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Perhaps this is wishful thinking, or maybe pent-up demand will indeed give the economy a lift as the pandemic lockdown ends. Either way, Wall Street is hanging on to every offhand comment from corporate executives for clues as to when consumers will finally be ready to venture outside and open their wallets.
Manufacturer 3M (NYSE:MMM) Co. and drugmaker Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), among others, have said the second quarter is likely to be a low point for the economy before a rebound begins. Automakers are cautiously coalescing around plans to reopen North American assembly plants early next month after weeks of inactivity. As Pfizer CFO Frank D’Amelio put it on a conference call Tuesday, “Punch line: second-half recovery.”
Some data would seem to support that there’s nowhere to go but up, especially in the consumer world. Traffic across retail has fallen 98%, according to location-data provider Prodco Analytics. Restaurant researcher MillerPulse reported that same-store sales fell 83% at casual-dining chains in the last week of March.
Some companies are now mapping out a path forward. Starbucks, which has already learned from the reopening experience in China, says it has moved on from an initial “shelter at home” phase to a “monitor and adapt” stance. This includes store-by-store decisions on when to expand operations to takeout (from inside entryways), delivery and, in some limited instances, dine-in.
CEO Kevin Johnson says it’s inevitable that sooner or later, wary consumers will venture outside the safety of their homes.
“The fact is that, as human beings, we have this natural gravitational pull to interact with other humans,” Johnson said.
There are, of course, a wide range of winners and losers across the corporate landscape, and each company’s timeline varies depending on geography and industry. Restaurants, department stores and airlines have been especially hard hit, while big-scale retailers like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). and Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc., as well as food and consumer goods companies like Clorox (NYSE:CLX) Co. and General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS)., have experienced an unexpected wave of new demand.
When the recovery starts to gather momentum, these companies may start to see an inverse pull as shoppers start to reallocate their dollars back to other areas. For example, Keurig Dr Pepper (NYSE:KDP) Inc. said that consumers stocked up on crates of soft drinks and bottled water at the start of the lockdown, but that has started to slow.
Others, like PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Inc., say that Americans that initially stocked up on products such as Quaker Oats are actively replenishing their pantries — a sign that people are indeed consuming higher quantities of the goods from before.
Despite glimmers of hope, the overall outlook remains undeniably bleak. Millions of workers across the country have lost their jobs, either temporarily or permanently, and more could soon. With growing numbers of companies inching toward bankruptcy, the effects of joblessness will ripple through the economy and could continue to depress demand well after the economy reopens.
“The effect and the experience in Covid-19 will affect all of us for the rest of our lifetime,” Starbucks’ Johnson said.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.


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Originally launched as a way to vote on new technology products, Product Hunt has since greatly expanded to include media like podcasts and books as well as games and other content. Product Hunt rolled out a visually refreshed home page a couple weeks back to reflect the evolution, and today the service is unveiling a redesigned iPhone app with new features to match…
products Stories December 10, 2015
products Stories December 9, 2014
Some Bose products now back up for sale on Apple Online Store after nearly two months
A few months ago, Apple unceremoniously dropped Bose headphones and speakers from the Apple Online and Retail Stores. The move appears to have been temporary, however, as Apple has added some Bose sound products back to its online storefront this evening, including its popular Bluetooth-enabled SoundLink III and SoundLink Mini wireless speakers and QuietComfort acoustic noise canceling headphones.
products Stories May 28, 2014
Eddy Cue: Apple has the best product pipeline in 25 years coming later this year [Video]
(Image via Re/code)
In case you were wondering if Apple does indeed plan to release some new products this year, perhaps in time for WWDC early next month, Eddy Cue made an extremely confident statement about what Apple has planned. During his interview at the Code Conference, the same one where he shared some of the latest stats on iTunes, Cue just said that Apple has the best product pipeline he’s seen in over 25 years with new products coming later this year:
I have been working with Tim since 1997. We started the online store together. Cook is extremely thorough, he has tremendous vision. He cares tremendously about building great products. Looking at the executive team, the reason we are successful is because of our focus. We are not smart enough to do 100 great things. We want to do a few incredible things, and that hasn’t changed. We’re going to keep going down that path… Later this year, we’ve got the best product pipeline that I’ve seen in my 25 years at Apple”
products Stories August 8, 2013
T-Mobile CEO teases carrier will expand its Apple product offerings (iPad?)
Following this morning’s T-Mobile announcement of a jump in customer base, thanks somewhat to Apple’s iPhone, T-Mobile CEO John Legere teased an expansion of what Apple products his company offers. In an interview with AllThingsD, Legere said the following:
“I think there’s a whole array of Apple products that we look forward to carrying,” Legere said. “We will expand what we offer from them.”
The first part of the quote seems to be referring to upcoming, rumored Apple product launches such as two new iPhone models. Apple is planning an “iPhone 5S” with improved camera and voice features plus the potential of a biometric fingerprint scanner. Also in the works is a low-cost, plastic-based iPhone model. We previously noted that Apple would debut an “army” of new products this fall, and the company says it plans to have an aggressive product rollout this fall and throughout 2014.
The second part of the quote is a bit more assertive, however. Legere outright says that his carrier will expand its Apple product offerings. T-Mobile currently does not carry the cellular-enabled iPads, so perhaps Apple will team up with the carrier to also sell tablets. Apple has expanded its iPad carrier options over the past couple of years, starting in 2010 with AT&T, adding Verizon in 2011, and Sprint in 2012. Perhaps T-Mobile will be the 2013 addition with the upcoming fifth-generation iPad. (Image via Fox).

domain: news


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Invested In Fingerlix Last Month, This Is The Second Investment From Alteria Capital’s Maiden $154.5 Mn Fund, Closed Recently
Bengaluru-based fashion startup Universal Sportsbiz Pvt Ltd (USPL) has raised $4.64 Mn (INR 30 Cr) of venture debt fund from newly launched venture debt fund Alteria Capital.
The venture debt funding has come shortly after USPL raised a fresh round of investment of over $15.45 Mn (INR 100 Cr) from their existing investor Accel Partners in November, last year.
Commenting on the fundraise, Anjana Reddy, Founder & CEO of USPL stated, “Taking venture debt from Alteria was a simple decision given the relationship involved and their understanding of startups as well as expertise in debt structuring. High growth companies need access to multivariate sources of capital and it is great for Indian startups to have more access to Venture Debt.”
Backed by Sachin Tendulkar, co-owned by Virat Kohli, the fashion startup USPL was founded by Anjana Reddy in 2012. The USPL’s portfolio of brands includes WROGN, a men’s casual wear brand inspired by Team India Captain Virat Kohli. While Imara is a contemporary women’s ethnic fashion brand and Ms Taken is a signature women’s western wearline.
Speaking about the investment, Vinod Murali, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Alteria Capital stated, “Anjana has consistently delivered on stated objectives and built a great team to take the business to the next level. She has built a very strong business with three contemporary brands including Wrogn and India is starved of good local brands, especially in the apparel segment.”
The venture debt fund in USPL is the second investment from Alteria Capital’s maiden $154.5 Mn fund. Alteria had recently announced its first investment in foodtech startup Fingerlix (Maverix Platforms Pvt Ltd).
Ajay Hattangdi, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Alteria Capital said, “The consumer segment in India is looking very attractive and USPL is very well positioned to emerge as a winner in this space.”
Recently launched by Ajay Hattangdi and Vinod Murali, Alteria Capital is a venture debt fund with an $123.6 Mn (INR800 Cr) corpus and a greenshoe option of $31 Mn (INR 200 Cr). Alteria had announced a first close in February 2018 with $55 Mn (INR356 Cr) of commitments which included anchor investments from IndusInd Bank and a large Indian family office foundation.
As per the commitments, Alteria will provide venture debt to high growth, innovative Indian startups with a cheque size range of $311K – 15.45 Mn (INR 2 Cr – INR100 Cr). The fund will be used to back VC-funded startups across diverse sectors, including consumer, technology, healthcare, logistics, education technology and food technology, among others. The venture debt firm will primarily look at Series A to late stage startups.
While the venture debt fund Alteria Capital has now successfully closed investments in two startups USPL and Fingerlix in the last one month, the fund aims to invest in 80-100 startups in the course of next three to four years.


