powered offers and increase the average basket size and consumer loyalty levels. For instance, Korean discount store Lotte Mart noted a 5-fold increase in response to product offers after they’ve implemented Amazon Personalize – the very technology used by Amazon to power its own real-time recommendations.
Social distancing has proven to limit coronavirus spread, therefore stores with limited staff and self check-outs are going to take over the retail landscape. According to research by Shekel Brainweigh Ltd, 87% of customers declare that they prefer shopping at stores that provide contactless or self-check out options.
Solutions like mobile cashier or scan and go let buyers pay for their shopping quickly and easily. All they have to do is use their phones to scan the items they're interested in and finalize the purchase in a mobile app. The process is contactless, customers can skip queues, which positively impacts health and safety.
The most prominent example of innovative attitude towards shopping is Amazon’s Just Walk Out Technology, which has just expanded to retail outlets outside the US. The technology allows buyers to simply enter the store by scanning the app on their phones, grab the items they want, and leave without checkout.
Source: The Verge
Similar solutions are also being trialed by other players on the US market, such as grocery giant 7-Eleven, who have started testing cashierless stores – initially, only among staff. The brand’s vice president, Mani Suri, says that “introducing new store technology to 7-Eleven employees first has proven to be a very productive way to test and learn before launching to a wider audience”.
Social commerce is on the rise
As of January 2021, it is estimated that Western & Northern Europe have a 79% social media penetration rate, closely followed by North America at 74%. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that social media platforms are monetizing their presence in people’s lives in what is known as social commerce.
We can expect to see a true e-commerce revolution unfold on Western social media in 2021 and beyond.
Most social media channels let you implement chatbots, which can be used for more than simply responding to common customer queries. They can be easily programmed to help hesitant buyers find the right products and finalize their purchase directly in the chat.
Secondly, Facebook has announced that it will introduce Live Shopping – a module that lets people buy during live stream presentations of products.
Given these advancements, it’s a good time for consumer brands to deepen their focus on social media sales’ potential.
There are several global consumer brands that are already leveraging social commerce – including premium brands Louis Vuitton and Burberry, Dutch accessory brand Cluse, and the popular subscription retailer, The Dollar Shave Club.
Robots as assistants
While robots aren’t an entirely new retail technology and are already employed for tasks like product confection, we can expect to see more sophisticated, autonomous robots pave their way into the mainstream.
Firstly, advanced robotics can be used to keep store and warehouse inventory up-to-date. Thanks to real-time stock management, retailers are better prepared to predict demand, lower product waste (i.e. monitor expiration dates), and boost productivity.
Secondly, with ML and AI advancements, voice-activated robots like temi can also be used in-store. Among others, they can be programmed to help consumers find product information, redeem promotions, or finalize purchase.Other brands that introduced robot assistants include San Francisco-based Lowes, whose Lowe Robot helps customers in store, and Amazon, which leverages robo assistants at their warehouse facilities.
Demand forecasting using machine learning
A lot of retailers wonder how the pandemic will impact customer demand with more brands turning to big data for demand forecasting. Accompanied by machine learning, it became one of the most effective and innovative ways for customer-supplier relationship optimization. It helps businesses better manage their logistics and manufacturing processes and even run smarter marketing campaigns.
Thanks to machine learning retailers can improve their forecasting accuracy which minimizes overstocking and cuts warehousing and logistics costs. Additionally, it comes handy in predicting which customers are at risk of churning and as a result implement some churn prevention tactics.
It is no surprise that a tumultuous year like 2020 has pushed the need to innovate in the retail industry to the limit.
In order to be better prepared for what’s coming in 2021 and beyond, retailers have to pay attention to the top technological trends. These include click & collect, in-store & in-app AR shopping experience, real-time recommendations, self-check-outs, social commerce, robots assistants, demand forecasting using machine learning.
As consumers avoid crowds and visits to offline stores, retailers need to strengthen their digital footprints and implement safety measures in physical shopping environments.
In the end, regardless of whether consumers decide to shop in-store or online, one thing remains unchanged – retailers need to provide the absolute best shopping experience.


text:
Vegetables and fruit costs are rising after a serious heat wave followed by downpours harmed huge swathes of farmland, putting more pressure on the wallets of Koreans currently diminished by inflation and increasing energy charges.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 33,004 hectares of farmland and 52 hectares of greenhouses were harmed in current flooding.
