text:
To assist with making China an independent “technology superpower,” the decision Communist Party is pushing the world’s greatest online business organization to assume the precarious, costly business of planning its own processor chips — a business not at all like anything Alibaba Group has done previously.
Its kid chip unit, T-Head, revealed its third processor in October, the Yitian 710 for Alibaba’s distributed computing business. Alibaba BABA, – 1.74% 9988, +0.44% says until further notice, it has no designs to offer the chip to outcasts.
Other youngster chip designers including Tencent 700, – 2.13%, a games and web-based media monster, and cell phone brand Xiaomi 1810, +0.75% are vowing billions of dollars in accordance with true intends to make figuring, clean energy and other innovation that can assemble China’s abundance and worldwide impact.
Processor chips assume an inexorably basic part in items from cell phones and vehicles to clinical gadgets and home machines. Deficiencies due to the Covid pandemic are upsetting worldwide assembling and adding to stresses over provisions.
Chips are a first concern in the decision Communist Party’s long distance race mission to end China’s dependence on innovation from the United States, Japan and different providers Beijing considers likely financial and key opponents. Assuming it succeeds, business and political pioneers caution that may dial back advancement, disturb worldwide exchange and make the world more unfortunate.
“Self-reliance is the foundation for the Chinese nation,” President Xi Jinping said in a discourse delivered in March. He called for China to turn into a “technology superpower” to safeguard “national economic security.”
“We must strive to become the world’s main center of science and the high ground of innovation,” Xi said.
Beijing may be pursuing an expensive frustration. Indeed, even with enormous authority ventures, finance managers and experts say chipmakers and different organizations will battle to contend on the off chance that they isolate from worldwide providers of cutting edge parts and innovation — an objective no other nation is seeking after.
“It’s hard to imagine any one country rebuilding all of that and having the best technology,” said Peter Hanbury, who follows the business for Bain and Co.
Beijing’s effort is adding to strain with Washington and Europe, which consider China to be an essential contender and gripe it takes innovation. They limit admittance to apparatuses expected to further develop its ventures.
In the event that the world were to decouple, or split into business sectors with contrary norms and items, U.S.- or European-made parts probably won’t work in Chinese PCs or vehicles. Cell phone creators who have a solitary prevailing worldwide working framework and two organization guidelines may have to make exceptional forms for various business sectors. That could dial back advancement.
Washington and Beijing need to “avoid that the world becomes separated,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press in September.
China’s industrial facilities gather the world’s cell phones and tablet PCs however need parts from the United States, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Chips are China’s greatest import, in front of unrefined petroleum, at more than $300 billion last year.
Official criticalness over that became later Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first worldwide tech brand, lost admittance to U.S. chips and other innovation in 2018 under sanctions forced by the White House.
That disabled the telecom hardware producer’s aspiration to be a forerunner in cutting edge cell phones. American authorities say Huawei is a security hazard and may help Chinese seeing, an allegation the organization denies.
Huawei and some Chinese opponents are near matching Intel Corp. INTC, +1.23%, Qualcomm Inc. QCOM, +1.96%, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics 005930, +0.12% and Britain’s Arm Ltd. at having the option to configuration “bleeding edge” rationale chips for cell phones, as indicated by industry investigators.
Be that as it may, with regards to making them, foundries, for example, state-possessed SMIc in Shanghai are as long as 10 years behind industry pioneers including TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. 2330, +1.49%, which produces chips for Apple Inc. AAPL, +2.30% and other worldwide brands.
Indeed, even organizations, for example, Alibaba that can configuration chips probably will require Taiwanese or other unfamiliar foundries to make them. Alibaba’s Yitian 710 requires accuracy no Chinese foundry can accomplish. The organization declined to say which unfamiliar maker it will utilize.
“My country still faces a big gap in chip technology,” said industry examiner Liu Chuntian of Zero Power Intelligence Group.
China represents 23% of worldwide chip creation limit however just 7.6% of deals.
Pressing large number of semiconductors onto a fingernail-size bit of silicon requires somewhere in the range of 1,500 stages, minute accuracy and little known innovations claimed by a modest bunch of U.S., European, Japanese and different providers.
They incorporate KLA Corp. KLAC, +4.61% in California for super-exact estimation and Japan’s TEL for machines to apply coatings a couple of atoms thick. Many are covered by limitations on “double use” innovations that can be utilized in weapons.
China “lags significantly” in instruments, materials and creation innovation, the Semiconductor Industry Association said in a report this year.
Washington and Europe, refering to security stresses, block admittance to the most exceptional instruments Chinese chipmakers need to match worldwide forerunners in accuracy and effectiveness.
Without those, China is falling farther behind, said Bain’s Hanbury.
“The TSMC horse is sprinting away and the Chinese horse is stopped,” he said. “They can’t move forward.”
Washington moved forward tension on Huawei last year by banning worldwide foundries from utilizing American innovation to deliver its chips. U.S. merchants can offer chips to the organization, however not for future “5G” cell phones.
As far as concerns its, the European Union said it will survey unfamiliar speculations later grumblings China was dissolving Europe’s innovation lead by buying significant resources like German robot creator Kuka.
Alibaba’s Yitian 710 depends on engineering from Britain’s Arm, featuring China’s suffering requirement for unfamiliar ability. Alibaba said it actually will work intimately with long-lasting unfamiliar providers Intel, Arm, Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +4.40% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, +5.62%.
T-Head’s first chip, the Hanguang 800, was reported in 2019 for man-made brainpower. Its second, the XuanTie 910, is for self-driving vehicles and different capacities.
In November, Tencent Holding, which works the WeChat informing administration, reported its initial three chips for man-made brainpower, distributed computing and video.
Beijing says it will burn through $150 billion from 2014 through 2030 to foster its chip industry, however even that is a small portion of what worldwide pioneers contribute. TSMC plans to burn through $100 billion in the following three years on exploration and assembling.
China is attempting to purchase insight by employing engineers from TSMC and other Taiwanese makers. Taiwan, which Beijing claims as a feature of its domain and has taken steps to assault, has reacted by forcing controls on work promoting.
Beijing supports cell phone and different producers to utilize providers inside China, regardless of whether they cost more, however authorities deny China needs to disconnect from worldwide ventures.
“We will never go back in history by seeking to decouple,” Xi said in a discourse by video connect to a November meeting of Asia-Pacific forerunners in Malaysia.
The most recent clash is over photolithography, which utilizes bright light to draw circuits into silicon on a scale estimated in nanometers, or billionths of a meter.
The pioneer is ASML, +1.25% in the Netherlands, which creates machines that can carve semiconductors only 5 nanometers separated. That would pack 2 million into a space one centimeter wide.
China’s SMIC is around 33% as exact at 14 nanometers. Taiwan’s TSMC is getting ready to build its accuracy to 2 nanometers.
SMIC needs to redesign by buying ASML’s most recent machine, however the Dutch government presently can’t seem to concur.Topics #China #chip #technology superpower


text:
Team Steam is celebrating a big night at this year’s 2017 Canadian Brewing Awards. Held last Saturday May 27th in Ottawa, the CBAs are the only nationally sanctioned beer award ceremony and see over thousands of entries from hundreds of breweries across the country.
Steamworks did their part to help represent B.C. craft breweries by taking home 2 gold medals and 1 bronze medal at the event, one of only 4 breweries to win multiple gold medals. The first gold was in the “French and Belgian Style Saison” category, where Steamworks won for their collaboration brew (East of East Van Saison) with fellow Burnaby brewers, Dageraad Brewing. The second gold was in the “American Style Black Ale” category, where Steamworks Black Angel IPA took home top honours. The Black Angel is a seasonal favourite for Steamworks fans, found in their Winter Mash-Up mix pack. Steamworks brewpub also won a bronze medal for their British royal visit themed Commonwealth Ale.
Steamworks brewmaster Julia Hanlon expanded on the win: "We're thrilled to be included in such fine company, there's so many amazing craft breweries across our province and country and we're honoured to be recognized among them!"
The 3 medal showing continued what has been an impressive run at beer award shows for Steamworks. Their Flagship IPA recently took home ‘Best-In-Show’ and ‘Best IPA’ at the BC Craft Beer Awards in October.
About Steamworks Brewing Company: Named after the steam that flows through and powers its Burnaby brewery & flagship brewpub in Gastown, Steamworks proudly brews distinct, flavourful and award-winning craft beers.

domain: news


text:
Nov 16, 2015 The world's largest retailer has already said to expect lower earnings next year.
Oct 14, 2015 The company is reinventing itself, at a high cost
Sep 3, 2015 Disney's 'Force Friday' is a huge promotion for a 'Star Wars' movie 3 months away.
Sep 2, 2015 Customers don’t like waiting, and the country's largest retailer knows it.
Aug 27, 2015 Brick-and-mortar shops are finding new ways stay competitive.
Aug 18, 2015 The company is fighting back against the problem of lost, spoiled and stolen inventory.
Jul 25, 2015 Super Smash Bros. is way more serious than we thought.
Jul 23, 2015 Arcade owner doesn't see business slowing any time soon.
Jul 14, 2015 Gamers aren't the only people with an interest in virtual reality.