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RECALL ALERT: Tylenol Dramatically Expands Recall, More Childrens Meds on the ListCole Gamble
After voluntarily recalling a litany of children’s and adult mediation at the end of December, Tylenol manufacturer McNeil announced an expanded recall today that includes more children’s medications.
In a media briefing today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hammered McNeil for not responding faster to problems in a McNeil manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico.
The expanded recall dwarfs the initial recall. This new recall adds 54 million bottles of product to the recall, bringing the grand total to 60 million. The new list includes Children’s Motrin caplets and chewables, Children’s Tylenol meltaways, Extra-Strength Tylenol caplets and EZ tabs, Rolaids chewables, Benadryl tablets, and St. Joseph’s aspirin chewables and tablets.
The recall revolves around a chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA), which results from the breakdown of a chemical in wood pallets used to transport and store packaging materials for the drugs. Products with the chemical tend to have a musty odor and have been linked to sickness and vomiting, though no fatalities have been reported at this time.
Ironically, in the original recall story we featured a picture of Jr. Tylenol Metaways with the disclosure that the product was not on the recall list and now it is.
Find the full list HERE


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ONLINE RETAIL GIANT Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX tablets will be coming to the UK, along with its cheaper Kindle Fire HD tablet.
Amazon outed its new tablet lineup in the US earlier this month, but gave punters no clues as to whether they would see a release in the UK. The firm has finally revealed that its 7in and 8.9in Kindle Fire HDX tablets will be released in the UK in time for Christmas, as the firm looks to challenge the new Google Nexus 7 and Apple's upcoming iPad Mini.
The 7in Amazon Kindle Fire HDX is available to pre-order now from £199. That will get you the 16GB model, while the 32GB and 64GB models are priced at £229 and £259, respectively. The larger 8.9in tablet is priced at £329, £369 and £409, respectively, depending on how much storage you want.
Amazon's 7in Kindle Fire HDX tablet will start shipping on 13 November, while the 8.9in model will arrive on 19 November. Both tablets are also available in 4G models, which adds an extra £60 to their prices.
The cheaper Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablet, which features a slimmer and lighter design than its predecessor and is available in 8GB and 16GB models, is available to buy for £119 or £139. This model will start shipping on 24 October.
Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX tablets are the retailer's highest specification tablets to date, with the 7in model featuring a 1920x1200 display and the 8.9in model a 2560x1600 display. Both the 7in and 8.9in models have quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors, 2GB of RAM, Adreno 330 graphics, dual cameras, support for 4G LTE, 11 hours of battery life and the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean mobile operating system.
Vodafone said it will be providing the tablet's 4G connectivity, with the tablets shipping with a SIM card pre-installed. Users will be given 5GB of data free for three months, and then will have the option of signing up with Vodafone to continue the contract.
Amazon will introduce some new software features on its Kindle Fire HDX tablets too. Chief among these is Fire OS 3.0, codenamed Mojito. This will give the tablets new features such as business focused productivity apps, X-Ray Music, improved social networking integration and a new Mayday button, which offers remote support for new tablet users. µ
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The ITU has taken a big step in the standardisation of G.fast, a broadband technology capable of achieving download speeds of up to 1Gbps over copper telephone wire.
An ITU group has approved a successor to the H.264 video encoding standard, opening the door to future video transmission using only half the bandwidth that's now required.
The UN's telecommunications standards organization has approved a standard for deep packet inspection (DPI) that raises serious concerns about privacy, the Center for Democracy and Technology said.
Sparking a fresh round of debate over an ongoing issue in time-keeping circles, the International Telecommunications Union is considering eliminating leap seconds from the time scale used by most computer systems, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
The International Telecommunication Union on Friday gave final approval to G.hn, a standard for high-speed home networking that spans coaxial cable, electrical wiring and phone lines.
Finding ways to limit DoS attacks and SMS spam by making it harder to spoof the origin of electronic communications is on the agenda at a telecommunications standards meeting this week -- but civil rights advocates worry it could put an end to anonym...
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First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.


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Craig Mazin, the creative mind behind HBO’s Chernobyl, will adapt the PlayStation exclusive The Last of Us into a TV show. Neil Druckmann, who wrote and directed the game, will work with Mazin on the project.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The project is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television in association with PlayStation Productions. It will be the first television series from PlayStation Productions.”
This is the first of many shows we intend to develop with our friends at PlayStation Productions. The Last of Us is a brilliant achievement in storytelling and character development, and we are lucky to have the opportunity to work with this team to adapt it.
Chris Parnell, co-president of Sony Pictures Television Studios
Mazin says he’s been dreaming about adapting The Last of Us for television for years. And he sounds like the right person to produce the show, given his work on the gut-wrenching and yet moving experience that is Chernobyl.
The HBO adaptation will mostly focus on the original game, with possible incursions into the territory of the upcoming sequel which is due out in May 29.
The news comes at a time when the Netflix Witcher adaptation has shown how the IP holders can capitalize on adapting their franchises for other entertainment categories. The release of the Witcher show contributed to The Witcher 3’s surge in sales during Q4 2019. U.S. December physical sales for the game were 554 percent higher than December 2018. In December, the game also had more concurrent players than it did at launch.
It’s safe to assume that the 17 million copies that The Last of Us has already sold (counting the PS4 remaster) will not be the game’s last achievement. And as confirmed by Sony Pictures Television Studios, more PlayStation hits might be adapted for television in the future.
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) March 5, 2020


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June 30, 2020
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — At least six people in North Dakota have been sickened with an illness associated with bagged salad mixes, according to the state Department of Health.
The cases are part of a larger outbreak occurring in Midwestern states. All six in North Dakota ate Marketside brand salad.
The mixed salads were sold at Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco and Aldi grocery stores and are contaminated with cyclospora, a parasite that can cause flu-like symptoms. The other brands are Hy-Vee and Little Salad Bar.
Consumers in 12 states are affected by a recall of the products which have sickened dozens of people, including some who were hospitalized.


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Critics of carbon taxes howl the loudest about what they fear will be the economic impact of any move to increase the cost of activities that pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Adding this new tax to the cost of doing business, they say, will undermine existing enterprises and discourage investment in new ones, not to mention cripple Canada's international competitiveness if other countries don't impose a similar tax.
There is both some truth and some hokum in these claims.
To the extent that a carbon tax is revenue neutral -- and both the B.C. government and the federal Liberals pledge that theirs will be -- it's bunk to suggest it will negatively impact all existing businesses and impede the establishment of new ones.
No doubt some businesses -- those that create a lot of emissions -- will face a big new tax bill. But there's another side to this equation that provides some important balance. Every single business, the emitters and the squeaky clean, will benefit from a corresponding lightening of the tax load on income and/or capital. Thus some existing businesses will wind up better off, some will be worse off, and some will be prodded to change their ways in order to gain a tax advantage.
Similarly, new investment will actually be encouraged in low-emission activities and technologies -- which is, after all, the whole point of a carbon tax.
But to the extent that efforts to reduce emissions incur additional costs -- whether the spending done directly by government, necessitated by tax policy, or mandated by regulation -- the impact on international competitiveness is a real worry. If Canada imposes costs on its industries but other countries do not, it will be bad news for our companies.
So it's an irony, given the way the debate has been cast, that a properly designed carbon tax could actually help Canada avoid the problem of shooting ourselves in the foot.
This is important because, no matter whether you have faith in politicians' promises about revenue neutrality, you can be sure greenhouse gas reductions are going to create some significant costs. Whether the reduction efforts spring from Canadians' own desires or pressure from our trading partners, whether the mechanism is regulation, taxation or market forces, the costs will mount. And ultimately they'll fall to you and me through either tax or price increases.
In the absence of any worldwide agreement being reached anytime soon, the way to absorb these costs without harming Canada's international competitiveness is to structure a carbon tax along the lines of value-added taxes such as the GST.
Such taxes -- as a KPGM survey released this week confirms -- are about as simple as any tax gets, to comply with and to administer. And because it's applied at every stage of the manufacturing and retailing process, but only to the domestic value added by each step, it has zero impact on competitiveness.
If a Canadian firm exports what it makes, any value-added tax paid is automatically refunded. And if a retailer imports goods from abroad, the tax would be applied to the selling price, thus putting imports on an absolutely equal footing with goods that are manufactured and sold domestically.
The exact same principle could apply with a carbon-added tax.
Tom Courchene, a Queen's University economist who promotes this concept in a paper published by the Institute for Research on Pubic Policy, notes that it is more difficult to track carbon-added at each stage of manufacturing and distribution than to calculate the value-added component that is the basis of the GST. But the same computerized systems that bring components together from all parts of the world for eventual assembly and consumption can be used to make the task manageable.
The beauty of the system is that, if it's adopted by our trading partners, their manufacturers will be refunded the domestic tax they pay in the country of origin, so adding the tax here won't artificially inflate the price of imported goods. But nor will it disadvantage Canadian products, because imports and exports alike will be taxed identically. This feature will, not incidentally, allow the tax to pass muster with anti-protectionist components of international trade deals.
At the same time, countries that impose no emission controls on their manufacturers won't get a free hand to flood our markets with cheap, "dirty" goods.
So, yes, there will be a cost involved in lowering emissions -- just as there's a cost that we all pay now for safer cars, cleaner water, better street lighting and a host of other things that society finds it prudent to provide. But that cost -- like the ones we already bear through a combination of prices and taxes -- doesn't have to cripple our economic base.
Visit Don Cayo's blog at www.vancouversun.com/blogs


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Great Falls Big Bear closing, North 40 to take over building and neighboring Kmart
After more than 50 years in business, the Great Falls Big Bear Sporting Goods store is closing its doors.
The building was sold to North 40 Outfitters, which announced Monday that it has secured rights to the former Big Bear building and has also finalized a lease to occupy the former Kmart location at 1000 3rd St. N.W.
“We’ve been in business in Great Falls for approximately 55 years," said Chuck McKenzie, one of Big Bear's owners, who has been with the company 45 years. "One of my friends characterized it as an end of an era, and that kind of choked me up a little.”
Customers still have some time to make their last shopping trips and say their goodbyes, though, as no definite closing date has been set.
The store will close Feb. 12 and 13 to prepare for its going-out-of-business sale, which begins on Valentine's Day.
New store hours also take effect at that time. Big Bear will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
The future of the Billings Big Bear location is also uncertain at this point, reports the Billings Gazette. Owners are working to finish the claim process with their insurance company after a 10-hour standoff in November caused significant damage to the store and led to the death of the suspect, who was shot by police.
This will be the second location for North 40 in Great Falls, and the store at 4400 10 Ave. S. will remain open.
Remodeling and construction plans for the new store are still preliminary, according to Monday's release, but the remodel could begin as soon as March.
"We saw an opportunity to expand our business base to further serve the city of Great Falls and the wider region surrounding our community here," said North 40 co-owner Wayne Wike in the release. "This will be an exciting, substantial addition for our company and city."
North 40, formerly Big R Stores, maintains product lines focusing on farm and ranch needs but has expanded to include sporting goods, clothing, footwear, automotive, tools, pet, lawn and garden and hardware in recent years.
The new location will carry similar lines of products. When the remodel is complete, the building will be approximately 82,000 square feet.
An opening date for the new North 40 has not been set.


