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Attribution is one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today and that is no different for our advertisers — particularly dealers. From one store independents to large, multi-store dealer groups, the challenge of understanding which touchpoints are influencing consumers throughout their car shopping journey is universal.
The attribution conversation is one that we continuously have with our customers — and today, that conversation is about to change.
Today at NADA, Cars.com and Clarivoy announced a partnership that will move the conversation beyond first and last click attribution to answer the question dealers have been asking about their marketing investments: are they working?
Through Clarivoy’s native Google Analytics integration, Cars.com customers will now be able to see a multi-touch view of the influence their marketing efforts have in today’s multi-touch world. Cars.com will be making our data available and transparent via Clarivoy, providing our customers the ability to see the influence Cars.com has on consumers throughout the car buying journey.
To date, Clarivoy’s dealer customers have described their native Google Analytics solution as “game changing” and “stunning.” In fact, Clarivoy took home Driving Sales’ 2016 Innovation Cup for “Most Innovative Solution.”
We are proud to partner with Clarivoy, as well as other attribution providers, to drive the industry forward, through an attribution solution that will help dealers understand how their marketing investments are impacting sales…for every turn.
As Steve White, founder and CEO of Clarivoy said, “When you think about multi-touch attribution, you have to give credit where credit is due.”
We are confident in the role Cars.com has across the car buying journey and are sponsoring a two-month trial for select customers – contact Clarivoy to upgrade your Google Analytics today.


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BlackBerry smartphone owners in Europe, Africa and the Middle East may have trouble accessing their BlackBerry email today, as the service has apparently gone done in the above regions.
The guys over at PCPro have received a statement from RIM, who have said that they are working on fixing the issue, and they also said that it should not be affecting all of their customers.
We are currently experiencing a BlackBerry service issue impacting some users in Europe, Middle East and Africa. All relevant support teams are working to resolve the issue,” RIM said, adding in a conversation with PC Pro that the company didn’t believe it was affecting all customers.
If you are having a problem with your BlackBerry email today leave a comment and let us know, there are no details as yet on when the issue is expected to be fixed.
Source The Verge
Updated 21st September 2012, 13.25 UK time.
We just received the following statement from RIM about the email issue, and they say it has now been fixed.
RIM Statement: Our apologies to any customers impacted by the BlackBerry service issue today. We can confirm that services have been restored and are now operating normally.
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domain: news


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US TV star Ellen DeGeneres has filmed the final episode of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' and shared a sweet message to fans thanking them for their support over the years.
Caro Robens: More beauty treatments planned!
Caro Robens has just had herself treated at the Beauty-Doc and underwent a Botox- as well as a hyaluronic acid treatment. But that's not all: the fitness enthusiast is planning further beauty procedures!
Scarlett Johannsson's husband has been secret testing out her eye cream for the last year.


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Profiles and updates
Sid Neigum, photo: Luis Mora Many designers leave Toronto for fashion meccas like New York or Paris, but Neigum opted [...]
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Prince Harry's fiancée keeps wearing Canadian brands that are now benefiting from the fashion frenzy [...]
TFW Day 2 was all about rockstar glam as HENDRIXROE’s Fall/Winter 2018 collection of men's and women's wear took to the runway at Yorkville Village.
Canada House on Trafalgar Square is set to celebrate the best in new Canadian design talent ahead of London Fashion Week (LFW 18)
Toronto Fashion Week Announces New Partnership With CAFA Awards CAFA President, Vicky Milner Toronto Fashion Week, [...]
Canada's leading fashion, art, music and culture event, today announced an exciting new partnership with THE COLLECTIONS™, a Toronto-based designer management and production agency.
Toronto Fashion Incubator makes international debut at London Fashion Week TFI installation at THEN NEXT exhibit at Yorkville Village, MIchael Zoffranieri, [...]
Toronto's tony Yorkville has a vibrant history and is in the midst of another reinvention. Bernadette Morra surveys the locals about its evolution – and the [...]


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Micropower continues to grow!
More manpower is needed when Micropower continues to grow.
Micropower’s new lithium-ion investment, the complete LionBrix battery system, makes Micropower grow even more. The investment has created a higher need for manpower and Micropower can now proudly announce that we have hired 25 new co-workers since May this year.
It is our ambition that together, through strong collaboration and mutual support between all Micropower employees, that we can create and produce products of the highest quality, the latest advanced technology, in the best possible working environment.
If you want to work in a challenging and exciting industry, in a company that continues to expand and value teamwork, quality and innovation – send an e-mail to our HR manager, Annika Undin (firstname.lastname@example.org).


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The RustyBrick brothers have struck again. In keeping with the times, Barry and Ronnie Schwartz, known for their Jewish iPhone and iPad Jewish apps, have developed an app for Google Glass. The lightly named JewGlass hopes to take 21st-century observance to the next level, bringing information to life for users literally before their eyes.
JewGlass will deliver customized Jewish information such as sunset times, directions to nearby synagogues and Hebrew translations. It also will provide information related to Jewish learning, such as the Torah portion of the week or the day’s Daf Yomi, and detect nearby kosher restaurants.
RustyBrick has made a name for itself in the Jewish app market, offering quirky and personalized products for the observant Jews who dabble in the iWorld. In 2011, Stephanie Butnick profiled the brothers, who run a “modest web-development company with some higher concerns.”
The Schwartz brothers are tech-savvy Modern Orthodox Jews, which makes them well-positioned to forecast their customers’ desires. “Anything we find useful that we want in our phone, we’ll develop,” Barry Schwartz said. RustyBrick’s 25 Jewish apps include an iPhone Siddur, an iPhone Tanach, and a Shabbat app that provides candle-lighting times and has been downloaded more than 400,000 times. RustyBrick’s shofar app—a simple, free, and, it must be said, completely irritating application that plays the four distinct shofar sounds, was downloaded thousands of times in the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah last year, Barry said.
No word on whether you can wear Glass has a Shabbat setting. Meanwhile, writer Gary Shteyngart reports in this week’s New Yorker that his dystopian 2010 novel, Super Sad True Love Story, is basically coming true. How does he know? He won a Twitter contest to become a Glass Explorer, and tried out the hi-tech specs, of course:
The first drafts of “Super Sad” had a technology called The Eye, which was basically an äppärät inside a contact lens. My editor suggested that it was a little much, and it certainly was in 2008, at a time when even the first iterations of the iPhone seemed like they were beamed back to our world from some glorious future civilization in Cupertino. By 2013, having a miniature screen above my right eye tell me all about “Ashton Kutcher’s new job” feels about right.
Glass has certainly sparked a lot of different imaginations—it’s already been used to make “point of view” pornography—and, thanks to the RustyBrick brothers, now it can help people who just want directions to the nearest synagogue.
Related: An App For That


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Bagan Innovation Technology (BiT), a digital content and mobile application solutions company based in Myanmar, has secured a “six-digit USD equity investment”, led by former Goldman Sachs executive Takashi Hatanaka, at a post money valuation of eight-digit USD.
“The funding will be used to expand BiT’s content-base, adding Japanese Manga and Webtoons. We also have plans to invest in our Big Data and Machine Learning efforts,” BiT Co-founder and CEO Thet Lynn Han told e27.
Founded six years ago, BiT is focussed on developing digital content and consumer applications. Its main products are Wun Zinn E-Book store, Bagan Keyboard, Frozen Keyboard and Min Thein Kha fortune-telling apps. According to Han, Wun Zinn is the largest e-book store and Bagan Keyboard and Frozen Keyboard are the most popular keyboards in Myanmar.
The firm has worked with different corporations, SMEs and sole proprietors internationally as well as locally. It claims to have created over 70 Android and iOS mobile apps, of which 40 are for local market.
“We just hit one million users on Wun Zinn last month. We have about 10 million active users across all of our apps,” Han added.
Previously, BiT has raised a seven-digit USD investment in Series A led by Group Lease Holdings and Alliance Technology Investments. Earlier, Myanmar-focused UMJ Ikeya Investment had invested seed funding in 2016.
Hatanaka has over 25 years experience at Goldman Sachs, and headed the quantitative volatility trading and strategies team in Asia before his retirement.


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Rejoice, Twinkies fans! The famous Hostess snacks are officially back on store shelves Monday. In honor of the Twinkies' triumphant return, take a look at Hostess products that have graced store shelves over the years.
Three Afghan National Army soldiers, who were in Massachusetts for training, have gone missing after a trip to a shopping mall, authorities said. It's the second time in a week that Afghan security trainees in the United States have disappeared.


