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Apollo Gaming Forum
AMD and Samsung Announce Mobile Graphics Partnership
View Reddit by crashnburn91 – View Source
>This, however, is **not** the first time `Radeon Graphics` technologies have found their way into the mobile market. AMD **sold** off it’s mobile graphics division to “Qualcomm” in 2009. Qualcomm’s aptly named **Adreno** — which is an anagram for *”Radeon”* — mobile graphics are used widely in the company’s Snapdragon SoC lineup.
So nothing new except that the introduction of RDNA by AMD to skip Qualcomm.
This could mean AMD has switched to tile based rasteriser like Nvidia did with Maxwell. It will be pretty useless as a mobile part otherwise
Hopefully, this will drive far better 3D in mobiles. Not a guarantee, but here’s hoping.
AMD out here making moves
Things gonna get HAWT in there.
Hopefully this adds kick to the emulation scene kinda excited since those are the types of games I play the most power management will probably improve too.
[Patent protection according to Anandtech](https://www.anandtech.com/show/14483/samsung-and-amd-announce-multiyear-strategic-graphics-ip-licensing-deal-for-slsi-mobile-gpus), Samsung has had it’s own GPU in development for several years and is now ready for release. But releasing a new GPU into the market is risky so Samsung licensed AMD IP to protect itself.
Great, now I can pay to win in 4k.
Does mobile really need better graphics? I’d take better battery life over slightly improved graphics any day. That being said, if this makes the GPU more optimized and therefore use less battery, I’m all for it
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Tesco may be set to dominate the web just as it does the high street, after making almost £1bn from online sales in the past year, according to financial results announced today. The supermarket giant...
Companies are challenging Amazon in retail and cloud
Cosmetics firm is undergoing a top-to-toe tech refresh with GDPR compliance thrown in
DFS resorts to cloud to help handle spikes in online demand
Economy and business performance not a problem, reckon small firms
Charity engages Braintree to move away from previous payment system which was in danger of failing and losing millions of pounds of donations, admits CTO

domain: news


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Starbucks said on Monday that it intended to bargain “in good faith” with a Buffalo store where employees voted to unionize this month after a sometimes contentious election campaign.
Readers recount their interactions with the composer. Ms. Andrews laments the loss of a “genius.”
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A 2018 ballot initiative creating minimum space requirements for livestock is set to go into effect on Jan. 1. Food industry interests are warning of possible shortages and price increases.<
Sony's own-brand controllers for its PlayStation consoles might be among the best-known and most often-used in the industry. Now, there is a hint that the Japanese gaming giant might be consider
Our comparison of the top Playstation deals for Black Friday & Cyber Monday, including all the best deals on PS4 Pro, PS5, PlayStation Plus and more
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE )--Black
From Console Gaming Headsets, Controllers, and Flight Sim Gear to PC Headsets, Keyboards, Mice, Microphones, and More, Turtle Beach, ROCCAT, and Neat Offer a Distinctive Assortment of High-Perf
We cover everything multiplayer! News, reviews, previews, hardware reviews, videos, and more!
Blizzard Entertainment has released the Diablo 2 Resurrected update 1.10 (PS5 version 1.010) p
After a delay this past summer, SCUF Gaming announces a new PS5 controller along with details about its upcoming release.
Delays in the gaming industry are nothing new. However, when the c


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Which restaurants do consumers say are the most craveable?
Retailer offers $1 promotion throughout January
ATLANTA -- RaceTrac convenience stores are challenging coffee lovers to ditch their “expensive coffee habit” this January by offering any size coffee for $1. "Come to RaceTrac this January to try a better brew for less without compromising quality," said Melanie Isbill, executive director of...
Founder Neal Onebane and EVP Dan Shapiro honored for their impact on community
LAFAYETTE, La. -- Louisiana Life magazine has named Dan Shapiro and Neal Onebane of Krispy Krunchy Chicken to its list of Louisianians of the Year. The honor is given to individuals who impact their industry on a local, national or international level, as well as the communities in which they live...
A look at who's gravitating toward your competition
C-store sales of prepared foods up nearly 8% since 2015: report
A look back at the foods and flavors that made the biggest impact this year
Restaurant chains weigh in on the pros and cons of the limited-time offer


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The global ridesharing market is growing incredibly fast. In the USA, the key players —Uber, Lyft, and DiDi—getin revenue. While BlaBlaCar, the most popular platform in Europe, already covers 400 cities and million users.
And this is not the limit. The ridesharing market is expected to grow by more than 50% between 2020 and 2021 and increase its value to around $117B in 2021.


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BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke. The German luxury automaker is based in Munich, Germany and owns both the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. The brand is famous for the tagline "Ultimate Driving Machines," which describes its lineup of luxury and sports cars. BMW also produces motorcycles under the BMW Motorrad division.
- 1 Series
- 2 Series
- 3 Series
- 3 Series GT
- 4 Series
- 4 Series Gran Coupe
- 5 Series
- 5 Series GT
- 6 Series
- 6 Series Gran Coupe
- 7 Series
- ActiveHybrid 5
- Alpina B7
- M6 Gran Coupe
- X5 M
- X6 M
What's a sure-fire way to make a vehicle better? Well, you can add power or make it more exclusive. BMW has done both, just in time to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the legendary M5 sedan. Only 300 examples of the car you see above, the M5 30th Anniversary Edition, will be sold to the public, and those lucky owners will enjoy the most exclusive, ...
The new, one-of-a-kind BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition made a ritzy debut last night at BMW's private villa, giving the media its first chance to look at the ultra-exclusive hybrid. As we said in our previous post, the most notable feature of the Concours d'Elegance i8 is its matte grey paint, known as Frozen Grey Metallic in BMW parlance. This isn't ...
One of the best innovations in car buying in recent years is the rise of no-cost scheduled maintenance programs. Many people feel really anxious about taking their car in for service, and these deals help mitigate that somewhat. Obviously, it's not free for automakers to implement the offers, and now BMW is altering the way its four-year, 50,000-mile ...
If you want to be among the first owners in the United States of the new BMW i8, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance will be the place to be next Saturday. That's where Gooding & Company will auction off this one-of-a-kind hybrid supercar. The BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition was previously slated to be the very first i8 in North America, but has ...
It's easy to look at racing video games as just a time waster or a hobby. In reality, though, they're often powerful tools for aspiring racers to learn tracks, race craft and how to set up a car in an easily accessible, risk-free environment. We aren't just talking about proper computer-based sims, like iRacing. Console-based racers like Forza Motorsport ...
BMW is putting a lot of its chips on the success of its forthcoming front-wheel drive models, and it's making a big bet on the company's future in hoping that customers will accept them. Its front-driving UKL platform is underpinning not just the current crop of Minis but a host of BMW vehicles too. The rollout starts with the 2 Series Active Tourer in ...
The Nürburgring Nordschleife has the reputation as one of the most difficult tracks in the world to master – deservedly so. With 14 miles of roadway and about 160 corners over a massive amount of elevation change, the amount of grip can change from turn to turn. As the driver of the famous BMW Ring Taxi learned this weekend after a shunt into ...
BMW seems willing to exploit every automotive niche it can find with creations like the four-door, 'crossover coupe' X4 and X6. Of course, these designs come with a compromise. That svelte fastback means that they just can't haul as much cargo as a more traditional, boxier hatchback. Fortunately, students at Clemson University's International Center for ...
The stream of segment-busting BMW variants is showing no signs of letting up, and with the latest addition now upon us, questions have been circulating as to whether the Bavarian automaker would do an M version of the new X4 crossover. The jury may still be out on that proposition, but the latest intel suggests that, while a full-on X4 M may not be in the ...
If you were to plot the general opinion about hybrids since their introduction among auto enthusiasts, the resulting graph would likely be shaped somewhat like a "V." In the beginning interest was high, simply due the novelty of these new powertrains, then the line would gradually fall as the models got the stereotype of being boring commuters. Today, ...
Truth be told, I've never really found the modern BMW 6 Series to be a particularly attractive car, in Coupe, Convertible, or sedan Gran Coupe forms. This current generation certainly looks a whole lot better than the Bangle-fied Six that came before it to my eyes, but on the whole, I find much of the car's design to be fussy and awkward. There's a new 6 ...
We're going to lead with General Motors here. GM is one of eight automakers working with 15 utilities and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at developing a "smart" plug-in vehicle charging system. Why did we start with GM? Because it's the first automaker whose press release we read that mentioned the other seven automakers. Points for ...
Last month, we went behind the scenes of the filming of BMW's new Driftmob, web video, bringing you one post from the practice sessions, and another from the shoot itself, which took place in an enormous traffic circle in Cape Town, South Africa. Today, BMW has launched the final version of Driftmob, and it's pretty damn cool. The plot is pretty simple: ...
Jay Leno puts eight wheels on display this week for Jay Leno's Garage from a quartet of retro-inspired BMW motorcycles. They are the creations of husband and wife team Larry and Carol Romestant, who build each one in their home garage. Larry is a former aerospace engineer who loves BMW bikes, especially the K models. Now, he's combining his passion with ...
From solar chargeports to the first SAE Combo Fast Charger, BMW is offering or promoting more charging options for the i3 than most people will know what to do with. This is not a bad thing. At the Plug-In 2014 conference happening in San Jose, CA this week, BMW announced a new i DC Fast Charging unit as well as the ChargeNow DC Fast program, which is ...
On the prospect of a new BMW M1 based on the company's new i8 hybrid, the jury has been in and out so much that we can't even tell which way it's likely to go. However, the latest reports coming in from Germany suggest that BMW may have something else up its sleeves. Rather than make a conventional gas-powered version of the i8, Germany's Auto Motor und ...
There was a time when diesel meant one of two things: This vehicle's owner either wants to save some money at the pump or needs to haul massive loads. It definitely did not mean that the owner of said machine wanted to drive fast, but that perception has slowly but surely been changing over the last several years, with automakers from Volkswagen and Ford ...
The Chinese market has proven to be a boon to German luxury automakers. However, the way that the companies have allegedly been controlling their supply of spare parts has begun to draw the ire of the nation's government. According to insiders speaking to Bloomberg, officials from the country's economic planning organization have opened a probe into Audi, ...
Let's say you just got a big promotion at work or the kids are moving out of the house, and you finally have some extra money. You decide to blow it all at once and treat yourself by upgrading your ride. Naturally, you look to a luxury automaker. What do you choose? Models like the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class may be tailor-made to introduce ...
Imagine the King of Rock n' Roll driving a car and you'll likely picture a pink Cadillac or a yellow De Tomaso shot full of holes. But Elvis also owned a 1957 BMW 507 roadster, and now that roadster is returning home to BMW headquarters. The 507 was a rare bird, of which only 254 examples were ever made. They were sold mostly to celebrities and royalty, ...