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Shelf-stable foods have come a long way in the past few years. Allpax, powered by ProMach, joined forces with the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Louisiana State University (LSU) Agricultural Center to help North American shelf-stable food companies succeed.
Greg Jacob, general manager of Allpax, says the company is taking a different approach to the retort equipment market. “The modular design of Allpax’s retort equipment allows customers to easily upgrade or expand. The Allpax 2402 multi-mode retort is capable of exceeding all commercially available retort and agitation modes.”
Acording to Dr. Louise Wicker, professor and director of the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, LSU Agricultural Center, “Taste is a fundamental driver of food sales. By combining food formulation with messaging that connects with a target audience, shelf-stable foods can fit the lifestyles of the most discerning consumer.”
The partnership with the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, LSU Agriculture Center, and Allpax offers sensory science and packaging laboratories, experienced faculty who have relationships with global food development, and marketing leaders, in addition to the R&D Retort by Allpax. The Allpax Shaka® retort dramatically reduces the cook and cooling timer required for in-container sterilization of low-acid foods. “We have the ability to prepare and package foods into metal cans and injection in-mold-label oxygen barrier packaging,” Wicker said. “We can evaluate foods after retort processing for quality, acceptance, and stability and allow informed decisions about commercial viability.”
An Allpax 2402 multi-mode retort on display at PACK EXPO Las Vegas is similar to the one used at LSU. Each 2402 multimode R&D retort is customized to the specifications of the lab. One unit can offer as many modes as the customer chooses. These multi-mode retorts can run saturated steam, steam air overpressure, water immersion, water spray, and water cascade processes in combination with seven changeable modular agitation modes — still, end-over-end, swinging, Gentle Motion shaking (low-speed), The Shaka (high-speed), hydrostatic simulation, and axial rotation. These units accommodate cans, bottles, pouches, cups, trays, metals, glass, plastics, and double-seam film and foil closures and are capable of testing flavors and films.


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This last month brought some interesting stories.
The Canadian federal election brought change to the Canadian political landscape, the effect of which will be gauged in the coming months and years. For now we have a fresh start, with a new leader and a chance to effect change ... we'll see how it plays out.
Pre-Xmas online shopping was up 25% and worldwide shipments of PCs increased more than 10% in 2005. Hudson tells us that IT pros were happy in December, but maybe it was just the season because the Computing Technology Industry Association suggest that 60% of IT professionals want a job change! There are now more than 111 million internet users in China, and recent developments suggest Google want access to that market ... even if it means censorship! Conexant is investing $250 million into its India operations, Microsoft is establishing 90 software development centres around the world (already has 60) and four DRAM manufacturers have now been fined for price fixing.
On the M&A front Symantec and CA both had $370 million plus acquisitions, Google bought a radio advertising company for $102 million cash (but the actual cost could be MUCH higher). IBM, Wipro, Amerivault and Kforce were all buying too.
Of companies that reported earnings last quarter Wipro continues to put up big numbers, their Indian competitor Infosys also appeared to do well but missed analyst expectations. CA had positive news and Microsoft had record quarterly revenues. IBM and CGI both reported declining revenues but improved profits, which as a business owner would be great news but does not seem to satisfy "the street".
You can get more details at the Eagle Website.


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BELGIUM – Dutch dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina is doubling down on its sustainability agenda by investing in a new PET line in its production facility in Aalter, Belgium.
The line is the company’s third PET line in Belgium and was installed as part of its ‘Nourishing a better planet’ sustainability programme, presented at the end of 2020.
The investment will enable FrieslandCampina’s milk and cream producers to switch from HDPE bottles to PET bottles made of recycled material.
The dairy cooperative will roll out a more environmentally friendly lid or tethered cap that will remain attached to the bottle to prevent litter.
Local brands, such as Campina, Joyvalle, Fristi, and Cécémel are produced in the facility, as are Chocomel – for the Netherlands and other markets – and the dairy brand Yazoo, destined for the UK.
As a result of this investment, dairy brand Debic will also be added to the portfolio for Europe and Asia in future.
FreislandCampina’s investment comes against a backdrop of increased demand for sustainable packaging by an environmentally-conscious consumer.
A 2021 Trivium packaging report revealed that Two-thirds (67%) of consumers consider it important that the products they buy are in recyclable packaging.
Additionally, more than half (54%) of consumers who participated in the study said that they take sustainable packaging into consideration when selecting a product.
Younger consumers — those 44 years and younger — are leading the charge, with 83% reporting that they are willing to pay more for it, compared to 70% of all consumers.
With demand for sustainable packaging being on the rise, FrieslandCampina said it is ‘homing in on increased demand for sustainably packaged dairy products’ through this investment.
Jeroen Van de Broek, managing director, FrieslandCampina Belgium and France, said, “The new line in Aalter fits in with our long-term sustainable policy throughout the chain from grass to glass: on the farm, in our production facilities and for our packaging.
Moreover, the investment also dovetails with our stated ambition to ensure that 100% of our packaging is recyclable or reusable by 2025.”
FrieslandCampina made an investment in its second PET line last year, a move that made the group the first dairy producer in Belgium to introduce 100% recyclable (rPET) bottles.
The dairy co-operative credited the move for its first ‘Packaging & Label’ award in the innovative packaging and packaging materials category.
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Backgammon may not have the cachet of poker but online gaming firms believe it will be the next big thing, not least because it is a game of skill and unlikely to fall foul of American regulators.
One of the oldest games in the world – it was invented in Mesopotamia in 5,000 BC – was slow to set up shop in the online market but has shown growth to match that of poker in its early years.
Play65, the Cyprus-based market leader, has 500,000 registered users after less than a year’s trading, and predicts the online backgammon market will be between 70 per cent and 80 per cent the size of the poker market in by 2009.
An ambitious target, perhaps, but the big beasts of online gaming are ready to throw their weight behind the game. Backgammon is strongly rumoured to be one of two new games PartyGaming, the world’s biggest internet poker operator, will launch this year.
Mati Gross of tc.ads, the marketing arm of Play65, says stiffer competition will take backgammon to a new level. “The more companies get into it, the more money will be spent on advertising and promotion, and the higher the game’s profile will be. Online backgammon will take off.”
The game’s popularity in Arab and Mediterranean countries, which have yet to succumb to the internet poker revolution, is a major selling point. But can the coffee house players of Istanbul be dragged onto the internet and persuaded to open up their wallets?
David McDowell of GameAccount, the UK’s largest skill game operator, says: “Five years ago poker was a game played in garages and basements but people soon flocked to play the game online.”
He predicts backgammon will become the “New Poker” and says internet gambling firms are beating down his door to help them tap in to foreign markets.
Peter Dubens, the chairman of Ukbetting, one of the first gambling websites in the UK to offer backgammon, is similarly bullish. He says: “The more broadband internet expands across the world the more the online game will grow. It has great potential.”
Backgammon’s strong skill element also allows it to evade the regulatory pressures that have hampered the growth of online poker in the US. Though gaming regulations on the other side of the Atlantic are notoriously ill-defined, backgammon is widely considered to fall just the right side of the chance-luck divide, making it easier for online firms to promote their sites and process payments.
This summer the game’s profile will be raised by the first televised $1m backgammon championship, raising the profile of backgammon even more.