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Activists have pushed to ban bottled water due to concerns over plastic bottles' wastefulness and pollution. Companies have been criticized for paying minimal fees to communities where they source water. "The challenges, I think they are real," Fernando Mercé, the president and CEO of Nestlé Waters North America, said of the backlash against bottled water. Mercé said that Nestlé is taking aggressive action on packaging, as backlash against the use of plastic is a growing concern across the beverage industry.
Source: Business Insider


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India, the world's biggest exporter of onion, banned exports of onions in September last year to keep domestic supplies intact. (Photo Credit: Reuters)
India has lifted a ban on onion exports, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Wednesday, as prices of the bulb have fallen sharply in the last few weeks on expectations of a big crop. “Since the price of onions has stabilised and there is bumper onion crop, government has decided to lift ban on export of onions,” Paswan said on Twitter.
India, the world's biggest exporter of onion, banned exports of onions in September last year to keep domestic supplies intact after flooding in several states worsened seasonal shortages, leading to a spike in local prices.
Since the price of onion has stabilized and there is bumper onion crop, government has decided to lift ban on export of onions. Expected monthly harvest in March is over 40 lakh MT compared to 28.4 lakh MT last year.— Ram Vilas Paswan (@irvpaswan) February 26, 2020
Wholesale prices of onions have more than halved in the last five weeks, according to data compiled by National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation, a government agency.
There was shortage of onion as kharif crop was adversely affected due to excess rains and floods in key producing states, including Maharasthra. Currently, the arrival of rabi (winter) crop of onion has begun in small quantities and would increase from mid-March onwards.
In March alone, onion arrivals are expected to be as high as 40.68 lakh tonne (Metric Tonne) when compared with 28.44 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, as per the sources. The arrival is anticipated to be higher at 86 lakh tonne in April compared to 61 lakh tonne in the year-ago, they added.
Exports of onion are expected to arrest sharp the fall in domestic prices and thereby protect the interest of growers, the sources said. During the meeting, the sources said import of pulses, especially urad, was also discussed.
(With PTI inputs)


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WASHINGTON – More than a year after Lehman Brothers’ collapse set off a financial panic, U.S. Senate negotiators are laboring to seal a deal over a consumer protection dispute holding up broad legislation to establish new rules for Wall Street.
At issue is whether a government consumer watchdog should be free from bank regulators to write rules that govern everything from credit card and overdraft fees to payday loans and mortgages.
While the U.S. political world has focused on attempts to revive health care legislation, tougher Wall Street regulations could end up being this year’s biggest legislative accomplishment. The House passed its version of the bill in December. And President Barack Obama has made new regulations a priority in his response to the recession.
Key negotiators in the Senate Banking Committee are closing in on an agreement that would house a government consumer entity inside the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank known as the Fed, but give it autonomous power to write regulations, three people familiar with the talks told the Associated Press.
The sources spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the evolving talks publicly.
The idea, proposed by Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, could break the logjam that has prevented a bipartisan bill from emerging in the Senate.
But the Banking Committee’s chairman, Democrat Christopher Dodd , was meeting with skepticism as he tried to sell the idea to fellow Democrats on Tuesday. And the committee’s top Republican, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, also voiced misgivings.
Shelby said putting an autonomous consumer finance regulator within the Fed would be like “moving the Department of Agriculture to the Pentagon and housing it over there and yet be autonomous. I don’t see why that accomplishes much.”
The idea would be a retreat from Obama’s initial insistence on a stand alone agency, a demand that the White House has since dropped to give Dodd more room to find a compromise. But a compromise was proving elusive.
The job of providing consumer protections has rested within existing banking regulators, who are also charged with ensuring the safety and soundness of banks. Democrats complained that when it comes to consumers the Fed and other regulators have been lax.
“The question I would raise is, why the Fed?” said U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, “Why put consumer protection back in the Fed after it’s been so woefully neglected.”
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, said he, too, had concerns about placing a consumer protection division within the Fed. “We’ve seen in the past that it hasn’t worked when consumer protection is not primary for any agency, for any group, that it get shuttled aside,” Brown said.
Added U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer: “I am very leery of any consumer regulator being placed inside the Fed.”
Business and banking groups also were cool to the idea of a consumer financial protection agency, no matter where it was located, that had independent rule writing power.
“Proposals that simply house the CFPA within another federal agency but continue to give it the same broad and overlapping regulatory authority will not fix the CFPA nor the harmful impact it will have on small businesses and consumers,” said Ryan McKee, senior director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets.
Still, a Fed-housed consumer entity would fall short of Obama’s initial demand for a stand-alone Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would replace the consumer oversight now assigned to bank regulators. The House-passed version would create a separate agency.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday the White House will reserve judgment on whether a Fed-housed agency would have the independence the president wants.
“If the president decides the proposal – any proposal – lacks the independence he desires, we will work to strengthen that on the floor,” he told reporters.
Gibbs said the White House is less concerned about where the agency would be housed than it is with whether or not it would have the independence to set rules and regulations, and the independence to implement them.


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From Home Furnishing Business
Badgley Mischka Founders to Keynote WithIt High Point Breakfast
The event takes place Sunday, Oct. 15, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the International Home Furnishings Center ballroom.
Known today as fashion designers-to-the-stars, including Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Rhianna and Carrie Underwood, and for their glamorous red-carpet and runway creations, the pair met as students at Parsons School of Design. Together, they formed Badgley Mischka in 1988, dedicating the next three decades to building an international lifestyle brand.
At the April High Point Market, the pair launched Badgley Mischka Home, a collection of furniture and accent items, in their InterHall showroom.
The self-described “serial homeowners” share a personal passion for interior design, and their homes have been featured in top shelter publications such as Architectural Digest and Elle Décor magazine. While making the design transition from fashion to home was a natural one, it was additionally informed by countless interactions with couture clients, connecting the dots between apparel and décor.
Attendees at the event will follow the professional and personal journey of Badgley and Mischka, and learn from their brand-building process. The designers will offer insights to manufacturers, retailers and interior designers for meeting the growing consumer demand for style at home.
A Q&A format will be moderated by Cindy Hodnett, director of public relations and communications for International Market Centers.
“WithIt is pleased to bring speakers of the highest caliber to its members and to our industry,” said Lorri Kelley, WithIt’s vice president of education and president of BDI Furniture. “We’re honored to present the founders of Badgley Mischka and to learn from their unique experiences.”
The event is open to WithIt members and High Point Market attendees. Tickets are $30, and include a hot breakfast buffet and networking. Seats are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis at www.withit.org


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Indie-pop foursome Vampire Weekend just released a new single off of their upcoming album Contra through their website. The new song is called “Horchata” and it’s a slight departure from some of the stuff on their debut self-titled album. Vampire Weekend fans need not worry however, because it’s a fresh, new, even more upbeat sound. On the new single, they utilize a lot of synth and xylophone. Their sound is definitely evolving.
Contra is set to be released in January.


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County: No funds for extra Ocean Center marketing
DAYTONA BEACH -- Don Poor is probably not getting the extra $888,000 he says he needs to effectively market the Ocean Center.
Poor, the convention center's director, made his budget request to the Volusia County Council on July 22, but didn't get a definitive answer until Tuesday, from County Chairman Frank Bruno during a meeting of the county's Tourist Development Council.
"No additional funds are in the current budget," Bruno said during discussion of marketing plans for the Ocean Center, fresh off an $81.5-million expansion finished in 2009.
Bruno said after the meeting that he sees Poor's request as a goal for the future, and hopes the collaborative efforts of the county's three advertising authorities can help expand Poor's marketing reach, if not his budget.
Halifax Advertising Authority officials have said their $419,000 marketing budget for meetings and conventions will be "highly focused" on the Ocean Center, and the Daytona Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, which spends bed-tax dollars on the Halifax authority's behalf, is considering relocating its offices into the Ocean Center.
"We're going to do the best we can with the limited amount of money we have," Bruno said. "We can't afford to put $800,000 in it, and we can't afford to try to take it away from any of the ad authorities' budgets, because they're all strained." Poor said the Ocean Center's marketing staff will just have to stretch the dollars they have, and hope for more help down the line.
"We felt like we needed to make a real marketing thrust now," said Poor. ". . . On the other hand, we understand this is a very tough economy for everyone, and we'll do the best we can with what we've got."
That will likely be $290,000 from the county in the new budget, same as this year.
The County Council's first budget hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday in DeLand, with a final hearing Sept. 30. Councilwoman Pat Northey said one of the council members could push to expand the Ocean Center's marketing budget at either of those hearings, but didn't think such a push would succeed.
"I don't know where anybody is going to get the money," she said.
The Ocean Center is on track to generate about $1.3 million in rental revenue this fiscal year (which ends Sept. 30), thanks to 60 booked events, including 19 meetings or conventions, according to Poor. Booking more conventions is a priority, because those events have the widest regional economic impact, Poor said.
Marketing dollars spent today to try to land big conventions may not bring results for at least three years, however, because those conventions are usually booked well in advance. The longer the council waits to beef up the Ocean Center's marketing budget, some officials say, the longer it will be until it gets a return on that investment.
"I think the focus should be now," said Councilman Josh Wagner, who added he wanted to redirect some of the $24 million the county trimmed from last year's budget toward Poor's marketing budget, but didn't have enough support on the council.
Northey said she didn't want to talk about spending more on the Ocean Center's marketing while the county still redirects tourism sales tax revenue to fund the center's debt service and operations. A 3 percent countywide resort tax pays for the Ocean Center's debt service, but declining room rentals led the council to divert $1.1 million of state sales tax revenue in 2009, and nearly $1.3 million this year to the Ocean Center.
"For me, we've got to plug that hole before we talk about allocating additional dollars," Northey said. "The tough part is, how do you get those revenues up without the marketing dollars? It's kind of a chicken or egg thing."


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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Friday, 28.04.2017, 03:27
Latvijas Gaze shareholders decide to pay LVL 23.94 mln in dividends
LG net profit amounted to LVL 27.175 million last year. The company's retained earnings are LVL 1.478 million; the remaining amount will be paid in dividends (LVL 23.94 million) or included in the company's reserves (LVL 1.756 million), writes LETA.
15 shareholders or their representatives participated in the meeting, accounting for 97.36% of LG shares with voting rights.
It was also decided that the company's report for 2012, accounting and financial operations would be audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Taking into account that LG Deputy Council Chairman Peter Frankenberg and Council members Heinz Watzka and Joachim Hockertz previously submitted their resignations, the shareholders also elected a new council for the company, consisting of Kirill Seleznev, Elena Karpel, Aleksander Krasnenkov, Vlada Rusakova, Juris Savickis, Igor Nazarov, Uve Fip, Mario Nullmeier and now also Matthias Kohlenbach, Andreas Rau and Peter Klingenberger.