text:
Sustainability in fashion will be the main topic at the summit
15 Apr. 2014
Event Preview: Copenhagen Fashion Summit
On April 24, the Copenhagen Opera House will welcome the 3rd edition of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. Organized by the Danish Fashion Institute, the show will host more than 1,000 global attendees, including leading voices in the world of fashion, luxury, business and enterprise, in order to discuss the fashion industry’s social and environmental responsibility. The event coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh.
Among the supporters, the trade fabric show organizer Première Vision will participate in a panel discussion about responsible manufacturing with an intervention by Chantal Malingrey, marketing and development director of Première Vision. Next to Vanessa Friedman (Fashion Editor, Financial Times), who will be moderating the event, other participants at this discussion are Marco Lucietti (Global Marketing Director, Isko), Giusy Bettoni (CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S.) and Catarina Midby (Head of Sustainable Fashion, H&M).
Other highlights of this upcoming edition are the opening speech of princess Mary of Denmark, patron of Copenhagen Fashion Summit, along with keynotes from Kering, the Financial Times, and sustainability advocates such as Livia Firth and Connie Nielsen. In addition, the event will offer an exclusive sustainable runway show featuring 11 renowned Nordic fashion brands including Filippa K, Ivana Helsinki and Designers Remix. The participating designers have used innovative and sustainable fabrics including organic, recycled and renewable textiles provided by H&M, C.L.A.S.S., Lenzing, Monocel and Hemp Fortex, among others. A jury composed of fashion media and industry members will award the most outstanding achievements of selected participants.
Copenhagen Fashion Summit is open for registration until April 18. Interested parties may register here: http://copenhagenfashionsummit.com/registration
|Back to home|


text:
Starbucks (SBUX -0.08%) held its annual shareholder meeting this week, where the company announced that it will be rolling out across the country an idea that it had previously only been testing at select locations: the sale of beer and wine in its stores in the evening hours. In this segment of Friday's Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analyst Jason Moser discuss the latest move from Starbucks, and why Jason thinks this will succeed in certain markets where the demand for this exists.
He says, though, that rather than being a revenue game changer for the company, this will be more of an incremental revenue bump upward. When asked, however, if he thinks McDonald's (MCD 0.63%) will be watching the move closely and considering it themselves, he says that he doesn't see any way that an offering like that could fit with McDonald's value model. He would be concerned, as an investor, seeing that company make a similar move.


text:
Taxelco, a company founded by XPND Capital, has unveiled its new all-electric taxi project, Teo, and will start putting its vehicles on the streets of Montreal on Nov. 26.
“With Teo, we plan to show that a green project can be economically, socially and environmentally beneficial, while respecting all regulations,” states Alexandre Taillefer, entrepreneur, investor and managing partner of XPND Capital. “In launching this service, we’re doing our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we’re raising the visibility of Montreal, which today joins the select club of cities with an electric taxi service.”
Montrealers will be able to choose from two types of electric taxi service: Teo Taxi, a fleet of green and white Nissan Leaf, Tesla and Kia Soul vehicles; and Teo Black, a fleet of luxurious Teslas.
“The two services will meet Montrealers’ different transportation needs,” says Marc Petit, CEO of Taxelco. “Teo Taxi offers a unique and highly personalized service that encourages interaction between the driver and customer. Teo Black caters mainly to a business clientele, with competitive pricing that will make it a popular service across the city.”
Before it officially becomes part of daily life in Montreal in mid-March 2016, Teo will undergo a three-month testing period. A fleet of 50 taxis operated by some 50 drivers will be seen around the city starting Nov. 26, and Teo is currently seeking 500 Montrealers with a smartphone who would like to try out the functionalities of the mobile app and new service.
“As with any high-tech product, real-life performance is a source of crucial information,” notes Petit. “This trial run will allow us to test both the technical and technological aspects of the project, in addition to showing Montrealers how Teo is setting a new standard.”
Ultimately, Teo aims to bring its fleet to 1,000 green taxis by 2017.


text:
WATCHDOGS were slammed yesterday for letting banks off the hook after an 18-month probe.
The Competition and Markets Authority is taking no firm action despite calculating Brits typically pay £92 too much for their current account.
Instead, it suggested banks work together on a website and app to help customers shop around for better deals, but with no firm details on how that would work.
It also told them to cap overdraft fees but failed to impose a cross- industry level.
Banks will instead set it themselves, which most do anyway.
Another woolly idea was a requirement to publish performance stats in branches and on websites.
A website or app - either run by banks or other outfits like price comparison sites - would work out what banking products would exactly cost at a rival.
At the moment, price comparison sites are only good as a very rough guide.
DUKE OF WESTMINSTER DEADBritain's third richest man dies aged 64 after sudden illness - and leaves his £9billion fortune to his son, 25
ARMY RACE SHAMEPrince Harry’s former regiment probed after racist selfie storm as black soldiers branded “n*****s"
SHARP END OF THE LAWBinman dad-of-four tackles knife-wielding burglar raiding his home - but HE is arrested for assault
'fatal sip of cyanide'Chilling moment woman drinks cup of iced coffee 'after her friend laces it with poison'
Alex Neill, from consumer group Which?, said: “It’s questionable whether these measures will be enough, not only to increase competition but also to ensure banks deliver a better service.
“It is disappointing the monthly charge cap is not actually a cap and banks will be allowed to continue to charge exorbitant fees for so-called unauthorised overdrafts, rather than protect customers identified as among the most vulnerable.”
Hannah Maundrell from Money.co.uk, added: “Their package of remedies feel like small steps in the right direction when a giant leap is needed to shake up the sluggish sector.”
When the CMA began the probe, there were suggestions it might end the big banks’ dominance: Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays, which control 77 per cent of current accounts.
Instead its main aim was encouraging customers to switch — which it said could save them an average of £92 a year.


text:
Corporate Finance: Still shy
Merger activity is on the rise, but leveraged-buyout firms are driving much of the increase, while corporations haven’t been as aggressive as many predicted.
One of the most overlooked aspects of the great 1990s stock bubble was that it fueled a golden age of corporate mergers and acquisitions. Using their grossly overvalued shares as currency, companies helped drive U.S. M&A volume to a record $1.6 trillion in 1999. By the end of 2002, after a three-year bear market, that total had plummeted by more than 70 percent, to $471 billion.
Merger activity probably won’t soon revisit bubble-era highs. Nor should it. After all, plenty of companies are still trying to overcome nasty cases of indigestion from mega-acquisitions made during that era. Just ask Time Warner about its merger with America Online. But after stocks finally had an up year in 2003 and the economy began to improve, investment bankers and other M&A experts expected companies to return to the negotiating table en masse.
Things haven’t exactly worked out that way. Merger activity rebounded from its 2002 low, reaching $569 billion in 2003. At $509 billion through mid-August, it’s on pace to rise 47 percent in 2004. But corporations account for a much smaller portion of this volume than they have historically. Instead, private equity firms -- those masters of the leveraged buyout who dominated the 1980s merger scene -- are driving much of the increase.
So far in 2004, 16 percent of all U.S. M&A has involved a private equity firm as the buyer. That’s up dramatically from 9.7 percent in 2003, 7.2 percent in 2002 and less than 2 percent in both 2001 and 2000, according to New York research firm Dealogic (see graph). Executives at several private equity firms, often called “financial buyers” because they acquire companies solely to sell them later for a profit, say they’ve been purchasing at a more rapid clip lately and have encountered hardly any competition from corporations, or “strategic buyers.”
To be sure, there have been several landmark corporate combinations this year, such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s $57 billion acquisition of Bank One Corp. and Cingular Wireless’s $47 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless. But these and the eight other transactions that make up the ten biggest deals so far this year together account for 25 percent of announced M&A volume. That level is “high by historical standards,” according to a report by Goldman, Sachs & Co. analysts James Hoeg and Jonathan Tukman.
Much of the daily drumbeat of deals is being set by financial buyers. Notables include Madison Dearborn Partners’ $3.7 billion acquisition of Boise Cascade Corp.'s paper and forest products unit, and CenterPoint Energy’s $3.6 billion sale of its Texas Genco power-generating subsidiary to several LBO firms, including Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
“There are strategic buyers out there, and they are starting to get back into the game, but the overall sentiment is, ‘Jeez, where the heck have these guys gone?’” says Richard Moreau, a vice president at $1 billion-in-assets private equity shop Harvest Partners. Harvest seeks to make two to three acquisitions annually. By mid-August it had already bought three companies, including baby products manufacturer Evenflo and bus maker New Flyer Industries.
Several factors underlie this trend. Flat stock prices this year have inhibited corporations, who have less buying power in stock-financed deals. Moribund stocks also mean that sellers may wait to snag higher prices in a rising market. And executives may be wary of big strategic moves amid questions about whether the U.S. economy can sustain its recovery, and uncertainty about the impact of November’s presidential election and continuing geopolitical unrest on the markets.
Those factors aren’t inhibiting financial buyers, who are flush with cash from stock-weary investors and benefiting from hot debt-financing markets. As interest rates rise and leverage becomes more expensive, however, this advantage will wane. Then the question of whether corporations will return fully to the M&A market will largely be up to the stock market.


