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The packaging company's 2020 Sustainable Development Report highlights the company’s long-standing objective to be an impactful business that drives change and nurtures a greener planet through the three key pillars of Planet, People, and Impactful Business.
Furthermore, Smurfit Kappa’s end-to-end approach to sustainability is evident in its innovative products and processes that support customers and positively impact the entire value chain.
“During the pandemic, the importance of sustainability has become even clearer. Climate change, has become, in the eyes of many, a climate crisis, and diversity, inclusion and equality are urgent issues for a global society, said Tony Smurfit, Group CEO.
Compared with 2019, the group also made continued progress during 2020 on a number of its other key sustainability targets such as decreasing its waste to landfill by 18%.
"Circular economy and sustainable forestry management are at the heart of our business principles, and directly addresses legitimate concerns of our customers and indeed of the broader public. With a focus on sustainability, and by collaborating with our value chain partners, we can create greater social, economic and environmental value,” Smurfit added.
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I had the opportunity to participate in two conferences over the past couple of weeks, and got what are essentially headlines ripped from today's newspapers about the state of cloud computing in the real world as well as a figurative text message fro...
Servers & Storage
Widespread adoption of cloud computing could be threatened because IT departments do not have the time to get it off the ground, according to a report.
Mobile printing has never been easier. For a busy office, reliable and easy-to-use tools are essential. Samsung's latest smart printers are equipped for wireless printing from mobile devices. Find out more about what is all about.
Apple on Tuesday released new models of Time Capsule, its combination backup drive and wireless base station.The new Time Capsules are available in 2TB and 3TB capacities—previously, Time Capsule had topped out at 2TB.
IBM on Monday announced two cloud-based disaster recovery services for businesses: the IBM SmartCloud Virtualized Server Recovery and the IBM SmartCloud Archive.
OCZ Technology today released a new enterprise-class solid-state drive (SSD), the Deneva 2, which comes with SandForce's latest controller technology, almost doubling the performance over its last iteration of the drive.
There's "the cloud" and then there's Windows Azure.
Online storage service Dropbox made an embarrassing error Monday, turning off password authentication for millions of users.
Tilera on Tuesday announced a new general-purpose CPU with 100 processing cores, which the company hopes will provide headway into a server market dominated by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.
Oracle refused to provide critical bug fixes for customers who run its software on Hewlett-Packard's Integrity servers, in a bid to coerce them to switch over to Oracle hardware, HP alleged in a lawsuit it filed Wednesday.
Apple today took administrative control of the iCloud.com domain less than a week before CEO Steve Jobs is to unveil his company's new cloud-based service.
The Seagate GoFlex Satellite hard drive takes the shackles off your tablet, freeing it to connect to a greater amount of storage capacity -- without having to go through any pesky wires. But although the hardware implementation is adequate, the softw...
Dell on Monday announced a four-socket blade server with up to 48 processor cores for deployment in virtualized environments.
Intel today announced that it will transition to Tri-Gate transistors in its new 22 nanometre microprocessors, which will allow it to build upward in a CPU, rather than stay flat. This will have the net effect of allowing Intel to cram a lot more tra...
EMC subsidiary Iomega today unveiled a new series of simple disk storage arrays aimed at small-to-medium sized businesses and remote offices.
Startup chip design company Adapteva on Tuesday announced the multicore Epiphany processor, which is designed to accelerate applications in servers and low-power devices such as smartphones and tablets.
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GGG Evaluation Team
First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.

domain: news


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Savers trying to beat inflation turn to fixed-rate bonds... but are still being left disappointed
Fixed-rate bonds have become increasingly popular in the past year as savers hunt for top interest rates.
Four times as many savers are now searching out fixed-rate deals than were doing so at the start of last year, research from Halifax shows, but these rates are still failing to match inflation.
With the rise in the cost of living running at 3.7 per cent as measured by the retail prices index, basic-rate taxpayers need to earn 4.62 per cent before tax just to preserve the spending power of their money.
Inflation pain: The rising cost of living means savings have to grow fast in order to maintain their spending power - and low rates are not helping
And last week, in his Budget speech, Chancellor George Osborne put the dampers on any hope of a base rate interest rise soon.
This week Cahoot, the internet-based bank owned by Santander, launches a one-year, fixed-rate deal at 3.65 per cent (2.92 per cent after basic rate tax is deducted).