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The “largest and most influential” annual trade show dedicated to the mobile communications industry is set to kick off in Barcelona, Spain today. The Mobile World Congress 2024 will be held at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via convention center from February 26th to 29th.
The eagerly anticipated affair for tech enthusiasts is billed as one of the most influential events for the connectivity ecosystem with thousands of manufacturers, mobile operators, and other companies attending it.
The MWC is also a stage for unveiling the latest smartphones and other mobile devices. This year, the event will shine its spotlight on many facets, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and generative AI.
Despite the show losing some of its former appeal after major industry players opted to host their own unveiling instead of breaking the cover on their new products at the MWC, it has allowed smaller companies to take center stage.
Chinese giants like Xiaomi, Honor, OnePlus, and HMD are poised to introduce their best new smartphones to a global audience at the MWC 2024. Don’t be surprised if you see some cool and flashy concept devices too, because it is part of the whole package.
Here is a little glimpse of what to expect from the Mobile World Congress 2024
1. Honor Magic 6 Pro
The sister brand of Huawei is expected to make the global launch of its latest flagship device, the Magic 6 Pro, at the MWC 2024. The device that has so far been exclusive to the Chinese market is expected to reach in the hands of the rest of the world in the coming days.
Honor will also showcase the Magic V2 RSR, a foldable smartphone designed in collaboration with Porsche Design, that has caught the attention of tech enthusiasts.
The Magic 6 Pro, priced at $1,400, comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. The Honor flagship will be available in retail from March 1st. Meanwhile, the Magic V2 RSR will cost around $2,600 and is equipped with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of internal storage. The premium foldable will start shipping on March 18th.
2. Nothing Phone 2a
The British startup is in its third year of running and has become the cooler smartphone and tech brand. Nothing, started by former One Plus CEO and co-founder Carl Pei, is set to make an important announcement at the MWC 2024 regarding its upcoming budget smartphone – the Nothing 2a.
However, the smartphone will be officially unveiled on March 5. As always the enigmatic entity is keeping us all guessing of what is to come.
3. Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro
Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has already launched its latest flagship smartphone in the Mainland. At the MWC, the company is expected to announce the global launch of the Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro.
The recently unveiled premium flagship, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, is also expected to make its debut at the event.
The Xiaomi 14 and 14 Ultra are available for pre-order and will cost you about $1000 and $1500, respectively.
4. One Plus Concepts
OnePlus just launched the OnePlus 12 and 12 R, which may have reduced the likelihood of the company making any new phone-related announcements at the MWC 2024. The much-anticipated OnePlus Watch 2 has also been revealed by the company.
But one thing OnePlus is renowned for is its concepts. The company is most likely to use the stage to introduce concept devices that offer a glimpse into the future of the smartphone industry.
5. Samsung Galaxy Ring
At the Galaxy Unpacked event last month, Samsung teased a brand-new wearable called the Galaxy Ring. Although not much information about the new product was revealed at the time, it is expected to be launched at the MWC.
What we know for sure about the upcoming Galaxy Ring is that it will be available in three colors and is part of the Korean giant’s vision for a future of ambient sensing devices.
6. Motorola’s Rollable Smartphone
Just like OnePlus, Motorola is also known for introducing new concepts at the MWC. Late last year, the company introduced a concept smartphone with a rollable display. The device can be worn on your wrist and is supported by a special magnetic bracelet underneath that keeps it in place.
You can expect a load of interesting concepts from Motorola this year around as well.


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Reuters/Lucy Nicholson Volvo is betting big on electric cars.
The Swedish automaker said Wednesday it will introduce five electric or hybrid cars between 2019 and 2023. Two of the cars will be built under Volvo’s Polestar brand, the automaker’s performance brand that Volvo said will focus on electric vehicles in June.
But Volvo isn’t the only company trying to corner the electric vehicle market, which automakers expect will grow with the proliferation of charging stations and advancements with battery tech.
Companies — including Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, and more — are looking to capitalize on consumers’ desire for space by releasing long-range, electric SUVs.
Here are 11 electric SUVs slated to arrive by 2020:


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The rising Corona infection figures and the stricter rules that go with them have prompted the Book Fair team to revise the plans for this year's special edition of the Fair once again. It has been decided that the programme of events on the ARD Book Fair stage in the Frankfurt Festhalle will now take place without an audience after all. Only the participating presenters and authors will be on site. The events will be streamed live and can be followed at www.buchmesse.ard.de and www.buchmesse.de/live.
Juergen Boos, the director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, commented on the decision: "The health and hygiene concept for the use of the Frankfurt Festhalle was re-examined and approved by the local authorities a few days ago. Nevertheless, out of consideration for the health of the guests, we have decided to minimise the risks and not to open the Festhalle to the public. However, we hope to reach many viewers* with the livestream."
Manfred Krupp, the director of Hessischer Rundfunk, added: "I am of course very sorry that the Book Fair will now take place without any visitors* after all this year, but I am confident that the broad digital offering will be convincing. Via the online presence www.buchmesse.ARD.de, we will be streaming author talks live from the ARD Book Fair stage on all days. In addition to the live streams, the website offers backstage insights, portraits, book reviews and the new video podcast ‚What a Mess'. With all of these offerings, we aim to represent the diversity in the book market and help showcase the breadth of current issues.
Not affected by the decision are the events to be held as part of BOOKFEST city during the week of the fair (14-18 October 2020). Of course, the same applies here: The health of all contributors and visitors* to BOOKFEST city has top priority. But it can be assured that all venues involved in BOOKFEST city comply with the currently applicable protective ordinances of the State of Hesse. The limitation of the number of participants allows the compliance with the distance rules.
For more info go to: https://www.buchmesse.de/


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Melody Thornton Surprises in See-Through Dress on 'Fashion Police'
Melody Thornton shocked when she walked the red carpet at the ELLE Women in Music Event in a see-through dress earlier this month. But she delivered an even bigger surprise to the hosts of E!’s “Fashion Police” when she walked onto their set on Friday wearing the same show-stopping number.
The former Pussycat Doll defended her daring dress to Joan Rivers and her fellow fashion critics, who named it the #1 must-see look of the week.
“Say what you will, but throughout the entire night, people would come up to me and tell me how much they loved my boobs,” said Melody. “I felt gratified.”
Take a peek at Melody’s surprise walk-on below.


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The streaming platform Twitterlaunched more than 10 years ago, is one of the most popular live video game platforms worldwide, as the property of amazonhas not stopped increasing its global reach since its launch in 2011, something that is constantly clear, thanks to the statistics that said platform shares.
And it is that, according to the brand, until the end of last year, they reported 26 million active usersand more than 9 million broadcast at least once a month, it is because of all these large numbers that the power of the platform is completely clear, as competitors have not been able to replicate its winning formula.
That is why based on the data shared by Statista, an online statistics portal of German origin, which makes relevant data available to everyone, which are the result of market and opinion studies, so, we will share some of his amazing results.
Top 9 most viewed video games on Twitch, around the world:
- League of Legends: 148.26 million hours watched.
- Grand Theft Auto V: 129.41 million
- Escape from Tarkov: 114.49 million
- Valorant: 66.89 million
- Rust: 59.3 million
- Fortnite: 55.78 million
- Apex Legends: 49.69 million
- Minecraft: 42.4 million
- Dota 2: 40.68 million
As you can see, in the first position is League of Legendsa game developed by RiotGameswhich has been available for quite some time now, since its original launch on October 27, 2009, and which over the years continues to be a favorite, even among users of Twitter.
Adding that, in terms of advertising terms, within the platform, only in the year 2020 were registered $750 millionbeing Adidas and red bull two of its main advertisers, data that gives enough basis, and more, to show why Twitch is a good business for itself and its streamers.
The streaming platform enjoys a large number of daily active users, as it shows that it has another wide variety of relevant data and information, which is reflected in its number of views and popularity, and it is enough just to know that of the total of its users, 44% are between 16 and 24 years old, and of that number, 65% are men.


