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2022 trends in pet food include:
- An increase in premium pet food sales
- Pet food made with functional ingredients such as hemp
- Pet food with environmental and ethical claims
2022 trends in pet food include:
Around the world, pet ownership rose in response to COVID lockdowns as people chose to adopt a pet to keep them company at home. Data from the UK illustrates this trend. While 54% of UK adults owned a pet in May 2020, by May 2021, the number had risen to 57%.1 29% of the pets adopted went to households without any other pets, while 71% joined households with pre-pandemic pets.2
This increase in pet ownership (which included many first-time pet owners) has helped support recent growth and innovation in the pet food category. The number of new pet food launches in 2020 grew 1.3% globally over the prior year, with the largest share (7.4%) launched in the US.3
Just as people have been focusing on preventative health measures for themselves throughout the pandemic, they have also shown a high awareness of the importance of preventative health in general for their pets. In the US, a whopping 88% of pet owners say it’s important to take preventative measures to protect a pet’s health.4 In fact, health is a major theme emerging in pet food trends.
Looking ahead, there are strong signs that the pet food category will continue to follow popular trends in the food industry into 2022. Here are the top three standout pet food trends to watch for:
Premium pet food is in demand by a growing number of pet owners. One indicator is the rapid increase in new product launches of all-natural pet foods, which rose 41% between 2016 and 2020.5 While all-natural pet food accounts for only 9% of the global market,6 its popularity is high in North America, just ahead of Europe.7 In the US, more than one in three pet owners look for all-natural pet foods.8
High quality is another aspect of premiumization. This might include pet food with meat as the main ingredient, the absence of animal byproducts, or only human-grade ingredients. 75% of US purchasers of pet food or treats agree that it’s worth paying more for higher quality pet food.9 The use of short ingredient lists is another way brands are emphasizing a product as a premium one.
Another important trend to watch is pet foods with functional benefits. Exciting innovations in this area are coming out of Asia Pacific, in particular, China and South Korea—countries known for embracing functional ingredients in food and beverage. New cat and dog food launches have included ingredients ranging from probiotics to collagen to flaxseed with claims for immunity, digestion, joints, and skin/coat support.
The US is another market with growing opportunities for functional pet foods (as well as treats, toppers, and drinks). Among US purchasers of pet food or treats, health benefits they would most like to see are healthy digestion (55%); muscle, joint, and bone support (51%); skin/coat health (46%), and immune system support (45%).10 Heart health, weight management, and anxiety relief are of interest to about one in three.11 Functional ingredients in US launches have included nutritional yeast, beta-glucans, coconut oil, MSM, hemp, turmeric, and cinnamon.
Pet foods that can claim sustainability benefits are also trending. Globally, 21% of new pet food launches in 2020 featured environmental or ethical claims, up from 19% in 2019 and 16% in 2018.12 Younger pet owners are expected to continue to drive this trend.
Sustainability claims among recent US pet food and treat launches have included plant-based, vegan, non-GMO, pasture-raised, free-range, and wild-caught. Some brands are also incorporating sustainable alternative proteins like spirulina and crickets. More sustainable packaging—for example, recyclable or made with partially renewable materials—is another approach being used to appeal to pet owners.
Addressing pet owners’ preferences for healthy and sustainable pet foods will become increasingly important going forward. Not only can products that meet these criteria make pet owners feel good about their purchase, but they can also help build trust and encourage brand loyalty—especially when pet owners feel a brand’s values are aligned with their own.
For pet foods that will resonate with today’s pet owners, explore our animal and pet solutions, which include essential micronutrients, sustainable proteins, plant-based pet solutions, and more!
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Summary List PlacementLululemon had a remarkable 2020, and now its gearing up for an even bigger 2021..
The athleticwear business, best known for championing the athleisure pattern, has actually been amongst the uncommon few winners of the pandemic as demand for comfy clothing amongst remote workers and quarantined Americans has escalated. In its most recent quarter, Lululemon reported a 22%year-over-year boost in net revenue, reaching $1.1 billion, while its e-commerce business nearly doubled, growing by 94%..
Founded in 1998 in Vancouver, Canada, Lululemon has actually developed from a high-end purveyor of yoga pants for ladies to outfitting all genders in whatever from high-intensity exercise apparel to clothes for lounging around the house or running errands. Recently, the business has broadened its item selection to consist of a broader selection of performance-driven items, in addition to fashion-forward styles that can be used both at the fitness center and the workplace..
The company’s success is largely thanks to its existing executive team led by CEO Calvin McDonald, who took over in 2018, after formerly acting as CEO of Sephora Americas. In addition to leading Lululemon into a new age highlighted by e-commerce and new item offerings, McDonald was charged with enhancing the business’s credibility after a series of prominent blips, including the resignation of former president Laurent Potdevin and infamous fat-shaming remarks made by Lululemon founder Chip Wilson in 2013..
Now, Lululemon has actually discovered a sweet spot in digital initiatives, both within its stores and its growing e-commerce service. The business strengthened its commitment to digital with its 2020 acquisition of Mirror, the at-home connected physical fitness company that has likewise seen impressive sales throughout the pandemic..
Insider took a better take a look at 11 power gamers at Lululemon who are leading the impressive development of the athletic apparel business. We utilized publicly available details and previous reporting to choose these executives based on seniority and their levels of influence and obligation.
Scroll down to check out them, listed alphabetically. SEE ALSO: Lululemon is counting on new virtual wait lists and pop-up stores to bring buyers back to brick-and-mortar places– and it’s working.
Julie Averill, chief technology officer.
When it comes to keeping Lululemon on the cutting edge, Julie Averill has actually been important in overseeing the retailer’s technology development..
Averill joined Lululemon in 2017 with a seasoned background in retail, including most just recently serving as the first-ever chief details officer at REI. She also spent a years at Nordstrom in different information technology rolls, including vice president of selling and marketing systems..
At Lululemon, Averill has actually assisted to lead a team focused on whatever from cybersecurity to enhancing the method the retailer utilizes data and analytics throughout the business to improve the customer experience, she told CIO Dive in 2019..
” I would state every area of our service has major innovation goals,” Averill told CIO Dive. “There’s not one part of our business that is not reliant on innovation. My task is simply to determine how to let loose innovation and our team so that we can go as fast as this business is going.”
Celeste Burgoyne, president of Americas and international visitor development.
A long time Lululemon worker, Celeste Burgoyne was appointed president of Americas and international visitor development in October 2020, following 15 years in various other positions throughout the company..
In her current role, Burgoyne manages “all channel and customer-facing elements of the North American company, including stores and e-commerce,” according to a news release from the business. She first joined Lululemon in 2006 as basic manager of United States operations, where she assisted supervise domestic growth.
” Celeste has been instrumental in Lululemon’s development, and from her first day with our company nearly 15 years ago, she has actually made concrete contributions to our culture and our business that have actually helped us become the Lululemon we are today,” CEO Calvin McDonald said in a press statement..
Prior to joining Lululemon, Burgoyne cut her teeth at Abercrombie & Fitch, where she spent a decade as senior director of stores for the teenager garments seller.
Sun Choe, primary item officer.
Lululemon’s remarkable item advancement– consisting of the addition of more fashion-forward athleisure pieces and doubling down on the growing menswear classification– can in large part be attributed to work of Sun Choe.
As primary product officer, Choe supervises everything from style and retailing to item development across both Lululemon’s females’s and males’s departments. Prior to taking control of in 2018, Choe led worldwide item merchandising at Marc Jacobs and has likewise held positions at a broad variety of major merchants consisting of West Elm, Madewell, Urban Outfitters, Levi’s, and Gap, Inc
. As chief item officer, Choe has actually been concentrated on innovating apparel that adapts to shifting client patterns and needs, which has actually significantly implied capitalizing on the wellness and athleisure boom..
” What attracted me to Lululemon is its capability to stay at the leading edge of an effective development of retail and customer behavior, delivering products, tools and experiences that allow people and guests to live a life they enjoy,” Choe stated in an interview with Joe’s Blackbook, a website that features top retail, fashion, and innovation executives.
Ted Dagnese, chief supply chain officer.
Ted Dagnese oversees supply chain at Lululemon, after rising to the function in 2019 following the departure of Stuart Haselden for the travel luggage business, Away. Dagnese has worked at Lululemon since 2016, and formerly spent 9 years leading supply chain operations at the VF Corporation and nearly 3 years at Space, Inc..
As chief supply chain officer, Dagnese “leads all aspects of supply chain management including our international supplier base, item quality, raw material development, and distribution and logistics,” according to Lululemon.
Meghan Frank, primary monetary officer.
After signing up with Lululemon’s financing group in 2016, Meghan Frank rose to become the very first female chief financial officer of the company in 2020..
Frank was selected in October 2020 after first functioning as interim CFO starting last April, taking over at the helm at the height of the coronavirus outbreak. Talking To Style Network, CEO Calvin McDonald stated Frank has been essential in keeping operations not simply working, but thriving..
” Earlier this year, when we started to navigate the Covid-19 environment, Frank with confidence handled more duty within the company and showed dexterity, business acumen, and natural leadership abilities,” McDonald stated..
In addition, Frank brings a number of years of retail know-how to her position, consisting of financial and corporate planning roles at Ross Stores, J.Crew, Saks Fifth Opportunity, and Bluefly.
Susan Gelinas, senior vice president of individuals and culture.
As the senior vice president of people and culture at Lululemon, Susan Gelinas has actually been a singing supporter for pay equity, an effort she has assisted champ throughout her near decade working at the company..
In 2017, Gelinas led a dedication to imposing equitable pay across the business by conducting internal research and investigations, an effort that led the business to achieve 100%gender pay equity by the list below year..
” In a global company comprised of 78?males, it was necessary not to assume, but to look closely and be in real discussions,” Gelinas wrote in a March 2020 post in Thrive Global..
Gelinas has likewise been passionate about setting up adult leave for both mothers and daddies at the company. In 2019, she helped release a “worldwide gender-neutral being a parent policy providing up to 6 months of paid adult leave to full-time employees at all levels.”.
” As a leader, I have the benefit and duty to make sure these conversations are happening and regularly examine if the business is doing whatever it can to advance our goals for the business and our people,” she composed in Thrive Global
Shannon Higginson, general counsel and chief compliance officer.
As Lululemon’s basic counsel and chief compliance officer, Shannon Higginson helps with any legal concerns that befall the athletic wear business. Higginson first began at the business almost a years earlier as vice president of legal prior to moving into her current role in2016 She previously served 11 years as senior counsel at the Canadian telecoms business Telus, and has actually likewise hung around at other firms, consisting of Bull, Housser, and Tupper.
André Maestrini, executive vice president of international.
With more than 13 years at Adidas under his belt, André Maestrini was tapped at the end of 2020 to assist lead Lululemon’s worldwide growth, with a particular concentrate on Europe, the Middle East, China, and Asia Pacific.
” André is a knowledgeable worldwide leader with an established record of success, who will allow us to build on our momentum and drive our international growth in essential markets,” CEO Calvin McDonald said in a press declaration in October.
At Adidas, Maestrini held a range of functions including leading the business’s international sports system and serving as managing director of areas consisting of France and Latin America. Prior to Adidas, he spent more than a years as Northwest European marketing director at The Coca-Cola Business.
Calvin McDonald, chief executive officer.
Calvin McDonald signed up with Lululemon as chief executive in August 2018, after working as magnate of Sephora Americas for nearly 5 years and Sears Canada prior to that. His visit came on the heels of a number of years of reputational issues at the business, a challenge he was mainly charged with enhancing in his brand-new role..
McDonald took control of for Laurent Potdevin, who resigned in February 2018 since he stopped working to “exemplify the greatest levels of stability and respect for one another,” according to a New York Times report. Potdevin had actually notably handled the role of chief executive after Lululemon founder Chip Wilson stepped down in 2013, following controversy relating to sheer leggings and Wilson’s subsequent remarks that “some women’s bodies do not work for the trousers,” which many deemed fat shaming..
Given that taking control of at the helm, McDonald has led the company through numerous quarters of sales growth, and manage the acquisition of the at-home linked physical fitness product Mirror in2020 The business reported a 22%year-over-year increase in net income in its latest quarter, and continues to see high demand for its athleisure apparel..
McDonald has likewise been instrumental in leading the company’s digital growth, by focusing on investments both in in-store tech and e-commerce..
” We made those investments because we wanted to reinforce relationships, but it also allowed us to look at methods of innovating,” McDonald said at Expert’s Global Trends Celebration in October2020
Nikki Neuburger, chief brand officer.
When she was tapped as chief brand name officer in January 2020, Nikki Neuburger was tasked with “elevating the Lululemon brand name”– a fitting request the executive who had actually invested a collective 15 years leading major transformations at Uber and Nike..
At Uber, Neuburger spent 2 years supervising worldwide marketing for Uber Consumes, where she helped to expand the offering to brand-new areas throughout 36 countries. At Nike, Neuburger invested 14 years in numerous roles, including most recently as vice president of international brand marketing for the company’s running department..
Beyond her years of managing major development efforts at Nike, she was also part of a 2018 effort to expose poisonous workplace practices versus females at the athletic business. Neuburger was among the several ladies who spoke up versus the behaviors, and individually wrote a letter to the executive team explaining a culture of “harassment and the exclusion of women from the inner circle of choice makers” prior to resigning from the company, the New york city Times reported.
Tom Waller, primary science officer.
With more than two decades of experience in sports science, Tom Waller has actually played a substantial role in product development at Lululemon. In 2014, Waller established Whitespace, Lululemon’s in-house innovation and research and development team, where he leads a group of employees committed to “industry-shifting initiatives” in apparel..
” I might see that every person in the world was starting to get more worried about their efficiency, whatever efficiency suggested to them,” Waller stated regarding product development in a recent episode of The Sports Lifestyle Podcast. “Therefore that blending of psychological and physical was something that we might do.”.
Prior to his work at Lululemon, Waller led research study and development efforts at companies including Speedo International, where he assisted establish Olympic swimming products. Waller particularly concentrates on “using psychophysiology to item development by connecting technology, science and human behavior.”