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Leonard Cohen is to return to Ireland this summer for three gigs. The legendary songwriter will play The O2, Dublin, on July 19 and 20, and The Odyssey Arena, Belfast, on July 26.
His dates last year at The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, were heralded as “a cultural event of Biblical dimensions”, so the new dates are expected to sell out ultra-fast. Voted Best International Live Performance at this years’ Meteor Awards, Cohen’s three sold out Irish dates broke sales records as the fastest selling concert of all time and garnered 5 star reviews across the board. Tickets will go on sale Friday 3rd April 2009 (Belfast) at 9am and Tuesday 7th April 2009 (Dublin) at 9am, priced at €90, €110 & €125, and will be available from Ticketmaster and usual outlets nationwide.


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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Cray Inc. CRAY, -0.04% said late Monday that it plans to offer $60 million of convertible senior subordinated notes due 2024 to qualified institutional buyers. The Seattle-based maker of supercomputers also plans to grant the initial purchaser of the notes a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $15 million aggregate principal amount of the notes. Cray said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to support its operations and growth, as well as for other general corporate purposes.
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Nissan drops Micra, Pulsar hatchback and Y61 Patrol…
Nissan Australia has announced it will pull the Micra, Pulsar hatchback from the Australian market, while it has put the ageing but effective Y61 Patrol into run-out.
NISSAN AUSTRALIA revealed overnight that after a review of its passenger car line-up it would pull the Nissan Micra from sale here, which should give the new Kia Picanto more opportunity. The Nissan Pulsar hatchback is also being dropped while the Pulsar sedan will continue.
But the most frustrating news for 4×4 enthusiasts is that the Y61 Patrol and Patrol cab chassis are now in runout with stock expected to be depleted by the end of the year.
“These decisions are in line with our commitment to running a robust business in Australia, led by strong products including QASHQAI, X-TRAIL and Navara,” said Nissan Motor Co. (Australia) Managing Director and CEO Richard Emery.
“Complete after-sales service and technical support for the affected models will continue to be available from our Australian authorised dealer network.
“Nissan is committed to maintaining a strong and healthy business in Australia, which includes our national sales company, Nissan Financial Services, Nissan Casting Australia plant, field quality centre and motorsport activities.”


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Samsung, as one of the leaders in the smartphone market, has been caught red handed in paying people to bash rival smartphone manufacturer HTC.
According to reports, Samsung hired people and paid them to talk bad things over a couple of sites through comments and forums against their Taiwan-based rival. The Fair Trade Commission of Taiwan is now investigating the issue after receiving a lot of complains about these practice of Samsung.
Samsung, however, did not deny the allegations and immediately released a statement of an apology.
A tech news site, PC Advisor, was the first to found out about this in a Chinese site, TSL or TaiwanSamsungLeaks.org accusing Samsung of the “evil marketing” strategy. The site have posted some documents from an advertising company that Samsung hired.
Some students also took part of this bashing as they were also hired. What they have to do is to post anonymous comments to sites destroying HTC and praising Samsung. Students also posted fake benchmarks saying the Galaxy S3 is way much better than the HTC One X in terms of battery life and graphic performance.
With this scandal, Samsung had provided their full statement to CNET stating an apology for the bad campaign.


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Google has said the lawsuit lacks credibility and is underpinned by a fundamental misunderstanding of its advertising policies and business strategy.
Google has asked a federal court to dismiss a multi-state lawsuit against it, which alleges the company’s business practices violate antitrust laws.
In its filing, Google said that the Texas-led lawsuit is not “credible” and has failed to establish that Google’s advertising business and practices are in any way illegal.
Google executives, meanwhile, have taken to social media to protest the continuing litigation. Adam Cohen, Google’s director of economic policy, suggested in one post that state attorneys general either do not understand or have intentionally misrepresented the company’s strategy.
“[Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s] allegations are more heat than light, and we don’t believe they meet the legal standard to send this case to trial,” Cohen wrote. “The complaint misrepresents our business, products, and motives, and we are moving to dismiss it based on its failure to offer plausible antitrust claims.”
However, Paxton updated the complaint in January, adding information about Google’s alleged collusion with Facebook. According to POLITCO’s summation of the case, Google rigged online ad-space auctions in Facebook’s favor, ensuring that the social media company would always win a certain number of bids.
The updated lawsuit says this agreement gave both Google and Facebook an unfair advantage in the online advertising market, in which Google is—far and away—the biggest, most important player.
Cohen, though, said that the deal was not truly anticompetitive, as Facebook is but one of several advertising partners announced in 2018.
The New York Times notes that, while this deal was indeed announced in 2018, Google never disclosed that it granted competitor Facebook “special information and speed advantages to help the company succeed in the auctions that it did not offer to other partners—even including a guaranteed ‘win rate.’”
However, Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels insists that the revised complaint is as lacking as its predecessor.
“Despite Attorney General Paxton’s three attempts to re-write his complaint, it is still full of inaccuracies and lacks legal merit,” Schottenfels said in a statement. “Our advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content, and enable small businesses to reach customers around the world. There is vigorous competition in online advertising, which has reduced ad tech fees, and expanded options for publishers and advertisers.”
However, Paxton says that Google is now asking American consumers to overlook “egregious” monopoly abuses perpetrated by one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world.
“The company whose motto was once “Don’t Be Evil” now asks the world to examine their egregious monopoly abuses and see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil,” Paxton told CNET in an emailed statement.


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The viral website ShipYourEnemiesGlitter is struggling.
Thanks to the insane popularity that his service had garnered – to mail your enemies copious amounts of glitter – founder Mathew Carpenter is struggling. With 2,200 orders coming in within a few hours, according to TechCrunch, the one man show has decided to take down the order form and is working to fulfill the backlog of orders.
That’s when shipyourenemiesglitter.asia came about. Started by a Thomas Tan, the website is dedicated to do exactly what Carpenter aimed to do – ship glitter to people you hate.
“The guys at shipyourenemiesglitter.com said it best, but we over at .asia need to fill up the gap for those guys. For those who failed to make an order and needs a quick fix for your hated ones, whether it be your shitty neighbour, a family member, Xiaxue, Ling Yen or Tata Young.”
With a slight increase in price US$9.99 instead of US$8.21 of the .COM site, the website is offering free shipping worldwide, and promises that it has 10kg of glitter and 10,000 envelopes ready to send at your command. Glitter bombs are sent out within a day or two.
Tan has also told e27 that he is not working alone. With a team of what he calls “three adept glove-wearing superheroes”, they are ready to conquer Asia. With envelopes and glitter easily bought in bulk at an insanely low price, it’s possible that this company is going to make some serious money. Perhaps enough to eventually buy over the main shipyourenemiesglitter.com site, which is being put on auction on Flippa at a current going price of US$70,500.
“Now I know why 9GAG is a huge success,” Tan said in an email to e27,”Asia is filled with trolls.”
We’re all doomed.


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Huawei’s P30 Smartphone - Threat To Apple & SamsungCorrectness Tone suggestions Full-sentence rewrites
The wait for Huawei’s P30 and P30 Pro was over when Huawei launched its latest smartphones with beefed-up features on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. It was a historical moment. They claimed the phone was going to give a tough time to the tech giants Apple and Samsung. The launch of this latest featured phone is taken by the Chinese, coofferinggiving an open challenge.
The company is proclaiming the phone’s high-definition quad-camera setup and a set of wireless headphones. In the race, Huawei is not alone, but having technical assistance from Leica, the German firm. The smartphone is equipped with a set of different lenses like a wide-angle lens, a 40-megapixel lens, and a telephoto lens, which is capable of 50x digital zoom and an additional feature they named “Time of Flight” The camera can capture even a blurred effect in parts of any picture. Huawei is boasting about the ability of phones tophotosctures in a darkly-light environment.
A new light sensor feature uses yellow pixels instead of green ones, so it might absorb more light. It’s an updated version of P20 Prthe o, with three cameras, that wed last year. Another stunning feature in the phone is very rarely seen, even in the latest smartphones. The phone is featured with Dual-View-Video, enabling the user to use two cameras simultaneously when recording any clip. The device with quality features typically costs less than its competitors are offering in their latest smartphones. The company says that “P30 Series smartphones are going to change the rules of smartphone photography completely”.
The company considers their latest smartphones as giving tough competition to Samsung and Apple as being on the frontlines in the tech races, yet to find anyone daring to face it since last year! Huawei has presented its smartphones with a 6.47-inch screen and the other one with a 6.1-inch display. The phone also features the in-screen fingerprint sensor you might have seen in Samsung Galaxy S10 and Huawei’s Mate 20 smartphones. The company is aware of the increasing role of Artificial Intelligence and featured the P30 Series smartphones with a chipset of Artificial Intelligence.
There is another excellent quality in the P30 series a wireless charging feature the company introduced last year in its Mate 20 Pro device. The feature enables the user to charge it wirelessly and get a charge from another smartphone. There was another incredible tool that was ded with the big Pro 30 launch, and that is the wireless headphones. This is unlike as it was seen with Apple’s AirPods and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds. You will find it an incredible experience to have both the P30 smartphone to enjoy the feel of having a smartphone with wireless headphones.