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Bentley announced a significant expansion of its electrification plans, including only selling battery-electric vehicles starting in 2030.
As part of the Volkswagen Group, Bentley has been somewhat lagging behind its sister brands when it comes to electrification.
Now, it plans to change that with a significant transition over the next 10 years.
Today, Bentley announced its “Beyond100 strategy,” and it involves going all-electric:
Bentley Motors has outlined plans to become a global leader in sustainable luxury mobility with further details of its Beyond100 strategy revealed today. With the promise to offer truly sustainable luxury, Bentley will reinvent every aspect of its business to become an end-to-end carbon neutral organisation as it embarks on its second century. The target is driven by a transformation programme across Bentley’s entire operations and products. This includes switching its model range to offer exclusively plug-in hybrid or battery electric vehicles by 2026, and full electric vehicles only by 2030.
However, the transition is going to start with plug-in hybrids — starting with two coming next year.
Here are the main points from the strategy announced today:
- Bentley aims to be end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, with Crewe operations climate positive thereafter
- Confirms move to full electrification – PHEV or BEV only by 2026
- By 2030, switching the entire model range to battery electric vehicles
- Two new PHEV launches planned in 2021
- Committed to reducing factory environmental impact by 75 percent by 2025 against a 2010 baseline – including plastic neutral
- Fully supports Volkswagen Group ambition of going beyond the two-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement
- Targeting truly diverse talent – 30 percent of management population to be diverse, increase from less than 20 percent today
- Holistic Beyond100 program transforms every aspect of the 100-year-old company
The company didn’t reveal when exactly it plans to release its first all-electric vehicle, but we know that it has been working on it.
Last year, Bentley revealed its slick all-electric EXP 100 GT concept car.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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After a test run hit select markets back in fall 2014, Starbucks confirmed today it will roll out coconut milk as a non-dairy milk alternative in all of its locations, starting in mid-February. According to blogger Starbucks Melody, coconut milk will join the less-sexy soy milk as an option for dairy-free and vegan drinkers: Starbucks locations are already receiving their green boxes of "Sumatra coconut milk beverage with coconut water from concentrate" for employees to experiment with.
During Starbucks's initial test run, a post on its official blog noted that customers had been requesting a non-soy alternative for some time, and that "the rich creaminess of Coconut Milk is the best complement to our hot, iced and Frappuccino® beverages with none of the allergens of almond milk." (Nut-allergy concerns, however, have not prevented Dunkin' Donuts from offering almond milk in its stores.) Redditors/Starbucks fanatics in Portland, OR — one of the test markets — confirmed that customers were clamoring for the stuff, with one reporting that their suburban store was going through "three or four cartons" of coconut milk per day. Coffee fans everywhere will have access to coconut milk at Starbucks starting February 17.


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- Mashable reports that Facebook is using Poland to test Messenger Day, a service similar to Snapchat. Stories in the social media giant's messaging app will allow users to combine photos and video along with text, stickers and doodles to send messages that last 10 seconds in feeds and disappear after 24 hours.
- Facebook previously rolled out an Instagram Stories feature in August that largely mimicked Snapchat's central platform, though the Instagram version included personalized suggestions driven by algorithms, something that Snapchat has avoided.
- Messenger Day is being tested in Poland, and a local social media agency founder described the interface as “poor” and “nothing like Instagram Stories,” further noting that the stickers were clearly targeted for a young demographic because they were full of colors as well as being “big, noisy (and) really invasive," per the Mashable story.
Facebook is ever more keenly aware of Snapchat’s meteoric rise – the latter's user growth is expected to hit 27% this year – and Messenger Day replicating the competitor's signature 24-hour feed format is a bold move. Messenger is one way that Facebook is pushing into the messaging app space, where consumers are spending much of their time online.
Overall, Facebook's growth rate has been slowing and the company is struggling to reach younger consumers, an attractive marketing demographic but one that does not necessarily want to be active on a platform that is popular with older consumers.
Given Snapchat's winning formula with youth, Facebook is liberally borrowing from its playbook.
Instagram Stories is also a near carbon copy of Snapchat aside from the suggestions that tap into Facebook’s user database. Early reviews of the new service from the Mashable source do position Messenger Day as distinct enough from Instagram Stories, though not in a positive way.
But complaints about Day's "big, noisy (and) really invasive" features being clearly targeted at a younger demographic might be a smart move given the importance of winning over Gen Z loyalty early.
A Bloomberg report from August interestingly found analysts stating that Snapchat’s rise has a much greater impact on Twitter’s ad revenue than Facebook’s. If Facebook sees things the same way, adding Snapchat-like features in its various properties indicates it’s more concerned about losing app users to Snapchat than it is about losing ad dollars — at least for now.


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- The Enterprise
- The Recorder
Salt appeared to be the new black in car color last week, and lucky for local car washes, it wasn’t a welcome trend.
“It’s supposed to be candy apple red,” Katrina Frink said of her car that was covered in salt and chemical residue.
Frink was waiting in line Saturday at Mr. Clean Car Wash in Waldorf along with many other cars, mostly salt-covered from recent snow and ice events.
The line at Mr. Clean was backed up Saturday afternoon onto Crain Highway.
Many car washes in the area noticed an increase in business after the snow.
Trevia Culpepper of Fort Washington said she didn’t mind waiting in line to get the salt and chemicals off her car. Culpepper said she would much rather stay in line for 30 or more minutes as she did Saturday to deal with a salty car than have the roads not be treated.
A few miles away, Spirit of America car wash also experienced long lines of cars coming in to get washed.
Owner Steve Roof said cars were lined up an hour before the shop opened.
He said he noticed that customers didn’t seem to mind waiting in line “as long as the line was moving.” Lines at Spirit of America and Mr. Clean were moving at a steady pace during the weekend.
Roof said he knew his business would be busy Saturday because of the snow and ice events, but he didn’t realize cars would be waiting for the store to open.
He said the salt on vehicles was what brought most of his customers in Saturday.
“Salt is not a car color,” Roof said.
Mr. Clean sales associate Darrell Mason said business typically is good at the car wash, but Saturday was the busiest he had seen it in three years attributing the long lines to customers wanting to get the salt and chemicals off their vehicles.
To keep the line moving as quickly as possible, Mason stood by the entrance of the store talking with customers about what type of wash they wanted.
Michelle Bobb of Accokeek said she wanted to get the salt off her black SUV not just because of the appearance of the salt on the car but because the salt and chemicals rubbed off on her and her daughter’s clothes when they entered and exited their vehicle.
Dave Miller of Dave’s Autobody in Waldorf said anything like the salt from treated roads that sits on the paint for a while will begin to eat away at the paint. He said it’s difficult to determine just how long it takes for the salt to become a problem.
He did advise that cars get rinsed before going through a wash so the salt isn’t rubbing into the car as it’s being washed.
More snow is predicted for this weekend and in the middle of next week.


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Pandora’s U.S. sales in the first quarter jumped 9.2 percent in dollar terms, according to the company’s latest financial results.
Overall U.S. revenue totaled DKK 876 million, or $160 million.
“Growth was driven by an increased demand for products launched in the last 12 months, as well as the improved store network,” said a statement.
Sales at its U.S. concept stores posted strong results, jumping 8.5 percent over the prior year.
Overall, the company posted strong financial results, with sales growing and profits leaping to 2.6 billion DKK ($477 million), a 29.5 percent increase over the prior year. Net profit for the quarter was DKK 704 million ($129 million), a 37 percent increase over last year.
The best performing regions for the company were Asia-Pacific and Europe, where sales increased 54.3 percent and 49.2 percent, respectively.
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SAN DIEGO, Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Cricket Communications, a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless plans and services, today announced Muve Music’s Muve Headliner featured artist Rob Zombie and Muve First featured artist Elle Varner for the month of August. With Muve Music’s unlimited nationwide talk, text, and data plus mobile music plan, subscribers have exclusive access to artist commentary, music and video through Muve Music’s monthly artist programs.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120202/LA46949LOGO )
Muve Headliner Artist Rob Zombie and Universal Music Enterprises have worked directly with Muve Music to include the exclusive bonus track “Foxy Foxy (Tobias Enhus Remix feat. Rooftop Longhorns)” with each download of Rob Zombie’s new remix album, MONDO SEX HEAD which was released on August 7, 2012. The full bonus track is exclusive to Muve Music and can be previewed online by any user at CricketNation. For more information about Rob Zombie or his new album MONDO SEX HEAD, go to his website at http://www.robzombie.com.
“Muve Music has a great relationship with Universal Music and is thrilled to work with the Universal team for the launch of Rob Zombie’s latest album,” said John Bolton, Sr. Director of Product for Muve Music. “Rob Zombie’s legendary style will intrigue fans of music and film from multiple genres.”
“As the listening habits of music fans continue to change, it’s exciting to see Muve Music’s mobile music service impact artists’ ability to distribute new music and special content directly to today’s music fans,” said Nate Herr, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Universal Music Enterprises. “We’re delighted to work with Cricket and the Muve team as a way to promote Rob Zombie’s new remix album, MONDO SEX HEAD.”
Muve First Artist Elle Varner and MBK Entertainment/RCA Records have given Muve Music a limited track titled “Do You Want To” from her debut album PERFECTLY IMPERFECT. Varner’s new track will be exclusively available to Muve Music customers during the month of August, starting August 14. For more information about Elle Varner or her debut album PERFECTLY IMPERFECT, available everywhere August 7, go to her website at http://www.ellevarner.com.
Follow Rob Zombie and Elle Varner and their exclusives on Muve Music through a series of social media blasts at http://www.twitter.com/cricketnation and at http://www.facebook.com/cricketwireless for updates and the latest information about mobile wireless news. For more information about Cricket’s cell phone plans and dynamic mobile device lineup, please visit mycricket.com.
How to get Muve Music
Muve Music’s mobile music service is available on the Huawei Mercury, named the best prepaid smartphone in America by PC Magazine, January 3, 2012, as well as on the Huawei Ascend Q, Huawei Ascend II, Samsung Vitality, ZTE Score and the ZTE Chorus at Cricket company-owned stores, online at http://www.mycricket.com and through select partner retail outlets. Additional accessories are available for purchase, including premium headphones, an audio jack and Bluetooth adapter to connect to home and car stereos, either wired or wirelessly.
With the ever-growing Muve Music song catalog, customers can choose from millions of songs featuring the hottest artists from thousands of record labels, which are distributed through Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music and global rights agency Merlin, as well as independents CD Baby, IODA, INgrooves, The Orchard and TuneCore.
Cricket is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative value-rich prepaid wireless services with no long-term contracts serving approximately 6 million customers. Cricket offers nationwide wireless voice and mobile data services over high-quality, all-digital wireless networks. Cricket’s innovative products and services, including the award-winning Muve Music® – the first music service designed for a wireless phone, are available nationwide at Cricket branded retail stores, dealers, national retailers and at http://www.mycricket.com. For more information about Cricket, please visit http://www.mycricket.com.
SOURCE Cricket Communications