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US firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice is expected to be confirmed as the grocer's new owner at a price of 287p per share after a four-month bidding war. But MPs and tax campaigners said the deal 'stinks' and will likely result in Morrisons paying less tax to the Exchequer. Sir Terry Leahy, who led the CD&R bid, wrote to an MP seeking to provide assurances that Morrisons 'will remain a British business, registered and headquartered in the UK'. Experts said this was only partly relevant as they raised a red flag over the financing of the deal.
Going green could create £160bn and 130,000 jobs for small firms - now we can ALL cash in, says NatWest boss
In her first big interview, Alison Rose tells how carbon fight can boost banks and customers. Rose has put climate change at the heart of her strategy since she became chief executive of NatWest in 2019. She has linked her senior bankers' bonuses to climate-related targets - and her own pay. When Rose took the baton from Ross McEwan, she became the first female boss of a major British high street lender. Before that, the 52-year-old led NatWest's commercial and private banking division among other senior roles, having joined the bank in 1992 as a graduate trainee.
With Morrisons set to fall into the hands of US buyout barons, a new book argues most private equity is just a giant racket - I'm inclined to agree, says RUTH SUNDERLAND
Investors, who are awfully keen on social responsibility if it involves green energy, women's health or LGBTQ and less so if it entails saying no to rapacious predators, will probably wave the deal through. But the outlook is darkening for leveraged buyouts. The last time there was a full-on private equity frenzy in the UK was back in the noughties when a string of disastrous transactions were hatched, including the AA, Debenhams and EMI.
The 20 used cars that have shot up in value in the last six months - and if owners sell now they could pocket THOUSANDS of pounds extra
EXCLUSIVE: With new car supplies low and orders placed today not expected to arrive for up to a year, the second-hand market is going through a 'bonkers' period of demand that has pushed average prices of used models 21% higher than they were a year ago. This is Money, using exclusive data provided by cap hpi, can reveal which 20 older cars have risen in value most in the previous six months, with used Toyota Auris hybrids and Vauxhall's Zafira family MPV accelerating in price by almost 60%.
Ones to watch in the lands of the rising dividend: Asian funds' payments fell back far less than UK in pandemic and could offer investors growth potential
Income funds concentrating on specific regions or countries of the world - for example, Asia, North America, Japan and emerging markets - have attracted investor interest. According to the latest data compiled by investment house Janus Henderson, global dividends are expected to grow this year by nearly 11 per cent with Europe, the UK and Asia Pacific leading the way.
My night in a caravan on a roof looking at St Paul's: Caravan sales are booming and SIMON LAMBERT was invited to live the high life and test one out
A combination of being cooped up at home, rediscovering the countryside, and breaks in the UK rather than risk a game of holiday-abroad roulette, has sparked a British camping and caravanning boom. Off the back of that, caravan-maker Bailey of Bristol stuck one on the top of London's One New Change overlooking St Paul's for a rooftop party - and then invited us to stay there. Despite the reservations that have led him to so far never spend a night in a caravan, Simon Lambert (pictured) thought he'd better say 'yes' to such a once-in-a-lifetime invite. He explains how the £27,999 caravan measured up on a highly unusual pitch.
ODYSSEAN INVESTMENT TRUST: Investing in UK's smallest listed firms, fund aims to find hidden value by buying stocks in market minnows
Investment trust Odyssean has not had the easiest of starts. Launched in May 2018 to make money from investing in some of the country's smallest listed companies, it got off to an inauspicious beginning before seeing its shares plunge in the run-up to lockdown in March last year. But since then, the trust has powered ahead with the share price at one stage hitting £1.70. Its shares now trade at £1.57, a pleasing 57 per cent return for shareholders who came in at the start. The modus operandi is built around stock picking. The trust only holds 17 stocks with the emphasis being on finding companies that at some stage will be attractive to other investors.
If you had £15,000 in Premium Bonds, how long would you wait for a £50 prize? SIMON LAMBERT on the study showing savers need a lot of patience
We know we probably won't win £1million - although casually dream of it anyway - and realise that we're unlikely to bag one of the rare £100,000. £50,000 or even £25,000 prizes, but it's the small wins that keep us going. Yet, even those might be harder to come by than you think, according to a new piece of research. It says someone with a £1,000 holding would wait 213 years for a better than 50:50 chance of winning a £50 prize.
Is Aldi looking for sites near you? Supermarket chain has Penzance, Cheltenham and Guildford in its sights amid plans to open 100 stores
Aldi is on the hunt for property development sites in key hotspots up and down the country where it is looking to open new stores. The German discount supermarket plans to open 100 new stores over the next two years, with ambitious plans to ensure its shops are on the doorsteps of more customers. The chain has revealed it is on the lookout for new freehold developments in town centre locations or 'edge-of-town' hubs 'suitable for property development.'
House price growth slows but is STILL on the up as buyers compete for the most sought-after homes and listings stay low
The pace of house price growth slowed last month, as the stamp duty holiday came to an end for good, new data has shown. But, prices are still rising all over the country, with hefty price spikes seen in Northern Ireland, Wales and the West Midlands. The number of homes being sold also slipped for the third consecutive month in September, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said in its closely-watched survey.
Average house price soars by £50k in five years as pandemic property craze sets coastal locations buzzing
The average price of a home in Britain has climbed £49,257 in the five years to July this year, according to Zoopla. The property website also put the total value of homes across Britain at £9.2trillion - made up of £8.2billion held within privately-owned homes and £1trillion held within social housing.
First-time buyers see sub-2% mortgage rates for first time since before the pandemic - but potential base rate rise could soon kibosh them
According to Experian, daily mortgage applications among borrowers in their 30s were up 14 per cent in September 2021 compared to the previous month, while applications from those in their 20s increased 9 per cent. Month-on-month, mortgage rates on 10 and 5 per cent deposit products have dropped more than those on 40 per cent deposit mortgages, where rates have fallen dramatically in recent times. 'Now is a really good time for a first time buyer to get a really good mortgage deal,' says Matt Coulson, mortgage broker at Heron Financial.
Major lenders HSBC and NatWest turn the tide to increase rates on super-low interest mortgage deals - is it a 'sure sign' of an impending base rate rise?
While the rises are not severe, they could continue to increase over time as they are tied to the base rate, which is also set to gradually rise. Mortgages have recently been one of the few household expenses to remain relatively cheap in historic terms, amid rises in the cost of food and energy bills. Mortgage rates for those with deposits of 25% or more have hit record lows in the past few months, with the lowest bottoming out at 0.83% for a two-year fix.
Squid Game is TV's big new show and from Genesis, to Kia's EV6 and Hyundai's futuristic electric Ioniq 5, Korean cars are now hot property too
Have you noticed how South Korea - and its cars - have suddenly become very hip? The latest example of Korean cool is the TV series Squid Game, which has become streaming service Netflix's most-watched original series ever. And then there are the cars, with the likes of Hyundai, Kia, newly arrived luxury brand Genesis, and off-road specialists SsangYong making waves with popular new vehicles.
GRACE ON THE CASE: I sold an amplifier on eBay for £220 but the buyer claims it never arrived - now I'm out of pocket
I sold an amplifier on eBay for collection only at £220. The buyer messaged me to ask if he could arrange his own courier and paid via PayPal. I agreed and a UPS delivery man came to collect the item on the day the buyer advised. However, a few days later, I received a message from the buyer saying he has still not received the item and UPS said they hadn't collected it despite tracking details showing otherwise. How do I get my money back?
Bulls and bears may sound like nicknames for American football teams but they are important reference points for investors in the stock market. Most people will be familiar with the statue of a bull in America's financial district Wall Street, which acts as a symbol of stock market confidence as assets are charging upwards. On the flipside, markets are said to become bearish once they lose their grip and the value of assets slide.
Three in five drivers would consider buying an electric car in 2022, says report - but could fresh plans to slash EV grants derail consumer appetite?
Improving charging infrastructure, growing range of different models and prospect of fuel shortages and higher petrol and diesel prices are the main driving forces behind an increased desire to switch. However, reports emerging this week claim there is a stand-off between Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps over plans to slash EV grants that could scupper consumer appetite for green plug-in models.
Beat the bill squeeze: From eco kettles and smart heating controls to covering the windows with cling film... the small changes that can result in big savings
Whether it's putting on a woolly jumper and turning the thermostat down or covering the windows with cling film, there are lots of ways to cut down on energy bills this winter. Record wholesale gas prices and the collapse of a dozen energy firms providing cheap tariffs mean many of us are bracing ourselves ahead of the cold weather.
As a Waspi woman who has had her state pension delayed by six years, I finally qualify this month. Even though I have 40 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions, I didn't expect the full pension of £179.60 per week because I have been contracted out of state top-up schemes while working for local government and the NHS. But I was shocked that the final amount was just £157.90 per week - £1,128.40 per year less than a full pension. I've talked to the DWP, Future Pension Centre and HMRC 14 times - but no-one can explain why this is the case.
Have you booked YOUR Christmas food delivery? We reveal when supermarkets will release slots with demand already strong
Shoppers are looking to stock up for the festive season early this year, as some foods are set to be in short supply thanks to a lack of lorry drivers. Sainsbury's. Waitrose, Ocado, M&S and Tesco reveal when they will offer Christmas food delivery slots online - and some that have released them already say they are close to running out.
Can we open a joint bank account with our in-laws and get four debit cards for shared family spending?
We live close to my in-laws and our two families regularly do things together and split the cost or spending. However, as ever things get forgotten, people can't remember who paid for what, or whether one family is owed money. My sister-in-law came up with the idea of us getting a joint bank account and paying some money in every month to create a kitty for spending, with all four adults getting a bank card to use. Can we get a joint account across two families, which will give us four bank cards, or can a joint account only be opened by two people, or just one household?
Cost of comfortable retirement has already gone up by £2,200: Couples will need to find extra cash to sustain post-working lifestyle after Covid pandemic, research shows
The Pension and Lifetime Savings Association's 'retirement living standards', published today, give savers a picture of how much money they will need to maintain their lifestyle. The report estimated that couples will now need to find an extra £2,200 a year to keep up a comfortable retirement lifestyle after the pandemic. The research also revealed how priorities had changed, with retirees now wanting to splash more on dining out and haircuts, and insisting on subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix. It comes as Britain faces a cost-of-living crisis while energy bills soar ahead of winter.
EXCLUSIVE: REVEALED: The year-old used cars selling for up to 19% MORE than what they cost new - and it's a budget Dacia topping the list
A never before seen spike in used values in recent months is the result of an ongoing computer chip shortage which has limited new vehicle production and significantly pushed back delivery schedules for some of the latest models. The average price paid for second-hand cars is at a never-before-seen high, soaring by more than a fifth in September alone. Exclusive data reveals which 12-month-old models are in highest demand right now, with drivers willing to pay almost 20% above 'list price' for a car with 10,000 miles already on the clock.
Policymaker warns households must prepare for interest rates to rise as Bank of England tries to keep lid on inflation
Michael Saunders, who sits on the Bank's interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, even hinted that rates could be hiked as early as this year. Households are experiencing a jump in the cost of living, amid an energy crisis, labour shortages and supply chain chaos. The confluence of problems is lifting the price of goods and energy bills are rocketing. Markets are starting to price in a December rate hike and in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph Saunders suggested this might not be far off the mark.
Built to beat the energy bills crisis? The £1.75m London house with solar panels covering an entire WALL
Blue-coloured solar panels are attached to an entire wall of this London house, at a 45 degree angle, meaning there are restricted views from inside. The property - which is one of two terrace homes built on the site - is for sale for £1.75million via estate agents Re/max Property Hub. The estate agent explained that the properties were designed by hcl Architects to 'fit snugly into a tight, awkward site previously occupied by six disused garages'.
Five neutral paint colours perfect for any room in your house - and there's not a shade of grey in sight...
Leading interior designer Alexander James Interiors recommends some paint colours to use in various rooms around the house. They include (pictured clockwise from top left): Blue 02 by Lick, Candle Cream by the Dulux Trade Heritage Collection, Olive No.13 by Farrow & Ball, and Velvet Truffle 5 by Dulux.
Millions who rely on basic state pension face poverty in old age - despite expected £6-a-week rise in payments to be revealed this month
The Government recently scrapped the 'triple lock' guarantee that ensured those in receipt of the state pension received annual uplifts of a minimum 2.5 per cent or the higher of inflation or wage growth. The wage link has been removed. Yet those already struggling to survive on the basic state pension of £179.60 a week - or less - point out that the soaring cost of living will swallow up more than an expected £6-a-week increase.
Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and a variety of charges can leave investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.
Premium Bonds Winners
|Prize||Area||Value of bond|
be a successful investor
This is Money on Twitter
THE INVESTING SHOW
MOST READ MONEY
STEVE WEBB ANSWERS YOUR PENSION QUESTIONS
MIDAS SHARE TIPS
FUND AND TRUST IDEAS
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|Updated 18 Oct 2021.|
|US Dollar||1.343||Buy Now|
|Australian Dollar||1.792||Buy Now|
|Barbados Dollar||2.571||Buy Now|
|Brazilian Real||4.893||Buy Now|
|Bulgarian Lev||2.203||Buy Now|
|Canadian Dollar||1.637||Buy Now|
|Chinese Yuan||8.699||Buy Now|
|Croatian Kuna||8.578||Buy Now|
|Czech Koruna||29.06||Buy Now|
|Danish Krone||8.467||Buy Now|
|Hong Kong Dollar||10.31||Buy Now|
|Hungarian Forint||410.1||Buy Now|
|Icelandic KrÃ³na||165.7||Buy Now|
|Indian Rupee||87.48||Buy Now|
|Indonesian Rupiah||17875.0||Buy Now|
|Israeli New Shekel||4.169||Buy Now|
|Jamaican Dollar||163.1||Buy Now|
|Japanese Yen||151.6||Buy Now|
|Jordanian Dinar||0.9107||Buy Now|
|Kenyan Shilling||144.1||Buy Now|
|Malaysian Ringgit||5.387||Buy Now|
|Mexican Peso||26.68||Buy Now|
|New Taiwan Dollar||34.97||Buy Now|
|New Turkish Lire||11.94||Buy Now|
|New Zealand Dollar||1.879||Buy Now|
|Norwegian Krone||11.22||Buy Now|
|Polish Zloty||5.199||Buy Now|
|Romanian New Leu||5.578||Buy Now|
|Russian Rouble||75.14||Buy Now|
|Singapore Dollar||1.787||Buy Now|
|South African Rand||19.55||Buy Now|
|South Korean Won||1499.0||Buy Now|
|Swedish Krona||11.47||Buy Now|
|Swiss Franc||1.222||Buy Now|
|Thai Baht||43.71||Buy Now|
|UAE Dirham||4.873||Buy Now|
|Vietnamese Dong||27664.0||Buy Now|