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- Updated design, inside and out, for Kia’s global and European best-seller
- Revised powertrain line-up includes 185 ps EcoDynamics+ 2.0-litre diesel mild-hybrid
- Efficient new 1.6-litre ‘U3’ diesel
- EcoDynamics+ powertrain reduces CO2 emissions by up to 4% under WLTP
- Idle Stop & Go now standard; all gasoline engines feature particulate filters
- New technologies include upgraded infotainment and active driver aids
- On-sale in Europe during Q3 2018 with 7-Year, 150,000-kilometre warranty
July 2018 – The upgraded 2018 Kia Sportage features a range of enhancements to cement its position as the brand’s flagship SUV and its best-selling model in Europe. The new Sportage pairs an updated exterior and interior design with new safety and infotainment technologies, as well as efficient new powertrains complying with future emissions standards. Upgrades to the Sportage range also include modifications to GT Line models.
The car’s advanced new EcoDynamics+ 48V diesel mild-hybrid powertrain is the first to be launched as part of Kia’s global powertrain electrification strategy. With this development, Kia becomes the first manufacturer to offer hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery-electric and 48-volt mild-hybrid technology across its full model line-up. Kia will launch 16 advanced powertrain vehicles by 2025, including five new hybrids, five plug-in hybrids, five battery-electric vehicles and, in 2020, a new fuel-cell electric vehicle.
More than 131,000 examples of the Sportage were purchased by European customers in 2017, representing a quarter of the brand’s total European sales. One Sportage was sold every 69 seconds globally in 2017, making it Kia’s international best-seller. The five-millionth Sportage was built in March 2018, three months into the car’s 25th year on sale, following its introduction in 1993. The Sportage for Europe is produced at Kia’s manufacturing facility in Žilina, Slovakia.
Emilio Herrera, Chief Operating Officer for Kia Motors Europe, commented: “The Sportage has been a major contributor to Kia’s growth in recent years, both globally and here in Europe. As the C-SUV segment continues to expand, the Sportage has introduced hundreds of thousands of European motorists to the Kia brand, and it now accounts for one in four Kia cars sold across the region.
“As our flagship SUV in Europe, the Sportage represents the best of Kia’s brand values – great design, innovative technologies, and high quality. The upgraded model remains as compelling as ever, with our first diesel mild-hybrid powertrain, a refreshed design, and a series of new technologies to boost safety, comfort and convenience.”
Head of Marketing and PR


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News broke yesterday that Kroger will be closing their Brownwood location after 40 years of operation. The news struck many, as Kroger has perhaps the most loyal shoppers of any grocery store in town. What citizens have yet to realize, is that their own city helped to seal Kroger’s fate.
Increased competition, a dilapidated building, and other factors doomed Kroger as Aldi and United have opened new locations near Kroger in recent years. A remodeled Brookeshire’s on the south side of town, and the presence of Wal-Mart just a few blocks away has surely saturated the grocery market in a town of 19,000.
Before we begin, here’s a disclaimer that this article is not about United vs Kroger and who is better, it’s about fairness.
In 2011, the city of Brownwood, Brownwood Chamber of Commerce, and the Brownwood Economic Development Corporation hired a retail consulting firm (The Retail Coach) at a total cost of $45,000 to recruit new retail to the area.
Shortly after their hiring, The Retail Coach identified that Brownwood residents needed and wanted another grocery store (in an already saturated market where profit margins are low to begin with). Soon after, discussions began between the city of Brownwood and representatives of United Supermarkets.
The city eventually reached an agreement on an incentive package for United Supermarkets to construct a store in Brownwood. The Brownwood Economic Development Corporation promised reimbursements up to $360,000 for infrastructure and site improvements. Promises made to United from the City of Brownwood included giving .342 acres of city owned land near West Commerce Street to United, paying for and installing a flapper valve on a detention pond, and 24,000 cubic yards of fill material at no cost (an amount that would cover Gordon Wood Stadium in dirt 13.5 feet deep).
Mayor Stephen Haynes was quoted as saying that negotiations with United, “have been a breath of fresh air.” Who wouldn’t be cooperative when getting over $400,000 in cash and assets handed to them to help establish a business? The question many would like to know now is why didn’t Kroger receive any financial incentives from the city? What about Brookeshire’s, Wal-Mart, etc? Mr. Mayor, what is your office going to do to help Kroger keep their doors open?
The city of Brownwood, with assistance of The Retail Coach, handpicked United Supermarkets to locate a store here knowing well that the grocery market was already saturated and something had to give. In the end, we gained a new grocery store on an empty plot of land, while an existing building will now sit empty. That seems to be the Brownwood way.
The city hired The Retail Coach in hopes of booming the local economy and creating more sales tax revenues. Let us not forget that the majority of products sold in a grocery store do not generate any sales tax revenues to begin with. Additionally, the city’s claims of economic development in the building of United are completely untrue. The building of United Supermarket did not cause the citizens to purchase more locally, all it did was spread those sales out to a new store in town, and now it’s costing someone their job. We have enough grocery stores and donut shops. If you want true economic development Mr. Mayor, try recruiting something that we don’t already have.


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Disney Is Not That Great an Investment
DIS stock has done terribly
So far this year, Disney stock (DIS) is down over 15%. The market is not pleased with its earnings, negative free cash flow, and huge spending on content.
For example, in its fiscal Q1 report for the quarter ending Jan. 1, made $1.15 billion in net income (continuing operations). But its…


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Some of these cars are not best sellers in the domestic market, however, they are the most exported from India in FY16. Below is the list of top 10 cars exported from India in FY16.
Hyundai Motor India has the most number of cars on this list, Creta taking 10th place, i10, Xcent, and Grand i10 taking 9th, 8th, and 5th spots respectively on the list.
Despite showing lower export in the last two years, Hyundai has crept back with sound showing in its exports, mainly due to its best seller - Creta.
Ford was the surprising entry taking the numero uno position with sales of 83,325 units of the EcoSport. The EcoSport is facing some stiff competition in India with the recent launch of the Maruti Vitara Brezza. The number one position of the EcoSport suggests that the compact SUV is indeed a good buy and does give good value for money.
Nissan's Micra slipped to the second spot falling short by 1 percent when compared to the previous FY15.
Nissan Sunny too has slipped position and stands in the 7th spot. These two cars have been a great seller in India, however, it has paid off in terms of export numbers.
Volkswagen Vento continues to hold the third spot for consecutive years and has not been impacted even after the scandal that hit the automobile manufacturer.
This leaves us with Maruti, which made some progress in sales with Alto taking 4th spot on the list of most exported cars from India. Even though it's just one model from Maruti, the coming year could see some new entrants like the Maruti Baleno which has started to export and could topple one of the cars from the list.
This leaves us the 6th spot in the list, Chevrolet Beat has made it to the list for the first time and this is due to Make In India campaign and most of the manufacturers are pushing hard on the localisation and make their cars cost effective.


text: UK supermarket Tesco has decided to bring its virtual supermarket screens (successfully trialled in South Korea last year) to Gatwick Airport. There's ten touchscreens in total, dotted around the departure lounge, with eager shoppers able to make a preemptive grocery strike with their smartphone. On-screen barcodes for around 80 items can be scanned by compatible -- that is, Android and iOS -- devices and added to your shopping basket. Following online payment, your bounty of food can then be assigned a delivery date up to three weeks in advance. The virtual shelves will stay up for two weeks; the UK retailer hasn't commented on further roll-out or extension plans. However, in an airport, during summer vacation, is probably the last place we'd muse on what we're going to eat on our eventual return. If you're wondering exactly how to shop with a four-foot touchscreen, Tesco walks you through it at the source link below.


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The Last of Us Part II has gone gold ahead of its 19 June 2020 release date. Naughty Dog Game director Niel Druckmann shared the news over a YouTube video where he expressed his love and passion for the project. In addition, the director thanked his team for the hard work on the game amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
For those of you who don’t know what “gone gold” means. The game is now complete and the manufacturing of the discs and uploading of the digital copy on the PlayStation Store has begun.
The elephant in the room is the latest The Last of Us Part II leaks that leaked before the game went gold. Niel touched on the controversial topic saying “nothing compares” to playing the game. No matter what you have seen or heard.
Niel ended saying “it’s a video game. You’ve gotta play it.”
Further details like pre-load times were not revealed by Naughty Dog. However, Sony will share when you can begin downloading the game soon. We already know the game requires over 100GB of storage. Get ready to delete some old content off your console.