text:
TweakTown NewsRefine News by Category:
Facebook-owned Oculus VR doesn't plan to release a consumer headset until motion sickness-related issues are resolved, according to company officials. Some users said they suffer from motion sickness while wearing the headset and playing video games or watching movies.
"We're really looking forward to this as an industry that takes off... A number of companies will come in, even companies we haven't heard of yet two or three or five years down the road," said Brendan Iribe, Oculus VR CEO. "At the same time we're a little worried about some of the bigger companies putting out product that isn't quite ready. That elephant in the room is disorientation and motion sickness. We're encouraging other companies, particularly the big consumer companies, to not put out a product until they've solved that problem."
Without naming Sony directly, it would appear Iribe is speaking of the Japanese electronics giant - which unveiled Project Morpheus earlier this year. Virtual reality isn't necessarily a new technology, but only recently became a realistic goal, as hardware and software makers look to the budding market.
3D printers have shown great potential, and will reach 217,350 units shipped in 2015, rising drastically from 108,151 in 2014, according to the Gartner research group. Gartner said the 3D printer industry is currently at an inflection point, and will see a drastic increase in shipments starting in early 2015.
"This trend will accelerate as the market consisting primarily of early adopters who grew up with an open-source approach without lock-ins evolves into a market in which average consumers dominate," said Pete Basiliere, Gartner research vice president, in a press statement. "While the early adopters will rage at the perversion of the 3D printer open-source ethos, the vast majority of mainstream consumers will demand the simple and consistent operation that 'plug and print' can provide them."
The 3D printer market will be led by increased material extrusion, as consumers and companies both begin to adopt an increasing number of products. The overall price tag of new 3D printers are still relatively high, but tech breakthroughs are helping drive the price down.
While 3D printing is evolving and maturing at a rapid rate, it's mainly businesses that are utilizing the breakthroughs, with consumer 3D printing at least five years away, according to research firm Gartner. The short term outlook indicates business and medical practices, interested in embracing 3D for functional purposes, will benefit from using 3D technology.
Trying to embrace 3D printing is still a relatively expensive endeavor at the moment, and end users might be interested in following the market - but aren't in a big hurry to invest in 3D printers and filaments to make their own 3D-printed creations. Over the next two to five years, there will be an increase in enterprise 3D printing, as 3D print creation software, scanners and printing services rise in the near future.
"Consumer 3D printing is around five to 10 years away from mainstream adoption," said Pete Basiliere, Gartner Research VP, in a statement. "Today, approximately 40 manufacturers sell the 3D printers most commonly used in businesses, and over 200 startups worldwide are developing and selling consumer-oriented 3D printers, priced from just a few hundred dollars. However, even this price is too high for mainstream consumers at this time, despite broad awareness of the technology and considerable media interest."
After successfully hosting its first Maker Faire, discussing 3D printing with its "Print the Fleet" workshops, the U.S. Navy is interested in learning how 3D printing technology can help. Specifically, the Navy hopes to see 3D printing help improve readiness, allow for faster manufacturing, and reduce storage and shipping costs.
The USS Essex currently has a compact 3D printer which is being used for testing, including sailors printing parts required for daily functions. Furthermore, an increasing number of Navy labs are testing 3D printing - but it's going to be curious to see how sailors onboard ships utilize the technology.
"When you consider the cost and vulnerabilities of our existing Navy logistics and supply chains as well as the resource constraints we face, it quickly becomes clear that we have to reimagine how we do business," said Vice Adm. Phil Cullom, naval operations for fleet readiness and logistics deputy chief. "When advanced manufacturing and 3D printing becomes widely available, we envision a global network of advanced fabrication shops supported by sailors with the skills and training to identify problems and make products."
The Smithsonian Institution successfully created a 3D portrait of President Barack Obama's head, and he has become the first sitting president to have a 3D-printed bust made. The scanning process only took a few minutes, with the president asking the team questions along the way.
The 3D printing took more than 40 hours to print, with more than 5,000 layers of durable plastic that was melted with a laser.
"[First], we 3D-scanned the face, ear to ear, at extremely high resolution, capturing details down to the pore level of the skin,", according to Smithsonian 3D program officers. "We worked with a team from the University of Southern California, who use this technology to 3D scan Hollywood actors. And then the Smithsonian 3D team used hand-held structured light scanners to scan the rest of the bust - the sides of the face, under the chin, the back of the head. We put these two data sets together in order to create the model we used for the 3D print."
Researchers will use 3D mapping technology to give divers and archaeologists a better map on how to study the Hoyo Negro underwater cave. The cave was first found seven years ago, but only a small number of cave divers are trained properly to enter Hoyo Negro.
Photos are being combined to create a 3D image of the cave, which has at least one human skeleton, along with saber-toothed cats, ground sloths, and other prehistoric animals. The researchers will analyze features in photos captured by divers, and will create a 3D structure-from-motion complete image.
"If we can document all the artifacts, make a phone map of the bottom of the pit and create a 3D visualization that puts the archaeologists and paleontologists there - without ever getting wet - those discovers and interpretations are made possible," said Dominique Rissolo, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) scholar, in a statement.
Pixar Animation Studios will make its RenderMan 3D rendering software available for non-commercial use free for graphic animators. The Pixar-developed software was used for such films as Harry Potter, Toy Story and Monsters Inc - and while Pixar produces its own films - RenderMan is licensed to other studios.
The non-commercial version of the software will be available to students, researchers, developers, institutions and for personal use, without any functional limitations, watermarking, or time restrictions during production.
"This truly brings the future of fully photo-realistic ray-traced rendering to RenderMan," said David Hirst, MPC Global Head of Lighting. "We did tests with the production assets from one of our latest movies and were completely blown away by the speed and how interactively we could preview and render these assets. The RIS based integrator is going to change the way we work, with more scalable rendering and faster results."
Medical researchers hope to use 3D printing technologies to create human hearts which can be realistically used for transplants and other life-saving situations. Being able to use a 3D-printed heart in a human test subject is still years away, but researchers are keen to push the boundaries and see if it's possible.
University of Louisville researchers have created heart valves and small veins, and have found success with tiny blood vessels that are being tested in lab mice. Researchers believe they will be able to create an entire human heart within five years, and the "bioficial heart" could be a major medical breakthrough.
"With complex organs such as the kidney and heart, a major challenge is being able to provide the structure with enough oxygen to survive until it can integrate with the body," noted Dr. Anthony Atala, as his team at Wake Forest University hopes to use 3D printing to create viable human kidneys.
The 3D printer market topped $2.5 billion worldwide in 2013, and analysts believe that number will balloon drastically, reaching $16.2 billion by 2018, according to research from Canalys. 3D printing technology became more prominent over the past year or two, but the printers and materials are still relatively expensive.
Early adopters praised 3D printing, but critics mentioned high cost and impractical functionality as reasons not to support the technology. However, 3D printing is still in its infancy and will mature quickly as the industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace:
"This is a market with enormous growth potential now that the main barriers to uptake are being addressed," said Tim Shepherd, Canalys senior analyst, in an interview with SiliconValley.com. "As it matures, there is clear and substantial potential across numerous sectors, such as engineering and architecture, aerospace and defense, and medical (particularly in the fabrication of custom prosthetics), for 3D printing to have a dramatic impact within five years."
During South by Southwest this year, 3D printing is on full display, with industry supporters handing out 3D-printed food to event attendees. Major tradeshows and conventions, such as CES 2014 and SXSW are helping display 3D technology on a big platform, introducing a new audience to potential for the food industry.
3D printed food should give the 3D printing industry a strong boost in 2014, with a larger number of casual consumers being exposed to the technology. Chocolate maker Hershey's is expected to support 3D printing for the next few years, creating edible chocolate sweets for visitors at its factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
3D Systems, which partnered with Hershey's and other select companies, has the ChefJet food printer - though with a price tag still around $5,000, only a small number of bakeries and food makers will be able to afford the niche technology. During SXSW, the ChefJet is using sugar, water and alcohol to print delicious candies that taste sugary and sweet.


text:
Authentic Italian cuisine now comes to Navimumbai
Indian celebrity chef Manoj Rai brings Italian kitchen to the satellite town.
Navi mumbai : The city of Navi mumbai will now boast of its first celebrity Chef kitchen. Celebrity Chef Manoj Rai has launched his Italian concept kitchen “Macchiato – Pizzeria, Bar & Grill” in the city. The restaurant will be first of its kind serving exclusive and authentic Italian cuisine to food lovers in the city. Right from Wood fired Pizza to the best of Italian wine; Macchiato will provide all of it under one roof.
“While working on Macchiato, we were very clear in our thoughts. We wanted to be the best, and for that we had to serve the best. To achieve that perfection we worked on authenticity. Right from our interiors, which are designed by an award winning Italian designer to our ingredients which are sourced directly from Italy.” Says Chef Manoj Rai, Managing Partner & CEO Macchiato, Venezia food and beverages pvt ltd.
Chef Ripu Daman Handa – Master chef session-3 winner is also associated with Macchiato as associate director.
The promoters Venezia Food & Beverages Pvt Ltd an Indian subsidiary of GC&P, Italy have plans to open Macchiato in 10 other locations in next 18 months. Apart from the restaurant the European SME facilitator has some serious investment plans in real estate and renewable energy sector in the country.
“India is looking upwards and we believe that cities like Navi Mumbai will fuel the growth, and that is why we chose Navi Mumbai as the location for our first project. Sectors like F&B, real estate and Energy are looking really interesting for us. We are looking at facilitating investments close to 5000 Crores in next five years in various upcoming sectors in the country. As far as Macchiato is concerned our expansion plan is in place and we are on schedule.” says Mr. Alok Tiwari, CEO GC&P, India.
Navi Mumbai is an extended satellite town of the Metropolitan city of Mumbai and has seen a sudden surge in the hospitality industry over the past 3 years. The launch of Macchiato will certainly add to the booming sector locally, but will also provide customers with an option of an authentic & healthy Italian food in their vicinity