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food safety | SPS
AFTINET: Reply to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Myths and Realities document, June 2015
30-Jun-2015 Scoop The Australian government misrepresents the claims of critics and fails to address substantial criticisms of the Trans Pacific Partnership, says civil society network AFTINET.
Japan, Asia’s largest beef importer, will consider taking additional steps after easing restrictions on US shipments, widening opportunities for exporters such as Tyson Foods Inc. while ensuring supply to local retailers.
8-Jul-2012 Taipei Times
The Office of the US Trade Representative yesterday urged US trading partners to eliminate any trade barriers caused by a ban against the use of leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine, following a Codex Alimentarius Commission decision to establish maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the drug in beef and pork.
Larger trade talks between Taiwan and the United States have stalled as a result of the country’s indecision about accepting US beef imports.
Activists demonstrated at the American Institute in Taiwan Friday to protest what they called Washington’s highhanded attitude in forcing Taiwan to open its doors to US beef containting residue of the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine.
Vice Economics Minister Francis Liang said Thursday if Taiwan can resolve its beef dispute with the United States, the two sides will be able to resume talks this year under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
31-May-2012 Taipei Times
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denied that the AIT was “menacing” Taiwan, as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) put it, by tying a resumption of trade talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to the US beef issue.
29-May-2012 Korea Times
This is a response to the irrational passivity in Korean policy after BSE-tainted U.S. beef was found in California and the Seoul government failed to take strong enough action on beef imports.
Al interior del TLC, los asuntos sanitarios tienen, como el yin y el yang de antiguas religiones agrarias del Lejano Oriente, dos asuntos de importancia: la explotación inteligente de las nuevas oportunidades comerciales que ofrece el TLC y el fortalecimiento sanitario nacional.
25-Apr-2012 NZ Herald
South Korean agriculture officials are considering whether to formally suspend delivery of US beef to stores by halting quarantine inspections, preventing it from clearing customs.
5-Mar-2012 Taipei Times
Local experts in hygiene and veterinary medicine have urged the US to squarely face the challenges posed by the scientific evidence on which it has based its contention that US beef containing the lean meat-enhancing feed additive ractopamine is safe for human consumption, before it presses Taiwan to handle the issue scientifically.
Some 20,000 pig farmers will take to the streets of Taipei on March 8 to protest against any move to lift the bans on imports of US beef that contain residues of feed additive ractopamine
A Singaporean academic suggested Sunday that Taiwan follow Singapore’s approach to a sticky controversy with the United States over a chewing gum ban as it grapples with a dispute over imports of US beef.
Four major hypermarkets in Taiwan have been making efforts to reassure consumers about the safety of their beef products, amid speculations that Taiwan may be preparing to lift its ban on US beef imports that contain residues of the feed additive ractopamine in order to facilitate trade talks
An association of hog growers threatened Friday to mobilize its members in protest outside the Presidential Office if the government buckles under pressure and allows the entry of US beef imports containing a banned leanness-enhancing drug.
5-Nov-2011 Dow Jones
Argentina hopes to start exporting corn to China in a few months but is still finalizing details of a bilateral market access agreement, a senior Argentinian official said Thursday.
24-Oct-2011 East African
The outcome of the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations scheduled for December will determine the future of trade between the East African Community bloc and European Union.
A visiting high-ranking US official said Thursday that Taiwan’s ban on the importation of specific American beef products is a challenging issue that needs to be addressed before talks can resume over the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the two sides.
10-Jul-2011 Taipei Times
Taiwan is in no hurry to lift the ban on a lean growth-enhancing agent, the cause of a major trade dispute with the US, as the international food standards setting body again failed to advance maximum residue limits (MRLs) for the additive, government officials said yesterday.
The lingering beef dispute was why Taiwan has been unable to hold a new round of high-level trade talks with the United States and why it has lost congressional support for the negotiation, according to a US official Tuesday.
19-Mar-2011 Taipei Times
Taiwan has been informed that the import ban on US beef products containing ractopamine residue could have repercussions for the nation’s long-standing request to be included in the US visa-waiver program


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Software growth has become democratized. Newer business models now bring tech, expansion, and business together, and line-of-business managers eventually have a hand at generating programs that were once squeezed into a windowless back room staffed with all of the mysterious big priests of code and also working late into the day and guzzling energy drinks.
These occasions are now gone because of the following generation of software-as-a-service development applications which simplify application development, jointly with brand-new cloud and as-a-service creations which have brought the IT from the day at a fresh new “dot-cloud thrive” era of easy access and progress for those masses.
Cary Landis, founder, and CEO of SaaSMaker are initially when he aided by establishing that the benchmark structure for computing and executing SaaS at NASA as soon. “as-a-service applications are part of the organic growth of technology,” said Landis.
“We’ve gone from needing highly specialized programmers to produce a thousand cardboard punch cards fed into a hopper only to execute 1 job, to some surroundings of their readymade, do-it-yourself components and drag-and-drop expansion that puts regular programmatic execution in the palms of line managers. The result is faster execution, better invention, and more efficiency than we ever dreamed was possible.”
Ushering in a new wave of entrepreneurship.
The innovation has arrived in waves. From the dot com boom of the 1990s to mobile and smartphone programs’ onslaught, each iteration of this innovation has gotten accessible. The ease where these programs are fabricated, alongside the convenient platforms available, has led to over 2.2 million apps now on Google Play, just two thousand in the Apple store, 669,000 in the Windows store, 600,000 in the Amazon app store, along with also 234,500 around BlackBerry world, jointly with BlackBerry apps anticipated to plummet following the company’s recent switch away from the legendary hardware platform to turning into a software company.
“The cost of launch often conducted at the thousands of bucks in the very first area of the dotcom boom,” said Landis. “All programs was time-consuming and custom-made. There were not. A new age has started. We’re currently seeing with a sort of startup. These nimble startups which are new utility infrastructure they don’t need a data center. They use SaaS development platforms so they don’t call for a programming group that’s substantial. And they take advantage of items like gift app stores, so marketing and selling are as simple as submitting the app in the online store working with a description.”
I would like to commence a software enterprise!
There’ll be. The difference is that those ideas are easier to execute, program enterprise will not be launched by and technologists, nevertheless by business users and innovators. SaaSMaker was based by Landis in the fame of the development of engineering and entrepreneurship creation. “The maturation of cloud computing methods has brought us into a point today where entrepreneurs could create anything from a picture into a full-blown complimentary app, on a single ‘idea to revenue’ platform that permits observation, hosting and development, and advertising.”
Developers looking for taking advantage of alternatives inherent to operations and cloud infrastructure, and expansion that bridges the gap which has existed between IT and business will indicate the scatter cloud age.
Unlike traditional development programs, Landis defines a SaaS expansion platform-as-a-service (PaaS) as more of an entire ecosystem instead of a single utility. “It isn’t a hammer; it’s the whole toolbox,” he says. Such platforms will be vital within a different tide of entrepreneurship.
New product launches are costly to entrepreneurs with progress representing the majority of IT costs. Software sellers stand to wear a thing that is fantastic. According to a Frost and Sullivan report sponsored by Cisco, “Considering that the Cloud evolves, providers who’ve invested in cloud infrastructure might probably seem to evolve the present Recruitment for an Agency (IaaS) provides to fresh sources of earnings and competitive differentiators. They will leverage their existing cloud infrastructure solutions systems, and ability to take the forthcoming excellent opportunity in cloud suppliers — Platform as a Service.”


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RAKBANK customers can now make a payment at retailers using their Samsung smartphones.Press Release - 01-May-2017
Company launches Samsung Pay on smartphones and smartwatches in the UAEGulf News - 27-Apr-2017
VMware Workspace ONE unifies mobile and desktop experiences for Samsung Galaxy S8.Press Release - 09-Apr-2017
San Francisco - Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), today announced that Visa Checkout, the easier way to use a Visa card online, is sustaining tremendous growth, reaching more than 20 million enrolled accounts. Visa Checkout enables millions of consumers to pay in just a few clicks on any device around the web with some of the world’s top merchants.Press Release - 08-Apr-2017
Mastercard cardholders from select banks in the UAE will now be able use the Samsung Pay.Press Release - 04-Apr-2017
Changes in the global political climate have resulted in increasing uncertainty in trading markets and economies around the world. For investors, this could be either a great time to invest in assets or a better time to protect their net worth.
The UAE is embracing technology innovation with a vengeance and has seen digital payment systems become a key area of focus.


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The airline says it's solving the holiday scheduling error, noting only a few hundred flights still lack a scheduled pilot.
Today is the Black Friday for booking flights, also known as Travel Deal Tuesday. If you're looking for a great deal for this…
The holiday season is upon us and for many people, that means flying to visit friends and family. Here are some tips for making sure your…
If you have plans to travel and see family and friends this holiday season, the time to buy flights for Thanksgiving is now. Experts say, you…
If you're planning to do any holiday travel, you should book your tickets now, according to AAA.
184,000 passengers use DIA to get home for Christmas
An additional 40 employees will work at DIA this weekend as a surge of holiday travelers is expected.
Snowy roads and ongoing construction projects could slow travel through Colorado this holiday week as people hit the roads for Thanksgiving.
AAA forecasts that 48.7 million Americans will travel, the busiest Thanksgiving period on U.S. roads and skies since 2007.
After last year's security line debacle during the 2015 holiday rush at Denver International Airport, the TSA insists it's in better…
Denver International Airport is likely to see heavy traffic again this year over the Thanksgiving holiday.