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LOS ANGELES (CN) — President Joe Biden took aim Friday at the foreign-owned ocean carriers that dominate trade routes between Asia and the U.S. in a speech at the Port of Los Angeles to discuss inflation and supply-chain challenges.
The nine major ocean-line shipping companies have raised their prices by as much as 1,000%, the president said in his speech. At the same time they have raked in $190 billion in profits, a seven-fold increase in one year, Biden said, calling on Congress to pass litigation to crack down on these companies and lower shipping costs.
"One of the key ways to fight inflation is by lowering the cost of moving goods through the supply chain," Biden said. "This is about reducing costs for families."
Inflation reached 8.6% in May, the Labor Department reported Friday, the highest rate in four decades and defying optimism that price increases might be tempering. The biggest increases were in energy and food prices, what Biden's referred to as "Putin's tax," as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted global oil and wheat markets.
Fighting inflation is the administration's top economic priority, Biden said.
Consumer prices had already been going up prior to Russia's invasion in February. Rampant U.S. consumer demand combined with equipment and labor shortage throughout the supply-chain overwhelmed the ports, railroads and warehouses last year. This in turn drove up transportation costs for retailers and wholesalers to bring in merchandise from Asia and ultimately for consumers.
The ocean carriers' huge price hikes last year is something that made him "visceral angry," Biden said, "like when you had the person in front of you, you'd want to pop him."
"It's a big deal," Biden said. "People while at home trying to make it paycheck-to-paycheck and wondering what in God's name do nine shipping companies have to do with it. Well almost everything you're doing, everything from what you're eating to what you happen to drive, to what you need in your home relates to the supply chain and what's coming from abroad."
The White House in February announced an agreement between the Justice Department and the Federal Maritime Commission to make antitrust lawyers and industry experts available to each other to ensure that large ocean freight companies won't "squeeze" American businesses and consumers. Congress meanwhile is considering legislation that would address the current antitrust immunity ocean carriers and their alliances enjoy.
The nine biggest ocean carriers, including Denmark's Maersk and China's Cosco, control about 80% of all global container ship capacity and 95% of the East-West freight traffic. The nine carriers have formed three alliances that collaborate on utilization of ships, sailing schedules and itineraries, containers and use of joint terminals.
Biden's swipe at the freight carriers comes while the West Coast longshore union, representing the workers at the ports, are in the middle of labor talks with the organization that represents the ocean carriers and terminal operators. The negotiations have already sparked anxiety with retailers and other importers about new disruptions at the ports.
Biden was introduced by a speaker from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union at Friday's speech.
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the biggest container port complex in the nation, have already seen a record number of imports from Asia arriving through the first three months of the year. Retailers have been bringing in as much goods as they can to, among other reasons, build up inventory ahead of any possible slowdowns or shutdowns at the ports.
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Sun-drenched Cannes is set to be the first major European boat show to reopen for business this year, when it welcomes the public again from 7-12 September.
Against the elegant backdrop of the French Riviera, some of the biggest, most prestigious and innovative names in yachting will once again be on display at the Cannes Yachting Festival.
Visitors will be able to browse some 550 exhibitors and more than 600 boats on land and in the water.
As in 2019, the yachts will be split between two locations: the Vieux Port for motorboats of all descriptions, from 5m runabouts up to 50m superyachts.
Video images from 2019 Cannes Yachting Festival
For the first year ever, the Vieux Port will include a dedicated area for electric and hybrid vessels, and dedicated shore space for inboards and outboard motors.
Just a short hop away via a free water shuttle, Port Canto will showcase a plethora of sailing boats up to 30m LOA.
Port Canto is also the location for the yachting toys area, as well as around 50 brokerage and charter yachts starting at 22m LOA.
Multihulls are well represented at this year’s show, split between the motor and sailing areas. There is a dedicated powercat marina for the first time within the Vieux Port.
Underlining the breadth of the offer this year and the pent-up demand to get back into boat shows, there are an unprecedented 140 world premieres slated for the six-day event.
They run from luxury sloops and bluewater catamarans to high-end 37m motoryachts. Tenders and RIBs are also well represented at Cannes, with 48 brands exhibiting this year.
Another attraction is the new Innovation Space, created in partnership with Mer Angels and BNP Paribas Banque Privée. Here visitors can see breakthrough technologies – especially in the environmental sphere, that represent the future of yachting.
As ever, sea trials are available for many of the boats in the show. A new area has been specially reserved for this purpose in the Vieux Port.
Visitors can be sure of a safe visit, with stringent pandemic measures in place. Expect social distancing and 100% online ticketing (no box office at the entrance to the show).
You’ll also have to show a digital passe sanitaire showing proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or proof of recent recovery from Covid. Tickets start at €18.


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Jordan Brand is turning all the way up for the NBA All-Star Weekend in New York City.
To commemorate the star-studded festivities, the Jumpman label is set to release two remastered Air Jordan X retros that are themed after The Big Apple. There's the all-red "Bulls Over Broadway" colorway and an iteration inspired by the Statue of Liberty nicknamed "Lady Liberty."
While it's safe to guess that both pairs will drop sometime during the huge All-Star Weekend event, an official release date has just been revealed for one of the colorways, and it might just surprise you. Instead of the usual Saturday morning drop, the "Lady Liberty" Xs will launch on Sunday, February 15, the same day as the All-Star game, at 10 a.m. EST, according to Eastbay.
The online retailer doesn't currently have the "Bulls Over Broadway" pair listed on its calendar, but a February 15 launch would only make sense.
Mark your calendars accordingly and be sure to start saving now.


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Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML, TSXV: SGML) reported on Wednesday a revenue of $97 million for the third quarter of 2023, marking the company’s first revenue-generating quarter.
The miner reported on Wednesday sales of 38,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate and 16,500 tonnes of lithiated byproducts in Q3 2023.
Adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) totaled $54.6 million, for an adjusted EBITDA margin of 56%. It also achieved net income of $36.4 million and a net profit margin of 37%.
For the full year, the company expects lithium concentrate production of 130,000 tonnes.
Sigma said it achieved operational net-zero carbon emissions for all three of its shipments to date through the implementation of its environmentally sustainable production methods and the purchase of carbon credits.
The company said it continues to progress towards completing its definitive feasibility study and final investment decision for its Phase 2 and 3 expansions.
The expansion would lift the Greentech plant’s nameplate throughput potential to 766,000 tonnes from the current level of 270,000 tonnes.
The Greentech plant, located at Sigma’s Grota do Cirilo mine in Minas Gerais state, is the first lithium facility in the world to produce chemical-grade lithium concentrate without a tailings dam and with 100% reuse of the water utilized in the processing.
Sigma expects to produce 270,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate in its first year of full operation – over twice the 112,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate produced in all of Brazil last year, according to the Brazilian Mining Association.
Sigma shares were up 11% by 10:50 am EDT. The lithium developer has a market capitalization of C$4.08 billion ($2.9bn).


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The US-China "Phase 1" trade deal reached in January is not falling apart and the two countries are still working to implement it, the White House's top economic adviser said on Friday, but President Donald Trump added that he was not "thrilled" with the agreement.
Gold futures were up 0.58 per cent or Rs 275 at Rs 47,656 per 10 grams. Silver futures gained 2.88 per cent or Rs 1347 to Rs 48,065 per kg.
Gold Rates - Spot & Futures (.995 purity) (MCX)
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Spot gold markets remained shut due to lockdown in the country to check the spread of coronavirus, according to HDFC Securities.
Globally, gold rose on Monday to its highest since October 2012 as worries regarding the souring US-China relations and bleak US economic data underpinned the safe-haven metal.
Spot gold was up 0.9 per cent at $1,756.79 per ounce by 0043 GMT, after rising to its highest since Oct. 12, 2012 at $1,759.98. US gold futures gained 0.5 per cent to $1,765.70.
Physical gold demand was tepid in most Asian centres last week with retail buying yet to see any significant recovery even as top hubs India and China eased some coronavirus-driven restrictions.
SPDR Gold Trust holdings, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.8 per cent to 1,113.78 tonnes on Friday.
Palladium slipped 0.5 per cent to $1,892.25 per ounce. Platinum gained 0.7 per cent to $803.19, while silver rose 2 per cent to $16.96.
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The nationwide insolvency practitioners SFP has been appointed Administrators to High Wycombe-based CCTV security systems distributors Center Group Limited after the firm encountered financial difficulties.
Center Group Limited specialises in the distribution of CCTV systems and had a relationship with Panasonic, JVC and Sony to distribute its systems from its base in Lane End near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
In 2007, company turnover peaked at £7 million, but due to the economic downturn, the company experienced a downturn in business that put greater pressure on its cash flow leading to it accruing significant debts to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and creditors.
SFP’s Simon and Daniel Plant – both licensed members of the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association – were appointed Joint Administrators on 23rd September 2013.
“The security industry has been particularly hard hit by the downturn in the economy,” says Simon Plant, Director of the SFP Group. “The company ceased to trade prior to our appointment and we are in the process of marketing the company for potential buyers.”
SecurityNewsDesk featured an article about Center Group and its new distribution arm, Nexus Connect, in February.
The websites for Center Group and Nexus Connect were both unreachable at the time of publishing this article.


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As ATSC Mobile TV-equipped devices inch toward retailer shelves, at the 2010 NAB Show, Harris and LG (opens in new tab) unveiled the next advance for the North American A/153 mobile DTV standard: scalable full-channel mobile, which uses the entire bandwidth for mobile TV, rather than sharing it with fixed broadcast channels. One such use is in-vehicle mobile TV. U.S. law currently requires TV broadcasters to offer at least one fixed TV program in their broadcast bit stream.
The new protocol is aimed at "non-traditional operators that own 700MHz spectrum," according to an April 12, 2010, Harris-LG press release. Although they aren't naming names, it's a good bet that those operators include satellite TV companies. Harris and LG are already working with a customer, according to the release, "and there are others operating in the 700MHz spectrum who plan to launch mobile services that are compatible with the ATSC transmission system."
The Harris/LG full-channel mobile implementation has been proposed for standardization to the ATSC. Harris mobile DTV equipment owners will be able to implement of the new technology with just a software upgrade, according to Hay Adrick, Harris VP of broadcast technology.
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Australia’s agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry sectors are the big winners following the ratification of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA).
The value of Australia’s horticultural produce is forecast to increase by 4.5 per cent to $9.5 billion this financial year.
Russia has banned imports from a broad range of western countries in retaliation to trade sanctions imposed as a result of the Ukraine crisis.
Australia will consider banning uranium exports to Russia as part of a new stage of sanctions against the country.
The Australian government is working to ensure farmers hit by lost exports to Russia gain access to alternative markets, says Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce.
How would you like to reach 300 million Chinese consumers with a hunger for top quality food and beverage products?
The resources boom may be over, but Australia now has three other sectors ready to take up the slack.
A new trade agreement will make it cheaper and easier for Australian organic producers to export to China.
China will account for close to half of the global increase in food demand by 2050, presenting opportunities for Australian agricultural exports.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has forecast a small decline in farm export earnings in 2014-15, with returns improving in the medium term.