domain: news


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Honor will hold a press conference today, and we will see the release of the Magic 5 series, as well as the world premiere of the Magic Vs folding screen. As part of MWC, the company is hosting the event in Barcelona starting at 1:08 CET.
The company provided the livestream we embed below. The broadcast will start 30 minutes earlier.
The Magic5 series is expected to bring at least two devices at launch – the vanilla Honor Magic5 and the A flagship product called Magic5 Pro. The Magic5 Ultimate may or may not have a more powerful camera than the Pro, although last year, Honor brought the Ultimate at a separate event rather than in Barcelona.
We have reviewed the mid-range Magic5 Lite and the Honor X9a phone launched earlier this month with a new name for the European market. However, for all the markets where Honor operates, these flagships are likely to be truly global devices. We don’t know much about the upcoming phone’s specs, but we’ll also be keeping an eye on the event and reporting when everything is announced.


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Pharmacy prepares for potential increase in emergency contraceptive demand after Roe v. Wade overturn
FITCHBURG, Wis. – The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has the Fitchburg Family Pharmacy preparing for an impact on the supply of emergency contraceptives.
Thad Schumacher, the owner of Fitchburg Family Pharmacy, said he’s prepared for a potential increase in the need for emergency contraception.
“As a result of last Friday’s decision with the Supreme Court, we know that there’s going to be a need for women to look for alternative ways to take care of themselves,” said Schumacher. “We’ve made the decision here to make sure that it’s accessible and to make sure there’s no barrier to getting it.”
Right now, the locally-owned pharmacy is only allowing two emergency contraceptive pills per customer upon purchase.
“We’ve heard that this is something that could potentially be a challenge to get,” said Schumacher.
Fitchburg Family Pharmacy isn’t the only business taking preventative measures for a potential demand for the product.
CBS News reports online reproductive and sexual health provider Wisp, which sells two different types of so-called morning-after pills, said it witnessed an unprecedented 3,000% surge in sales of the emergency contraceptives after overturn.
CVS on Monday said it was temporarily limiting purchases of morning-after pills to three boxes per transaction after seeing a sharp increase in the sale of emergency contraceptives immediately following the Supreme Court decision. Amazon and Rite Aid made similar moves.
Emergency contraception is birth control that can be used to prevent pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex. There are two types of emergency contraception: morning-after pills, and the copper IUD. For the morning-after pill, the most popular brand is Plan B.
According to Planned Parenthood, Plan B “can lower your chance of getting pregnant by 75% to 89% if you take it within three days after unprotected sex.”
“We are trying to make sure that people who need it the most have access to it given supply chain constraints,” said Mike Murray with Planned Parenthood.
According to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, the birth control “Plan B” pill, also known as the morning-after pill, is legal and remains available in Wisconsin.
“We shouldn’t be running out, we shouldn’t be running low. We’re going to have it accessible,” said Schumaker. To make an appointment with Planned Parenthood concerning emergency contraceptive options online or call 1-800-230-PLAN to find the health center nearest you.
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.


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Economic Outlook-An industry official said that Sri Lanka’s tea crops may decline sharply due to outbreaks of weeds, pests and fungi as the pesticide ban has exacerbated the fertilizer problem.
About to become extinct? The restart of PH banknotes worries abaca farmers. —File Photo
Manila, Philippines-Tracking the country's currency usage reflects a rich history from the ancient Fi
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New Mexico and ABQ news, sports, business, etc.
Author: Theresa Davis / Journal Staff Writer Published: Monday, July 26, 2021 10:05 PM Update: Monday, July 26, 2021 10:23
Since the shaky wooden roller coaster on the boardwalk at the turn of the century, the amusement park rides have come a long way. Today, the attractions that make headlines must be larger and more


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Apple flexes its AI muscle with new accessibility features coming to iOS 17
In a somewhat unusual move, Apple has preannounced new features that will be coming to iOS 17 ahead of its official announcement. The marquee additions include Live Speech and Personal Voice Advanced Speech Accessibility, Assistive Access to support users with cognitive disabilities, and a new Detection Mode in Magnifier to assist users who are vision impaired.
Perhaps the most futuristic of these is Personal Voice, which uses on-device machine learning (AI) to allow users at risk of losing their ability to speak (such as someone recently diagnosed with ALS) to create a voice that sounds like them. Users create their Person Voice by training the AI model to recreate their voice by reading along with a randomized set of text prompts that takes around 15 minutes to complete. This integrates with the new Live Speech functionality that allows users to type what they want to say and have it spoken out loud during a phone call, a FaceTime call or an in-person conversation.
Assistive Access has been designed to take popular iPhone apps and distill them down to their most essential features making them easier to use and interact with. Apple has worked with users with cognitive disabilities and their supporters to make more accessible apps including Phone and FaceTime by turning them into a single Calls app, while also streamlining Messages, Camera, Photos and Music. The aim of the changes is to reduce the cognitive load on users so they can more easily get what they want done or enjoy their iPhone experience with substantially less hassle.
Apple has also previewed Detection Mode in the Magnifier app - another AI-powered tool - that introduces Point and Speak to make it easier for users who are visually impaired to interact with physical objects in their house or around them that have several text labels. For example, when using a household appliance like a microwave oven, Point and Speak combines inputs from the camera and the LiDAR Scanner to read out the text on each button as users move their fingers across their oven’s keypad. Point and Speak also works with People Detection, Door Detection and Image Descriptors to help users more easily navigate their environments.
While these early previews of new accessibility features coming to iOS 17 are indicative that WWDC 2023 will be packed with announcements, it is clear Apple also wants to show that it is not being left behind when it comes to introducing AI-powered features to its products.