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Bloomsbury to release “Harry Potter Signature Hardback Boxed Set” this November
Last year, Bloomsbury announced that they would be re-releasing the Harry Potter series with newly designed covers in paperback.
Recently, the Potter UK publisher has updated their website with a new Harry Potter Signature Hardback Boxed Set. The description is below:
“The first opportunity to own all seven Harry Potter titles in hardback in the latest ‘Signature’ edition livery. All encased in a smart gift box. The books will have stylish marker ribbons and decorated endpapers.”
The set will be released in November and you can pre-order it on Amazon.co.uk for £80.50. Thanks to Mohamed for the tip!


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Digital Media Net - Your Gateway To Digital media Creation. News and information on Digital Video, VR, Animation, Visual Effects, Mac Based media. Post Production, CAD, Sound and Music
Content Insider #685 – Most Likely
ByAndy Marken – email@example.com
“This may come as a shock to you, but I’ve never been in a beauty pageant before! I don’t even own a dress! I don’t even own a brush!” – Gracie Hart, “Miss Congeniality,” Castle Rock Entertainment, 2000
I couldn’t believe my ears … my wife said I was right!
She’s been okay with our switching from Pay TV to streaming.
Doesn’t miss the 20 minutes of monotonous, repeat ads we had to “pay” in order to watch a TV show or movie.
We not only saved serious money but quickly discovered we weren’t tied to the networks’ schedules.
She thought we were absolutely brilliant when she heard the NBA season was finally going to be underway down at Disney World’s ESPN center and the games would be streamed on ESPN (part of our Disney bundle).
After months of the parks being closed, having the NBA “season” on a Disney property sent a very positive message. And, it was better than going to a movie at a place that’s owned by folks on the brink of bankruptcy.
CEO Bob Chapek also used the announcement to show the mouse house was on the road to recovery.
He said that even operating at 50 percent capacity, Disney’s parks will cover their variable costs and a portion of the fixed costs plus, things will get better.
Kids (and parents) are anxious to get back.
Having the games there will just give folks the confidence to come back sooner rather than later.
Exciting Reassurance – Holding the shortened basketball series/finals at their house was a brilliant coupe by Disney. Instantly, the mouse’s Florida house was credibly safe from the pandemic and it provided an eager audience for the firm’s ESPN and streaming services. No matter which team wins, Disney and Disney + scored the most points.
My wife wasn’t completely happy though because the Warriors weren’t playing. But, even before the shutdown, the team’s season for 2020 was in the cellar.
Next year will be better.
Until then, she’s got her Bball fix and the rest of us have Netflix, Disney ++, Apple TV +, Amazon Prime, Tubi, Pluto for entertainment when we want, where we want.
Death Star – Thanks to a huge debt load, AT&T flew into the M&E universe. Now all they have to figure out is how to determine if consumers are interested.
We considered the GOT house but passed because it looked … lost.
It started with AT&T’s Randall Stephenson having red carpet envy and borrowing $85.4B to buy Warner to give the company a whopping $165B in corporate debt.
To shrink their debt, they’ve culled their field force and focused on “portfolio rationalization” – making it known the game division was for sale although gaming has shown solid growth.
Even though Netflix has proven consumers are price sensitive, the phone guy just shrugged and offered his fantastically confusing bundle for $15 a month saying, “Hey you get what you pay for”…or not.
Right after the acquisition, John Stankey, who has since replaced Stephenson, told the HBO crew, they would focus less on quality content and more on a broader, bigger selection.
You know, target the lowest common denominator.
HBO was the place to go when you wanted outstanding entertainment amid the morass of broadcast TV.
Now, they’re playing streaming catch-up with creative phone bundles, streaming data caps and new names instead of easy-to-enjoy shows, movies.
While the rest of the mobile phone industry was busy building out their high-capacity 5G networks, AT&T figured it was smarter – and cheaper – to simply put 5G E on their phones (E = eventually).
FTC finally said knock it off, deliver 5G then figure out how to get your creative content mojo.
We understand that from the outside; the creation, production and distribution of content looks inviting/glamorous but … it ain’t necessarily so.
Just ask film folks who scramble every day doing what they enjoy.
Service Weary – Consumers seem to have determined that 3-4 SVOD services plus one or two AVOD services are the most they want to juggle for their entertainment. It’s a budget (time, money) thing.
The challenge for content creators, streaming services and consumers is that there is too much of a good thing (OTT options) and consumers are overwhelmed, confused.
“There are more than 300 streaming services currently in the US,” said Allan McLennan, Chief Executive of PADEM Media Group,” and thousands around the globe but in many cases, there’s little to differentiate one from another except pricing and select programming.”
With the lockdown, production stopped – everywhere – and broadcasters’ new show inventory withered. So, network bosses got creative and figured since you spent all day on Zoom office calls, you’d probably really be excited with … Zoom shows.
Zoom Entertainment – To keep the discussion going, late night talk shows and specials were done using Zoom, which didn’t seem to appeal that much to people working from home and in Zoom meetings for hours on end because ratings dropped … sharply.
Quick, change the channel/cut the cord!
“Now that viewers have made the change, they appreciate the convenience, content quality and value. This new habit will be tough to change,” McLennan emphasized.
According to Digital TV Research, almost every OTT service experienced subscription growth with Netflix maintaining their significant global lead.
Compared to Netflix’s 138 countries, Disney + has limited distribution (US, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, India, and the United Kingdom) they achieved dramatic growth (zero to nearly 100M subscribers) in six-months.
Big Streams – While Netflix reigns as the world’s largest streaming video service, Disney entered the market at just the right time with just the right content mix and at the right price. There’s room for both to thrive in the market.
A deep, rich family-oriented content library and a reasonable subscription fee certainly made it easy for folks to sign up, but hesitation disappeared when they unveiled Mandalorian and they instantly loved Baby Yoda.
To keep the momentum going they moved Hamilton to a July 3 streaming debut rather than waiting until October 2021 for a theatrical release.
Soon the kids will be able to catch the second season of Mandalorian, a knight in shining armor (pun – not sorry!).
Netflix, Disney +, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime (free package delivery) have one thing in common … perceived value. Sound reasons why Digital TV Research estimates that SVOD will continue to dominate the global OTT market with revenues doubling from last year’s $83B to more than $167B by 2025.
AVOD Winners – While ad-supported streaming services have been slow to take off in other areas of the globe, Asia’s India and China have shown free content is a good thing. Consumers in other countries are slowly warming to the idea of paying for their entertainment with a little bit of viewing time.
While the global SVOD subscription numbers are impressive, McLennan said that they pale in comparison to Asia’s (China, India) streaming ad-supported leaders.
“With a low density of ads (three to five minutes per hour) and the ability to personalize ads to the viewer, brands are overlooking a major opportunity to reach and inform consumers during the lockdown,” McLennan observed.
“However, the wrong programmatic ad placement whether on television or in social media can sometimes do more harm than good for the brand if not accurately inserted,” he added.
It seems logical to us that the time is right for brands to talk to consumers in a nice, friendly (convincing) voice while they’re trapped in front of their screens.
Then, when they can finally escape to the world outside, BAM! they’d be ready and willing to buy from firms that they recognize, know and empathize with them.
Tom Ryan, CEO of Pluto TV (ViacomCBS), agreed recently that ad-supported services have been regarded as the ugly duckling of streaming–especially in the US.
However, with the growing confusion surrounding SVOD services and the mounting cost, we are confident viewership will increase dramatically in the years ahead.
Costly – A few dollars here, a few dollars there and pretty soon the consumer discovers they’re paying as much if not more for their entertainment than with their Pay TV. In addition, it’s difficult to remember which gotta-watch show is in which service.
As viewers increase, marketing folks will hopefully discover that IP-content enables them to reach consumers in a much more qualifiable and quantifiable manner – better ads, more personalized ads, satisfaction for brands/consumers.
It’ll be great … great, we tell you!
Pluto has more than 200 free channels and thousands of free movies.
Similarly, Tubi (Fox) has an equally impressive range of free channels, movies.
Most of the AVOD services have a broad range of genre to appeal to people of all ages as well as news, information and entertainment tastes.
AVOD services are welcome reliefs from subscription fatigue.
The shows/films may not be new by your definition, but we figure if we haven’t seen them … they’re new!
Wide Range – AVOD services like Pluto and Tubi have acquired a wide range of news/entertainment genres to appeal to the broadest possible range of viewers. Variety and selection options cover the widest possible consumer spectrum.
Consumers didn’t flee appointment TV for SVOD because of ads but rather because of the overabundance of spray and pay ads that were squeezed into every hour of watching news and entertainment aimed at the broadest possible demographic.
However, IP-based AVOD services will not only allocate fewer ad blocks, but the ads can be more personalized, delivering a tailored message to a specific rather than a general audience.
As ad great Lee Clow (he was responsible for some of the most memorable stuff for Apple) said, “People’s relationship with a brand is becoming a dialog, not a monolog.”
And that, combined with difficult creative work, is one of the opportunities AVOD provides brands.
China’s iQiyi (Baidu), Youku (Alibaba), and Tencent Video each have roughly half a billion registered smartphone/TV viewers.
India’s Hotstar (Disney) and MX Player put mobile AVOD in the hands of millions of citizens.
Profitable – Yes, there is money to be made in “free” show/movie offerings. By limiting the ad volume and enabling brands to tailor ads to the consumers’ interests, the advertising is welcome rather than abrasive.
Asia Pacific AVoD took in about $15B last year with their primary cost being content acquisition.
Deloitte projected that ad-supported services should grow rapidly in the US because there is only room for a few “gotta-have” subscription services in family budgets.
After that, free or supported streaming services become a welcome viewing alternative.
Especially when people can watch what they want, when they want and on the screen they want wrapped around a few meaningful, useful ads.
As the M&E industry continues to evolve, remember what Gracie Hart said in Miss Congeniality, “It takes a very secure man to walk like that.”
Eyeballs count and increasingly, the consumer’s eyeballs have the final say as to what will win … or lose.
Andy Marken – firstname.lastname@example.org – is an author of more than 600 articles on management, marketing, communications and industry trends in media & entertainment as well as consumer electronics, software and applications. An internationally recognized marketing/communications consultant with a broad range of technical and industry expertise in storage, storage management and film/video production fields; he has an extended range of relationships with business, industry trade press, online media and industry analysts/consultants.
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LinkedIn has been done pretty well for itself; over 9 million “experienced professionals” have joined the online network, and a value of about $250 million was placed on the company. It’s surprising, then, that LinkedIn recently went to the trouble of collecting $12.8 million more in a round of financing.
Reid Hoffman himself – LinkedIn’s CEO – dropped in on the “Comments” section of a GigaOm article to “help clarify why we raised money . . . .” (That money, by the way, came from venture capitalist entities such as the Bessemer Venture Partners and the European Founders Fund.)
Hoffman gave two (seemingly) simple reasons for passing the hat: “(a) we will be expanding internationally this year and (b) we want to start marketing the Linkedin use cases – e.g. how every professional can use Linkedin today to make themselves more effective at their jobs.”
The implementation of (a) may not be as easy as it sounds, though. Despite LinkedIn’s impressive accomplishments in the U.S., a company known as “Xing” has a strong foothold in Europe. Headquartered in Germany, Xing, like LinkedIn, is an online network for professionals, and would act as a direct competitor.