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The news that Shell is to reintroduce forecourt attendants to assist you with filling up with fuel has divided opinion in the office. So why is cars expert Lewis against the idea and Conversation’s Charlotte in favour?
Posts tagged with "car-servicing"
Great news! I’ve just heard the government is to do a u-turn on its idea of requiring MOTs every two years. To me, yearly MOTS are an essential part of maintaining car safety – are you with me?
Although car reliability is better than ever, when modern motors do break down, their electrical complexity seems to be stumping breakdown services. So, can your car be fixed by the side of the road?
If MOTs become biennial, surely we’ll have to look after our own vehicles? Yet, modern cars are so complicated that maintenance is often out of our reach. Are we stuck between a rock and a hard place?
The used car salesman’s worst nightmare has finally come true – Tesco has started selling cars. The supermarket giant got into the business earlier this week, but do you want to buy a car from Tesco?
If you’ve taken your car for a service recently, did the garage do a good job? The scary truth is that you may not even realise if they hadn’t – as we went undercover to find out…
Car servicing bundles promise cheaper and predictable maintenance costs. But there’s doubt over whether they actually benefit consumers, rather than just carmakers.


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Dyson invests in new smartphone battery
Electronics manufacturer Dyson is making a multi-million dollar investment in an experimental new smartphone battery, it has been revealed.
The company - most famous for its range of vacuum cleaners - is investing $15m (£10.2m) into Sakti3, a tech startup first established as a spin-off from the University of Michigan. The joint development agreement will see Dyson commercialise Sakti3 technology.
It is claimed that Sakti3's solid-state technology is capable of storing twice the amount of energy provided by existing, liquid lithium rechargeable smartphone batteries.
"Sakti3 has achieved leaps in performance, which current battery technology simply can’t," said James Dyson. "It’s these fundamental technologies – batteries, motors – that allow machines to work properly."
Ann Marie Sastry, Sakti3's chief executive, expressed hopes that the tie-up with Dyson would enable the solid-state smartphone batteries to be brought to the mass market.


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Consumers began receiving their tax rebate checks last week, and at least one retailer is trying to live up to its motto of "saving people money so they can live better."
That was the goal that Sam Walton envisioned when he opened his first Wal-Mart 40 years ago. Last week, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will cash the economic stimulus checks for free, with no purchase at the store required. Moreover, the discounter is offering rollbacks on prices of items from shampoo to lunch meat and cereal. Over the coming weeks, the Bentonville, Ark.-based discounter said it will add more rollback items to help shoppers stretch their dollars.
The retailer also plans to unveil an online advice program early this month to help consumers stretch their family budget.
But how much will actually be spent at retail remains to be seen.
A National Retail Federation survey conducted by BIGresearch concluded that consumers plan to spend 40.6 percent of the tax rebate checks, which is expected to provide a $42.9 billion boost to the economy. The balance is expected to be used for savings and paying down debt.
Trips to the grocery store and to eat out have become increasingly expensive, sapping consumers of at least some of their ability to make discretionary purchases.
White bread prices jumped 16.3 percent in March versus a year earlier, as milk prices advanced 13.3 percent and prices on all food and beverages inched up 4.4 percent, according to the Labor Department.
The pressure on budgets also expands well beyond food.
Household energy prices shot up 6.8 percent in March as the purchasing power of the consumer dollar slid 3.9 percent. And feeding the automobile has gotten expensive, too, as gasoline prices across the country are averaging $3.62 a gallon for regular, according to the American Automobile Association.
"Nothing influences a consumer more than the prices of groceries and food," said Richard Yamarone, chief economist at Argus Research Corp. "Gasoline prices, we complain about them, but if you adjust them and look at them in comparison with the world, they're not too bad."
Women who control household expenses tend to hold off on purchases for themselves as their visits to the grocery store become more expensive, he said."She'll get necessary bills paid, but she'll skimp on or postpone a purchase for herself," said Yamarone, noting women are apt to cut back on apparel as well as cosmetics and jewelry.
Customer Growth Partners president Craig Johnson said his firm has noticed a pickup in sales at retail in mid-April, with traffic in some malls and off-mall venues increasing. Wal-Mart and value chains such as TJX Companies Inc. are doing particularly well, he said.
"There are still some places in the ditch, such as women's apparel retailers, which are struggling," Johnson said.
While Johnson believes there's been a bit of pent-up demand among shoppers following the dreary winter months, he said that much of the pickup likely stems from the easing on home heating bills now that the calendar is shifting into spring.
"It's the time of year where many who run the household budget from paycheck to paycheck no longer have to worry about home heating bills. That's a $19 billion bill that now no longer impacts discretionary spending," Johnson said.
Apparel prices fell 1.4 percent in March as sales at apparel and accessories stores were down 1.6 percent and sales at department stores slid 4.1 percent, according to sales figures from the Commerce Department.
"If confidence is historically low and the economic news is we're in recession or near recession, the likelihood of people adjusting their behavior to go back to spending in restaurants or on high-end apparel or more discretionary items is going to be delayed," said Keith Stock, president of First Financial Partners Inc., a private investment firm.
In the end, it is the confluence of pressures, from high prices to slow economic growth, that really bites down on consumer spending.
"The problem is that consumers are so squeezed from so many different directions right now," said Scott Hoyt, director of consumer economics at Moody's Economy.com. "They've got the double whammy of food and energy prices."
These increases are happening against the backdrop that includes a weakening labor market, declines on Wall Street and ongoing trouble in the housing sector.
"To some degree, it's the fact that they're hitting in combination that's the big problem," said Hoyt.
@tradesy is turning the concept of a showroom upside down with its new space in Santa Monica. Here, the company plans to hold events, art exhibits and a showcase rare fashion pieces like this Louis Vuitton boxing set. Get all the details on Tradesy’s first showroom on WWD.com. #wwdnews
Spotted last night at the @erdem x @hm launch event: Kate Bosworth, Rashida Jones, Kirsten Dunst and Selma Blair. The party, which took place in LA, also marked the opening of their pop-up shop. “I was interested in creating a collection that wasn’t in any way disposable. It was about pieces you’d create and keep forever, things that have a permanence to it,” designer Erdem Moralioglu said. #wwdeye (📷: Katie Jones)
Renee Zellweger in yellow in 2001 and again in 2017. Chosen as one of the 12 @pantone Leading Spring Colors (and dubbed “Meadowlark”), it only makes sense that the bright hue stands the test of time and is making a resurgence this season, seen already on stars like @blakelively and @gigihadid. (📷: Donato Sardello & @rexfeatures) #wwdfashion #tbt
Dior’s 70th anniversary celebration continues with a new exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. “Christian Dior,” which is scheduled to run through March 18, takes a look at the founders tenure from 1947 to 1057 and feature 40 designs. Pictured here is an evening gown from the Ailée, fall 1948-49 haute couture collection. #wwdfashion (📷: Brian Boyle)
As one of the most recognizable models in the world, Christy Turlington Burns has an insider’s view of the fashion industry and the allegations of sexual harassment swirling around it. “I can say that harassment and mistreatment have always been widely known and tolerated in the industry. The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experiences at some point in our careers,” Turlington told WWD, along with her suggestions for how the modeling world should protect younger women and men. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: Tony Palmieri) #wwdnews
@asics America has tapped a new brand ambassador: famed DJ/record producer @steveaoki. This initiative is intended to set the tone for the new brand identity and philosophy and will include partnerships with influencers and in-store and off-line activations that will continue into next year. This is Asics’ most significant marketing effort in two decades, and is expected to attract younger consumers to the brand. #wwdfashion
24-year-old Jean Prounis is redefining the rules of jewelry. Formerly a studio assistant to Jemima Kirke and a design apprentice at Ghuran, she focuses on handcrafted subtleties and ancient goldsmithing techniques. “There was a really sterile feel in the environment and I wanted to have jewelry with character that shapes how you wear it everyday,” Prounis said. Each piece is hand made in New York, either by Prounis or three other jewelers in the district. #wwdfashion
“These collections continue to build on that vision, empowering differently abled adults to express themselves through fashion,” said @tommyhilfiger of his line of adaptive apparel, which launches today. The line consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles based upon the pieces from the spring Tommy Hilfiger sportswear collection. #wwdnews