text:
The anti-money laundering watchdog in the Philippines has issued a warning to financial institutions in the Southeast Asian country as they deal with play-to-earn gaming transactions. The regulator believes that the banks must be vigilant with their customer due diligence at a time when the $625 million Axie Infinity hack has forced global watchdogs to focus on the rapidly-growing blockchain gaming industry.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reminded financial institutions in the Philippines that while play-to-earn (P2E) games are not under its purview or that of the country’s central bank, banks have to abide by the strict regulations they have been subject to for years when dealing with such entities.
In his message, AMLC Executive Director Mel Georgie B. Racela pointed out that banks are an important part of the wheel of the blockchain gaming ecosystem. In most play-to-earn games, the players earn digital currencies or native tokens, which they then sell for fiat currencies. This requires the services of a regulated financial entity such as a bank, and according to Racela, this presents a prime opportunity to monitor the industry.
“The payment channels used for the SLP tokens used in the game may include banks and electronic money issuers (EMIs). It must be remembered that banks and EMIs are covered persons and are, thus, required to conduct customer due diligence, keep records, and file covered and suspicious transaction reports (STRs),” the AML boss commented.
Racela believes that all financial institutions, “as payment and settlement facilitators, should closely monitor funds that pass through them (through the purchase or sale of such tokens) for possible links to dirty money and promptly file the corresponding STRs when appropriate,” reports local business newspaper Business World.
The warning comes at a time when P2E gaming has grabbed headlines following the $625 million heist of Axie Infinity, a game built on Ethereum whose Ronin Bridge sidechain was attacked recently. Axie had to use the sidechain as transacting on Ethereum is both expensive and slow, a fatal combination for a gaming ecosystem. However, in choosing scale and lower fees, the developers of the game sacrificed decentralization and, consequently, the security of their platform. Bitcoin SV scales unbounded, and as such, games built on BSV such as CryptoFights don’t suffer from such vulnerabilities.
“The small number of validator nodes for the Ethereum sidechain, Ronin, and the even smaller number needed to approve a transaction, shows how such platforms fail to deliver the levels of decentralization that are necessary to ensure sufficient levels of cybersecurity,” Swarup Gupta, an industry manager at the Economist Intelligence Unit summed it up, telling Business World.
Axie Infinity was most popular in the Philippines, with the Southeast Asian country making up about 35% of the game’s total payers. This has made Filipino regulators more concerned than their peers globally.
As CoinGeek reported recently, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued a similar warning against P2E games. A senior official at the bank reminded gamers in the country that they “should only place funds that they are willing to lose because of the risk.” P2E platforms are borderless and create an opportunity for fraudsters to defraud and steal from unsuspecting gamers, the official added.
While regulators have continued to shoot such warnings about P2E games, most gamers have continued to play these games undeterred. As local Filipino outlets have reported, thousands of players even look at such games as a primary way to feed their families, devoting several hours each day to the games.
In the Philippines, most players cannot afford the high fees required to join a game like Axie Infinity, which ranges at around $1,000 for a team of three. This has led to the growth of guilds that buy into the game and then loan out digital creatures used in the game to retail players. Guilds have become such a hit that one startup offering such services raised $3.5 million in December.
“Authorities should reach out to gaming guilds in the country and coordinate with them to provide education about the risks inherent with play-to-earn gaming activity,” Gupta commented.
Watch: CoinGeek New York presentation, FYI: Better Information Tools for a More Lawful Blockchain Industry
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.


text:
LVR Studio are thrilled to announce a 30-day Kickstarter campaign for our post-apocalyptic Action MMO Pangaea: New World, starting on Wednesday, November 25th. We are honored by the overwhelmingly positive response to the game by the community following the official announcement, and we count on the support of the fans valuing complex, ambitious games striving to raise the bar for the medium. Judging by our hugely successful Steam Greenlight campaign, we are confident that there is a big number of such enthusiastic gamers worldwide.
The future of Pangaea: New World depends on the support of the community, and we need to hit our base $250,000 goal to complete the game and release it on PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One at the end of 2016 according to our plan. A lot of stretch goals have been set by the team as well.
You can find all the details and learn more about the game and the campaign on our Kickstarter page: Kck.st
Please see the team at LVR Studio address the fans and Kickstarter community, in a video format, here:
We are excited to launch our campaign in the wake of Thanksgiving Day and holidays across USA and Europe, so in addition to regular packages, we offer very special and limited «early bird» packages at significantly discounted prices.
We will be incredibly grateful if you could help us by announcing the start of the Pangaea: New World Kickstarter campaign on Wednesday, November 25th. We hope we will get support from your readers, and your coverage is essential to our success. We are happy to offer you interview opportunities with the dev team that would give you much more details about Pangaea: New World, as well as some exclusive assets such as screenshots or pieces of artwork. We really hope that you are interested in our game and would be willing to let your readers know about it.


text:
Is a Shared Love of Philanthropy the Secret to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez' Happy Relationship?
The couple's 'excitement' is palpable during meetings on addressing climate, education and homelessness, says a source.
In the past few months, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, 57 and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, 51, made several outings in Washington to support their favorite causes.
"It's been a focus and bright spot for them, particularly over the last year," a source told People.
In Des Moines, the couple visited Bezos Academy, their first tuition-free Montessori-inspired preschool for underserved children. And in Seattle, Bezos and Sanchez hosted Governor Jay Inslee for a tour of Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter on Amazon’s corporate campus which opened last year.
But the couple, who went public with their relationship in January 2019, was involved in giving back even before the pandemic.
In one of their last meetings before the lockdown, the pair met with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss climate change and sustainability around Bezos’s Earth Fund. The Amazon founder even posted a photo on Instagram to highlight the Paris meeting.
In the past year Bezos and Sanchez have made a big effort to get more involved says a source:
"They've been active in it — doing a lot of the calls themselves and meeting with the people working on the various initiatives they're involved with."
Bezos recently announced he’s stepping down as Amazon CEO on July 5th. But the billionaire first mentioned his departure In February, saying he was looking forward to using his free time to work on ventures like the Bezos Earth Fund and Blue Origin, his private rocket company.
Entrepreneur Editors' Picks
James Dyson Created 5,127 Versions of a Product That Failed Before Finally Succeeding. His Tenacity Reveals a Secret of Entrepreneurship.
7 Meaningful Ways Your Business Can Honor Memorial Day
Breast Implants Left This Founder With Debilitating Symptoms, So She Launched an Intimate-Apparel Line That Goes Beyond Buzzwords
Kids in the Hall's Bruce McCulloch Says TikTok Is the New Punk Rock
'I Am Not a Diversity Quota,' Says the Founder Disrupting the Dessert Category
Memorial Day Is a Time for Remembrance, So What's With All the Mattress Sales?
Pharrell Williams, Contemporary Artist Nina Chanel Abney and Brand-Builder Shaun Neff Announce Launch of Game-Changing NFT Platform


text:
The City of Deerfield Beach is pleased to announce its online credit card bill pay system used for water/utility bills, building permits, and business tax payments has been restored with enhanced security upgrades and features. CentralSquare, the City’s third-party vendor, reported that in addition to making the necessary upgrades and security patches, it has installed monitoring software as an additional security feature to ensure that the vulnerability that occurred is closed.
Updated Information about the Breach
On September 16, 2019, the City of Deerfield Beach notified customers that CentralSquare’s software was compromised and that the vulnerability affected residents who used their credit cards for online payments from Friday, September 6th through Thursday, September 12th. CentralSquare now reports that upon further investigating the breach may have affected customers who used their credit cards to pay utility bills, building permits, and business tax receipts online from Wednesday, July 24th through Thursday, September 12th.
CentralSquare has advised that they have contacted the major credit card companies and informed them of the incident. Nevertheless, anyone who has made an online payment to the City for utility bills, building permits, or business tax receipts during this timeframe (July 24th – September 12th) should review their statement for the credit/debit card used to make the City transaction, and immediately notify both the City and the financial institution of any irregular transactions. To notify the City, please call 954-480-4279, option 2. It is important to note that customers who paid by automatic bank draft or check are not affected by this data breach. Customers who used a credit card to pay a solid waste bill, registration for City programs and events, parking, or parking tickets are not impacted by this breach.
Credit Monitoring Service
CentralSquare advised that they have contracted with Epiq Global, a worldwide credit monitoring service provider, and will offer credit monitoring services to those residents and customers who were affected by the breach. The details of this service will be made available in the coming days.
There will be no disconnections or late fees applied to any utility bill customer this month of September due to this incident and the inconvenience caused by CentralSquare. The City of Deerfield Beach takes the security and protection of its customers’ confidential credit card information very seriously. The City’s Information Technology Services Department regularly upgrades its systems to protect the City and its customers from Cyber-attacks. The City would like to apologize for this inconvenience and thank all residents and customers for your patience and understanding.
For more information or to report irregular transactions that may have occurred after making payment to the City, please call 954-480-4279, option 2.