The best High Street deal is 3.25 per cent (2.6 per cent) with Leeds BS, but you are limited to putting in £10,000.
The Post Office, where the deposit- taker is Bank of Ireland, also pays 3.25 per cent (2.6 per cent). Santander pays 3.25 per cent (2.6 per cent), but only if you put in at least £25,000.
Top two-year deals come from Investec Bank at 4 per cent (3.2 per cent), available over the phone or internet, or Sainsbury’s Bank at 3.9 per cent (3.12 per cent).
In the High Street, you earn 3.7 per cent (2.96 per cent) with Halifax or 3.6 per cent (2.88 per cent) with C&G, part of Lloyds TSB.
Halifax pays 3.85 per cent (3.08 per cent), fixed for three years, through its branches.
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When James White assumed the Jamba Inc. presidency in December 2008, he championed a complete metamorphosis, including efforts to rebrand Jamba Juice from a smoothie chain into a healthy, active lifestyle brand. Though 2009 witnessed a strong dip in systemwide sales, energy remained positive. Jamba cut its expenses; opened 25 franchised locations; introduced licensed products, such as at-home smoothie kits; and expanded its menu to include oatmeal, grab-n-go wraps, salads, and sandwiches.
Into its 20th year, Baja Fresh recently targeted growth in two areas: its Baja Fresh Express units in nontraditional environments, such as colleges and airports, and its Baja Fresh "Guest Choice" prototype conversion, which enhances the brand’s service and food preparation. Leadership views the Express locations as the company’s best opportunity to build both brand awareness and restaurant count, evident in the fact that 17 of Baja’s 60 openings in 2010 carry the Express banner.
Amid recessionary pressures, parent company Garden Fresh saw an opportunity to adjust the brands’ strategy in a new economy. Smaller prototypes opened to create "right-sized units," which allows Garden Fresh to capitalize on real estate opportunities and create optimal market breadth and penetration, while new relationships with Costco and grocery stores supplied multiple sales channels and catering opportunities. Garden Fresh now looks to open up to 12 new locations each year and target the breakfast crowd.
With stagnant sales, Taco John’s looked to improve its restaurants’ operating profit, hosting profit-enhancement programs for operators that increased both cash flow and restaurant operating profit margins by 160 basis points. The coming months will see the debut of a franchisee incentive program aimed at stimulating new growth as well as a smattering of new menu items and the continued roll out of Taco John’s new "My Town, My Taco John’s" advertising campaign.
With a 40 percent sales jump in its remodeled stores, a number of freshly inked multiunit franchise deals, and a growing clientele of females and young adults, Schlotzsky’s new prototype restaurant, complete with vibrant colors, playful slogans, and a new service model, has revitalized a once-sagging brand. Toss in a cobranded partnership with Cinnabon and today’s Schlotzsky’s boasts a restored energy, a more relevant dining experience, and hopes for up to 700 locations by 2015.
After three years of declining guest counts, Fazoli’s witnessed 11 straight months of positive attendance in 2009, generating renewed interest from current and prospective franchisees and reenergizing what some viewed as a tired system. With 21 new menu items in tow alongside a new prototype store, Fazoli’s is testing enhanced service, including the addition of servers as well as traditional dinnerware, to further showcase the brand’s position as fresh, affordable Italian food.
While Firehouse Subs has grown from one single location in 1994 to 370 outlets today, such explosive growth has been responsible and strategic.
Debt-free since 2001, Firehouse Subs’ financial arm loans money to franchisees, a practice that strengthens the overall business. Such reciprocity came back to Firehouse leadership last September when franchisees committed to doubling their marketing investment as corporate unveiled a new advertising campaign—"Our Way Beats Their Way." Everybody won when sales jumped 8 percent.
For Taco Bueno, fast casual pays. In its remodeled locations outfitted with full-size booths, stone counters, and a salsa bar, volume jumped from $1.2 to $1.9 million as dine-in sales escalated, and the average check increased 10 percent—all without any price changes. Recent renovations into a fast-casual concept at existing outlets in Texas and Oklahoma produced record-setting sales and spurred the brand to introduce premium menu offerings, including a line of gourmet quesadillas.
A&W, one of America’s most iconic names, endured a powerful uppercut from the recession as systemwide sales dropped $100 million in 2009. Ironically, it is the economic recession that has given birth to the brand’s latest evolution: nostalgia. In 2009, the Yum! Brands–owned chain began introducing its "Three D" concept, highlighted by the hearty resurrection of drive-in service. The future wasn’t totally forgotten, however, since A&W is experimenting with breakfast offerings.