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Sunset Overdrive still running at sub-1080p on Xbox One
Insomniac has revealed that their new Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive is still not quite hitting that golden resolution of 1080p.
The studio's president and CEO Ted Price revealed the news in a brand new interview adding that they are more concerned with bringing their new world to life rather than counting pixels.
Price explained, "We're still working on optimising and we're going to continue to do that. We can get into all the technical stuff later. This is going to be a [question] for every game that comes out. People will be counting pixels. For us, it's about the vision: you saw it, you played it. It's about creating a world."
The new interview also revealed that the games characters are made up of around 40,000 polygons. While it's nowher near inFamous: Second Son's 120,000 polygons per character or Ryse's 85,000 polygons per character it's still pretty impressive.
Thanks Edge issue 267.
- New Destiny trailer teases interesting new stuff coming with The Dark Below
- Geometry Wars 3 hits PC today, consoles tomorrow
- Retail listing for ZombiU 2 spotted
- 343 admits last week's Halo: The Master Chief Collection patch didn't work as well as they'd hoped, promises to keep working
- Dark Souls II is heading to PS4, Xbox One and DirectX 11 PC next year
- Square Enix boss promises a brand new console RPG reveal next month
- Ubisoft reveals there will be no release day reviews for The Crew
- Surprise! Tales From The Borderlands episode one is out today
- StarCraft 2 pro-player expelled from Fragbite Masters tournament for Twitter rape comment about a female opponent


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While Apple’s flagship iPhone and Apple Watch devices are receiving a veritable flotilla of new accessories, the humble ninth-generation iPad gets only while the redesigned iPad mini nets two.
Quietly announced in an update to Apple’s website after the unveiling of iPad and iPad mini, Apple is limiting first-party accessories for its latest tablets models to new case colors.
Specifically, a new English Lavender (pastel purple) Smart Cover is now available for the ninth-generation iPad. The latest iPad version is compatible with existing Smart Covers in six colors and Apple’s Smart Keyboard.
Similarly, an English Lavender Smart Folio for iPad mini has debuted alongside a new Dark Cherry colorway. Like iPad, existing cases, covers and other accessories are compatible with the redesigned iPad mini, now in its sixth generation.
The new iPad and iPad mini accessories join a host of silicone and leather cases for iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, a slew of straps and bands for Apple Watch Series 7 and a few fresh AirTag accessories.
With iPad and iPad mini up for preorder now, Apple’s first-party accessories can be purchased and picked up today at an Apple Store.Internet Explorer Channel Network


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Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- A U.K. house-price index was unchanged last month as weak consumer sentiment and uncertainty about the economic outlook caused potential sellers to defer putting their homes on the market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.
The gauge by London-based RICS remained at minus 23 in September, it said in a statement today. A separate report from the British Retail Consortium showed that while U.K. retail sales rose last month, demand for big-ticket items was hurt by “the weak housing market.”
The property market is failing to gain momentum as first- time buyers struggle to afford a mortgage and inflation outpaces wage growth. Britons’ median income is expected to fall by about 7 percent in real terms in the three years through March 2013, the biggest three-year drop for 35 years, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said today.
“Falling supply of fresh stock is indicative of general fears overhanging the economy, with many potential sellers preferring to stay put for now,” RICS spokesman Michael Newey said in a statement. “As a result, the U.K. housing market remains pretty flat.”
The weaker economic outlook prompted the Bank of England to expand stimulus last week, raising its bond-purchase ceiling to 275 billion pounds ($431 billion) from 200 billion pounds.
“Although it is hard to see what will give the market a lift in the near term, the announcement of a further raft of quantitative easing from the Bank of England will help to at least keep mortgage rates down,” Newey said. “This, if nothing else, should ease the pressure on existing homeowners and limit the risk of a material pick-up in repossessions.”
RICS said its measure of new buyer enquiries, an indicator of demand, rose 5 points to 3 last month from August, while an index of new vendor instructions, a gauge of supply, fell to minus 5 from minus 1. Price expectations were unchanged, with a net 23 percent of respondents saying they expected house prices to decline over the next three months, the report showed.
Of the 11 regions RICS tracks, London was the only area to record an increase in prices over the past three months.
The BRC’s report showed sales at stores open at least 12 months, measured by value, increased 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier. Sales of food gained 2.1 percent, spurred by unusually hot weather, while demand for clothes and shoes fell, it said.
“In these harsh times, we have to be thankful for this minor improvement in growth,” BRC Director General Stephen Robertson said in the report. “But underlying conditions remain weak.”
--Editors: Fergal O’Brien, Eddie Buckle
To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Hamilton in London at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at firstname.lastname@example.org