text:
“Last January 4% of our audience was reading us on mobile, now it’s 33%,” said Krystle Kopacz, general manager, Digital Atlantic Media – Government Executive Media Group. She spoke today in the third webinar of SIIA’s must-hear Mobile Essentials Webinar Series. “When 1/3 of your audience is coming in on a different browser,” changes are in order, especially if it’s a big audience.
“It’s up to us as product innovators to really think of mobile as [this new] medium,” she said. “To understand what about human behavior can be [most effectively] driven through this.” Her favorite quote is one by Steve Jobs: “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
“Like most publishers, we didn’t know what we were doing at first [design-wise for their initial app].” They started testing and getting consistent feedback. Kopacz determined that her audience likes it simple. So they made changes for the app, added more white space, used nicer photos, made usability tweaks to “make it seem more expensive. Utility is the name of the game for us,” she said. “It needs to be easy to use, not crash, and be fast and responsive. People are migrating from flat on phone to an entire new experience.”
Kopacz said that even the design process changed. Where designers used to get the information and sit off by themselves and work, now everyone collaborates, making constant tweaks, and even looking over shoulders. (That used to be heresy in the how-to-work-with-designers handbook!) Editorial got more involved, articles got shorter, more bulleted. “Long-form stories are way too long for mobile. You have to be more pithy,” she said. Headlines should be like tweets. “Ultimately, you really want people to read [your content] and amplify it, share it, so other people have to download your app to read the information.”
Their app numbers soared. “We’re in a new world,” Kopacz said. “The shifts we are seeing in mobile are scary. How are we going to keep up with this different behavior?”
Your first response to this might be denial. My readers are older. My readers just want my investment information; they don’t like bells and whistles and information nudges at 11 p.m. at night. The numbers say our readers don’t have tablets. Our readers…you fill in the blanks.
But listen to Kopacz—who bases everything she says and does on analytics—or just watch attendee behavior at a conference as I did last week, or frequent a coffee shop, ride a bus or train, or wait in line somewhere, and you’ll know that tablets are gaining fast.
Enhancing the Experience
Kopacz and Digital Atlantic Media are not alone. Most likely, a growing percentage of your audience is now reading your business’s content on tablets. By March tablets were already providing for 8% of all page views—1% more than smartphones—so that number is surely much higher now. With more and more readers moving from desktops, you need to think how to enhance their experience.
For Kopacz, that also meant a different timetable. While her desktop numbers still spike around 9 to 10 a.m., her growing mobile numbers peak from 6 to 10 p.m. This was great news. “Stories are being read at night when we publish them and in the morning. We’ve expanded [our audience’s] reading day and still own that space. For the advertisers we doubled the time that people are viewing us.”
Another interesting change is that people might be more settled in at night, more receptive to thoughtful pieces. “At night there’s more mindspace, and we’re really owning that too,” Kopacz said.
“It’s essential for editors to rethink how the audience consumes content,” said Mario Garcia, CEO and founder of Garcia Media, at South by Southwest this year. “You must keep the finger happy,” he said, meaning that a tablet user expects to find a different experience than on a desktop. “Like a children’s pop-up book,” he said.
Garcia equates his designer role to that of a movie director, storyboarding his way through an article. “You should be able to click on an image or photograph for more information, or for a video,” he said. “Pop-ups don’t have to be complicated [as Kopacz said]. But if all you do is turn the pages, your readers are not going to be happy.” Kopacz also mentioned the need for more infographics.
“You have to think about serving your audience in a different way,” she said. “Our first aha moment was when more people started coming to us through our app than from our mobile site. In November we launched Push Notifications. That was such a big moment for us. Our audience is a little crotchety so we thought people will hate it. But it has been one of the most successful and popular products we put out there…
“Now our brand is being strengthened by our mobile app. We’re messaging them around the clock. That is so telling for all of our businesses. We thought the future was in the future but the future is here.” Kopacz said that 58% of their traffic came from mobile during the shutdown. And 70% of that mobile traffic came from apps. “It’s also loyalty traffic not discovery traffic, which is very important to us.” And readers were staying; they averaged 50 page views per unique visit.
Kopacz said that she came across so many biases against these new forms that the only way to “dismantle it [was] with analytics. If you can bring analytics to the table, that’s very important,” she said. “I can see how much traffic is coming from iPads, iPhones, Androids. Someone suggested we do a blackberry app.” She looked at the numbers. “We are not doing a blackberry app, I said.”
This webinar will be posted very soon for access by members. You can check the archive for recordings from the first two Mobile Essentials webinars—Making the Business Case and Monetization and Business Models.
To subscribe to the SIPAlert Daily, go to the SIIA website.
Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline


text:
Milan, Italy — Technology and how best to use it was a key theme of last week’s IBIS Global Summit in Milan, where 3M’s director of global strategy spoke to the uncanny parallel between collision repair and country music.
Adam Wilt shared with a captive IBIS audience his “playlist” for successful tech integration for a bodyshop, using the themes of popular country songs to communicate common habits among shop owners.
Joe Diffie’s 1992 hit “I Just Don’t Know” is a common starting point for owners presented with a suite of potential software solutions, according to Wilt, but as you stick with these pieces of technology and make a real effort to learn them, you will be better able to gauge the probability of different scenarios, as well as update your processes as more information becomes available.
Kenny Chesney must have had blind-spot alerts on the brain when he wrote “Don’t Blink” because that is just how fast technology changes these days. Wilt says it is no longer viable for businesses to wait for the coast to be clear when it comes to new technology; things change so fast that you must be willing to make informed predictions in order to stay ahead.
These new pieces of technology, like machine learning (ML), augmented reality (AR) and so forth, would be considered “Fancy Like” buzzwords to someone like Walker Hayes—and likely to anyone else in a bodyshop without a computer science degree. Wilt reminds owners, “Don’t let jargon get in the way of adoption.”
With his hit “Hard Hat and a Hammer”, Alan Jackson clearly exemplified the old adage that “when all you’ve got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. Wilt says bodyshop owners tend to fall into that habit often, especially when it comes to new pieces of technology.
He warns that while it may be tempting to take all of your problems and shoehorn them into a single trusted software, that can often promote the inefficiencies that the software are designed to mitigate.
Instead, Wilt urges owners to increase their knowledge on the ideal use cases of a variety of advanced systems.
For example, VR and AI can be effective recruiting tools; VR and AR are excellent supplements to in-person training and experienced technicians can use a combination of these systems to track their performance, reduce friction on smaller tasks, and in some cases, offload or fully eliminate them.
The grand finale of Wilt’s playlist of success is, fittingly, “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks. Simply put, nearly every piece of equipment shops purchase these days comes with some amount of tech support or training software—use them. There are more networking and training opportunities available to shops than ever before and it would be a shame not to use them, Wilt said.


text:
Urban Outfitters comes up short during the second quarterCNBC 08/20/2019
Urban Outfitters posted a three percent decline in sales during the second quarter, while its profit fell 35 percent. “This year’s second quarter will not be remembered as one of Urban’s finest. We produced sales and margins below our expectations. Customer acceptance was softer than planned,” CEO Richard Hayne said on the retailer’s earnings call. “This resulted in higher year-over-year markdowns and lower margins. Lower store traffic accentuated negative store comp performance and weighed on overall results.”
Check out RetailWire's Engaging Online Discussions Featuring Our Exclusive Braintrust!


text:
Think how great it would be to have an all-electric car with a good driving performance, that meets all safety standards, has an adequate range and looks stylish. That’s finally become reality at an affordable price. The Think City is an all-electric two-seater which has a top speed of 65 mph, a range of 120 miles and all established safety features such as airbags and ABS as well as a comfortable cabin. Besides, the Think City is eco-friendly as it has zero tailpipe emissions, a high efficiency and is 95% recycable. Driving a Think City can be as much of a pleasure and as convenient as driving a conventional car. It offers all features we are used to such as air conditioning, electric windows and doors as well as power steering. Ford Motor Co. that owned Think from 1999 to 2003 has contributed decisively to achieve the Think City’s high comfort and security levels by pouring $150 million into the Think City project. The company was founded in 1991 in Norway as Pivco (Personal Independent Vehicle Company) and produced several electric vehicles on a small scale. Back in 1999, Ford took over the company due to California’s zero-emissions vehicle policy. Ford lagged behind GM with its EV1 in terms of non-polluting cars and considered Pivco as a viable tool to meet the requirements by the Californian Zero Emission Vehicle mandate. However – lacking farsightedness – Ford gave up the company after major automakers and the U.S. federal government succeeded in modifying the California mandate. The company was sold for a song to a Swiss company, went bankrupt in 2006 and was then bought by investors around the Norwegian businessman Jan-Olaf Willums who is the CEO of Think Global today. Several companies such as Porsche Consulting helped to streamline the production at Think’s assembly plant in Norway. The final assembly of the car is very efficient and simple as there are only 580 parts to be put together and the the annual capacity is about 10,000 units. This number could be increased up to 50,000 units per year with the opening of an assembly plant in the U.S.
Think Global has reached out across the Atlantic and started a partnership with leading clean-tech investors and plans to launch a version of its Think City as early as 2009 and is expected to built a new factory within the USA – probably in Southern California where they should be sold first.
The storage technology for the electricity is the only remaining major obstacle. Battery technology still lags behind the needs of the electric vehicle manufacturers, however, the technology is at a stage of development that allows mass-production of electric vehicles and provides a fair range at a good speed. The car is especially suitable for city dwellers and commuters who barely manage to get 50 during the commute hours and most of the time, the distances they have to cover are within the driving range of electric cars. However, the lithium-ion batteries that’ll power the car will be fairly expensive and account for almost half of the costs of the entire car. Therefore, the Think City would actually cost about $35,000 which reduces its competitiveness with conventional cars. But Think Global has found a solution to get their cars on the streets. They made up a totally new concept of selling cars and leasing the batteries. The cars will be sold almost entirely via the Internet for a subsidized price ranging between $20,000 and $25,000. Owners will pay a monthly fee for the “Mobility Pack” which includes car insurance, battery maintenance and replacement costs so that Think City cars will always run using the latest battery technology.
The Think City is already on sale in Norway and sales in Sweden, the UK and Denmark will start soon. The company’s CEO Jan-Olaf Willums wants the car to go on sale in the U.S. in 2009. Willums hopes for government subsidies, tax rebates and other incentives to make the all-electric car more attractive. And even without government support. The owners of Think electric cars could break even in just a few years with gasoline above $4 a gallon.
Think has also come up with a few other models, amongst the five-seater Think Ox and the cool Think open whose roof has been removed.
Think Global has proven that electric cars can keep up with conventional cars in terms of safety, reliability, comfort and driving performance. The Think Ox combines innovative design with eco-friendly and economical technology. To sum up, the concept and the technology are brilliant and are a viable alternative to conventional cars in urban areas. We can expect several concepts similar to this one to come up in the not-too-distant future. Mobility doesn’t necessarily have to become ever more expensive. Flexible and innovative solutions are already available, reliable and economical. It’ll take just a few more years until the competitiveness of electric cars has increased as a result of mass-production and an improved infrastrucuture.
Related Posts:The Air Car could revolutionize transportation – an electric car without an electric motor All major auto-manufacturers are designing their own electric cars The electric car on the fast track The electric car revolution is about to happen
Electric vehicles are competitive with gasoline-diven vehicles
The electric car – the last sign of hope for troubled U.S. car makers?