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October 21, 2012 ·
Marissa Mayer, who warranted a repute for wilful movement and power during her 13-year army during Google Inc, has spent her initial months as Yahoo Inc CEO sensitively relocating a Internet colonize behind to a roots in technology.
Long ripped between either it should concentration on media calm or on collection and technologies, Yahoo underneath Mayer is being positioned resolutely in a latter camp, according to sources inside and outward a company.
Her hires, merger musings, and other early moves spirit during an ambitious, technology-driven quip devise designed to reanimate aging though well-trafficked properties such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports.
Yahoo has been criticized for permitting these sites to stagnate – they demeanour really most like they did 5 years ago, and do not have many bells and whistles to inspire users to spend some-more time on them.
Mayer, 37, wants to make Yahoo’s properties most some-more interactive, on PCs and on mobile devices, regulating amicable media collection to personalize a user knowledge and new technology to boost promotion sales. Her obvious concentration on user pattern is approaching to outcome in a simpler, less-cluttered email and home page, one source said.
Yahoo declined to criticism for this article. Mayer, who gave birth to her initial child weeks ago, will betray sum of her quip devise when Yahoo reports quarterly formula on Monday.
Mayer’s concentration on technology in many ways reverses a march set by her predecessors, who had strong on media calm deals, such as those that gave primary billing to Walt Disney Co’s ABC News or CNBC, or to move an strange module starring actor Tom Hanks to a website.
The new devise is not though risks: it positions Yahoo precisely opposite Facebook Inc and Google. It also risks alienating a large, media-focused fortuitous that is already enervated by a depart of Ross Levinsohn, who had championed a media-centric proceed when he was halt CEO before Mayer’s attainment in July.
Mayer has been assembly with Internet gurus including AOL Inc CEO Tim Armstrong, another ex-Googler; Silicon Valley counsel Larry Sonsini; and Wall Street investment bankers, according to people informed with a matter.
Bankers have pitched Mayer and her organisation on a slew of intensity acquisitions, and they seemed to uncover seductiveness in grill reservation site OpenTable Inc and promotion technology companies PubMatic, Turn and Millennial Media, one of a people said.
Caterva, a tiny start-up whose technology analyzes amicable media activity, has also been in low-level talks with Yahoo, pronounced another source informed with a situation.
OpenTable and PubMatic declined comment. Millennial Media and Caterva did not respond to requests for comment.
With some-more than $2 billion in income and short-term securities, Yahoo has a income to acquire engineering talent or bolt-on services. Two forms of deals are underneath consideration: companies that will boost user engagement, including on mobile, and those that will boost promotion returns, source said.
“What they’ve signaled so distant is that a deals will be some-more niche in nature, smaller deals that maybe have a lot of promise,” pronounced Ken Allen, a executive during Blackstone Advisory Partners.
Many courtesy insiders trust Mayer is Yahoo’s final wish for reversing a years-long decrease from a apex it once achieved as a heading gateway to a Internet. Four of her predecessors have attempted in vain to right a boat – Yahoo’s marketplace value of $19 billion, is reduction than half a $44 billion value in 2005.
Mayer, who warranted a masters grade in mechanism scholarship from Stanford University specializing in synthetic intelligence, has changed fast on a crew front, shelling out abounding compensate packages to attract ex-colleagues from Google and elsewhere.
She brought in ad technology systems guru Henrique de Castro as arch handling officer; a new financial arch in Ken Goldman, who also has tech chops, to reinstate Tim Morse; and Jacqueline Reese to assume a twin purpose of employing and acquisitions, suggesting a start of a sight of “acqui-hires” or shopping tiny companies for their engineering talent.
“She’s spending roughly all her time with a product folks. She’s spending it on technology. She’s articulate about engineering hires,” a chairman tighten to Yahoo pronounced about Mayer’s early days.
Yahoo’s promotion technology products, headed for a auction retard before Mayer’s arrival, are behind in favor. De Castro, her highest-profile hire, is famous for a deep-understanding of a formidable promotion landscape, where dozens of businesses and technology providers are interlinked.
Mayer has also shown an seductiveness in a company‘s ad tech platform, including Right Media, an programmed sell that allows marketers to blast ads opposite a network of websites.