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TORONTO — If tech reviewers say Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 isn’t as awe-inspiring as some of the company’s older phones that’s fine with Paul Brennan.
The senior vice president of mobile and enterprise for Samsung Canada admits it’s getting harder to wow tech-savvy consumers with each new release.
And so Samsung is content to focus on constantly improving its core features and sprinkling some new ones into each new model, rather than swinging for the fences every time.
“I think you will continue to see ‘wow factors’ come, but will they be as revolutionary as they once were? I think not, I think you’ll see more evolutionary things,” said Brennan on launching the flagship Galaxy S5, which hit the Canadian market Friday.
The phone’s new features include a fingerprint reader, heart rate monitor, increased dust and water resistance, and more powerful photography tools. There’s nothing revolutionary about the Galaxy S5′s 5.1-inch screen but maximizing its quality was a top priority, said Brennan. He noted that the video diagnostics company DisplayMate recently said Samsung’s latest phone had the best screen it had ever tested, with top marks for brightness, colour accuracy and other features.
“We still regard the screen on a device as being really the most important and first thing that you see,” added Ken Price, director of marketing for Samsung Canada’s mobile communications division.
“Our handling of colour, brightness, darkness, the ability to manage a more natural presentation is part of the value proposition.”
If there is a game-changing technology on the horizon for smartphones, Brennan bets it will involve screens.
“We’ve talked about flexible screens, we’ve showcased flexible screens at (the Consumer Electronics Show) and it’s just getting that technology down to a price point that allows you to sell it to a consumer,” he said.
Brennan expects sales of the Galaxy S5 will get a boost from the ultra-viral attention Samsung received at the Oscars, when host Ellen DeGeneres toted a Galaxy Note 3 on stage and posed for a group selfie with the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts and Kevin Spacey. The photo DeGeneres posted to her Twitter account has been retweeted 3.4 million times and favourited by more than two million users.
It was obvious to most viewers that Samsung had paid to be featured so prominently on the telecast. But the stunt itself seemed unscripted enough that it didn’t feel like an ad, which will probably pay dividends for Samsung, Brennan said.
“When that part came on I remember saying to my wife, ‘That looked totally random and sincere,’ and you see people trying to jump into (the shot), it was a really kind of surreal moment,” he said.
“It was very genuine and clearly there was branding on the phone so it allowed (the Samsung name) to come across.
“I think it will have a positive impact for us as a company.”
Brennan also said Samsung is excited about the chance to expand its reach in the corporate market with the Galaxy S5.
“We see the business-to-business space as a significant growth area for Samsung,” he said.
“We have great penetration inside the consumer market. There was a company that had great penetration inside the business community that is not necessarily heading in the right direction … so we believe we have a great opportunity there.”


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CZECH REPUBLIC: Tesco to launch Clubcard programme
Tesco has announced it will launch its Clubcard loyalty programme on 6 September in the Czech Republic.
The move will make the Czech Republic the eleventh market where Tesco has launched the scheme.
According to local daily Dnes, the supermarket chain expects that the card will be taken up by approximately one million households in the first year.
Country marketing head Michal Stádler said all customer data will be processed in accordance with existing legislation.
In neighbouring Poland and Slovakia, the Clubcard was launched last autumn, and has 1.5m and 850,000 cardholders, respectively.
Shares in Tesco fell this morning (13 January) as the grocery retailer blamed the snow for its weaker performance in its key UK market....
Canadian seafood processor High Liner Foods has reaffirmed its interest in assets owned by Icelandic Group after it emerged that the Iceland-supplier's talks to sell its production operations to a riv...
- Premier Foods CEO expects UK supermarket rebound
- Unilever must "speed" response to consumer trends
- Briefing: The risks and rewards of e-tail in China
- Why US diet guidelines should consider environment
- Emerging markets online: India's food retail scene
- Post Holdings strikes deal to acquire MOM Brands
- Food industry news of week: Unilever, PepsiCo
- Chobani launches Tots infant range
- Tootsie Roll CEO Melvin Gordon dies at 95
- Premier Foods hails "improving" sales trends
- 10 Key Trends in Food, Health and Nutrition 2015
- The Sugar Backlash and its Effects on Global Consumer Markets
- The Future of Retailing in the UK to 2017
- Global Consumer Trend Framework: Understanding Attitudes and Behaviors that Influence Global Consumption Habits
- Meat Substitutes Market - Global Trends, Forecasts up to 2019


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Creative HQ is excited to be launching New Zealand’s first FinTech Accelerator.
A three-month programme designed to turn fledgeling businesses into global success stories that could help New Zealand grow its share of a burgeoning global $1 trillion (NZD) industry.
CEO Stefan Korn said that there is already a surge of FinTech startups in New Zealand and the programme will help give a platform for these companies to raise funding so they can scale quickly.
“Combining forces with corporates like Kiwibank and Xero has huge benefits for early stage companies. Benefits like access to established supply chains, partner models and deep sector expertise. We’re excited to be partnering with such innovative companies on this.”
Kiwibank chief executive Paul Brock said the effective combination of financial services and technology could be a boon for the New Zealand economy.
“The key is to give innovative Kiwi startups the support they need to take new financial products and services to the global stage and grow the New Zealand economy. The Kiwibank FinTech Accelerator will stimulate FinTech innovation in New Zealand by helping new ventures prove, build and launch their ideas. It will do this through providing funding, expert mentoring and connecting them with investors.”
A March 2016 PWC report into global FinTech found that the landscape for financial services was being redrawn as FinTech altered how, when and where financial services and products were provided. 83% of financial services companies surveyed believed their business was at risk of disruption from FinTech companies.
Global investment in FinTech ventures reached $5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2016, an increase of 67% over the same period last year. In Australia, the FinTech sector is forecast to grow to more than $4 billion by 2020, of which $1 billion will be new added value to the Australian economy.
“We’re very ambitious for Kiwi FinTech. With enough guidance and perseverance, Wellington could establish itself globally as a place where great FinTech ventures are born, joining other cities such as Singapore, San Francisco and London. This will attract the best and brightest talent to New Zealand, along with new investment,” he said.
Co-funded by Callaghan Innovation and Xero, the Kiwibank FinTech Accelerator will support startups using Creative HQ’s Lightning Lab acceleration programme.
Lightning Lab will take in eight digital startups and provide them with structure, startup methodologies, business skills and focused support to help them successfully prove, build and launch ideas to market. The 14-week mentor-intensive programme is based on the best of breed accelerator model developed by TechStars in the United States.
Xero CEO Rod Drury said New Zealand was ideally placed to capitalise on FinTech’s growth internationally and domestically.
“The growth of the financial technology sector is a boon for the local economy. We see this as a great opportunity to develop our local small businesses, technology leaders and professional workforce by helping to propel the country’s pace of innovation.
“Financial technology is reshaping the way small businesses around the world run their operations – giving them a deeper insight into their true financial position and enabling them to make better-informed business decisions.
“Together with Kiwibank, Xero is keen to leverage our global relationships with businesses, accounting professionals and financial providers to foster New Zealand’s next high-growth companies,” he said.
The accelerator programme commences in February next year 2017. Applications are now open to interested entrepreneurs throughout New Zealand.
To view the criteria and apply, visit the website here.


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Mazda is planning to roll out its redesigned Mazda3 compact car in dealerships across the U.S. this fall, in a bid to top sales of 300,000 vehicles in the country, three dealers for the carmaker told Automotive News. According to the dealers, the Japanese carmaker disclosed to them that it plans to release the third generation Mazda3 this fall.
Automotive News had reported that Mazda will roll out the compact car later in 2013 or in early 2014. The fall rollout of the Mazda3 will complete a revamp of the carmaker’s entries in the three largest vehicle segments in less than two years. The Japanese carmaker rolled out its new CX-5 compact crossover last spring and its 2014 Mazda6 mid-sized sedan last month.
Mazda considers the new vehicles as well as a larger marketing presence, as vital to achieving its goals of selling over 300,000 units in the US in 2013 and of posting a sales growth that exceeds the industry's overall rate. The Mazda3 has been the carmaker’s best-seller since its debut in 2003 to replace the Protege.
Mazda posted a 20-percent increase in sales of the Mazda3 in the US in 2012 to 123,361 units, despite the current generation sporting one of the oldest designs in the compact segment. Mazda3 also accounted for 6% of the total compact car sales in the US in 2012. Mazda, on the other, only held a 1.9% share of the US market.
Mazda posted an 11-percent gain in sales in the US in 2012 to 277,046 vehicles, which is still below the 13-percent growth for all carmakers in the country. Mike MacDonald, owner of two Mazda dealerships near Salt Lake City, Utah, told Automotive News that Mazda3 customer traffic in his showrooms has slowed as the Mazda3 has aged and since the CX-5 arrived.


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Rezvani has taken the wraps off a new four-door, five-seat SUV, called the Tank. It will be the California-based manufacturer’s second model after the Beast supercar and slot in above it.
The manufacturer claims that the Tank is inspired by the military and will be the "toughest extreme utility vehicle on the planet". To underline this, the SUV is also available with complete bulletproofing and thermal night vision technology.
The only major details that have been revealed so far are the 6.4-litre Hemi V8 producing over 500hp that will power all-four-wheels and the body-on-frame construction.
The images revealed showcase a rugged-looking SUV, chunky rubber and massive ground clearance, perfect for its off-road aesthetic. The rear doors are rear-hinged, while the front doors are front hinged, and open away from one another.
The new SUV is being pitched as military inspired but built for civilians.
Rezvani was founded in 2014 by Ferris Rezvani, whose aim with the Beast supercar was to create a car to replicate a fighter jet's driving experience. Despite the company's small-volume production, celebrity owners have boosted the profile of the brand.