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Genesis also known as South Korea’s very first superior car brand name, unveiled a front runner sedan it promises will contend in the “top of the high-end automobile market” with “world best” technologies.
The Genesis G90, the initial of six Genesis nameplates to be rolled out with 2020, was unveiled some hours ago in Seoul.
Superior security, convenience and performance are vital goals for the Genesis G90, as parent business Hyundai Electric motor Co. targets a bigger slice of the global high-end sector and also its fat revenue margins.
Some 800 individuals functioned 4 years on the G90, Hyundai stated.
The vehicle, called the EQ900 in Korea, orders a suite of automated driving and also safety modern technologies called Genesis Smart Sense.
The package deal bundles smart cruise ship control, lane-keeping help and other modern technologies that intend to reduce driver exhaustion. In Korea, it likewise obtains a feature called Highway Driving Support.
“This combination of recently created modern technologies create a top-notch, all-but autonomous generating encounter, elevating the G90 to the top of its course,” Hyundai stated.


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UNIVERSITY PARK — Governors State University trustees voted Friday to increase tuition for the 2000-2001 school year by 3.3 percent and to tie future increases to the consumer price index.
"This will help our students better plan for their future and it will help us plan for our future," said Ginger Ostro, director of budget planning for the University Park-based school.
Trustees voted unanimously to hold future tuition increases to a maximum of 2 percentage points above the consumer price index--the nation's main inflation barometer. Those guidelines will be in effect for the next four years.
For full-time Illinois residents, tuition for the fall semester will rise from $1,104 to $1,140. For part-time students, the price will increase from $92 per credit hour to $95.


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Stella McCartney is an icon of the global movement pushing for a sustainable fashion industry.
We reported in August that she is working with American biotech firm Bolt Threads. The company makes silk from yeast using closed loop manufacturing processes. And the pair are collaborating to pioneer fibres made from renewable raw materials. This is vital – as in the US alone – a staggering 85% of apparel is ending up in landfill.
Now Stella is teaming up with California’s The RealReal, a big name in ‘authenticated luxury consignment’. The company spearheaded the introduction of America’s new National Consignment Day, which took place yesterday, an occasion used to promote the adoption of circular economy practices.
The partnership between Stella and the fashion firm will ‘promote the extended lifecycle of luxury products’ and a national campaign will launch across the States next year to promote it.
Stella McCartney said: “Sustainability is important to us and I’m excited to be partnering with The RealReal on this new sustainable program. We believe that consignment and recommerce can play a significant part in reducing the amount of raw materials that are required each year from our planet. This is key in our commitment to becoming part of a more circular economy. By ensuring that our products are used for the entirety of their lifecycle it is possible to begin to slow down the amount of natural resources currently being cultivated and extracted from the planet for the sake of fashion.”
The RealReal is also behind the #NeverThrowAway initiative which is encouraging people to ‘consign or donate’ items they no longer want.


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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Total SA TOT, +2.02% said Tuesday it's agreed to buy Royal Dutch Shell's RDS.A, +0.42% RDS.B, +0.22% marketing business in Fiji and Tonga for an undisclosed price. The French oil group said it's buying a network of nine terminals and depots and 20 service stations.
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Study: 24 percent of Web traffic involves piracy
Business groups such as the U.S Chamber of Commerce have argued online piracy costs the U.S. economy billions along with thousands of creative jobs. The Chamber pointed to the study as further evidence of the need for a crackdown on online piracy.
“This new crop of studies demonstrates the sickening scope of online theft of intellectual property,” said Steve Tepp, senior director of Internet counterfeiting and piracy at the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center.
“Surely we can all agree that these websites have no place in a legitimate online market. It is time for Congress to act to protect American jobs, creativity, and consumers.”
The Hill has removed its comment section, as there are many other forums for readers to participate in the conversation. We invite you to join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.


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Samsung Hints at New Smartwatch on Apple Watch Launch Day
The South Korean tech giant's official blog post showed images of smartwatch with a round face -- which would be a first for Samsung - and naming several partners, including Baidu Inc, Yelp Inc and CNN.
Samsung also said it would release a wearable software development kit for third-party developers ahead of the launch.
The blog post came as the Apple Watch went on sale without the fanfare typical of the U.S. firm's major product rollouts.
Apple's offering is still expected to sell much better than any rival products to date. Researcher IHS expects shipments of more than 19 million Apple Watches this year, more than five times the number of all smartwatches shipped globally in 2014.
Samsung has launched six smartwatches since 2013 to build an early lead in the nascent market, but sales have been modest. IHS estimates that Samsung accounted for nearly 1 million of the 3.6 million smartwatches shipped globally last year.
The South Korean firm gave no other details on the new Gear smartwatch, such as when it may start selling, though the head of the firm's mobile business said earlier in April that Samsung would launch products in the near future.
(Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Tony Munroe and Christopher Cushing)
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Mum finds 'used plaster' in baby formula
Michaela Tracey Nicholls was preparing her baby’s dinner when she made the stomach-churning discovery.
Nestled in her son’s Aptamil baby formula powder was a used plaster, dirty and “covered in blood”.
She posted a revolting photo showing the used plaster lying in the tub.
She said: "I'm absolutely disgusted to say that I have found a dirty used plaster in my little boys pot of Aptamil.
"And to top it off it's actually been used and is covered with their blood.
"I've rang and complained and they think they're going to offer me Aptamil vouchers which isn't good enough.
Aptamil say its 'very unlikely' it came from them
It's actually been used and is covered with their blood
"My little boy's whole tub of milk has been contaminated with some other person's blood.
"Just want everybody to see this and keep an eye out.
"This has made me feel sick to the stomach."
Ms Nicholls has now lodged a formal complaint with the company.
But Aptamil, owned by Danone, has claimed it is “very unlikely” the plaster came from their factory.
Michaela Tracey Nicholls said it made her 'sick to her stomach'
A spokesman said: “We were very concerned to hear about Ms Nicholls' experience. We take the safety of our products very seriously and have immediately launched an investigation.
“We have checked our factory records and can confirm that all our quality controls tests were operating correctly at the time the milk was produced, which include sieving the formula just before it is packed and checking each carton with a very sensitive x-ray machine.
Ms Nicholls said she has lodged a formal complaint
“We have not received any other complaints about this batch of milk and we've not had a complaint like this for as far back as our records go.”
They said they had spoken to Ms Nicholls and her local environmental health officer.


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Telegram lost another round in court against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and now can’t launch its $1.7 billion token sale. What does it mean for the crypto industry and other startups that sold tokens?
Listen/subscribe to the CoinDesk Podcast feed for unique perspectives and fresh daily insight with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, IHeartRadio or RSS.
Telegram, the popular messaging app, has big plans for its blockchain Telegram Open Network, or TON. It also had one of the biggest token sales in history, followed by a huge legal fight over it.