The organisation has been a long-standing source of multiplication among Yahoo’s management, including with Levinsohn, who was penetrating on divesting a unit, according to dual sources tighten to a matter. But shortly after Mayer’s arrival, Yahoo told AdAge that it had no goal of offered Right Media.
Yahoo’s promotion salesforce, obliged for signing splashy home-page ad deals and reward selling campaigns, has perceived meagre courtesy from a new CEO, contend people tighten to a company. Michael Barrett, Yahoo’s arch income officer hired by Levinsohn shortly before Mayer’s arrival, recently announced his resignation, according to a source informed with a matter.
FOCUS ON MOBILE
Roughly 700 million users revisit a Yahoo website each month – putting it in a tip ranks globally. But a volume of activity people rivet in on many sites is customarily declining, and a smartphone offerings are deemed lackluster.
“The largest change is to be lethal critical about mobile,” pronounced a former Yahoo manager who stays in hold with people during a company.
Yahoo faces tough foe from Facebook and Google, dual companies that have taken consumers’ time, engineering talent and marketplace value from Yahoo. They are also perplexing to make a transition to mobile, though it has been difficult.
Some contend a instruction signaled by Mayer is not so opposite than strategies espoused by prior CEOs that Yahoo has consistently struggled to implement. A fragmented enlightenment in that short-term finances customarily trump product skeleton is to blame, according to those who know a company.
The new depart of CFO Tim Morse could vigilance a change in approach, pronounced several former Yahoo employees.
Morse was deliberate a force behind Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group and Yahoo’s $7.6 billion understanding over a summer, that saw Yahoo sell about half of a 40 percent interest in Alibaba after years of wrangling over terms.
But now Yahoo’s Asian partners, including Yahoo Japan Corp, are not on a front burner for Mayer, one source informed with a conditions said.
Whether Wall Street has a calm for nonetheless another Yahoo reconstruction devise stays to be seen.
“Every CEO needs time to have their full prophesy articulated and understood,” pronounced Dan Rosensweig, a former Yahoo arch handling officer, who now serves as CEO of online text let company Chegg.com. “To count Yahoo out would be an huge mistake, since a users have not counted Yahoo out,” he said. “It’s not like MySpace, where all a users went away.”
By Web Editor
Tags: company, Google, matter, officer, technology, time
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Article source: http://canindia.com/2012/10/yahoo-ceos-comeback-plan-hones-in-on-technology-not-media/


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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Several restaurants on Padre Island have said the same thing. After the first weekend of spring break, business is picking up.
Over the weekend, business for restaurants on Padre Island gave owners and managers a sense of how things were pre-pandemic. Spring breakers returned to the island after missing out last year.
"They ended up closing down, permanently for awhile," Donald Hoy said, who is the manager at Scuttlebutt's Bar and Grill. "And then, obviously, opened up as per the restrictions for the governor. So then, now we’re pretty much back to 100 percent. We’re kind of starting out—looking at this year as starting out fresh again. We’re trying to gear up and have a positive spring break. Carry that wave right into summer time."
It’s no mystery, how bad restaurants were hurt with no spring break followed by COVID-19 restrictions. Now, Scuttlebutt’s is looking to rebound in a record setting way.
"We saw huge uptick in our numbers," said Hoy. "We had a great weekend and it’s starting out this week. We are also having a great run towards some big numbers. Hopefully we’re going to set some records."
The influx of people hasn’t just been your college student spring breakers. Managers have said many are families taking that long-awaited vacation. They expect sales to continue to rise, as more college students go on spring break in the coming weeks.
One manager added business is better, but it still doesn’t look like a full fledged spring break on the island. That's to be expected as a number of colleges have canceled spring break. Families may also be hesitant to travel during the pandemic.


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The joint health market is dominated by this extract from the shell of crabs, lobster and shrimps but Cargill also markets a non-animal, non-shellfish derived glucosamine. The ingredient is often used in combination with chondroitin sulphate, extracted from animal cartilage, such as sharks.
Although glucosamine has started to be included in limited amounts in some foods and beverages in the US and Japan, the largest category in terms of take-up still remains dietary supplements.
Euromonitor International puts the value of the global market for glucosamine supplements at $2bn, citing an annual growth rate of seven per cent from 2004 to 2009.