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After receiving a great response to its first outlet at newly-opened Trillium Mall in Nagpur, McDonald’s plans to open more outlets in the orange city in the coming two years. Nagpur’s first Mcdonald’s outlet opened its doors for food lovers on August 9, 2019. It is the fast food chain giant’s 182nd outlet in the western region comprising Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhatisgarh and half of Madhya Pradesh.
Addressing the media persons during a press conference, Saurabh Kalra (Senior Director, Business Operations and Strategy, McDonald’s India – West and South) said, “In the coming two years, we plan to open five to six outlets. Till now we did not open any outlet in Nagpur because of logistical problems. However, now that we have started one, it will be in our interest to expand.”
Kalra also informed that McDonald’s in Nagpur plans to start home delivery of its food items soon through the McDonald’s app and with the help of aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato. The reason behind not starting the delivery right now is because of the heavy influx of customers at the newly-opened outlet at Trillium Mall. A McCafe will be opened in six weeks to start the delivery.
As per Kalra, McDonald’s had chosen a place in West Nagpur for an outlet but didn’t go ahead with the plan because the building did not have an occupancy certificate.


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Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) subsidiary Google plans to expand its ride-sharing service in a bid to challenge Uber and Lyft, according to a new report.
After a successful trial run in Israel and San Francisco, the tech giant has decided to launch its Waze navigation application in more U.S. cities and in Latin America, the Wall Street Journal (via Fortune) reported.
The company will start rolling out the service in new markets over the next few months.
Waze is a GPS-based navigation application that was first developed by the Israeli company Waze Mobile. In 2013, Google bought Waze Mobile in a deal valued at $1.1 billion. As of June 2013, there were nearly 50 million Waze users, reported by Yahoo.
Waze is different from Uber and Lyft. It does not work as an on-demand taxi service. Rather, the Waze app is designed to “persuade regular drivers using its navigation app to pick up people who are heading in the same direction,” the WJS reported.
“Can we get the average person on his way to work to pick someone up and drop them off once in a while? That’s the biggest challenge,” Waze CEO Noam Bardin was quoted as saying by the Journal.
Moreover, Waze’s prices are different from Uber and Lyft.
A ride from downtown Oakland, Calif. to downtown San Francisco costs $4.50, where the same trip using either UberPool or Lyft Line is $10.57 and $12.40, respectively, according to the Journal.


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David Aronoff, MD, discusses an early study on CBD and on how to address interested patients It’s too early to tell whether CBD helps against Covid-19 — but researchers worry that won’t stop CBD makers. Early Studies Suggest CBD May Help Prevent COVID-19 Medical formulations of the compound cannabidiol — known as CBD — have shown promise as a way to prevent COVID-19. Medical formulations of
CBD Oil Covid
In this video, David Aronoff, MD, chair of the department of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, discusses a recent study testing cannabidiol (CBD) against COVID-19 in the lab and in mice, and how to guide patients seeking treatment for COVID-19.
The following is a transcript of his remarks:
If a patient were to come to me and ask about the use of CBD oil to prevent COVID-19 or reduce the severity of it, I would say that right now, that approach is not ready for prime time. There are other, better ways that we know are safe and very effective to prevent COVID-19 and reduce the severity if someone gets ill. So wear your mask, socially distance, get vaccinated, and if you get symptomatically ill with COVID, let a healthcare professional know, because you may be eligible for things like monoclonal antibodies or new medications like Paxlovid [nirmatrelvir/ritonavir] or repurposed medicines like fluvoxamine [Luvox]. But it’s really important to engage with a licensed healthcare professional if you’re sick with COVID-19.
These investigators thought that there may be some anti-inflammatory effects of CBD, and that might be useful to suppress some of the inflammation that can occur in patients who have COVID-19. But the investigators found a surprising result, which is that CBD and one of its active metabolites didn’t really have too much of an effect on the inflammatory response of the epithelial cells they were studying. But rather, and curiously, the CBD seemed to block the replication of the SARS CoV-2 virus in the respiratory epithelial cells.
This really led the investigators to dig deeper into trying to understand whether the effect they were seeing was specific to CBD or could be found in other compounds that may be also identified in marijuana and to try to drill down on mechanisms through which CBD could be limiting SARS CoV-2 replications in epithelial cells.
And finally, based on what they found in vitro, they wanted to know if there were any correlates of this compound being used in humans that may show some promise for reducing the risk of COVID-19 and even went as far as doing an interventional study in mice to look at the impact of CBD on reducing the severity of SARS COVID-2 infection in a mouse model.
While this study is really interesting and promising, we don’t yet have data in humans that show that we can use CBD oil in therapeutic ways to prevent COVID-19 or reduce the severity of COVID-19. And really what we need is an actual randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind study, which is now regularly being done to look at therapeutic and preventive strategies for COVID-19. Right now, the best we can say about CBD oil is that it’s a promising idea. But until we have properly controlled studies, we don’t actually know how effective or not this is in humans.
Even the human component of the study that was just published, although it was retrospective, which has its limitations, it was looking at essentially medical-grade CBD oil used in the treatment of people who have severe seizure disorders. So we really don’t know how commercially-available, easy-to-get CBD preparations might perform in protecting people from COVID-19.
Emily Hutto is an Associate Video Producer & Editor for MedPage Today. She is based in Manhattan.
It’s too early to tell whether CBD helps against Covid-19 — but researchers worry that won’t stop CBD makers
T he scientists stressed the caveats that early-stage research demands: the compounds they had studied showed hints — in cells in lab dishes and in animals — of being able to combat the coronavirus. Definite answers could only come from clinical trials.
But the compounds were CBD and other marijuana and hemp derivatives, so the news took off. Kimmel and Colbert cracked jokes. The studies received coverage in outlets from Fox News to The Daily Beast.
The latest hubbub is an example of both the promise of cannabinoids — components of cannabis — as potential therapies, but also the hype around them, which can far outpace the evidence that they work. It’s left researchers and consumer advocates scrambling to warn people that patients shouldn’t be turning to over-the-counter products or recreational marijuana in hopes that it might protect them from Covid-19.
“We don’t want people running out taking random cannabinoids,” said Marsha Rosner of the University of Chicago, the senior author of one of the new studies.
The research also presents a new challenge for the Food and Drug Administration, which is already struggling to police the rapidly growing CBD market. While the agency has said CBD makers can’t market their products as medical treatments without conducting a clinical trial and submitting an application to the agency, few companies have actually invested in conducting those trials. Instead, companies have tried to tiptoe around the FDA rules by selling their products as dietary supplements and making only modest claims. Experts fear that the FDA’s job will only get harder with the increased hype around cannabinoids and Covid-19.
“These kinds of studies are what these companies look for to promote their products — that’s the scary part,” said Jeanette Contreras, director of health policy at the National Consumers League, which runs a campaign called Consumers for Safe CBD. “This gives them more fuel to make false claims about their products.”
Related: The FDA is finalizing its long-awaited rules for CBD
R osner and her team were initially skeptical that CBD could have any potential effect for Covid-19. They thought that if there was going to be any benefit, it might be in the late-stage illness that occurs when the immune response to the virus goes into hyperdrive.
But then they found something that surprised them: While CBD couldn’t block the virus from entering human epithelial cells in lab dishes, it prevented the pathogen from hijacking the cell’s internal Xerox machines to make copies of itself. It also lowered viral levels in infected mice.
Rosner and her team’s paper was published in Science Advances this month, soon after researchers in Oregon reported in the Journal of Natural Products that two chemicals found in hemp, CBGA and CBDA, could bind to the virus’ spike protein and thus prevent it from infecting cells in lab dishes.
Together, the two studies earned attention for the suggestion that cannabinoids might have a role to play in the pandemic.
But since the work was published, Rosner has been trying to inject caveats and nuances into the discussion around CBD for Covid.
As she emphasizes: experiments in mice and cells in lab dishes regularly seem like breakthroughs, whether for Covid-19 or just about any other ailment. But only rarely do they go on to demonstrate any actual effectiveness in human trials.
Outside researchers also noted that the two papers reported sometimes opposing results for how cannabinoids interacted with the coronavirus, indicating that any potential effect needs to be further studied.
“These are the seeds of our knowledge related to how cannabinoids might interact with the SARS-Cov-2 virus,” said Ziva Cooper, the director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative. “We have a long way to go.”
Related: A spate of new class-action lawsuits threaten the CBD industry. Will they force Washington to act?
T he new studies are adding to the FDA’s existing CBD headache, too.
The agency has already grappled with companies trying to use early research into CBD and Covid-19 to promote their products — it has sent 13 official warning letters demanding that companies stop selling their CBD products as Covid-19 treatments.
Some of those companies did not explicitly call their products cures, but instead included outside research on their websites that could lead consumers to believe CBD was a proven treatment for Covid-19, STAT found when it reviewed the FDA’s warning letters. Other companies explicitly noted that their product was not a treatment for Covid-19 but suggested, for example, that “ the best thing you can do is boost your immune system.”
This has been a long-running issue with CBD, which the FDA regulates the same way it does other prescription drugs. That means anything with CBD in it must go through the agency’s rigorous approval process if companies want to suggest it can treat or cure anything at all.
Few companies have been willing to invest the time and effort needed to actually get a CBD drug through the regulatory odyssey. Instead, most market their products as dietary supplements in hopes that the FDA will not crack down on their individual products.
Related: The company behind the first-ever CBD-based drug is now eyeing everything from multiple sclerosis to autism
Research is hard for other reasons, too. Just a few years ago, researching cannabidiol was heavily restricted because of marijauna’s legal status, and the trials are still hard to conduct — one researcher called the system a “nightmare.”
That means there’s hardly any infrastructure or investment into actually testing whether CBD has an impact on Covid-19.
In fact, there’s still not much late-stage clinical research into whether CBD really does much of anything at all.
“The status quo is challenging,” said Lowell Schiller, the former co-lead of the FDA’s CBD working group. “When we see potentially promising research coming out of the laboratory setting, where are the dollars coming from to do the kind of rigorous clinical research that we need to genuinely understand whether there’s a there there ?”
It’s an open question whether new trials looking at cannabinoids and Covid will take off. Scientists have hypothesized that CBD or other cannabinoids might have some role to play against Covid-19 for much of the pandemic, but a STAT review of clinicaltrials.gov identified just seven trials that have tested CBD as a therapy for Covid-19, the majority of which are early-stage studies that would not produce the type of results necessary to conclude whether CBD can help combat the pandemic.
Rosner said she and her colleagues have been in touch with various companies about clinical trials, but so far, nothing’s set up. “Our hope is we can get some traction in the near future,” she said.
Related: These four companies are betting big on CBD-based prescription drugs
Richard van Breemen, a professor of medicinal chemistry at Oregon State University and one of the scientists involved with the other paper, told the Boston Globe this month that he expected data from clinical trials later this year. He did not respond to a question from STAT about whether clinical trials based on his team’s research had started or when they might.
Not all clinical trials are created equally, either — a fact that has dogged scientists’ efforts to test potential Covid-19 treatments. Going back to the heady days of hydroxychloroquine mania, dozens of trials of different treatments were launched based on preclinical hope, but they were ultimately too small or too poorly designed to come up with definite answers. The pileup of unhelpful U.S. clinical trials stands in stark contrast to something like the Recovery trial out of the United Kingdom, where a cohesive strategy and a national health system led to clear findings about treatments like dexamethasone (which worked) and convalescent plasma (which didn’t).
“It’s not just, is there a clinical trial, but what kind of clinical trial?” Rosner said, adding that her team was hoping to conduct a rigorous trial.
Trending Now: With a promising new plan to pay for pricey cures, two states set out to eliminate hepatitis C. But cost hasn’t been the biggest problem
In the meantime: Rosner is urging consumers not to go buy CBD to try to prevent Covid-19. For one, it’s not clear the products available at convenience stories contain pure CBD, or at what levels. The clinical trial Rosner envisions would test a pharmaceutical-grade CBD — something like the FDA-approved Epidiolex, an epilepsy treatment.
There’s another reason why people shouldn’t smoke marijuana or pop an edible and think it might be helping protect them from Covid-19, Rosner added: While her team reported an effect from CBD, the scientists found that the added presence of THC — the component of marijuana that makes people high — counteracted whatever benefits CBD may provide.
“The last thing we would like to see is for someone to say, ‘I’m going to go out and take CBD,’ and say, ‘I’m not going to get vaccinated, I’m not going to get boosted, I’m going to take off my mask,’” she said.
Early Studies Suggest CBD May Help Prevent COVID-19
Medical formulations of the compound cannabidiol — known as CBD — have shown promise as a way to prevent COVID-19.
Medical formulations of the compound cannabidiol — known as CBD — have shown promise as a way to prevent COVID-19.
What you need to know
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabis compound with some medicinal properties. Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the main psychoactive component of cannabis — CBD does not produce a high or euphoria. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved one CBD-based medication to treat seizure disorders; other medications are in the development and testing pipeline.
Now some early studies show that CBD could help block infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
What did the researchers do?
In a series of studies supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, researchers tested the effects of CBD and other cannabis compounds on SARS-CoV-2. They looked at interactions between CBD and the virus in human lung cells and in mice. They also analyzed data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative’s health records of volunteers who had been prescribed the CBD-based medication to help prevent seizures.
What did they learn?
In both the laboratory studies and the health records analyses, CBD seemed to have a protective effect against SARS-CoV-2. When the virus was introduced to human lung cells treated with CBD, it could not replicate and take hold as it usually does. Mice that were given therapeutic doses of CBD before being exposed to the virus were much less likely to develop COVID-19 than mice in the control group. And human patients who took the CBD-based medication were less likely to report a COVID-19 diagnosis than others, including people who had the same seizure disorders but had not been prescribed that medication.
Interestingly, out of more than 100 compounds in cannabis, only CBD showed this protective effect. In fact, when CBD was combined with THC, its ability to protect decreased.
What does this mean?
More research, including clinical trials, is needed, but these studies suggest that CBD might be a useful way of preventing COVID-19 in the future. The researchers caution that CBD is not a replacement for vaccination, masking, and social distancing. If anything, they write, CBD would be used along with these measures to prevent breakthrough infections.
The researchers also emphasize that the CBD used in their studies is different from the nonmedical products consumers might be familiar with. There is no evidence that taking over-the-counter CBD products can prevent or treat COVID-19 infection.
Where can I go to learn more?
NCI provides patient-friendly information about cannabis and its compounds.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has more information about cannabis and CBD.
N3C is a partnership among several NIH Institutes and Centers that aims to use COVID-19 clinical data to answer critical research questions.