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Remember that Dissidia fighting game? Square Enix isn’t developing it alone. Tecmo Koei’s Team Ninja is making it, too.
Inside reports that Team Ninja is the game’s lead developer. Team Ninja, of course, is famous for its Dead or Alive fighting games and is bringing that know-how to Dissidia. Certainly, Square Enix will have a big say in how the game turns out.
According to Inside, the three-on-three arcade fighter runs at 60 frames-per-second, but isn’t powered by traditional arcade hardware. Instead, it is being developed with PS4 system tools that have been customized for arcades.
However, don’t expect a simultaneous arcade and PS4 release. For at least a year, the game will be arcade only. After that, the logical assumption is that it will be released on the PlayStation 4.
Here’s a good look at the twin-stick controls:
Oh, and Final Fantasy fans will be happy to know that Summons can be used while brawling. Maybe fighting game fans will be happy about that, too.
Dissidia Final Fantasy hits Japanese arcades this fall.
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.


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Unilever Q1 net profit up 33 percent to $1.28 billion as margins improveBy AP
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Unilever reports 33 percent rise in Q1 profit
AMSTERDAM — Unilever NV, the maker of Lipton tea, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, reported a 33 percent rise in first quarter net profit on Thursday, as the company boosted sales and took market share from rivals by slashing prices.
Unilever, which trails Procter & Gamble Co. and Nestle SA as the biggest consumer products maker, said net profit was euro973 million ($1.28 billion) compared with euro731 million in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 6.7 percent to euro10.1 billion.
“In cutting prices, Unilever continues to up the pressure on rivals” said analyst Keith Bowman of Hargreaves Lansdown in a note on earnings.
He described the company’s strategy as “intense advertising combined with successful product innovation and stringent cost control.” He said it had resulted in a string of good results that is restoring the company’s reputation with investors after a decade of underperformance.
Shares rose 3.4 percent to euro23.285 in Amsterdam.
Chief Executive Paul Polman said margins were helped by lower commodity costs and lower overhead. The company increased advertising spending, even as the cost of placing ads fell.
Polman said Unilever plans to continue taking advantage of customer preferences for a good deal over a prestigious brand.
But he said cutting costs to increase margin will be increasingly difficult.
“Commodity costs will increase in the second half of 2010, economies remain sluggish and competitive intensity will remain high,” Polman said.
“It is more important than ever to stay focused on the consumer.”
Analyst Richard Withagen of SNS Securities said the results “came in ahead of expectations.”
“The update makes it clear that competitiveness remains fierce in the global consumer goods area, but Unilever has a much stronger profile than a couple of years ago,” he said in a note on the earnings. He repeated an Accumulate rating on shares.
By product type, Unilever’s ice creams and personal care products showed the strongest growth, better than 7 percent each. The company cited new product launched under the Magnum, Cornetto and Breyer’s brands, and new Dove and Vaseline products.
By geography, sales volumes grew 12 percent in Asia & Africa, the company’s largest region, followed by 6.3 percent growth in the Americas and 4.0 percent in Europe.
The company cut prices in all regions, and a 3.7 percent decline in Europe meant the company’s net sales there were almost flat.
Operating margins improved by 0.6 percent overall, with gains in all areas but especially strong in Europe, where Unilever has been restructuring.
Analyst Bowman said the company’s moves in recent years to reduce the number of brands it offers was helping keep costs under control. Strong exposure to emerging markets and low commodity costs were “adding a tailwind to group progress.”
“On the downside, the economic outlook for Europe — a major marketplace — remains up in the air, while perceived recovery prospects have seen some bounce back in food commodity prices,” he said.
Tags: Amsterdam, Europe, Netherlands, Products And Services, Western Europe


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Just two months after rolling out its first m-banking application, Norway's Sparebanken Vest is forecasting that mobile will soon overtake online as the bank's primary channel for customer interactions.
Sparebanken Vest says that one in every ten of its online customers are now using its mobile banking application since its launch in October, with more than 500 new registrations every day.
The app, available for both iOS and Android platforms, allows the bank's 250,000 retail customers to access balance enquiries, transfer money between accounts, make payments, and track bill due dates.
"Mobile will very soon overtake online as the primary channel for interactions with the bank for our customers," says Jan Erik Kjerpeseth, deputy managing director at Sparebanken Vest. "In just over two months after launch, registration of our mobile app has been extraordinary."
A more far-reaching prediction was made in November by Australia's St George Bank, which foresees a smartphone-only future for many of its tech-savvy clients. The bank already claims to have 60,000 mobile banking customers who use only their smartphone to do all their banking.


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Sony has confirmed an Assassin’s Creed PSP spin-off title, along with LittleBigPlanet and Rock Band. No details have yet been made clear, except for the fact that it will be an “exclusive installment” of the franchise and that it will come as part of a “PSP Entertainment Pack.”
The bundle will include the game and a “piano black” PSP, among other items that are yet to be revealed.
Sony has also referenced, but provided no details, about PSP versions of MotorCross, Rock Band and LittleBigPlanet among other titles. Could it be that Sony is actually trying to put some games on the PlayStation Portable? That really would make my year.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., February 24, 2009 – At its annual retail and publisher conference Destination PlayStation®, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced its unprecedented line up for PSP®(PlayStation®Portable), including a new hardware offering that extends the PSP market to young female gamers, the debut of blockbuster franchises MotorStorm® and LittleBigPlanet™ on the platform, and major software support from Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, MTV Games, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and other publishing partners.
“With a year of record sales ushering us into the new year, we continue to raise the bar on providing consumers the deepest and broadest entertainment content for every member of the family to enjoy,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. “With new content being added every day to the PlayStation Network combined with an unmatched line up of exclusive titles on PSP, and the roll out of truly groundbreaking games such as Killzone® 2 for PS3, we remain confident in our approach and strategy for another record year of growth and momentum.”
SCEA also previewed its deepest and broadest content line up for the PS3 system, including groundbreaking exclusives such as Killzone® 2, inFamous, MLB®’09: The Show™, MAG, UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves and God of War® III to hit throughout the fiscal year. Promising to be a blockbuster hit, Killzone 2’s immersive and sensory gameplay sets the stage for PlayStation’s continued momentum on the PS3 this year, accompanied by truly innovative and genre-defying content such as MAG, the industry’s first online shooter to allow up to 256 players, combined with artistic and niche games like Flower™ and Ragdoll Kung Fu™: Fists of Plastic on PlayStation®Network.
With a rapidly growing install base, the PSP platform is riding a wave of momentum that will be paired with a new hardware offering and its best software line up to date, demonstrating significant support from SCEA’s publishing partners. Two new limited-edition PSP Entertainment Packs will be available in 2009, bundling everything consumers need to jump onto the PSP platform, from the hardware to games, videos, and other content – all for $199.99 (MSRP).
• Hannah Montana PSP Entertainment Pack – As part of a new focus on expanding the PSP market to female gamers, SCEA will launch this new bundle in July. The pack includes the introduction of the “Lilac” PSP system, Disney Interactive’s Hannah Montana PSP game (an exclusive dancing and rhythm action game for gamers to design the show and go on tour as the teen icon), a selection episodes from the Hannah Montana TV series on UMD, a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, and stickers to customize the PSP.
• Assassin’s Creed™ PSP Entertainment Pack – Ubisoft will debut an exclusive installment of the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise on PSP later this year. To commemorate this highly anticipated title, SCEA will launch a new bundle that includes the game, a “Piano Black” PSP, and other content that will be announced later.