text:
De-Invest to Re-Invest: DE-INVEST TO RE-INVEST:
A Leadership Summit of Change and Opportunity
- Wednesday, May 27, 2020
- 11:00AM PST – 3:00PM PST
- Complimentary Access
We will be hosting a live and dynamic discussion event with industry leaders sharing strategies and insights for a time of dramatic change.
Ideoclick, Replenium, and Accenture Interactive have joined forces to bring you straight to the source of information on how leaders from multiple industries are addressing both risk and opportunity during this changing landscape.
Featuring interactive discussions on leading through turbulence, “scrappiness” and agility, capital sourcing and allocation, retail and e-commerce experience innovation, new product strategies, demand fulfillment imperatives and more with industry leaders and in-house experts. The full agenda and speaker lineup can be viewed here. Registration is complimentary.
As a search marketer on Amazon I have had a front row seat to the changes in consumer behavior through COVID-19. Watching the changes in search volume and ranking is always interesting but watching items like “N95 mask” and “toilet paper” become the top searches on Amazon has brought more of a foreboding than the usual curiosity.
Well, yesterday I got to see something positive begin to trend in Amazon search ranking. As of Saturday 4/4 “Sewing machines” have become the 27th most searched term on Amazon. Back in January it was 591 and as recently as March 19th it was 597. The initial rise in ranking seems to be tied to DIY instructional posts and videos like this tutorial from Erica Arndt – https://lnkd.in/eQT9n5V
The most recent surge in search rank can be matched with calls for supply donations to hospitals and first responders. America’s new favorite news source, SGN (Some Good News) highlighted how companies and people are answering the call https://lnkd.in/eTekg7y
This virus has brought so much harm and negativity that I feel it is more important than ever to show these bright spots when they appear.
Post by David Quesenberry, a marketing director at Ideoclick and specifically an Amazon marketing expert working to help clients strategically plan their marketing efforts.
People around the world are responding to the threat of coronavirus/COVID-19 in a multitude of ways, and as a seller on Amazon, it’s likely Coronavirus is creating an impact to your Amazon business. In business, those that plan ahead and react quickly are more likely to be in a position to get vital items to customers during this time.
Remaining vigilant with your own health as well as the health of your employees and business is the best course of action. For brands selling on Amazon, it’s critical to stay constantly informed and strategize for the changing marketplace landscape.
Based on our work with clients in many different CPG categories, we have seen swift and significant changes, including major order increases from Amazon, huge supply chain shifts, and wildly fluctuating consumer search and conversion behaviors.
We’ve compiled four ways your Amazon business is likely impacted by the coronavirus/ COVID-19 pandemic, and strategies for how you can best plan for them (click here). The paper includes initial operational changes, speculation on continued buyer behavior, and covers the many Q&As we’ve already faced. The advice within has proven to be useful to our clients and we hope you can leverage them as well.
With best wishes for continued good health!


text:
“A fully integrated start-to-finish process will soon exist to commercialize Loop’s innovative Generation II technology and help tackle the global plastic crisis. These facilities will make it possible for all forms of waste PET and polyester fibre, even ocean plastics that have been degraded by the sun and saltwater, to be fully recovered and upcycled into PET of the highest purity and performance quality,” said Daniel Solomita, CEO and founder of Loop.
The strategy is now the company’s focus to capitalize on its technology and respond to the demands of consumers, governments, non-governmental organizations and brand owners who have committed to ambitious sustainability targets.
This integrated innovation will join Loop’s proprietary depolymerisation technology with state of the art PET production processes, allowing plastic waste to be utilised as feedstock to produce Loop PET resin and facilitate the transition to a circular economy. The technology will take waste PET and polyester fiber that can include PET plastic bottles and packaging of any color, transparency or condition, and carpet and other polyester textiles that may contain colours, dyes or additives and separate the PET from all contaminants to produce virgin quality FDA-approved food-safe Loop PET resin and polyester fibre.
“To encourage more recycling at the community level and reduce climate causing emissions, Loop facilities are planned to be optimally located adjacent to large population centres where ample feedstock can be found,” added Solomita. (RR)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India
| On 7th May 2021
The value of exports of garments and accessories from the Southeast...
| On 7th May 2021
Sateri, the world's largest producer of viscose fibre, has entered...
Petrochemical company Hanwha Total Petrochemical (HTC) has invested...
Money never disappears-it just finds new opportunities
Still struggling to mop up higher sales
Verticals like fast fashion won’t completely adopt personalisation on...
Danitech was born from the will of a group of technicians to offer the...
Shambhu Nath Jha
Leading research and consulting firm Fact.MR recently launched a report on ...
The JD Institute of Fashion Technology is the educational division of JD...
Sameer Sonkusale & Rachel Owyeung
A team at the Tufts University in Massachusetts was recently in news for...
Seevix Material Sciences Ltd, which develops and manufactures synthetic...
EDANA has been the leading global association and voice of the nonwovens...
Vidur Adlakha & Riccardo Bennidini
With an active presence in US, Italy and India, clothing brand La Fuori...
Samatvam, a womenswear brand that blends age-old craftsmanship with modern ...
Sarah Denise Cordery
Sarah Denise Studio
Manchester, England-based Sarah Denise Studio provides relevant fashion...
Letter to Editor
Subscribe today and get the latest update on Textiles, Fashion, Apparel and so on.
Subscribe today and get the latest information on Textiles, Fashion, Apparel.
Download Free Report
Rising Opportunities in Technical Textiles Market: 2020-2026
Thank you for showing interest in our free report on 'Rising Opportunities in Technical Textiles Market: 2020-2026'
You will receive an email shortly with a link to download the report and in case if you don't receive our email, you can write back to email@example.com.


text:
words // Zack Schlemmer
Ewing Athletics just released a better look at the upcoming Black/Red version of the Focus retro, returning this summer after its original release twenty years ago.
After a teaser image of this black and red Focus was shown earlier this month, we can now see that this version is indeed modeled after one of the shoe's original colorways from '93.
There is no word yet on an official release date of the EWING Focus, but stay tuned to Sole Collector for more details as they become available. Will you be ready for the return of this Ewing Brand classic?


text:
Images of smartphone camera hidden cameras babysitter sex stories and phone surveillance camera courtesy of, shutterstock.
Mike Lady and Kim Paterson, graduate researchers at Cal Poly, in California, uploaded to Play Store a Google Glass spyware app (disguised as a note-taking app called Malnotes).
Its search is relatively simple, only working when users enter a single, exact search term.
And yet thanks to some semi-magical crypto tricks, Pixek still allows you to search those photos by keyword, performing image nudist naturist campus sex clips recognition on your photos before they're uploaded, and then scrambling them with a unique form of encryption that makes their contents searchable without ever exposing.Those advertisers use tracking technologies to collect information about your activity on our sites and applications and across the Internet and your other apps and devices.DAAs AppChoices app here.Sidor said his app worked so well it was scary: The result was amazing and scary at the same time - the pixel is virtually impossible to spot on Nexus 5 screen (even when you know where to look)!Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries.And it can't do the kind of sophisticated, cloud-based machine learning that Google Photos and others do for powerful image categorization.A few years earlier, in 2014, hackers posted hundreds of nude photos of celebrities online after using phishing attacks to breached their iCloud accounts.Also it turned out that even if you turn the screen completely off, you can still take photos, as long as the pixel is still there.It does so by sending photos to its own servers, while end-to-end encrypting them with a key stored only on the user's phone.Avoid apps that request absolutely free video chat permissions they dont need.In March 2014 we reported at Naked Security about a spyware app for.'People today know what end-to-end encryption is, now.Sidor demonstrated how the app works in a video, using his Nexus 5 smartphone.When someone uses Pixek to take a photo, the software performs machine learning analysis on their device to recognize objects and elements of photos, then adds tags to the image for each one.EU Data Subject Requests.pixek shows a potential for encrypted search that goes well beyond photo storage, says Nigel Smart, cryptographer at the Belgian University KU Leuven.Kamara believes, however, that a service like Apple's iCloud, which performs its machine learning only on photos before they're uploaded, could still use a Pixek-like system.Now that most smartphones come with a camera (or two and camera use is popular with apps like Instagram that encourage photo sharing, hackers are finding sneaky ways to exploit them.Pixek plans to upload your camera roll, while still letting you keep your selfies and sensitive photo evidence secret.It then encrypts the image along with its tags, using a unique key stored only the user's phone. Even if you choose not to have your activity tracked by third parties for advertising services, you will still see non-personalized ads on our site.
Blackshades for example, which hackers have used to secretly record victims with their computers webcam.
And he says there are in fact technical measures to allow the more nuanced searches and photo sharing that Pixek lacks, and that he hopes to add them in the future.
Getty Images/wired, photos present a practical privacy dilemma: Keep them stored on your phone, and they'll hog your storage and risk being lost forever the next time your phone falls into a toilet.