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Displaying items 37-48 of 177 » View chicagotribune.com items only< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-15 Next >
Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.Despite a struggling national retail sales picture, CBL & Associates Properties Inc. reported Monday that first quarter earnings climbed on higher occupancy and rents. "We are seeing solid improvement in occupancy, net operating income, sales and...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Internet shoppers are moving closer to paying sales taxes for their online purchases. But the fight is far from over. The Senate voted 63-30 Thursday to advance a bill that would impose state and local sales taxes on purchases...
Tags: Dick Durbin, eBay Inc., Government, Walmart, Ron Wyden
WASHINGTON – An eagerly awaited immigration overhaul from a bipartisan group of senators arrived early Wednesday, an 844-page bill that both the political left and right now see as the best chance in decades to achieve fix a broken immigration...
While local business experts see slight improvement in the economy this year, recovery will be a bit of a climb for the Valley's retailers. They'll have to keep pace with the changing demands of a customer base that's expecting a lot more. "You must...
Tribune NewspapersWith Easter falling early this year, on March 31, Americans still plan to spend it in style but within their means, according to a new survey from the National Retail Federation conducted by BIGinsight. Keeping cost well in mind, the average person...
Customers at Towson Hot Bagels usually pay with credit, not cash, when buying a bagel or a bottle of water, triggering fees the merchant must pay to process each transaction. Now, the shop's owner and retailers across the country may recoup "swipe"...
Cargo volume at the nation's ports is expected increase in March, despite port slowdowns as a result of automatic federal budget cuts, according to a retail group. A monthly Global Port Tracker released Monday by the National Retail Federation...
At GameStop Kids at White Marsh Mall, shoppers will find plush Mario book bags and Angry Birds hats mixed in with the Lego Star Wars and other kid-friendly video games, a mix meant to attract both serious "gamers" as well as those who've never played...
Tags: Dundalk, LEGO Group, Electronics, Games, Nabi
Super Bowl season typically is a busy time for television sales, but in the Baltimore area, some stores have seen an extra boost as fans get ready for game day parties on Feb. 3, when the Ravens face the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. "It's without a doubt,...
Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Football, Super Bowl XLVII
Did you remember to get something for your Valentine? Or did you have to spend the night in the doghouse? Tricia Wainscott, manager of Kilwin's at Eddy Street Commons, saw plenty of last minute shoppers Thursday. But despite this being the store's third...
Customers lined up outside Rheb's Candy early Monday, even before owner Wynn Harger opened the doors of the Southwest Baltimore shop his family has run for three generations. People, mostly men, crammed into the tiny, cottage-like store for much of the...
This time of year we like to do some soul-searching to find our inner Cupid. He's hiding in there somewhere, sporting a washable diaper and carrying a bow made with an old guitar string. We realize a lot of cheapsters are counting on us to help them...
Tags: Foods and Beverages, Pizzas, Allentown, Holidays
Apr 30, 2013 |Story| McClatchy-Tribune
Apr 26, 2013 |Story| Petoskey News
Apr 17, 2013 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Mar 11, 2013 |Story| Allentown Morning Call
Mar 20, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune
Feb 24, 2013 |Story| Baltimore Sun
Mar 11, 2013 |Story| Los Angeles Times
Dec 3, 2012 |Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 28, 2013 |Story| Baltimore Sun
Feb 14, 2013 |Story| WSBT-TV
Feb 13, 2013 |Story| Baltimore Sun
Feb 9, 2013 |Column| Allentown Morning Call
Original site for National Retail Federation topic gallery.


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The firm will also add up to 300 jobs in Heredia Province.
- Viant photo -
U.S. medical device manufacturer expands operations in Costa Rica
Published Tuesday, April 13, 2021
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Viant, a life sciences company based out of Massachusetts, announced a major expansion at its medical device manufacturing plant located in Heredia Province.
"We are committed to continued collaboration with the private sector, to create the necessary conditions to attract greater investment and benefit thousands of families with stable and high-quality jobs,” President Carlos Alvarado said on the new expansion announcement.
According to the company, it was invested in additional capacity to meet market demand for surgical devices, including electromechanical devices. This expansion will benefit all their potential customers who seek speedy access to acquire complex medical devices.
“Viant Costa Rica is experiencing strong growth and not by chance. This country offers ideal conditions for a successful business model and the possibility of establishing a competitive cost structure, supported by a strategic geographic location and, importantly, the tremendous talent found here," Kevin Quirós, Director of Viant Costa Rica said. "We are delighted that our growth will have a positive impact on our current and future customers and partners. And this is just the beginning."
The company’s expansion began in 2020 and included 14,000 square feet of assembly space and plastic molding in ISO Class 8 clean rooms, and retrofitted 15,000 square feet of additional space for warehousing, offices, and support capacity, for a total of 180,000 square feet over four buildings. This expansion includes 15 new molding machines that complement the liquid silicone rubber (LSR) molding capacity that was added in 2020.
The firm will also add up to 300 jobs in the Heredia area. They will look toward hiring employees in all fields: warehousing, equipment technicians, operators, manufacturing engineers, quality, operations managers, line leaders, production supervisors, and more. People interested in applying for a job may send their résumé to the following email address, email@example.com or visit the company Career site.
This is the second U.S.-based company announcing an increase in their operations in the country this month.
Last week, the Wisconsin-based company SMC, a global contract manufacturer for the medical, diagnostics and pharmaceutical markets, announced the expansion of its facility in Costa Rica.
The firm also has branches in California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Ohio of the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom and India.
“SMC has seen tremendous growth in Costa Rica, both in technological capabilities and our people development,” Bob Stoesser, SMC Vice President said. “This is our third expansion in 10 years and shows our commitment to Costa Rica, its people, and community."
According to SMC Costa Rica, the expansion allows for additional cleanroom molding and contract manufacturing capacity. The development will double its current facility bringing it to 120,000 square feet in the Coyol Free Zone Park in Alajuela Province.
With the additional space, the firm will provide increased contract manufacturing solutions including assembly, injection molding and secondary operations, giving their global customers more options.
In 2010, SMC was one of the first suppliers to set up operations in the Coyol Free Zone Park at a multi-tenant building. Four years later, in 2014, the company relocated to a larger facility doubling its square footage.
This year, the firm is doubling its manufacturing area to 120,000 square feet to support the significant growth they are undergoing.
SMC currently employs over 200 people in Costa Rica and will be hiring additional workers. The company is a manufacturer offering complete design, molding services, and finished devices for the medical, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical industries. People interested in their job openings should visit the company Career site.
In 2020 exports of medical devices totaled $3,941 million, accounting for 8% of growth compared to 2019, according to the statistics of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency, CINDE. The agency projections estimate that, by the end of 2022, exports could reach $5 billion.
By the end of 2020, the more than 300 multinational firms with operations in Costa Rica country had created approximately 134,026 jobs, of these 38,248 jobs were created in life-sciences companies, according to the Foreign Trade Ministry.
However, despite the high numbers announced by the ministry, the Employment Survey, from December 2020 to February 2021, shows an unemployment rate of 18.5%, meaning there are 452,000 people without registered jobs in the country.
What advice do you give Ticos for getting a job in a multinational company? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to firstname.lastname@example.org


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A grand event for a grand opening
Little Caesars Pizza offered the first 100 customers a years’ worth of free HOT-N-READY® pizza.
Our goal was to spread the word, attract the local community, and ensure the event was a huge success.
Our aims were to:
Understand the UK Audience
Localising the American Little Caesars brand to fit the British consumer
Generate Event Awareness
Generate awareness on social media to see event attendance
Shoot content on the day to capture the moment
Connect with the Local Community
Position Little Caesars as Brits favourite new neighbour
An integrated approach for a successful launch event
MintTwist's social media team worked in parallel to PR colleagues to pull it off.
In the build-up to the event, social media content was created and promoted to the local area to spread awareness of the event and the epic prize up for grabs. The local community were shocked at the opportunity to win a year’s worth of free pizza.
On the day, queues formed hours before the doors opened, and multiple local press outlets reported the story.
The event was a huge success with a great turnout, happy customers, reviews, and coverage.
Little Caesars has made its mark on Derby, positioning itself as the much-loved new neighbour in town.
How the event went:
Pieces of coverage
Est. Coverage Views
The Derby store was the first of many store openings planned for Little Caesars in the UK. Stay tuned for the next, it could be near you!


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A UK advertisement gone wrong has caused a great bust debacle for the model, whose editing job made it appear as though she had one giant breast.
Lounge Underwear, the company which ran the ad, were trying to promote their new line of lingerie when they ran an Instagram story that caused hilarity across the internet.
The poor editing job seems to just be a case of wrong place, wrong time--the circle zooming in on the lace is unfortunately placed directly over the model's breast, making it appear enlarged.
"Who the f**k received this ad design and thought 'yes this looks fine, nothing weird stands out to me, approved,'" said one annoyed user, "and why are they allowed to be in charge?"
Another user simply said:
"Graphic design is my passion."
The brand themselves posted a reaction of them finding out they had made the editing error:
And the model said she got a good laugh after she was kept "abreast" of the situation.
"I completely understand what Lounge was going for with this photo, trying to highlight the stitching/pattern on the bra, but maybe there could have been better placement for the 'enhanced' photo."
The model said she has no hard feelings, and the brand don't seem to have fired anyone...yet.


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BEGIN ARTICLE PREVIEW:
After more than a decade of massive growth in cloud spending, it’s clear that data centers have become a modern computing unit staple, powering all sorts of basic services and future tech developments. With public and private cloud spending expected to grow on average by double-digit percentages every year in the decade ahead — in which time it could become a $1 trillion-a-year industry — businesses are scrambling to capitalize on the opportunity.
To that end, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) recently announced a divestiture to help it focus on this key market, and reports indicate Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) is close to announcing a deal to acquire fellow chip designer Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX). Both moves will help the companies focus on data centers and cloud computing, and will also greatly improve profitability.
Image source: Getty Images.
A leaner, meaner legacy tech giant
IBM completed its acquisition of cloud-based application development and management outfit Red Hat in 2019. The takeover was billed as transformational for IBM as it signaled its shift to emphasizing data center and cloud computing over its legacy hardware lineup. While Red Hat most certainly updated IBM’s cloud capabilities, it thus far hasn’t had the same desired effect …
END ARTICLE PREVIEW