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According to The Australian Financial Review, Australia’s senior property leaders have warned that another housing crisis is being “baked in” with state and local government planning bottlenecks choking the supply of new homes and putting renewed pressure on affordability as population growth recovers.
While housing commencements surged 25 per cent to 229,000 last year, courtesy of the Homebuilder stimulus, the balance is already swinging back the other way, with new housing supply squeezed by planning restrictions and exacerbated by delays caused by materials and labour shortages.
As migration gradually returns to its pre-pandemic levels, the number of households will soon exceed the number of homes available, according to analysis by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation. That deficit in accommodation needed will emerge by 2025. The number of households exceeding new supply is forecast to rise to a cumulative 163,400 homes by 2032.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s largest oil distributor is plugging into the electric vehicle charging business as it plans to start building a vast charging network across the country.
ENEOS Holdings Inc. announced that it acquired the rights from electronics firm NEC Corp. to operate about 4,600 EV chargers at commercial facilities.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, Japanese entrepreneur is committed to rendering his enterprise here “friendly” to all relevant parties including employees and sustainable as a “good company.”
“The current increased interest in the SDGs (U.N. Sustainable Development Goals) should not be quickly lost just as a temporary trend,” said Mitani, 37, CEO of Mitani Sangyo Co.
Mitani Sangyo, a long-established firm handling chemicals and plastics for use in automobiles for more than 90 years, effectively abolished its mandatory retirement system for employees.
While employees at the company in the Hokuriku region listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s top Prime Market can retire at age 60, they are allowed to continue working there for additional years on an unlimited basis.
Staffers are eligible for severance allowances on two occasions: when they reach the standard retirement age of 60 and when they decide to dissolve their contracts with Mitani Sangyo on their own.
According to The Australian Financial Review, global demand for battery-powered cars is racing ahead faster than expected, Boston Consulting Group said as it brought forward sales forecasts despite concerns over shortages of batteries and charging infrastructure.
The consulting group now forecasts that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will account for one-fifth of global light vehicle sales in 2025, and 59 per cent in 2035, and that there will be more battery electric vehicles sold than any other type of light vehicle (including hybrids and petrol-fuelled cars) by 2028.
According to The Australian Financial Review, increased planting by Victorian and Queensland grain farmers has set Australia up for a third consecutive bumper harvest amid a global supply crunch that is raising fears of a food crisis.
In its 2022-23 winter crop outlook report, agri-lender Rabobank predicts this year’s planted crop area will reach a record 23.83 million hectares, up nearly 1 per cent on last year’s record and 11 per cent above the five-year average.
According to The Australian Financial Review, the cost of a new house rose by a record $76,715 in April as supply chain and labour shortages added to the costs for home builders, prompting a warning that more builders would go bankrupt, crunched between soaring prices and fixed-price home contracts.
The $76,715 average surge in cost from a year earlier lifted the average value of new homes approved over the $400,000 mark nationally for the first time and also increased the pressure on home builders committed to fixed-price contracts signed with clients before costs surged, economist Maree Kilroy said.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, the unemployment rate for April improved to a level seen before the novel coronavirus pandemic, but some hard-hit sectors were still struggling to provide jobs, statistics showed.
The internal affairs ministry on May 31 said the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 2.5 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point and the third straight month of decline.
In October 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging, Japan’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent, but it has since improved steadily.
There were about 1.76 million unemployed people in April, 30,000 fewer than in March.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, the central government is planning to ramp up investment in education and skills training to attract laborers from developed industries into sectors with solid future growth prospects.
It aims to accomplish this through actions such as expanding career consultations for workers and encouraging them to get side jobs.
The move comes amid concerns that Japan is lagging behind other countries in investing in human resources development, and that workers are not moving into these areas quickly enough.
The government is seeking to boost labor productivity and make workers more aware of opportunities in these developing industries, such as the digital industry, regardless of whether they currently work for companies in those sectors.
According to The Australian Financial Review, surging power prices are driving massive interest in solar panels and batteries, according to operators in Victoria and NSW.
Households and businesses were last week warned to brace for higher power prices over the next few years after the Australian Energy Regulator approved price increases of up to 18 per cent in NSW and 12 per cent in Queensland from July 1.
Sydney-based Natural Solar sales revenue for the last 21 days is 248 per cent higher than the corresponding period for 2021, according to founder and CEO Chris Williams, and a whopping 544 per cent higher than the corresponding period in 2020.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced the release of an ultra-small electric vehicle this summer, which can be as affordable as its gasoline-powered counterparts.
The model, based on Japan’s minivehicle standard, will be available for under 1.5 million yen (US$11,719) in Tokyo, after the metropolitan government's 450,000 yen and central government's 550,000 yen subsidies for electric vehicles are applied.
Minivehicles, with engine displacements of 660 cc or less, account for nearly 40 percent of Japan’s new vehicle sales. They are mostly used over short distances such as for shopping or commuting.
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Manchester cops to monitor lotto outlets, cash businesses for Xmas
There will be increased police presence at gaming outlets and other high-risk businesses to deter criminals as Christmas nears.
That move is aimed at heading off the threat of robberies which traditionally spike at year end.
Lottery giant Supreme Ventures Limited has sought assistance from the police to bolster its owns security arrangements.
“We have assured them that we will be out in greater numbers checking on their places, just as how we check on other facilities for the Yuletide season,” Superintendent Lloyd Darby, commander of the Manchester Police Division, told The Gleaner on Wednesday.
“We are increasing patrols for all financial institutions and all business places because the risk of robbery increases whenever the Yuletide season comes around.”
Darby disclosed that police personnel are usually reassigned from administrative duty at Christmas and redeployed to boost manpower on the roads.
“Some are in plain clothes, jeans, cut-up (distressed) clothing, and others are uniformed.”
The Manchester police chief said the constabulary was also prioritising petrol stations, remittance outlets and other financial institutions, and stores that handle large volumes of cash.
Chinese merchants are among those high-risk groups.
Stafford Haughton, who runs a remittance outlet at his Haughton’s Pharmacy operation, is heartened by the increased efforts during the busy shopping period.
“The police patrol can’t be too much. It needs to be 24/7, but they don’t have the vehicles, very few of them are on night patrol. But if they are going to make an effort for the Christmas to put more people out there, we will certainly appreciate it,” he said.
Jamaicans are being reminded that the services of the police are free of cost and should be utilised, where possible, for protection during the transfer of money or other property.


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The importance of investing in your brand and reputation as an employer has become increasingly important with the mass reassessment of how work fits into tech professionals’ lives — and you recognize this. Nine out of 10 HR professionals surveyed for our Tech Sentiment Report indicated that their reputation as an employer effectively influences candidates to join their organization.
And tech professionals agree that your employer brand is an influential factor in their evaluation of joining your organization. In that same report, which surveyed both tech professionals and HR professionals, nearly 90% of tech professionals responded that they feel an employer’s brand is important when considering a new employer and nearly 8 in 10 tech professionals said they would not apply for a higher-paying job at a company with a bad reputation.
When asked what the most important aspect of an employer’s brand is to tech professionals, company culture came in at the top. Cultivating an inclusive and supportive culture not only attracts talent but leads to higher employee morale and productivity, lower attrition and better collaboration. With 85% of tech professionals indicating that company culture is the most important aspect of an employer’s brand, it’s a good place to start if you’re looking for where to focus investment and energy first.
To build a company culture that attracts and retains tech talent, consider:
- Connecting employees to your organization’s purpose in meaningful ways
- Creating opportunities for employee engagement and connection
- Instituting employee recognition programs
- Being more transparent in your internal communications
- Giving teams more autonomy
- Scheduling regular one-on-ones
It’s clear that your brand and reputation as an employer is critical to attracting tech talent, and when you consider 52% of tech professionals are likely to change employers in the next year, retaining your current tech talent, too. To learn more about what professionals want from their employers right now when it comes to things like remote and flexible work, benefits, merit increases and more, check out the Dice 2022 Tech Sentiment Report.


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While the taxation of digital goods is addressed by most states, and is reflected in their tax legislation, most of that legislation is 20 years old, and contains differing definitions of digital goods. The Multistate Tax Commission and the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board have created study groups to explore digital goods definitions that are in the law today, and examine whether they are sufficient for the present, let alone the future.
Gil Brewer, senior assistant director of tax policy at the Washington Department of Revenue and chair of the MTC work group, has proposed that a broad-based tax on the final sale of digital products is one method for states to raise adequate revenue to allow for an exemption for taxable items purchased by businesses.
This is noteworthy due to the fact that the business lobby has been a key blocker to the meaningful progress in taxing digital products, according to Scott Peterson, vice president of U.S. tax policy & government relations at Avalara.
A recurring theme in the conversation around taxing digital products is the impact it has on business consumption, he remarked: “Often when states talk tax policy, they talk about rates and how to spend the money. This time around, the business community is questioning the need for states to redefine definitions, and it notes that, when it comes to digital goods, services and software, businesses are a very large buyer of these things. Of the total money spent in the U.S. on software, an overwhelming amount of the total comes from businesses buying software.”
“Businesses stress the fact that tax is pyramided,” he said. “Sales tax is built into products that companies will sell, and sales tax is again applied to those products at the time of sale. Many observers believe that the system should not encourage the pyramiding of tax.”
The decisions on taxing business purchases of digital products should be made ahead of time, according to Brewer and the MTC work group on taxation of digital products.
“If you want to exempt business consumption, do it at the outset and not after the fact,” explained Peterson. “For example, per the MTC proposal, consider imposing a broad tax on digital products and exempting business purchases, thus eliminating the strongest opposition lobbying group to digital product taxation. A huge amount of sales tax comes from business purchases.”
Nearly all states tax business purchases across the board, he noted, with some rare exceptions, and even in those cases, the purchased item must be used primarily for a business purpose before it can be exempt.
So, for instance, in California, farm equipment must be used 50% or more of the time in commercial agricultural production or harvesting — and lawsuits abound across the country where farmers try to not pay sales tax on equipment, Peterson noted.
“In these suits, a judge has to decide on whether a piece of equipment is agricultural,” he said, “The only real examples of states not taxing business purchases are in manufacturing and agriculture — all other business purchases, [such as laptops] are subject to sales tax.”
The MTC will meet in November to further discuss the proposal, according to Pererson. “They’re not done yet,” he said. “I believe the proposal has legs. Once MTC has made a proposal, states can decide for themselves on how to act. About 30 states tax digital products today, and states are watching the MTC guidance to determine if they have the right definitions in place for the present and future.”
Over the years, states that have not changed digital products definitions have therefore shrunk their tax base, according to Peterson. He cited the delivery of music products as an example.
“Recall that LPs were tangible personal property when we purchased them,” he said. “Delivery of music has changed radically, and some states haven’t adapted their definitions, resulting in lost revenue.”
“Moreover, lots of politicians want to rely on sales tax for revenue to pay for what they plan to do,” he said. “This adds additional steam to the MTC’s evolving and elegant proposal for states eyeing broader taxation of digital products.”