text:
The European Commission is updating the EU Machinery Directive, which covers the sale of machinery products within the EU. The updates include wording to deal with intelligent robots, and what the commission calls AI software (contained in machinery products).
The purpose of the initiative is to: “… (i) ensuring a high level of safety and protection for users of machinery and other people exposed to it; and (ii) establishing a high level of trust in digital innovative technologies for consumers and users, …”
What is AI software, and how is it different from non-AI software?
Answering these questions requires knowing what is, and is not, AI. The EU defines Artificial Intelligence as:
- â€˜AI systemâ€™ means a system that is either software-based or embedded in hardware devices, and that displays behaviour simulating intelligence by, inter alia, collecting and processing data, analysing and interpreting its environment, and by taking action, with some degree of autonomy, to achieve specific goals;
- â€˜autonomousâ€™ means an AI system that operates by interpreting certain input, and by using a set of predetermined instructions, without being limited to such instructions, despite the systemâ€™s behaviour being constrained by and targeted at fulfilling the goal it was given and other relevant design choices made by its developer;
‘Simulating intelligence’ sounds reasonable, but actually just moves the problem on, to defining what is, or is not, intelligence. If intelligence is judged on an activity by activity bases, will self-driving cars be required to have the avoidance skills of a fly, while other activities might have to be on par with those of birds? There is a commission working document that defines: “Autonomous AI, or artificial super intelligence (ASI), is where AI surpasses human intelligence across all fields.”
The â€˜autonomousâ€™ component of the definition is so broad that it covers a wide range of programs that are not currently considered to be AI based.
The impact of the proposed update is that machinery products containing AI software are going to incur expensive conformance costs, which products containing non-AI software won’t have to pay.
Today it does not cost companies to claim that their systems are AI based. This will obviously change when a significant cost is involved. There is a parallel here with companies that used to claim that their beauty products provided medical benefits; the Federal Food and Drug Administration started requiring companies making such claims to submit their products to the new drug approval process (which is hideously expensive), companies switched to claiming their products provided “… the appearance of …”.
How are vendors likely to respond to the much higher costs involved in selling products that are considered to contain ‘AI software’?
Those involved in the development of products labelled as ‘safety critical’ try to prevent costs escalating by minimizing the amount of software treated as ‘safety critical’. Some of the arguments made for why some software is/is not considered safety critical can appear contrived (at least to me). It will be entertaining watching vendors, who once shouted “our products are AI based”, switching to arguing that only a tiny proportion of the code is actually AI based.
A mega-corp interested in having their ‘AI software’ adopted as an industry standard could fund the work necessary for the library/tool to be compliant with the EU directives. The cost of initial compliance might be within reach of smaller companies, but the cost of maintaining compliance as the product evolves is something that only a large company is likely to be able to afford.
The EU’s updating of its machinery directive is the first step towards formalising a legal definition of intelligence. Many years from now there will be a legal case that creates what later generation will consider to be the first legally accepted definition.


text:
COVID-19 is dramatically reshaping global industry landscape. Tesla has supplanted Toyota Motors as biggest carmaker in the world in terms of market capitalization. In finance, the rankings of PayPal, an online payment service provider, and the Bank of America, the traditional banking powerhouse, have been swapped. Given that market capitalization often serves as bellwether of the company’s future value, all these recent developments reflect the fact that the coronavirus is accelerating the shift of the global economy.
The change is afoot in Korea as well. Of the 100 biggest companies in market capitalization, the fortunes of 97 entities have reshuffled except for the two on the top over the span of six months, and 10 are now missing from the list. Companies specializing in bio-tech, batteries, and IT have emerged, and businesses of cars, petrochemicals, aviation, and distribution have tumbled. Kakao and Naver have subdued Hyundai Motor Company in terms of market capitalization, and the first-generation ventures such as Celltrion and Seegene prevailed.
For now, the prospect of global economy is as murky as it gets. This year, the IMF put the growth of the world economy at -4.9%. The Korea Economic Research Institute estimated that the growth of the Korean economy will further dip from -1.7% in the first half to -2.9% in the latter. Exports are posting deficits for fourth months, service sectors are contracted, and even the manufacturing and the mainstay industries are faced with trouble.
The pressure from U.S.-China trade conflicts and the decoupling of supply chains will intensify down the road. The Trump administration is envisaging a new global supply system, dubbed the Economic Prosperity Network, that excludes China in the picture. Protectionism will be further entrenched in the U.S. regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential re-election in November, with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden who is vowing to mobilize an oversized budget for the purchase of American products. The rule of the game will be written anew as European and Japanese players serve mutual interests when necessary, exploiting the vacuum left by Beijing and Washington.
But a crisis always accompanies an opportunity. In 1997, Korea faced the financial reserve crisis but managed to turn it into a new opportunity through restructuring and downsizing on a massive scale. Many firms went belly up, but survived companies, which grappled with poor governance and excessive debt, have morphed into global players with efficiency and competence.
COVID-19 will nudge not only traditional industries such as auto, electronics, and distribution, but other sectors, including medicine and education, into pursuing digitalization, untact service, and eco-friendly business. Industries that lack a competitive edge or a future prospect must be cut off to improve the fundamentals and nurture a new growth potential. Companies must spearhead innovations, and the government must provide ample support to revamp our economy.


text:
Karen Ravindranath, director, WebNMS – IoT division of Zoho Corp, discusses how IoT can accelerate remote asset management and business continuity strategies.
Dr. Abullatif Al Shamsi, President & CEO at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), discussed how this applied higher education …
Employees in the UAE think businesses should provide more physical and mental health support through technology, with apps, wearables and online services high on the list of demands.
Criteo has released new research on online consumer spending in the UAE during the month of Ramadan.
Huawei has announced that it will invest $200 million in the computing ecosystem and help support 2 million developers worldwide in 2020.
The Ministry of Economy (MOE) has launched a dedicated interactive online knowledge platform to help business address the effects of the COVID-19 virus.
du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has announced it is providing the fastest fixed broadband services in the Gulf region.
Dubai Police has partnered with Etisalat to launch an initiative providing the telco’s customers in the UAE with free access to Dubai Police’s website and mobile application without consuming mobile data.
Zoom Video Communications have announced that it has acquired Keybase, a secure messaging and file-sharing service.
For mission-critical databases, cyber-attacks leading to lost data and system downtime can have far ranging impacts throughout the business in terms of revenue, operations, reputation, and even penalties.


text:
China’s Vivo unveils phone with in-screen fingerprint sensor
But it’s still just a prototype
Chinese phone maker Vivo showed off a prototype phone at CES that lets you unlock it with a fingerprint sensor under the screen -- and says consumers will get their fingers on it soon.
While it is still a prototype, Vivo says the phone is “ready-to-produce”, and that production models will start shipping in the first half of 2018.
It’s actually the second time the company has demonstrated the technology, having shown off an earlier model in June 2017. But while Vivo is the first so far, others may not be far behind.
Samsung is expected to have it in the Galaxy S9, which will be unveiled in February. Apple was rumored to be working on it, but are instead using face unlock (as seen in the iPhone X).
Vivo may not be a household name, but it’s among the top 5 smartphone vendors in the world. Its affordable, selfie camera-obsessed phones are hugely popular in lower-tier cities in China, and now the brand is also growing big in Southeast Asia.


text:
After much anticipation, Bharti Airtel is finally in development to launch its 4G services in Delhi and NCR this week. The services to offer high-speed data access is due in the region since September 2013 when the telecom operator partnered with Huawei.
Airtel 4G services in Delhi and NCR region is expected to be available through 2300MHz frequency band (Band 40) using TDD-LTE technology that has been designed for Indian and some other emerging telecom markets.
Sources revealed TechOne3 that the telecom operator has already started 4G trials in the region and is set to make the final announcement later this week.
“Airtel subscribers in Delhi circle will get high-speed 4G services on their mobile devices as well as through 4G dongles and Wi-Fi CPEs,” a highly placed source told TechOne3 in an exclusive conversation.
The telecom operator is additionally in plans to launch a special pack for heavy data users in the region and the source said that some special demo zones are recently established to showcase the new experience.
Gurgaon-based Airtel became the first telecom operator to launch 4G services in India in 2012. While Kolkata was the first state to have 4G LTE access, the operator now has its services in total 19 states across the country, including Bengaluru, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Mangaluru Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara, Kapurthala, Moga, Bathinda and Patiala apart from Kolkata.
Moreover, Airtel recently launched 4G trials for existing subscribers in Hyderabad, Vizag, Chennai and Mumbai to offer high-speed data access in more regions.
Airtel won the first 4G spectrum back in 2010 and currently holds 1800MHz and 2300MHz frequency bands to offer 4G services in the country.
Apart from Airtel, Aircel, Videocon Telecom, Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio Infocomm are the few major telecom players that are developing their 4G services.
Last week, Reliance Jio Infocomm Managing Director Mukesh Ambani told the company’s shareholders that it is set to roll out pan-India 4G services within next three years.