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It’s one of the most classic cars of all time: the Ferrari Testarossa. With an instantly recognizable profile, a blend of traditional and futuristic features, and a powerful engine underneath the hood – it’s the kind of car that inspires and excites.
That’s why Officine Fioravanti just made many car-lover dreams come true, unveiling the breathtaking 200MPH restomod Ferrari Testarossa.
It’s been reborn – the Ferrari Testarossa unveiled by the Swiss auto builder combines retro design with modern technology – the dream restomod marriage.
The car boasts a rebuilt Ferrari flat-12 engine with 503 Italian horsepower, which can spin up an impressive 9,000RPM.
Read the full article at Monza Drive.
It’s the kind of car you dream of owning – and a few lucky ones actually will.


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Smartphone manufacturers introduce flagship series with new features. They are always the center of attention owing to their unique and innovative set of specifications. Similarly, the features presented on flagship smartphones tend to transfer to mid-range and budget-friendly smartphones in the following years or months. Besides this, everybody wishes to carry the most recent high-end smartphone in their pockets. Sadly, it should not be shocking that when they are released in the near future, a number of highly anticipated flagships are projected to have price increases.
As per the recent information conveyed by tipster Yogesh Brar, some major flagships might show price increases. The tipster claims that the iPhone 15 series, the Google Pixel 8 series, the Xiaomi 14 series, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 series might experience a $50–$200 price increase. The prices might be different depending on the variants.
Well, this is not something unexpected or surprising given the current position of the market. Previously, a report claimed that the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 could be more expensive than its predecessor, which reflects the price increase on the Snapdragon variants of the flagship smartphones.
Given the iPhone 15 series, the A17 Bionic chip is a major price-increasing factor. Besides this, the addition of a titanium frame and the periscope lens might contribute to a price jump. Apple has mainly succeeded in maintaining reasonable beginning pricing for iPhones in the US over the past four years, but it may succumb this year to general inflation eating into its comfortable margins.
Likewise, the Pixel 8 series might feature the new Tensor G3 chip, improved refresh rates on vanilla and Pro models, and a new camera sensor. Such factors might contribute to increased prices for the Pixel 8 series. On the other hand, Samsung will introduce Exynos 2400 variants of its upcoming flagships in some markets while it will introduce the Snapdragon variant in other markets like the US. For this reason, there doesn’t seem to be a cost-absorbing buffer in this situation.
It is recommended to start budgeting if you are interested in buying an upcoming high-end smartphone. It appears that the price increase will eventually pass on to mid-range and budget devices as well.
Research Snipers is currently covering all technology news including Google, Apple, Android, Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung News, and More. Research Snipers has decade of experience in breaking technology news, covering latest trends in tech news, and recent developments.


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Services from provider of online China RoHS application for manufacturers have been affirmed by China Ministry of Information Industry
San Jose, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/31/2007 -- SinoApps, the first provider of online China RoHS application for manufacturers, today announced its services have been affirmed by China Ministry of Information Industry (China MII) - the regulatory body of China RoHS.
“Not only does SinoApps provide its customers’ China RoHS needs, it also helps companies develop growing business in China.” said Mr. Shaojun Yang , Deputy General Director of Ministry of Information Industry of Shandong Province, China. Details of this endorsement can be found at http://www.sinoapps.com
All manufactures are facing significant challenges to comply with China RoHS regulation and require help to address the following critical needs:
· Need an easy, rapid and economic way to generate China RoHS Declaration Reports
· Need to have the reports in Simplified Chinese to satisfy China Ministry of Industry Information (MII) regulation
· Need an effective way to collaborate with customers, vendors or suppliers online to share, track, view, update and download RoHS Declaration reports
SinoApps provides the following key online services to address these needs.
· China RoHS Declaration Reports
SinoApps online service generates China RoHS declaration reports automatically based on a product’s substance and material data.
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SinoApps online will translate the China RoHS Declaration reports from English into simplified Chinese to meet MII regulations.
· Collaboration with customers, vendors or suppliers
SinoApps stores China RoHS Declaration reports online so manufactures can collaborate with customers, vendors or suppliers to view, track, edit and download reports 24x7 from any where.
SinoApps is currently offering free trials in this promotional period. Users may sign up and create trial accounts at www.sinoapps.com.
SinoApps is the first and only company that provides online application to give you the ability to generate China RoHS Compliance online. With SinoApps, you get the best of both worlds: fully compliant China RoHS Declaration reports in Simplified Chinese that are always available online to you, your customers and your suppliers.
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