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Zhivago seams on the up
Perth-based label Zhivago continues to gain traction in the Hollywood fashion scene, with Giuliana Rancic choosing to wear the brand in a new British magazine photoshoot.
The E! News and Fashion Police star wore the label's Attune playsuit from its forthcoming S/S15 collection Equilibrium, which will close the Telstra Perth Fashion Show on September 22 at Fashion Paramount at the Perth Concert Hall, in a show supported by The West Australian.
Rancic uploaded a photo of herself wearing the outfit, created by WA design duo Lara Kovacevich *and Lydia Tsvetnenko, to her 1.3 million Instagram followers, with the caption: "So excited for this cover story that just hit UK stands today! My Hollywood survival guide: Meet E! TV host Giuliana Rancic."
This is another big win for the label, with Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kendall Jenner spotted in another smoking-hot look from the brand when she hosted an awards show in March.
Zhivago has been rapidly building a local celebrity following since the label's inception in 2011 and it seems Hollywood's elite now have their eyes on this directional and forward- thinking brand.
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4 Week ahead
Institute for Supply Management releases its service sector index for September.
Commerce Department releases international trade data for August.
PepsiCo Inc. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens.
Yum Brands Inc. reports quarterly financial results after the market closes.
Federal Reserve releases consumer credit data for August.
Germany releases August industrial production figures for Europe's biggest economy.
Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates; Federal Reserve releases minutes from its September interest-rate meeting.
Commerce Department releases wholesale trade inventories for August.


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Having a large market share is not illegal in the US – but that hasn’t stopped ill-informed US president Donald Trump from launching an extraordinary attack on Amazon on Twitter.
In a new tweet on Wednesday, Trump said Amazon was causing “great damage to tax-paying retailers,” and costing jobs.
“Towns, cities and states throughout the US are being hurt – many jobs being lost!” Trump tweeted, according to a Bloomberg news report.
The unexplained attack, which appeared to have no contextual relevance, follows earlier attacks during the election campaign during which he promised to pursue the company for antitrust violations should he be elected.
“Believe me, if I become president, do they have problems. They’re going to have such problems,” Trump said in February 2016.
But, as Bloomberg points out, in the US it is not illegal to have a large market share. While online retailing is growing in volume and in share of the total retail industry in the US, Amazon accounts for 30 per cent of e-commerce sales. Every other retailer in the US has the opportunity to sell online and Walmart, especially, is mounting an aggressive challenge to Amazon’s market share. Other online retailers have 70 per cent of the market.
In short: shoppers are spending less in physical stores and more online. They are not shifting from malls to Amazon, per se, as Trump appears to be stating. Furthermore, Amazon is expanding offline, starting to open physical stores. It has also acquired Whole Foods Market and plans to expand that business.
Trump has clearly not researched Amazon’s effect on the economy, either, before tweeting. Firstly, Amazon is collecting sales tax in every state where it is levied – just like every brick-and-mortar retailer (although third-party sales over its platform, accounting for about 50 per cent of sales through its portals, remain exempt via a loophole).
Secondly, Amazon has promised to hire more than 100,000 new staff in the US by 2018, countering some of the jobs lost through America’s shrinking ranks of retail stores.
“In some cases, fired department store workers are ending up at Amazon fulfillment centres,” observed Bloomberg.
There’s more to read in the Bloomberg column (with video), including Trump’s relationship with the Washington Post and Amazon (whose founder Jeff Bezos owns the paper). The Post has in the past criticised Trump in editorials – prompting the suggestion that Trump’s outbursts against Amazon are a means of trying to damage Bezos, because Trump doesn’t like some of the newspaper’s criticism of his chaotic regime.


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A&W is calling a truce to the so-called “chicken sandwich war” this Valentine’s Day.
The reference is to fierce competition among fast-food chains, first sparked by Popeyes in 2019 when the chain added a chicken sandwich that quickly became difficult to find due to its popularity.
"At A&W, we're lovers, not fighters," Liz Bazner, the restaurant chain's director of digital, tells Marketing Daily. "And nothing can bring people together like a basket of A&W's Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders. So let's put a stop to this never-ending Chicken Sandwich War, put on some Tender Lovin' Lip Balm, kiss and make up.”
The promotion, created by Lexington, Kentucky-based Cornett, includes a sweepstakes with an assortment of offbeat gifts and plays up the restaurant chain’s hand-breaded chicken tenders.
Now through Feb. 17, consumers can enter to win one of several “Tender Lovin’” products via A&W’s Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts, or by submitting an entry form online.
Up for grabs is a “Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Body Pillow,” an oversized piece of literal comfort food that makes a plush companion for those spending Valentine’s Day without a sweetheart (or pet) to snuggle.
Another prize is a tin of “Tender Lovin’ Lip Balm” made with actual A&W fryer oil that reportedly tastes like a fresh basket of chicken tenders.
The promotion and prizes are featured in a psychedelic “Anti-Chicken Sandwich War” poster on display in-store and on social media. The activation is being promoted across A&W’s social media accounts.


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TDS in the News
Oct. 17, 2022 Outlet name: KRQE-TV Groundwork on fiber optic internet cable has started in Socorro (N.M.). TDS Telecom is laying wire as it works to provide high-speed internet to residents.
Oct. 13, 2022 Outlet name: InBusiness TDS Telecommunications has expanded the availability of the Federal Communication Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program to nearly all the states it serves. Eligible TDS customers across the country can leverage the program to receive high-speed internet at a heavily discounted rate.
Oct. 13, 2022 Outlet name: Estes Park Trail Gazette TDS Telecom has designed a program called “TDS Student Appreciation Program” to reward Estes Park (Colo.) high school students who are making efforts to keep up their grades.
Sept. 29, 2022 Outlet name: Patch TDS Telecom, headquartered in Madison, Wis., will be constructing a fiber network in Brookfield over the next few years with the intent to bring another choice for broadband, video, and voice business to Brookfield residents and businesses.
Sept. 27, 2022 Outlet name: Billings Gazette TDS opened its first Montana retail store in Billings with a ribbon cutting ceremony and donation to the Big Sky Economic Development Authority.


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Milk processor and manufacturer Muller UK & Ireland Group saw operating profit rise to more than £25.8m in the year to 31 December 2021.
This was almost £8.7m up on the previous year’s performance. Net assets rose slightly to £348m.
After finance income and finance costs, there was a profit of almost £24.2m for division between the members of this limited liability partnership, compared with £16.5m in 2020.
The members all received a higher share of profit than in the previous year, with Robert Wiseman & Sons Limited taking almost £11.3m, TM UK Production Limited £1.79m and Muller Dairy (UK) Limited £11m.
Some of the Muller yoghurts and desserts brands had a drop in sales, following a Covid-19 boost the previous year. The second half of 2022 proved especially challenging in this part of the business, according to the annual report, as a result of inflation, particularly in energy costs.
Muller Milk and Ingredients delivered a full-year profit in line with expectations, said the report, despite difficult trading conditions relating to continuing Covid restrictions and driver shortages.
Labour and material shortages also affected the business, while trading conditions in the doorstep delivery business were difficult because of Covid restrictions.
Muller UK & Ireland Group had a monthly average of 7,176 employees during 2021, compared with ,7539 in the previous year.


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Through a monthly subscription service, Farmwall supplies cafes and restaurants with a vertical farm which can be used to grow fresh herbs and microgreens.
Energy Australia has partnered with Redback Technologies to launch the Redback Smart Hybrid System, a renewable energy system used to control energy usage.
Clean energy startup Brighte raises $4 million Series A led by Grok Ventures, Blackbird and Airtree invest in EARTH AI
Brighte has announced the close of a $4 million Series A round led by Grok Ventures, with the funds to be used to further build out the Brighte platform.
Reposit Power is offering a device where homeowners store energy from their solar panels and sell it back to their electricity provider for “GridCredits”.
The introduction of CSS preprocessors have solved a lot of problems. They have made CSS easier to maintain, update and modularise but they have also lead to a bloated CSS file when no attention is paid to the outputted CSS.