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SimCPR®Pro launch in Europe
Past years we have developed, tested and sold different wristbands for CPR-feedback for training. Our third model of the Pro-Trainer was used to produce the medical device SimCPR®Pro.
From the beginning we wanted to develop CPR-feedback that could be used during training (simulation) and real CPR.
According to our founder Dr. Palsma (MD) it makes no sense to train with feedback and rescue without. Feedback during a rescue provides confidence to first responders and optimizes CPR.
Our feedback simulator (Pro Trainer) can be used during CPR-courses and our medical device (Pro) during real CPR.
The affordable price and it’s simplicity makes it possible for all rescuers to use CPR-feedback and do chest compressions according the CPR-guidelines.
With the SimCPR®Pro we hope that CPR-feedback will become a new standard for resuscitation.
SimCPR®Pro will first be launched in the Netherlands and also be presented at the congress of the European Resuscitation Council in Antwerp (16-17 June).


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World trade talks break up in failure
Disagreement on U.S. farm subsidies mars key meeting
POTSDAM, GERMANY — A crucial meeting of the World Trade Organization's four most powerful members has failed, officials said Thursday, dealing a setback to efforts toward a new global commerce pact.
"It was useless to continue the discussions based on the numbers that were on the table," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said after the talks ended two days ahead of schedule.
Brazil and India criticized the United States for failing to offer deep enough cuts in subsidies it pays annually to American farmers. In turn, the EU and the U.S. said the two emerging economic powers refused to offer new market opportunities for manufacturing exports.
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The White House said President Bush was disappointed that an opportunity to expand trade had been blocked.
"Large economies like Brazil and India should not stand in the way of progress for smaller, poor developing nations," deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said.
The global talks known as the Doha round aim to add billions of dollars to the world economy and help poorer countries develop their economies. But negotiations have struggled, largely because of wrangling over eliminating barriers to agricultural trade.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the failure of the talks in Potsdam, Germany, "places a very major question mark over the ability of the wider membership of the WTO to complete this round."
Washington has demanded the EU and major developing countries provide greater access for American farm exports in exchange for the subsidy cuts.


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Ferrari could be about to announce a 'new' major sponsor for 2018. Recently, the Spanish bank Santander announced that it is leaving Ferrari and F1. The Spanish newspaper ABC now reports that the signage on the rear wing could be replaced for 2018 with a brand called IQOS.
According to 'invisible' Ferrari sponsor Philip Morris, Iqos is a high-tech technology device that heats rather than burns tobacco, releasing a 'nicotine-containing vapour' for the user. "Ferrari is finalising the agreement with Iqos about replacing the agreement with Santander," ABC claimed.
It is not clear if Iqos would contravene F1's strict ban on tobacco advertising. (GMM)
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Unilever publishes Flora Cuisine cook book in digital giveaway
Unilever is giving away a crowd-sourced cook book as part of its £6m promotion of its Flora brands, using Facebook and in-store promotions.
The activity for Flora Cuisine, the cooking liquid sub-brand, is part of Unilever’s ongoing £6m marketing investment for Flora over the course of this year, which will also include giving away copies of the book through Flora's Facebook page.
Unilever has partnered with Asda, where consumers can pick up hard copies of the book through an on-pack promotion, while 750 cookbooks will be given away through the Flora Facebook page
Free downloadable copies of the books will be available from Flora’s website.
The book, called 'Let’s Get Cooking! Everyday Recipes by Mums (and Dads Too!)', has been created by TMW and consists of 30 winning recipes that consumers entered into a Facebook competition earlier this year.
The winners were chosen by celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, Flora’s brand ambassador.
The launch of Flora’s Twitter and Pinterest pages add to the brand’s extensive activity this year, including a series of campaigns featuring Vernon Kay and his mother, alongside a new strategy for Flora pro.activ that puts women at the heart of its activity.Follow @loullamae_es
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk
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Energise Energy Solutions will be exhibiting at the Fully Charged Live show on the 29 April – 1st May this year!
The Fully Charged Live events attract tens of thousands of people globally each year, promoting all forms of clean energy as well as showcasing every commercially available electric car on the market, many of which drivers can try themselves.
Energise will be exhibiting on stand F12, in the indoor arena. Our ‘electrifying’ installation will demonstrate how an Home EV charger is installed by our expert technicians, as well as lots of exciting new EV Charging solutions including our Breezy Charge subscription service and Car Parking products!
In addition to this, we will be running an Energise competition over the duration of the event to win a fantastic prize!


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Staples Names New VPNovember 28, 2018
Staples, Inc. has promoted Robert Baldrey to vice president of its Northern European region.
Baldrey joined Staples in 2017 as managing director for the United Kingdom and Ireland. In his new role, Baldrey will oversee the company’s operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the United Kingdom, OPI reports.
Founded in 1986, Boston, MA-based Staples, Inc. is the world’s largest office-products company with annual sales of US$25 billion and more than 90,000 employees in 26 countries. For more information, visit www.staples.com.


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Harley Davidson India has cut the prices of its Softail range bike models in India by up to ₹5.5 lakhs.
The price cut will be applicable to Fat Boy, Fat Boy Special and Heritage Classic in the Softail range motorcycles. The models are available at a price of 14.90 lakhs, 15.60 lakhs, and 16.25 lakhs respectively.
The latest price drop was the result of the company assembling these motorcycles in its local plant in India.
The company sells 13 models in India, and currently six of these models are being assembled at the local plant. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Milwaukee-based company is looking to open more plants in India by the end of December.
"We have a dealer in Kolkata right now that serves our customers in the northeast. As critical mass builds, we may open another dealership," Anoop Prakash, managing director of Harley-Davidson India told India Real Time.
The company, which is into the business of high-end and lifestyle motorcycles, is gaining momentum in the country at present. The latest reports also suggested that the company is also eying to open new dealership in India's North East region including Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland considering its rowing fan base in this region.
"We find demand for premium products in India is scaling up... also, Harley-Davidson is a lifestyle - it doesn't make sense to compare us to other automotive companies," he added.
Harley Davidson which is celebrating its 110th Anniversary will unveil its 2103 line up of Motorcycles at the imminent Montreal Motorcycle Show.


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- Starbucks has struggled with sales in the U.S. for several quarters.
- It's still hoping to make a bigger push in China.
- The coffee chain has meanwhile been focused on bolstering its loyalty program.
Revenue and profit at Starbucks surged to new records during its fiscal third quarter, topping Wall Street estimates in a tough period marred by public outcry over the coffee chain's treatment of minorities.
Total sales jumped 11.5 percent to $6.31 billion, up from $5.66 billion during the same period last year, Starbucks said in releasing its third-quarter earnings after market close Thursday. The coffee chain said it added new customers to its loyalty program who spent more during the 13 weeks ended July 1.
Starbucks has been working to bolster its loyalty program, faced with a wave of competition from the likes of Dunkin Donuts, McDonald's and JAB Holdings-owned Panera Bread. It said it added 1.9 million active members during the latest period, up 14 percent from a year ago and bringing the total user base to 15.1 million. Coffee and tea drinkers, meanwhile, spent about 3 percent more per trip at its cafes, helping fuel same-store sales.
The latest quarter was an otherwise bumpy one for Starbucks, which closed 8,000 of its U.S. locations for a day in May to provide racial bias training to 175,000 employees. The company has taken a number of dramatic steps to restore its image after a store manager in Philadelphia called the police on two black men who asked to use a bathroom — igniting public outrage.
Here's what Starbucks reported for the 13-week period ended July 1, compared with what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting:
- Adjusted earnings per share: 62 cents vs. 61 cents expected
- Revenue: $6.23 billion vs. $6.25 billion expected
- Same-store sales: an increase of 1 percent globally vs. 0.9 percent growth expected
Despite the beat, Starbucks trimmed its same-store sales outlook for the full year. While growth in the U.S. cools, the company is embarking on an aggressive expansion plan overseas with a focus on China and its 1.4 billion people.
Although China has been Starbucks' biggest growth driver of late, same-store sales there fell 2 percent during the third quarter, compared with increases of 4 and 6 percent in the latest two periods. One concern in this market is the stricter regulations that Starbucks faces as it looks to roll out additional delivery services. Same-store sales in the U.S., meanwhile, were up just 1 percent during the latest period.
The company also on Thursday announced it would begin testing new delivery options in Beijing and Shanghai in fiscal 2019, hoping to drive same-store sales higher there.
"Let me assure you that our new delivery service will adhere to the high standards our customers in China have come to expect ... as we expand our business [there]," said Belinda Wong, CEO of Starbucks China, on the company's earnings conference call.
Starbucks shares were up less than 1 percent in after-hours trading on the news.
CEO Kevin Johnson said the company was going to raise dividends and increase its share-buyback program to return $10 billion more to shareholders by 2020 than previously promised. In November, the company announced it would return $15 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends through fiscal 2020.
"As we flex our balance sheet, we have now expanded that commitment equipment to $25 billion," Johnson said on an earnings call with analysts.
Starbucks earned a record $852.5 million, or 61 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter, compared with $691.6 million, or 47 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 62 cents a share, one cent above Street estimates.
Looking ahead, Starbucks expects adjusted earnings for the full year to fall within a range of $2.40 to $2.42 per share, the company said. Global same-store sales are now forecast to be slightly below a prior range of growth of 3 to 5 percent. The chain still expects to open roughly 2,300 net new locations globally.
"We continue to anticipate a moderate decline in full-year operating margin for both [our] total company and the Americas ... inclusive of the incremental investments we're making in our partners and digital initiatives following U.S. tax law reform and the impact of the anti-bias training," CFO Scott Maw, who is set to retire this November, said on Thursday's earnings conference call.
Starbucks shares have fallen by about 10 percent so far this year to around $51 a share. The coffee giant has a market value of about $71.4 billion, compared with Dunkin Brands at $5.9 billion and McDonald's at $121.7 billion.