An authorities at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation stated, “Even after it stops drizzling and the ground dries, bacterial soft rot spreads, making it tough to raise brand-new crops.”
Some 797,000 animals were eliminated in the floods, which will likewise increase meat rates.
Farmers stated cost boosts up until now have actually been silenced due to existing stockpiles being offered to make up for the deficiency, however they are anticipated to leap a lot more next week.
Downpours and floods harmed 110 hectares of fruit orchards, so the rate of a basket of 10 peaches rose 38 percent compared to a year ago to W25,184, watermelon 16.3 percent, grapes 83 percent, and tomatoes 46.8 percent.
The high cost boosts will increase costs throughout the Chuseok vacation in fall. Previously, the Korea Rural Economic Institute anticipated the apple harvest will fall 17.3 percent, pear production 21.1 percent and peach yields 10.2 percent.
The damage might be magnified when the yearly tropical cyclone season gets here in August.


text:
Changes to McDonald's menu have led to some of the food giant's biggest profits this year, a sign which might herald its long-awaited resurgence. The world's largest fast food hamburger chain will report its fourth-quarter 2015 sales and earnings on Monday, and Wall Street analysts are predicting it might be their best U.S. sales performance in almost four years.
McDonald's recent history has been fraught with disappointing sales and dwindling profits, but this may finally signal a comeback for the world-famous company, whose name has become synonymous with fast food.
According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, much of the recent profit gains, which are predicted to carry over into early 2016 as well, can be attributed to menu changes. McDonald's has always played around with menu changes, but recently the company has taken things to a whole new level.
The Tribune reported on how McDonald's has streamlined the process of its famous menu changes to the point where it can change the menu in thousands of stores in just a few month's time.
"There was a time when McDonald's took years to introduce menu items. Now, under the leadership of CEO Steve Easterbrook, it's often just months. McDonald's launched all-day breakfast in October after only nine months of planning."The average McDonald's menu has about 120 to 140 items, including all available size options. Out of these, about 100 are specific to a region and only 40 classic items, such as Big Macs, chicken nuggets, McChicken, and Filet-O-Fish, are required of franchises.
Typically, McDonald's sends foods to regions where they will be the most popular. Examples, according to the Tribune's report, include chicken items in Atlanta, coffee in Northeastern states, salads on the West Coast, and burgers and sweet potato fries in Texas.
As reported by Inquisitr, McDonald's is also currently testing Monster brand energy drinks in Illinois, and macaroni and cheese in Ohio. Restaurants nationwide were introduced to the new mozzarella sticks this year. The dollar menu is also being phased out in favor of a "pick 2 for $2" deal, and in most locations there is now an All Day Breakfast menu.
According to Investor's Business Daily, the gains for more classic restaurants like McDonald's and Wendy's against more trendy fast-casual eateries were also helped by the financial beating Chipotle has taken following the outbreaks of E. coli and norovirus at several of its locations.
"While Chipotle's (CMG) stock price has lost more than one-third of its value since Oct. 13 — and the chain plans to close more than 1,900 stores for a few hours on Feb. 8 for a companywide meeting on food safety — McDonald's (MCD) shares are up more than 10% over the same period."Shares for McDonald's rose more than 25 percent in 2015, beating out long-time rival Burger King, as well as Wendy's and KFC. McDonald's expects sales to grow us much as 5 percent across the map, income to grow as much as 7 percent, and a double-digit return on invested capital. Investor's Business Daily also reported that CEO Steve Eastbrook revealed his plan to accelerate the pace of McDonald's locations franchising.
"My priorities for McDonald's as a modern, progressive burger company are threefold: driving operational growth, creating brand excitement and enhancing financial value," Easterbrook said. "For too long we've asked customers to adapt to us. A big part of turning that around is giving customers more choice and always adapting to meet their needs."
McDonald's has also announced they will raise wages by 10 percent to pay at least $1 more than the local minimum wage at U.S. restaurants it operates. A corporate press release from McDonald's official website explaining the company's future plans for growth can be found here.
[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]


text:
Philanthropic actor Ryan Gosling recently spoke out against Costco, criticizing the second-largest supermarket chain in the US for not following through with its promise to sell cage-free eggs.
In 2007, the grocery retailer promised to eliminate caged eggs from its supply chain, but new evidence reveals that Costco has failed miserably at achieving its goal. In addition, Costco continues to sell eggs that are not only made under horrific conditions, but are marketed in a highly misleading way.