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Nvidia Cancels Tel Aviv AI Summit Amidst Safety Concerns
Nvidia, the world's largest AI chipmaker, has made the difficult decision to cancel its upcoming AI conference in Tel Aviv due to safety concerns. The move comes as Israel ordered a siege of Gaza following a recent Hamas attack on the country. The in-person AI summit, originally scheduled for October 15th and 16th, was set to feature a keynote address by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and was billed as the premier conference for developers, business leaders, and AI researchers.
Safety as the Top Priority
In a blog post leading up to the event, Nvidia highlighted Israel's thriving technology ecosystem, with over 6,000 startups and significant venture capital investments per capita. However, the safety and well-being of participants became the primary concern in light of the current situation. Nvidia expressed regret for the cancellation, stating that it was the best course of action to ensure everyone's safety.
Impact on Attendees and Sessions
The two-day conference was expected to draw around 2,500 developers, researchers, and tech workers. It had a robust agenda with over 60 live sessions covering a wide range of topics, including generative AI, supercomputing, large language models, autonomous vehicles, healthcare, and cybersecurity. Many of the planned speakers were prominent figures within Nvidia, such as Kimberly Powell, VP of healthcare, Deepu Talla, VP of embedded and edge computing, and Gilad Shainer, SVP of networking and high-performance computing. Additionally, executives from Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Snowflake, and Lenovo were scheduled to lead sessions, some of which were sponsored.
The cancellation of the AI Summit undoubtedly brings disappointment to both attendees and speakers who were eagerly anticipating the event. However, the decision reflects Nvidia's commitment to prioritizing the safety and well-being of all participants. As the situation in Israel unfolds, it remains to be seen if and when the conference will be rescheduled or if alternative arrangements, such as virtual sessions, will be explored.
Implications of Nvidia's AI Summit Cancellation on New Business Formation
Reflecting on Safety Priorities
Nvidia's decision to cancel its AI Summit in Tel Aviv due to safety concerns offers a significant lesson for new businesses. The move, triggered by recent conflict in Israel, underscores the importance of prioritizing safety and well-being above all else, even amidst promising business opportunities. This is a crucial consideration for new businesses planning events or operations in regions with potential security risks.
Impact on Business Networking and Learning
The cancellation of the AI Summit, which was expected to attract thousands of professionals and feature over 60 live sessions, represents a significant loss of networking and learning opportunities. For new businesses, such events can provide invaluable insights, connections, and exposure. The absence of such platforms due to unforeseen circumstances can pose challenges for new businesses seeking to establish themselves in the industry.
Exploring Alternative Arrangements
The situation also highlights the need for flexibility and adaptability in business planning. As the future of the AI Summit remains uncertain, alternative arrangements such as virtual sessions may need to be considered. This is particularly relevant for new businesses in the current global landscape, where disruptions are increasingly common. Being prepared to pivot and adapt to changing circumstances is a key survival strategy for new businesses.
In essence, Nvidia's decision serves as a reminder of the importance of safety, adaptability, and resilience in business. These considerations are particularly vital for new businesses navigating their way in a dynamic and often unpredictable business environment.


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NorthStar Bets conducts Sportsober campaign
By Adnews Staff
Online betting company NorthStar Bets is conducting an advertising campaign in which it renames the month of October to “Sportsober.” The campaign is timed to coincide with the start of the NHL regular season and the MLB playoffs, the upcoming CFL season, as well as the ongoing NFL and upcoming NBA seasons.
Developed by Leo Burnett, the campaign consists of television commercials, social media content, radio ads and online materials aimed at consumers in Ontario. A second commercial focuses on NorthStar’s online casino service. Media work is being hanled by Starcom, with public relations support by North Strategic.


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ARLINGTON, VA. - According FMI- The Food Industry Association’s most recent 2020 US Grocery Shopper Trends Report, 21% of Gen Z and millennials report eating much healthier during the pandemic, while 27% report eating somewhat healthier.
“It is too soon to tell if Gen Z and millennials will keep our healthier eating patterns post-COVID-19. Some may run back to outsourcing cooking, which is an opportunity for retailer foodservice departments to support,” said Kelli Windsor, director of digital communications at FMI. “Some may stick to home cooking, smaller portions and reducing food waste, but I think food retailers and suppliers will need to support these consumers with variety that delights and quick meal solutions, so consumer don’t fatigue.”
One thing that has been clear to Windsor, is that young families are enjoying having family meals because of table conversations and feeding adventures with their kids. COVID-19 has created an opportunity for family meals that Windsor predicts will continue after the pandemic has passed.


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Rumor has it Apple is in talks with location-based social network Foursquare to boost its lackluster iOS 6 Maps offerings.
According a Wall Street Journal report published Monday, Apple is looking to share in Foursquare's map data, which could be used to integrate the latters' users tips and ratings directly into Apple's Maps.
Adding Foursquare's map data to Maps could improve the app's ability to locate businesses and other points of interest, which didn't live up to the standards set by Google Maps in earlier iOS versions.
The Journal's report claimed that Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue has spent the last few weeks meeting with Foursquare representatives, though nothing is concrete yet.
Fixing the 'maptastrophe'
Previous versions of Apple's iOS operating system used Google Maps, but Apple ditched Google in favor of its own, internal solution with the launch of iOS 6.
That didn't go over so well though, with users complaining of inaccurate and incomplete data in Apple's maps.
Foursquare apparently isn't the only company Apple's in talks with to improve its navigation offering: the Journal's report claimed that Cupertino is in talks with other companies to boost Maps' capabilities.
Google, meanwhile, responded last week with its own iOS 6 Maps app, which brought back many of the features - local transit, Street View, etc. - that iOS users had sorely missed.
Apple users turned up in droves to download the replacement Maps app; Google announced Monday that Google Maps for iOS 6 was downloaded 10 million times in the first 48 hours.
Now if only Apple would allow iOS 6 users to delete its in-house Maps app from their devices, everything could go back to normal.
TechRadar asked Apple and Foursquare to find out if the two companies have anything to say about the potential partnership and will update this story if and when the companies respond.


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A new version of Mozilla’s popular Firefox Web browser is ready for download with improved security and memory use as the tiny company takes a stab at Microsoft Corp’s dominant Internet Explorer.
The program’s creators told Reuters on Thursday that the privately-held company’s trial version of Firefox 3 browser is ready for the masses to use after months of development.
Until now, the company has discouraged average Internet users from moving on from Firefox 2, which was launched in October 2006.
“In many ways it (Firefox 3) is much more stable than anything else out there,” Mozilla Corp Vice President of Engineering Mike Schroepfer said in an interview.
Key rivals to Firefox are market leader Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple Inc’s Safari browser.
Engineers at Mozilla are still putting the finishing touches on the software and hope to release the final version of Firefox 3 by the end of June, Schroepfer said.
Mozilla is in a battle with Microsoft, which unveiled an experimental version of its Internet Explorer 8 in Las Vegas earlier this month and is looking to expand its presence on the Web through its bid to acquire Yahoo Inc.
Additions boost security and allow users to run Web sites when they are not connected to the Internet. Mozilla also says Firefox 3 uses less computer memory than Firefox 2.
Until now Mozilla has discouraged the typical computer user from exploring these new features. But its developers said on Thursday that the situation has changed and that they will be revising their Web site.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Web site still stated: “We do not recommend that anyone other than developers and testers download the Firefox 3 beta 4 milestone release. It is intended for testing purposes only.”
But they said that as they concluded their fourth round of tweaking their software, they determined it was ready for prime time.
A fifth round of changes, due to begin within the next few weeks, will involve “tuning the visual look and feel of the program” and further improving its stability,” Schroepfer said.


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- Market research firm Morning Consult has created a list of companies that divide Democrats and Republicans
- The list of polarized brands is dominated by media companies
- But the brand that the two sides disagree on the most is Trump Hotels
- Morning Consult analyzed more than 300,000 surveys for the research
A new graphic released by market research company Morning Consult has revealed which brands Americans find most controversial.
The firm has created a list of the most polarizing companies in the country, chief among them news outlets such as CNN, NBC, Fox, the New York Times and MSNBC.
But number one on the list reflects the highest office in the land: Trump Hotels.
Trump Hotels is the most polarizing brand in America, according to market research firm Morning Consult
Media brands dominate the list, but companies from the food and oil industries also make an appearance on it.
Morning Consult released a statement about the research, which said: ‘From award shows to soda commercials, politics is increasingly seeping into most facets of American culture.
‘As a result, brands that were once dutifully neutral have taken bold stands, and others have been involuntarily dragged into controversy.
‘Morning Consult used a wealth of consumer tracking data – 336,370 survey interviews in the last three months – to determine which brands are the most politically divisive.’