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Reported by Kate McNeil, CSaP Communications Coordinator
In late November, policymakers and academics gathered at St. John’s Divinity School for a CSaP-facilitated roundtable on the future of plastics. The roundtable, chaired by Professor Susan E Owens OBE from Cambridge’s Department of Geography was an opportunity to examine current plastics policies, and to explore possible avenues for future innovation and improvement in this policy area. Framing the discussion, it was suggested that plastics policy has become emblematic of other issues in environmental policy. This generates both hope for progress, and the possibility of the emergence of new controversies as approaches to tackling the issue are debated in the mainstream.
Recent steps in government to make progress on the plastics issue have included steps to ban single use plastics products such as straws, and consultations on using negative incentives to reduce single-use plastic waste. Moreover, the subject of plastics and waste reduction was woven throughout the Government’s A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment strategy. Building upon these steps, there were suggestions from some attendees that future-oriented policy thinking could potentially involve extending producer responsibility for packaging and managing plastic waste by increasing the supply of and demand for recycled materials throughout the economy. Policymakers also have to work in a context where the devolved administrations in the United Kingdom have different legislation and approaches towards this issue, approaches which differ again from those being taken in other parts of Europe. A geographically segmented approach to solutions may become more of an issue in future, given the global scale of the underlying problem.
Efforts to reduce plastic consumption will necessitate understanding how much plastic we currently use, and how we use it. It is estimated that the United Kingdom currently produces 1.6 million tonnes of plastic in primary form and imports another 3.6 million tonnes, with our plastic consumption having remained stable over the past decade. While researchers have been working to measure these plastic flows in the UK economy, mapping to understand the scale of these flows has proved difficult given disparate, and in some cases non-existent, data. In using available data, it is also important for researchers, and for policymakers, to differentiate between plastic products based on their lifespans, which ran range from less than a year for single-use plastic packaging to years or decades in industries such as construction, agriculture, and the automotive sector.
This industry-based assessment must also be accompanied by an examination of the main decision-makers in the system. As we seek to reduce plastic consumption and increase the circularity of plastics in the economy, consumers, producers, governments and the international sector all have roles to play. Here, policymakers will need to operate in a context where many businesses and producers presently plan production around planned obsolesce, a business model which efforts to develop a circular economy must confront. In fostering the development of a circular economy, policymakers will also have to take into consideration key components of viable business models, including economic viability, the creation of value through corporate social responsibility, awareness of shifting consumer demographics, the preservation of business margins, and business productivity.
Thinking about the space plastic occupies in our businesses and industries should also be accompanied by a reflection of the space it occupies in our lives. This will involve a reflection of how plastics are framed and used, as well as reflections upon alternative materials which might become acceptable to consumers. Within this space, plant biochemists have proposed that there may be a place for their work in generating alternatives. While there is great potential to improve these alternative materials, there remain challenges, including that some of these products in development are not yet sufficiently resistant to water or oxygen, rendering them unsuitable for food preservation. More work will be needed in policy and regulation to develop standards for biodegradable, compostable and bio-based plastics.
Throughout the roundtable, participants raised questions of agency, time, and place. Some acknowledged there can be a lack of clarity in the aims those seeking to reduce plastic are trying to achieve, with plastic pollution as well as reduction of carbon emissions being among the targets to aim for using a variety of approaches. Others raised industry’s struggle to keep up with the excitement of consumers who want to ‘do good’. It was also emphasized that appropriate market research, internalizing the environmental cost of plastic, and building brand stickiness by providing a service with an end of life experience for plastic products may have roles to pay in solutions. The crucial takeaway from the session was that it is vital that actors engaged with this issue in different sectors engage with one another, to ensure that broad rather than narrow solutions are sought to this enormous challenge.
You can read the plastics workshop report here.


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Blended Scotch, Led By Dewar’s And Johnnie Walker, Eyes New Growth OpportunitiesDecember 4, 2019
Blended Scotch eked out a 0.3% increase to nearly 6 million cases in the U.S. market last year, according to Impact Databank. The segment is on a similar trajectory this year, with value rising 1.2% and volume down 3.1% in Nielsen channels in the 52 weeks through October 5. But Brian Cox, vice president of Dewar’s at Bacardi North America, sees the premium-and-above tier prospering against a declining lower end. Dewar’s fueled the trend this year by launching its Double Double series, a Sherry cask-finished range that includes 21-, 27-, and 32-year-old expressions. The 21-year-old recently ranked second among Whisky Advocate’s Top 20 Whiskies of 2019.
Dewar’s, which has hovered at the 1-million-case mark stateside the past few years, also unveiled its 8-year-old rum-cask finished Caribbean Smooth expression ($22 a 750-ml.) in September. “We’ll continue to explore our ability to finish Dewar’s in casks like Tequila, mezcal, cachaça, and shochu, and believe this development will inspire and encourage the future of Scotch consumption in the U.S.,” Cox tells SND.
That experimentation follows a key development earlier this year, when the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) amended its “technical file” to broaden the cask types allowed and encourage innovation. Under the amendment, Scotch may be “matured in new oak casks and/or in oak casks which have only been used to mature wine (still or fortified) and/or beer/ale and/or spirits.” The amendment still rules out casks that held wine, beer, or spirits that used added sweeteners, flavors, or stone fruits.
Diageo, which was a driving force behind that change, is seeking similar avenues to growth. “A new generation of Scotch whisky drinkers is branching out across flavor profiles and brands,” says Sophie Kelly, senior vice president of whiskies at Diageo North America. “As a result, Scotch represented 25% of Diageo’s net sales and was up 6% in our fiscal 2019. For our blended Scotch brands specifically, both Buchanan’s and Johnnie Walker’s net sales grew 9%.”
Following the success of Johnnie Walker White Walker, which sold 80,000 cases in just a few months on the market last year, Diageo followed up with two more Game of Thrones-themed blends in August, A Song of Ice and A Song of Fire (both $36), respectively. Overall, the Johnnie Walker brand is within striking distance of the 2-million-case mark in the U.S. for 2019, while Buchanan’s is above 500,000 cases.
Pernod Ricard is likewise leaning into innovation with its Chivas Regal label. Most recently, Chivas debuted a limited-edition 13-year-old ($35) finished in American rye whiskey casks. Further experimentation with novel cask finishes is sure to follow as blends look to increase their appeal to the younger generation of consumers.Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.


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With the popularity of Netflix’s original content and more and more people streaming its offerings, it’s not a surprise that overall popularity of subscription video on demand (SVOD) is surging. And it’s coming at the expense of HBO and other traditional premium cable channels.
The research firm NPD Group issued a report this week stating that in the last two years, households subscribing to subscription on-demand have increased 4 percent, while 6 percent fewer households subscribe to such premium TV channels as HBO and Showtime.
NPD’s State of SVOD found that while there are still more premium than SVOD households in North America, the gap has narrowed, with 32 percent of homes preparing for HBO and other premium cable channels and 27 percent subscribing to such services as Netflix and Hulu Plus:
“As SVOD services have gained momentum, it’s clear that some consumers are trimming their premium-TV subscriptions,” said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis for The NPD Group. “As SVOD increasingly strives to become a channel itself, viewers might consider it to be an adequate substitution for other premium channels, or perhaps they are switching to economize on their time and money spent.”
While the SVOD number overtake the cable one this year? With more and more programming going to Netflix and the like, along with the arrival next month of the new WWE Network, that’s very possible.


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LG already made it clear that they want to release a 5G smartphone. The well known leakster, Evan Blass, has given us an image that seems to confirm all the rumors that are circulating so far about this device. However, there’s no confirmation about the actual hardware configurations. It is believed that the V50 ThinQ will be equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and 4,000mAh battery. There’s also vapour chamber cooling system to compensate for the hot, high performance hardware.
A source in South Korea stated last month that the 5G smartphone from LG will be unveiled in the MWC 2019 event on February 24th. This confirmation shouldn’t be surprising, because LG was among the first manufacturers that announce their commitment to 5G technology. So, it won’t be appropriate for the company to postpone their release of the device until the second half of 2019. The announcement from LG has refuted previous speculations that the South Korean manufacturer will retire the G series devices in favour of the V series.
In fact, it appears that LG is consolidating their products around the G and V models. They also retain the Q series for mid-range segment and K series for entry-level models. There’s an indication that LG will quit the race for the best hardware specs. Instead, they will focus on offering the best customer value through product differentiation and stronger identity. Other than the V50 ThinQ, LG will also unveil the G8 ThinQ. It appears that these devices will have dual-screen design, with the flip cover display.
It could be a bit disappointing for LG fans that the company won’t showcase a foldable model at the MWC event. The LG spokesman said that although the company has the technology to make one, there’s still little demand for such device. In the United States, LG V50 ThinQ will be available on the Spring Network. Earlier, Evan Blass posted an image of the device with Spring 5G logo. The smartphone has dual front-facing camera and triple rear-facing camera.


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Tourism impacts local economy
WOOSTER -- With this week being National Tourism Week, the executive director of the Wayne County Convention & Visitors Bureau wants people to know tourism imports money into the local economy, supports jobs and lowers the tax burden for residents.
Executive Director Marty Starkey and staff have hung banners in the windows of their office in the Wayne County Administration Building, 428 W. Liberty St., to let people know about the positive economic impact tourism has on this area.
Tourism in Wayne County contributed about $206 million in economic activity in 2011, the last year for which there are figures. It represented an increase of 4.8 percent over the $196.5 million in 2010, according to a report by Tourism Economics.
State figures show Ohio had about 190 million visitors in 2012, most traveling about 300-500 miles. Visitor spending has increased since 2009, and there has been a 4.7 percent increase in tourism-related sales tax revenue from 2012 to 2013, according to the TourismOhio website.
About 173,400 jobs were created in the state because of tourism. For every $1 million spent by tourists, about 10 jobs are created, according to the U.S. Travel Association. In 2012, travelers to Ohio spent $17.1 billion, creating payroll of about $4 billion and tax revenue of about $2.6 billion.
Starkey said without tourism, state residents would have to pay about an extra $1,000 in taxes.
The newest Wayne County numbers for 2013 are expected to be ready in about a month, and Starkey said she anticipates the report will reflect an increase in the economic impact.
Having said that, "I'm always a little bit nervous before the numbers come out," she added. "I base that on the bed tax. If it goes up a little bit, then it is good."
Bed tax revenue increased by about 7 percent, she said.
"We love visitors -- always," said Karen Voorhes, manager of the Everything Rubbermaid Store and president of the CVB board.
Board members take a collaborative approach to tourism and try to promote one another. For example, when Voorhes and her staff talk with bus tour representatives, they try to connect them with other places to go in downtown Wooster and Wayne County. "We share what we get with everybody," Voorhes said.
Popular destination points with tourists include the shops and restaurants in downtown Wooster, the Ohio Light Opera on the campus of The College of Wooster, the J.M. Smucker Co. Store and Cafe, Lehman's, P. Graham Dunn, Shisler's Cheese and the restaurants, shops and attractions in Amish community.
Reporter Bobby Warren can be reached at 330-287-1639 or firstname.lastname@example.org. He is @BobbyWarrenTDR on Twitter.