text:
D&H has announced that it will host a West Coast Technology Show on March 19 at the Pacific Palms Resort in City of Industry, Calif.
D&H Distributing has announced that its 2011 Summer Mid-Atlantic Technology Show will be June 23 at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center in Hershey, PA.
SED International will hold a vendor fair and buying event in Atlanta next month, the distributor announced this week.
CustomRetailer presents a directory of companies ready to provide you with everything you need to run your business... ADI Tom Polson, President About the Company: As a leading global wholesale distributor of security and low-voltage products, ADI offers the support, service and confidence you need to stay up to date with the evolving custom electronics market. ADI’s superior product offerings, convenient locations, friendly and knowledgeable staff and extensive training opportunities can be relied on to help you win business throughout the marketplace. For the past 20 years, ADI has been distributing the latest technologies and value-added services to residential and commercial A/V


text:
By Dan Harrison
A re-elected Labor government would phase out the sale of cosmetics which have been tested on animals, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek will announce on Thursday.
Ms Plibersek will commit to a national consultation on ending the importation, manufacture, sale and advertising of cosmetics or cosmetic ingredients which have undergone animal testing.
Testing products on animals is not banned in Australia, but industry says it stopped many years ago. However products that have been tested on animals overseas, or which contain ingredients that have been tested on animals overseas, are on sale in Australia.
"Most Australians would be surprised to learn that some companies test their cosmetics or their ingredients on animals overseas, before selling them here," Ms Plibersek said.
"And some companies manufacture cosmetics in Australia using ingredients tested on animals overseas, even though the finished cosmetic products are not tested on animals domestically.
"Animals shouldn't suffer in the quest for better mascara or lipstick,'' she said.
RSPCA Australia CEO Heather Neil welcomed the promise and urged all political parties to match it.
"This important step will mean Australian consumers will no longer be contributing to the unjustifiable use of animals in the development of cosmetics and toiletries. There are more than enough ingredients already developed for these products – and no need to subject any more animals to distressing and painful tests just to allow cosmetic companies to market 'new and improved' product lines on Australian shelves," Ms Neil said.
But Ms Neil said more should be done to reduce the use of animals in research and testing more broadly.
"Between 4 and 5 million animals are used for scientific and educational purposes in Australia every year, yet there is currently no dedicated government funding for developing alternatives to animals," she said.
"The RSPCA believes that Australia urgently needs a national, coordinated approach to reduce animal use and to investigate, develop and validate alternatives to animals in research and testing.''
Ms Plibersek said allowing the importation of products which have been tested on animals was "out of step with current community expectations''.
She said the European Union phased out products tested on animals over a ten-year period.
"I believe Australia needs to play its part in the international movement against animal testing," she said.
Ms Plibersek said she would also consult on whether a ban on animal testing in Australia was necessary.
Each state and territory is responsible for its own animal welfare legislation. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has charged Ms Plibersek with leading the national effort because as Health Minister she has responsibility for national cosmetics regulation, and because she has a personal interest in the issue.
Ms Plibersek said she would work with Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, Trade Minister Richard Marles and the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on the issue.


text:
MOSCOW (MRC) -- Siam Cement Group (SCG) will invest on a USD22.7m project to produce biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) in Vietnam, said the company.
AJ Plast (Vietnam) Co Ltd, a 45:55 joint venture between SCG subsidiary SCG Chemicals and Thailand-listed flexible packaging producer AJ Plast, will carry out the project, SCG said in a bourse filing on 22 August.
The BOPET project is expected to start commercial production in the first half of 2024, SCG said in a statement. The two companies have an ongoing Thai baht (Bt) 700m (USD19m) biaxially oriented polypropylene film (BOPP) project in Vietnam slated for commercialisation in the first half of 2023.
“The BOPP and BOPET projects reaffirm SCGC ongoing strategic investment and commitment in Vietnam, particularly value-added product designed to meet the growing consumer demand by providing raw material to serve the flexible packaging sector,” SCG said.
The Thai conglomerate is in the process of completing Vietnam’s first petrochemical complex in the southeastern Ba Ria-Vung Tao province. Called Long Son Petrochemical complex, the USD5.4bn project is now 96% complete, with full start-up expected by the second quarter of next year.
We remind, SCG Packaging has entered the packaging materials recycling business in the Netherlands, via the 100% acquisition of Peute Recycling BV for EUR78.2m. The purchase was done through SCGP Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of SCGP, the Thai firm said in a statement on 18 July. Based in Dordrecht, Peute is the largest independent packaging materials recycling and trading company of paper and plastic in the Netherlands, SCG Packaging said.


text:
Android Version of Opera Mobile on the Way
Browser alternative Opera Mobile has been well received by Windows Mobile and Symbian users for quite some time now. Although it hasn’t been released for Android just yet, it is on the roadmap.Â Yes, we have Opera Mini, but we don’t have the full version.
Yes, we are working on an Android version. – Opera Software CEO Jon von Tetzchner
If you’re not familiar with Opera Mobile, it is a web browser that renders HTML on your handset andÂ supports widgets that reside on your phone.Â It’s very fast, flexible, and offers a download manager.
You might also like
Motorola and Intel, obviously excited about their September 18 event, want you to get your adrenaline flowing. To do that they have put together a very short teaser clip about
NEC steps up to claim the title for world’s thinnest Android smart phone, taking the thunder from Sony Ericsson (Xperia Arc) and Samsung (Galaxy S II)
It’s been a month and a half since Google released a standalone Google Camera on the Google Play Store. Since then there’s already been one update to the app. Now


text:
As Hollywood figures out ways to make its DVDs and Blu-rays more attractive to consumers who are gravitating more toward digital platforms for their TV shows and movies, Sony and Panasonic are about…
After winning album of the year in 2011 “The Suburbs,” Arcade Fire are back with a new release scheduled for Oct. 29. The Canadian alt rockers made the announcement via Twitter (in response to a fan)…
Apple has sold more than 13 million Internet-connected set-top boxes to date — about half of which shipped in 2012 — but the product has mostly been a “learning experience” for bigger plans the…
2016-2017 Oscar Predictions
Towering high above Central Park on the 50th floor of the Time Warner Center, the Mandarin Oriental New York is building its first, and only, three-bedroom suite, which appears tailor-made for…
In December 1990, hip-hop magazine The Source published the first in-depth study of the then-nascent "gangsta rap" trend in a special issue. The cover story was unusually prescient, touching on…
LONDON -- Multi-media production company Pulse has launched its own in-house film distribution arm, it announced Monday.
Oscilloscope Laboratories has picked up North American rights to Sundance docu "Shut Up and Play the Hits," which chronicles the final 48 hours of electronic dance music giant LCD Soundsystem…
As "The Last Waltz" was for the Band and aging hippies, "Shut Up and Play the Hits" is for kids who were in high school on 9/11.
Spending on consumer electronics devices worldwide is expected to top $1 trillion in 2012, driven in large part by tablets and smartphones, according to research released Sunday by the Consumer…
The stereoscopic 3D (S3D) home entertainment landscape has been transformed just in time for CES.


text:
Russia has extended its export quotas for select fertilizers — and reduced the levels of allowed shipments — in an ongoing initiative to secure supplies for its domestic market as farmers prepare for the upcoming crop cycle.
The quota policy renewal, announced this week, is effective from January through May and totals nearly 11.8 million tonnes, which will be split among exporters. Certain nitrogen exports will be capped at a combined 5.87 million tonnes, with complex nitrogen fertilizer products limited to 4.9 million tonnes.
The latest quota limits on nitrogen are tighter than the parameters issued in May 2022, which expire at the end of December. The quotas apply to shipments outside the Eurasian Economic Union — which comprises Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.
Fertilizer futures and physical prices had a muted response this week to Russia’s updated export policy, with key futures contracts at the US Gulf coast and in Egypt continuing to fall, as shown in this Gro display. Global urea demand has retreated in the last couple of months and prices have been under pressure and continue to fall heading into the new year.
Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of fertilizers, with large volumes typically shipped to the US and Brazil.
US imports of Russian urea between January and October 2022 fell by 42% from a year earlier, but have only dropped below historical levels in recent months. The US hasn’t placed sanctions on Russian nitrogen imports, but some consumers have opted for other origins following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
View this Gro display which shows month-by-month imports of Russian fertilizers by the US and Brazil, as well as Russian production and export data.
For Brazil, imports from Russia of a range of fertilizer products have reached record levels in many months beginning in mid-2021.
Russia’s move adds to the challenge of fertilizer affordability facing farmers worldwide. China also has restricted exports of fertilizers, and potash exports from Belarus, a major supplier, are limited due to US sanctions. Fertilizer supply availability, while adequate in North America and Europe, will be especially squeezed in countries where currency depreciation has fueled high inflation, including in Latin America and Africa.
Global fertilizer prices, while down from their mid-2022 peaks, will remain historically elevated in 2023 and beyond, bloating farm production costs. In the US, fertilizer and other input expenses are projected to account for 49% of total operating costs for corn farmers in 2023, according to Gro’s US Farmer Profitability & Crop Budgets app. That’s on a par with 2022, but sharply above the average since 2015 of about 40%.


text:
The data from GWEC's Market Intelligence platform shows the market share of medium-speed gearboxes increased from 1% in 2015 to 3.7% in 2018. GWEC believes this trend will continue, reaching a 10% share by 2023.
Overall gearbox demand is set to peak in 2020, GWEC's figures suggested, at 59.1GW worth of capacity using the technology. Mirroring total turbine demand, it is expected then to fall around 42GW in the early part of the next decade.
Gearboxed turbines are also expected to be the core technology choice over the short term, GWEC said. In 2018, the conventional geared turbine made up 73% of the overall market share.
However, direct-drive turbines are expected to increase in the offshore wind sector, reaching 63% market share by 2023.
As with the rest of the market, the gearbox industry has witnessed a large amount of consolidation in recent years. GWEC said the total number of gearbox suppliers has fallen from around 50 in 2010 to less than 20 companies today.
That consolidation is set to continue, GWEC said, as much of the market is dominated by just three companies.
Chinese manufacturer NGC, and Europe-based suppliers ZF and Winergy together make up nearly three quarters of the gearbox manufacturing capacity in the world.