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Careste gives digital customers a “real world” fit experience.
Careste is ensuring that online shoppers can have the same level of fitting accuracy they get in a brick-and-mortar store.
Chain Store Age recently spoke with Celeste Markey, founder and CEO of sustainable on-demand luxury fashion brand Careste, about how her company is leveraging the 3DLook YourFit 2.0 omnichannel fitting room platform to obtain accurate measurements from online shoppers. Careste provides custom-fit fashion items, using a base of 22 sizes that can be customized as desired for any body type.
“Our challenge, which also happens to be our mission, is to end the fashion waste that accumulates through mass over-production and over-consumption,” stated Markey. “Since our founding, we have been searching for a body scanning technology to complement our mission, our micro-size offering, and our unique on-demand luxury supply chain.”
As it did for so many other retailers, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Careste’s need to provide advanced online customer service, including meeting the demand for accurate size and fit preference recommendations.
“Consumers would shop from their phones and laptops, and finding the right fit and understanding how clothing looks on them has become a big barrier to purchase,” said Markey. “With so many options for consumers to choose from today, a bad fit experience creates an easy way for consumers to shop elsewhere. Additionally, digital consumers are choosing to spend their money with purpose-driven companies with sustainable practices.”
Careste deployed the 3DLook YouFit platform, which offers photorealistic virtual try-on capability with instant feedback on what size would fit best, provided by core artificial intelligence (AI) technology that accurately captures and instantly processes customers’ body data.
YouFit also features a personalized recommendation engine that lets customers virtually try on AI-picked items based on the shopper’s body shape and measurements, fit preference, inventory and best-sellers, with the goal of replicating the service provided by an in-person sales associate. In addition, the platform offers a social sharing feature enabling shoppers to share their try-on with a single tap.
“Our consumers find the YouFit process to be accurate and simple to use, even fun,” said Markey. “In addition to end consumers, we have all of our models use the technology prior to photoshoots so that there are no fit surprises, which allows us to streamline and standardize the fitting and photoshoot process. 3DLook seamlessly integrates with our system and is an invaluable tool for Careste. We have a lot of exciting plans on the horizon, but none that we can disclose yet.”
Virtual fitting gains popularity
Other retailers are also attempting to provide a “real life”-type clothes try-on experience in a virtual setting. For example, Walmart is rolling out the Zeekit virtual fitting room solution to select users of the Walmart app and Walmart.com. To use Zeekit, which the retailer purchased in 2021, customers upload their picture or choose from a series of models that best represent their height, shape and skin tone to instantly see themselves in any item of clothing. Customers can also share their virtual outfits with friends for a second opinion, enabling a social shopping experience.
And in July 2021, specialty menswear retailer Knot Standard rolled out new digital offerings in an effort to provide personalized service to customers who do not live near one of its 10 U.S. showroom stores. The retailer released a new iPhone app called Fit, which enables customers to submit just two photos to create their custom clothing. App users can follow a set of guided instructions to capture front and side profile photos, which are automatically sent over to the Knot Standard tech team.


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Mariah Carey just gave us all we want for Christmas by releasing a brand-new music video of her eternal holiday hit
The official signifier of the Christmas season isn’t the first snowfall or the sudden prominence of sparkly lights. It’s not the incessant Love Actually airings on TV, either. No, you know Christmas is almost here when Mariah Carey’s iconic holiday hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You” starts playing everywhere.
This year was no exception. In fact, for the first time since the song was released, it nabbed the top spot at the Billboard Top 100. Now in its 25th year, Pitchfork notes that it’s the longest period between the initial release and rising to No. 1. It’s been a long time coming!
In celebration of its silver anniversary, Carey has debuted a brand new music video for the song. It’s quite a contrast from the original video, thanks to the modern elements sprinkled all throughout. We must say, it’s a visual delight, and we’re feeling all kinds of festive.
“We wanted to make a modern classic,” Carey said at a live fan Q&A prior to the video release. “It’s kind of the opposite of the original video… This is more of a production.”
And indeed it is! The music video features a little girl entering a sort of winter wonderland, with Carey serenading her. The singer wears a Santa costume, like in the original video, and there are candy cane and nutcracker-clad dancers bopping all around. Even Carey’s own kids, Roc and Roe, join in toward the end, hitting the “whoa-ohs” and dancing along.
See all of the festive holiday magic for yourself:
As if the video weren’t enough of a holiday treat already, Mariah Carey also partnered with Instagram and launched an “All I Want For Christmas Is You”-inspired filter. All you have to do is fire up the app, open the camera on selfie mode, and click the snowflake icon. You’ll immediately see falling snowflakes and hear the classic song playing in the background.
At this point, there’s no doubt that “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is as synonymous with Christmas as eggnog and mistletoe. Thanks for the Christmas present, Mariah! Now we’re really feeling the Christmas spirit.


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SoapCity vice president and general manager Mary Coller has been promoted to
senior VP and GM, Sony Pictures Digital announced Monday.
Coller, who has headed the soap-opera destination for four years, will
continue to oversee all aspects of SoapCity, from day-to-day operations and
business development to production and brand marketing.
Last fall, the company said its Web site (http://www.soapcity.com) averaged 2.9 million
unique monthly visitors interested in its information content on 10
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Ford has scooped up three awards at the annual What Car? Awards, with the Puma and Ranger both being recognised.
Last year’s Car of the Year winner, the Ford Puma, was crowned Small SUV of the Year at the 2021 awards ceremony, with the ST-Line version also being named Sports SUV of the Year.
Since its launch in 2019, the Ford Puma has become a firm favourite for many UK drivers, with around 27,000 sold. What Car? judges praised the Puma for its show-stopping style, efficient performance and affordability.
Steve Huntingford, Editor at What Car?, explained: “Nothing ticks all the boxes quite like the Puma. Compact yet practical, sporty yet efficient, stylish yet affordable... it’s rare that a car can genuinely combine all these virtues, but the Ford Puma does.”
The third award was given to the Ford Ranger, which took the top spot in the Pick-Up of the Year category. Almost one in three pick-up trucks sold in the UK is a Ranger and judges praised it for its adaptability and functionality.
Steve said: “If you’re after maximum convenience in your truck, the Ford Ranger is the one to go for. It’s got all the functionality and hard-working nature that defines a great pick-up, but it’s finished for real comfort and ease of use. Our winner is a pick-up to enjoy in life, as well as work”.
This is a great start to the year for Ford and, with more new models on the horizon, we’re sure there will be even more exciting things to come from the brand this year.
If you’re interested in the Ford Puma or Ranger, give one of our team members a call today or visit us online to browse the very latest deals.


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Venture capitalist Mike Speiser had a historic 2020. His firm Sutter Hill Ventures turned an initial investment of less than $ 200 million in Snowflake into $ 12 billion after its IPO in September.
Sutter Hill has uniquely amassed his fortune at the cloud software provider. The typical approach for early stage investing is to bet on a number of business founders, then get out of the way and let them do their magic. A few winners pay for any business that doesn’t work.
However, Speiser avoided the portfolio approach most VCs use. He told CNBC that his strategy is to spend 80% of his time and resources on a single project and the other 20% on the rest.
Speiser developed the concept for Snowflake together with its founders Sutter Hill gave the start-up room the opportunity to work in his office, helped develop the original product, and kept investing in subsequent rounds as revenues increased. Snowflake was Speiser’s main appearance for years – at the beginning he was even its CEO and recruited top talent.
Now that Snowflake is a $ 81 billion publicly traded company with thousands of employees, a veteran Frank Slootman CEO, and a leadership position in cloud databases, Speiser has turned his attention to another project that Sutter Hill started . It’s a security company called Lacework – and it’s based on Snowflake.
“There wasn’t a $ 100 billion security company, and we believe that will soon change,” Speiser said.
Skin in the game
At Sutter Hill, a company like Lacework doesn’t just show up, give a presentation, and be showered with money until it becomes a stock market treasure.
Instead, the company often helps develop the idea and stick it through to the end.
The original CEO of Lacework was Sutter Hill Managing Director Stefan Dyckerhoff, who joined the company in 2012 from company network hardware manufacturer Juniper Networks. The technical co-founder was Vikram Kapoor who became an entrepreneur in Sutter Hill in 2014. (He previously worked at Oracle with Snowflake founders Thierry Cruanes and Benoit Dageville.) Sam Pullara, another Sutter Hill executive who contributed to this, also took into account the early work on Snowflake’s software development.
Speiser didn’t spend long with lacework, but he was already helpful. “Shortly after Snowflake went public, Mike answered a call to interview an HR candidate,” said Dan Hubbard, who replaced Dyckerhoff as CEO in 2019.
Once a company is up and running, Sutter Hill’s other portfolio companies try the product and see how it can be improved. “We have now built five companies on Snowflake. Lacework was the first,” said Speiser.
In turn, Snowflake was an early lacework customer and several of Sutter Hill’s other 25 portfolio companies use lacework. Grail, a cancer screening company that Illumina has agreed to acquire, is a customer. So did Wavefront, a surveillance start-up that Pullara co-founded before being sold to VMware in 2017. Data center hardware manufacturer Pure Storage also uses lacework.
Sutter Hill also helps with recruitment and can at times act like a company’s research and development wing.
“The second product at Pure Storage was incubated in Sutter Hill and given to Pure Storage for free shortly before the IPO,” said Speiser.
Different financial structure
The company’s all-or-nothing style is risky. Sutter Hill doesn’t have the massively diversified portfolio that larger venture firms rely on to make up for losing bets.
But the company has an unusual financial structure that gives it that kind of freedom.
Many of Sutter Hill’s fellow venture capitalists go to limited partners and raise hundreds of millions of dollars or more to generate returns over a set period of time. Big profits help convince limited partners to put money into the next fund.
Sutter Hill works differently. It has had an evergreen fund for decades. Limited partners have invested, and Speiser and his fellow investors are also donating money with no set end date. Instead, a limited partner can invest money for a cycle that lasts for a few years, and the limited partner’s money stays invested through the next cycle unless it defaults. Sutter Hill decides when to distribute money or company shares to the limited partner. The company can also invest money in new or existing portfolio companies.
Sutter Hill regularly runs early funding rounds for its startups as it doesn’t make many other bets.
“It’s pretty rare for a venture company to be all-in and lead multiple rounds of funding,” said Vik Singh, a former Yahoo architect who worked as an entrepreneur in residence on his Sutter Hill startup Infer in 2009, 2010 .
In the later stages of a company’s life, Sutter Hill is ready to put some serious money right next to deep pocket investors. Some well-known companies like Sequoia have growth funds, but Sutter Hill invests from his evergreen fund.
For example, in the case of Pure Storage, which Speiser worked on in 2009, Sutter Hill bought more stocks than Greylock Partners, Index Ventures and Redpoint Ventures in the 2013 and 2014 funding rounds before Pure debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 2015.
When Snowflake raised money before going public in 2020, Sutter Hill was a big buyer.
Sutter Hill hasn’t always been a place where startups are built. The company was founded in 1962 and was known for decades as one of the earliest companies in Silicon Valley. After the support of Nvidia it became clear: When the graphics card manufacturer went public in 1999, Sutter Hill owned about 10% of the shares. It also backed storage hardware and software maker Data Domain, which Slootman floated in 2007 and which EMC bought two years later for $ 2 billion.
The company advocated the approach of incubating tiny startups after Speiser’s arrival in 2008. (Sutter Hill had sponsored Bix, a consumer start-up co-founded by Speiser; Yahoo bought it in 2006.)
Shortly after moving into the office, which is near HP headquarters in Palo Alto, California, Speiser began putting together Pure Storage with John Colgrove, who had worked at Veritas, and John Hayes, who was fresh from Yahoo came from.
“What really happened is that I saw Flash in 2008 and got the idea to start a storage company and a database company,” Speiser said. Pure became a supplier of hardware that, thanks to the fast flash drives in the boxes, worked very quickly and was not cheaper and more conventional. The database company came later when Cruanes, Dageville, and Speiser Snowflake also relied on flash memory.
For years, insiders have been aware of Sutter Hill’s practical style. When Snowflake went public last year, attracted investments from Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce, and hit $ 70 billion in market cap on its first day of trading, the method was validated as more than a peculiar differentiator.
Some people want to recreate the Sutter Hill model. Investors in the venture company Wing spoke very early about promoting startups, said partner Jake Flomenberg. Greg Sands, who left his investment role at Sutter Hill after 13 years in 2011 and started his own company called Costanoa Ventures, said Costanoa recently completed a variant of Speiser’s incubation process for a start-up, with the founder also serving as CEO Title held. Sands said he would do Speiser the honor of aligning the company to find great people and help them start promising businesses.
But Speiser said it’s the company that deserves recognition, not just him.
“I’ve found that I can only do really well if I focus intensely on things, if I can stay on my swimming lane, work very hard and be around a lot of people in other areas,” said Speiser.
CLOCK: Snowflake CEO on his cloud outlook for 2021