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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'General Supra Topics' started by Raptorman, Mar 5, 2014.
Other than the obvious Supra, what other cars could the FT-1 underpin for Toyota/Lexus?
My guess is the FT1 could underpin the Lexus RC
Dimensions are very similar:
Wheelbase: 107.9 in
Length: 184.1 in
Width: 77.6 in
Height: 48.2 in
Wheelbase: 107.5 in
Length: 184.8 in
Width: 72.4 in
Height: 54.9 in
A sub-86 sports coupe is coming I'm sure. It could share platforms or borrow heavily from it.
It hasnt been confirmed yet that the FT-1 is a representation of the jointly developed platform between Toyota and BMW.
Has me wondering what if anything BMW has in the works , any guesses?
im not fully up on all the rumors but has it been confirmed at all that they are working on a joint platform and not just powertrain for ex?
Yes it has..
Here is what a BMW board member (Herb Diess) said recently:
He declines to confirm if the Toyota FT-1, displayed in Detroit, is an early version of a future sports-car architecture to be shared with BMW.
“We are working on that. We are making progress,” Diess says of the joint project with Toyota. “It’s a complex task. We need to decide which cars would they be and when they would launch. We think it makes sense for both companies, but it is a car architecture that has to suit both companies. I think we will have a final decision in a few months.”
They would be stupid to jointly develop it for any other car. There's a reason they named it FT-ONE.
Yea that's just a corporate guy being coy. The FT1 just happened to pop up soon after this whole joint project thing was announced. Coincidence I think not
This is what a lot of us are already expecting but just to add more to the pile of "proof" -according to this Nikkei Asian Review report the next Supra and next BMW Z4 will share platforms.
I think this partnership will be good for Toyota. They are in need for a lighter platform to underpin not just the Supra but the next generation FRS. I'm sure the platform will need to be able to be scaled down, the BMW could build the Z4 and Z2 off of it possibly?
The FT1 and Z4 are going to be nowhere near the same dimensions. The platform has to be modular.
A Toyota test driver while out on the track for some RC-F versus M4 event just told a Lexus employee that the FT-1 will be using a BMW chassis.
I actually hope it's true. BMW has a lot of experience with CF and light weighting.
Could this mean that Toyota will be using their own engine and only thing shared with BMW will be chassis?
Interesting this was from a RC-F and M4 event. Anyone else thinking this could be some kind of joint study that might indirectly relate to the FT-1?


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Day of the Dead doesn’t arrive until Tuesday, but Calaveras Cantina is celebrating early. As in Friday night.
The Harbourside Place restaurant is hosting a “Fiesta de los Muertos” bash, offering drink specials, music, dancing and prizes.
The party, which runs from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., has a cause beyond margaritas. The restaurant will donate 10 percent of sales to the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s fight against breast cancer.
MAKE THIS: Day of the Dead bread
But, yes, there will be margaritas. Calaveras will pour is own rendition cocktail (and other cocktails) for $6. Craft beers on draft are $4.
Calaveras Cantina: 125 Dockside Dr. (at Harbourside Place), Jupiter; 561-320-9661; CalaverasCantinas.com


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Craig Venter announced that he is retiring from Human Longevity, the company he cofounded and where he serves as chairman and CEO. Venter said in a tweet that he will be returning to the J. Craig Venter Institute, which he founded in 2006, "to continue my work."
Precision medicine informatics company GNS Healthcare has named bioinformatician and biomedical engineer Ted Goldstein to its strategic advisory board. Goldstein, who serves as the scientific program director of computational health at the University of California, San Francisco, is leading the development of a machine learning-based comprehensive cancer diagnosis and treatment model for the university. He previously served as vice president of developer tools at Apple and as an e-commerce hardware developer for Sun Microsystems.
Jeffrey Busch, John Brugmann, Mick Ruxin
Avant Diagnostics has appointed Jeffrey Busch as chairman of its board of directors and John Brugmann as a director on the board. In addition, Mick Ruxin has joined the firm as CEO, resident, and board member.
For more recent items on executive appointments and promotions in the omics and molecular diagnostics industries, please see the People in the News page on our website.


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PC consumers seem to have gone in to a collective hibernation as they wait for the arrival of Microsoft’s latest OS Windows 8.
Windows 8 And Tablets Take Toll On PC Market
If you are a PC buyer on the market right now, chances are that you have decided to wait it out till Windows 8 hits. Or you might have decided to spend half the money and go for a tablet, putting off buying a whole new PC for later.
You are by no means alone in such a decision if you have indeed taken either of the two. The global PC sales showed a large slump in sales in the previous quarter, with the trend pointing downwards. The blame is being placed on tablets and the impending Windows 8 release. Buyers are either settling to replace their PCs with the more portable and cheaper tablets or are putting off buying entirely till Windows 8 comes out.
The 0.1% fall in global shipments might not look like much but then when you scale it up to the billions that it accounts for, the fall is quite a bit. And it is far more pronounced at the Windows 8 Ground Zero in the United States where the shipments fell a drastic 10.6%, as per the data released by analysts at IDC.
Now that the Windows 8 release date is official, customers are far more likely to wait it out instead of investing. IDC researcher Jay Chou called for a “broader” communication regarding the new features of the OS as well as compatibility and upgrade features to help the market along through this slump.
Microsoft has so far only mentioned that Windows 8 will ship in October with the OS being released to manufacturers in August. But there are no specific dates to be relied upon so far.


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LOW-interest car deals have resulted in a sharp rise in the number of Australians taking out personal loans to buy new vehicles.
Credit reporting agency Veda's consumer credit demand index for the December quarter showed year-on-year applications for personal loans rose by 10 per cent.
Veda's general manager of consumer risk, Angus Luffman, said the nation had seen a strong demand for personal loans, this resulting in a huge boost to the car market in 2012.
"Personal loans are those that classify as financing to support motor vehicle purchases and obviously it's been... the strength of that market," he said.
"We've seen a continuation of a trend in relation to personal loans, but it's got stronger in this quarter.
"It's been linked to the Australian dollar's strength."
Personal loans include car finance, standard loans by financial institutions and store credit.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' latest figures found a record number of vehicles were sold in 2012 - a total of 1.11 million in a 10.3 per cent increase from 2011.
Many car manufacturers have attracted customers through low-finance deals including offers of close to zero per cent comparison rates on loans.
Personal loan applications rose the most in the Northern Territory (up 14.3 per cent), followed by WA (13 per cent), Tasmania (12 per cent), Victoria (11.8 per cent), SA (11 per cent), NSW (8.6 per cent) and Queensland (6.2 per cent).
Veda found consumer credit demand rose by 4 per cent year-on-year.
But the nation's appetite for credit cards softened in the last quarter and fell by 1.6 per cent year-on-year, despite an increase from the September quarter (11.9 per cent).
Falls on plastic applications fell in all states including NSW and South Australia (1.5 per cent), Victoria (2.3 per cent) and Queensland 2.5 per cent.
Mortgage applications remained flat and fell by 0.7 per cent in the December quarter, but results varied significantly across the country.
Originally published as Credit deals drive higher car sales


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Carriers such as Telstra, Vodafone and Optus are losing billions as consumers choose social messaging applications to communicate, a new research study has found.Ovum estimates that social messaging has cost carriers more than $13 billion dollars a year in lost revenue. Among the most popular are services like Whatsapp, Blackberry Messenger and Facebook chat.
It concluded that mobile operators must “work together to face the challenge from major internet players”.
Industry experts say operators can offset any losses through effective costing plans by mobile networks.
The BBC said that the report gathered usage statistics from the leading social messaging applications typically used on smartphones across the world.
Social messaging apps make use of a smartphone’s internet connection to send messages rather than the usually far costlier SMS – short message service – system.
The research’s author, Neha Dharia, said operators must look to work closely with the big players in social messaging.
“Operators must remain open to partnering with app developers, sharing end-user data with them and allowing integration with the user’s social connections,” she said.
“Working closely with handset vendors will also be important; they control some of the most popular social messaging apps, and can also provide preloaded applications.”


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Supreme Products has launched its 2011 Search for a Superstar competition, aimed at supporting an amateur or home producer with professional standards, who has their sights set on the top of their chosen discipline.
The winner will be sponsored by Supreme Products during the 2011 season and will feature in the company’s 2011 brochure.
They will also receive a selection of products and garments from the Supreme Products Professional Collection, a makeover masterclass with one of the other Supreme Products sponsored riders and clothing and rugs.
Sarah Turnbull of Supreme Products said: “We are delighted to support some of the country’s top producers and riders but want to reward an amateur or home producer for all the hard work and commitment they put in.”
The competition is open to riders in all disciplines and runs from 1 June to 31 July. A shortlist will be announced in August, when the final judging will take place.
All you have to do is tell Supreme Products why you and your horse or pony should win and what you hope to achieve in 2011.
To apply, go to www.supremeproducts.co.uk after 1 June.