In response, Gosling openly posted a letter this past Monday sharing his disgust at the discoveries made by undercover investigators from the Humane Society, who managed to sneak into a notorious egg-producing factory called Hillendale, in Pennsylvania.
He wrote: “Video footage revealed abhorrent cruelty including rows upon rows of birds confined in filth-laden cages with the mummified corpses of their cage-mates—eating, sleeping, defecating, and laying eggs on top of dead birds—and hens’ wings, legs, and necks trapped in the corroded wires of their battery cages.”
And the video footage truly is horrifying. Here is the three-minute clip captured which spurred Gosling to action. Warning: Viewer Discretion is advised.
Did Costco actually intend on cleaning up its act when it made the promise to only sell eggs from cage-free hens in 2007? Many of its promises and actions have proven to be conflicting. For example, the retail chain announced it would only source antibiotic-free chicken, but then turned around and agreed to sell GM salmon in its Seattle store. What is going on?
As the Humane Society stated in its initial report on the investigation:
“We understand that companies need time to make major changes, but it’s been nearly a decade and Costco still doesn’t even have a timeline for accomplishing that transition… I am sure that no reasonable observer would expect that company to wait nearly a decade to act on its statement of principles.”
Despite one’s motive for supporting cage-free hens, it seems reasonable to suggest a boycotting of this chain until it follows through with its promise made 8 years ago. Consumers get what they pay for, and it is the demand that prompts change.
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.


text:
New fashion store to open in Workington
Published at 13:34, Friday, 09 November 2012
A new fashion shop will open in Workington town centre next week.
Select Fashion will move into an empty unit in Ivison Lane on Thursday.
Its launch will come two weeks before clothing chain H&M is due to open the doors of its new store in Risman Place.
It will be the third shop that Select Fashion has had in Workington.
The company had a unit at Dunmail Park until 2008, and a previous store in Ivison Lane was taken over by Edinburgh Woollen Mill in 2004.
It will employ two full-time staff and eight part-time workers. It will take over a unit previously occupied by Paperbox and more recently Kiss Cards, which closed in August.
The national women’s fashion shop offers low-price popular fashion, with boots for less than £20 and jeans starting from £10.
H&M’s store, opposite Debenhams, will take up four empty units and has created 30 jobs.
Dave Fletcher, development manager for Washington Square, said: “We want Workington to become a retail hub for west Cumbria and with these two new fashion stores we have the potential to become the fashion capital of West Cumbria.
“This is a massive coup and will help us to attract more shoppers to the town.
“It will save them money in the long run because they will not have to travel to Carlisle.
“We have to try to attract the big retail chains.
“We’re nearly 98 per cent full on Washington Square which I’m delighted with”
Martin O’Rourke, a director of Riddelltps Limited, managing agent for Washington Square, said: “We are delighted to welcome Select into our shopping precinct and look forward to further new tenants starting to trade.”
Another unit in Washington Square was filled this week when Warian Kapur opened Mobile Booth in the former Shake It Up premises, on Campbell-Savours Way.
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
- Funniest Twitter responses to best ever Apprentice episode
- Roman fertility god banned by Facebook
- £450,000 boost to Rosehill theatre redevelopment
- Firm uses Skype to help client in Ebola zone
- Will Lloyds Bank branches in Cumbria be saved from the axe?
- Firms urged to aim higher at Growth Twenty14
- Over 2000 new businesses set up in Cumbria this year
- MPs press rail minister to invest in Furness line
- 20,000 will use Carlisle airport to get to USA
- Cumbria business discovers amazing Roman treasure
- Cranston’s: we won’t leave to grow
- Hotel wins top Facebook award
- Cumbria businessman lauded nationally as visionary
- Keep ownership until cash is in the bank
- Never underestimate the importance of lists
- Eight global markets already lined up for Lakes Gin
- Lakeland kitchenware predicting rapid growth
- Nuclear skills time bomb can be halted
- Should firms support Labour's minimum wage plans?
- Carlisle Living Awards: winners revealed
- Cumbrian village digs its own broadband network
- Story Homes submits plan for 190 houses in north Carlisle (46 comments)
- Record occupancy for Cumbria hotel
- Cumbria apprentice’s experiment set to be highlight of fair
- Maryport firm creates special pitch for blind footballers
- Carlisle lingerie shop in running for national award
- Service boosted by Cumbria bikers’ charity ride
- Social media idea to help firms grow
- Cumbria jobcentre changes
- Cumbria nuclear expert’s joy at young people’s success