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We’ve been duped! Everyone said nothing’s been going on in digital health, but Amazon bought OneMedical! Keep watching for our thoughts and new deals: Cleery raises $192 million; Health Note raises $17 million; Elation raises $50 million; Caraway raises $10.5 million.
“Next-gen” healthcare might just be getting its start in primary care. So says Crossover Health’s CEO, Scott Shreeve, who laughingly channels Justin Timberlake and says he’s “bringing sexy back” to it too. With Walmart launching its own Healthcare Super Centers, Walgreens partnering with VillageMD in a $1-billion-dollar three-year deal, and some soaring post-IPO stock prices for OneMedical and Oak Street Health — it appears he’s onto something. And, hopefully, it’s something big that’s borne from Crossover’s recent partnership deal with Amazon. Will this be the tech giant’s next foray into healthcare? We’ve got the analysis on Amazon, Scott’s insider insights on what’s next for the primary care market, AND some phenomenal perspective on the “rise of the ‘Health Activist Employer’” as healthcare’s “most innovative payer.”
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I have a million deals to talk through. My Softbank rumor from last week hasn’t been announced yet, but there’s still plenty to discuss before JP Morgan. In this episode, get key takeaways from OneMedical’s S1, Swedish company KRY raising $155 million, ClassPass reaching unicorn status with a $285 million round, Komodo Health raising $50 million, and LeanTaaS raising $40 million. Be sure to follow along with all the JPMadness next week. —Matthew Holt
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How Can New Technologies Help Make Fashion More Sustainable?
From bioengineered fabrics to innovative packaging solutions, VOICES Salon attendees discuss what measures the industry can take in order to manage growth in a way that is less damaging to the environment.
This week, New York played host to one of the world’s largest climate confabs, but there was little visible presence from fashion’s biggest companies. If the industry doesn’t pull up a seat at the table, it risks getting left behind.
The Chinese company hopes to alleviate its environmental impact through programmes like EvoluShein, which focuses on producing garments out of recycled polyester and reducing waste from unsold clothes.
On the heels of New York Fashion Week, the city is set to host a major climate summit running alongside a meeting of the UN General Assembly this coming week with implications for fashion. Here’s what to watch.


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The decline in food prices was replaced in Russia by the growth. In October food prices rose on average by 0.8%, whereas for the previous month, prices fell 0.1%, follows from the materials of Rosstat.
The main reason for the return of “food inflation”, according to authorities, was a sharp increase in the prices of a number of types of vegetables and fruits. For example, tomatoes in October rose by 42.3%, cucumbers — by 41.2%, oranges — by 19.1%. Simultaneously, the increased price of eggs (plus 8.8%) and dairy products (plus 1.7 percent), including butter (plus 4.2 percent), milk (plus 2.1%), sour cream (plus 1.8%) and cheeses (plus 1.7 percent).
The growth of food prices resulted in the acceleration of General inflation. In comparison with September it has doubled from 0.2 to 0.4%. At the same time in several Russian regions, prices jumped twice as much, and in Stavropol and Crimea, and at all three times.
Among non-food goods in October, prices increased the most gas fuel (plus 5.4%) and cigarettes (plus 1.4 percent), as well as certain types of medication (from 2 to 5%).
For the first ten months of 2016, inflation in Russia amounted to 4.5%, while a year earlier by the end of October, it was 11.2 percent.
In mid-October, the experts of the audit chamber warned about the risk of higher inflation in the latter months of 2016 in connection with the increase in food prices, lower oil prices and, as a consequence, the weakening of the ruble.
The government’s bill on amendments to the 2016 budget provides for a reduction in the planned rate of inflation to 5.8%. To reach this level in November—December 2016 price should increase not more than 1.3%.


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By Sarah Young
LONDON (Reuters) - British food-to-go retailer Greggs said it expected 2024 to be another year of growth after it posted a 13% rise in profit last year, helped by strong demand for breakfasts, evening opening hours and expanding in food delivery.
The Newcastle upon Tyne-headquartered company, which is famous for its sausage rolls and vegan steak bakes, said on Tuesday that new stores in supermarkets, stations and airports, and adding drive-thrus would drive growth.
Shares in Greggs traded up 2% to 2,760 pence in early deals as the company confirmed it had started 2024 well, with underlying sales up 8.2% in the first nine weeks.
A five-year plan to double sales by 2026 and open 3,000 stores in the longer term was on track, Greggs said, as Britons, squeezed by high inflation and interest rates, sought value options.
"You can shop with us a few times a week and still be cheaper than potentially having a few coffees somewhere else. We know that encourages frequency of purchase," Chief Executive Roisin Currie said in an interview.
The company, which has 2,473 stores, recently overtook McDonald's as Britain's no.1 breakfast on-the-go retailer, which Currie said reflected the popularity of its hot food options.
Customers can also buy their evening meal at Greggs as half its shops now open late, or stay at home and order a Greggs pizza or chicken shawarma flatbread from the Just Eat and Uber Eat platforms, Currie said.
Greggs' underlying pretax profit excluding exceptional income rose 13% to 168 million pounds ($213 million) for 2023 on total sales of 1.8 billion pounds. Analysts expect profits to rise another 11% this year.
The group said it would pay a special dividend of 40 pence per share on top of its 62 pence annual payout.
($1 = 0.7889 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)


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Samsung Allegedly Holds Emergency Meetings to Respond to Gold iPhone
Just a few weeks ago a rumour surfaced of a light Gold Champagne colored iPhone. At first the rumour just did not seem like something Apple would do. Slowly these rumours started to become more credible, with pictures being released off the manufacturing floors in China.
Patently Apple reports, as soon as the rumours turned into credible news, Samsung executives went into an emergency meeting. The result was an official statement released on August 29 that Samsung has decided to build a line of products with metal cases by the end of the year.
According to the report, “The purpose of this move is to apply metal cases to their premium smartphone models to be released early next year.”
Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones has been often criticized of feeling cheap. So far, the whole Galaxy line from Samsung is made of plastic. On the other hand, the Apple brand has always maintained the image of the best designed products.
Samsung has been accused of copying Apple time and time again — is this just another attempt from the South Korean company?
[via Patently Apple]


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Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) recently announced a breakthrough in OLED technology that shatters all prior efficiency standards, reducing the ultra-thin lights’ energy consumption by 75%! That’s no small number – the development stands to raise the bar for energy efficient lighting by leaps and bounds. Literally (and figuratively) a cool technology, we are already enamored by the skinny profile of organic light emitting diodes, and we can’t wait to see their further integration into our everyday appliances.
For those of you who are interested in the science behind KAIST’s recent breakthrough, the team discovered a new type of surface plasmon enhanced organic light emitting diode. To create the ultra-efficient OLEDs they thermally deposited silver nano-particals on a cathode under a high vacuum, resulting in a strong oscillator decay channel that increases photoluminescence emission rates by 1.75 times and increases light intensity twofold.
Whether or not we can fully wrap our heads around the science, we can’t wait to see these enhanced OLEDs hit the shelves of our favorite technology stores. We’ve been waiting in anticipation for the moment when OLED technology finally hits the mainstream, and it may be just upon the horizon.
Photos of Inigo Maurer’s Early Future Lamp and Makoto Tojiki’s Archimedes Dream lamp