However, Samantha Chmelik, industry manager for consumer health at Euromonitor, told this publication that as glucosamine is now a reasonably mature product, she anticipates a significant levelling off sales year on year up until 2014, and she predicts an annual growth rate over the next four years of only two per cent.
“We will not see big percentage growth at the global level but individual markets could still see double digit growth,” she said.
Indeed, conflicting results from various studies have led to a questioning of glucosamine’s and chondroitin’s efficacy, leading to the promotion of alternative ingredients, including omega-3 fatty acids, extracts from egg shell membranes, collagen, and extracts from pine bark.
And, according to Leatherhead Food Research, while glucosamine is the market leader, they claim that methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) has started to make inroads into the joint health arena, particularly for sports products.
Global glucosamine launches
The latest figures from Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD), provided to NutraIngredients.com, show that the top markets for glucosamine remain Asia Pacific, North America and Europe.
The database recorded 125 new products containing glucosamine launched in the past 12 months, 25 more than in 2008. The majority of these launches occurring in Asia Pacific, and only a handful noted in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
From March 2009 to date, 60 new glucosamine products were recorded in Asia Pacific compared to 29 in 2008.
New glucosamine products launches in North America came in at 29 over the same period, a tailing off compared to the 40 in 2008.
In Europe, again a decline in new launches can be seen with the GNPD tracking only 23 new products in the past 12 months, compared to 29 in 2008.
Two major developments in the glucosamine market over the past few years are that the ingredient has turned vegetarian, and it has also started appearing in foods and beverages.
But the challenge for the fortification sector though, notes Leatherhead in a recent report on the anti-ageing market, has been to develop convenient products that have a good taste profile to tempt consumers away from dietary supplement use in terms of glucosamine.
In the US, said the market researchers, glucosamine is still largely confined to supplements market but the rising popularity of such joint health supplements moved the market into soft drinks in 2000 with the high profile launch of Joint Juice by the start up company of the same name.
It was joined by a Joint Juice bottled Fitness Water option in 2007, both containing 1,500 mg of glucosamine and both having a mass retail positioning.
Leatherhead notes that a more recent arrival on the market is Elations fruit-flavoured joint health supplement beverages, made with Cargill’s branded Regenasure glucosamine hydrochloride ingredient.
The involvement of multinational Coco-Cola in the glucosamine fortification area with the 2007 launch of its Minute Maid Enhanced range was the most exciting development of recent years, said the analysts.
Marketed as helping to support healthy joints, the range had 750g of glucosamine HCL per 8 ounce serving, though it is now no longer part of the Minute Maid offering, which the Leatherhead analysts note, is increasingly focused on an antioxidant positioning.
Meanwhile, in Japan, there has been limited activity in glucosamine fortification.
There have been a number of launches over the years containing the ingredient, particularly in the early 2000s, with this activity focused strongly on people with active lifestyles and athletes rather than on ageing specifically, reported the Leatherhead team.
“Ajinomoto’s Amino Vital for example, was extended with a Daily Walker sport drink while Meiji’s Vaam jelly-style sports drinks features a Smooth Support variant, both with glucosamine in addition to the standard branched chain amino acids,” said the researchers.
More recently, continued the Leatherhead team, there have been launches of dairy products with added glucosamine with May 2008 seeing a relaunch of a functional milk drink from Nippon Milk containing 1200-mg N-acetyl glucosamine for joint health and a 12 per cent lower sugar content.
Some Japanese skin health/beauty lines also contain glucosamine, they added, often in combination with collagen, although the positioning tends to focus on skin condition rather than joint health.


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Amazon has introduced three new Kindle Fire tablets — the Kindle Fire HD, the Kindle Fire HDX 7″ and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″. The company also revealed a new operating system for its Kindle Fire devices. All of the tablets have the latest Kindle Fire OS 3.0 “Mojito.”
The new Kindle Fire has a 1280×800 resolution 7″ screen with 216 pixels per inch, which is 66% more pixels than the previous generation Kindle Fire. The device also has a 1.5 GHz processor, 60% faster than the last model. The device costs $139 and ships on October 2nd.
The Kindle Fire HDX7 has an even higher resolution display at 323 pixels per inch screen. The device also has a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor which runs at 2.2 GHz. This is 3x the processing power of the previous generation Kindle Fire. It costs $229 and it ships on October 18th. The HDX 8.9″ device has an even higher resolution screen at 339 ppi. It costs $379 and ships November 7th.


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Simple blogging service Posterous is taking its recently launched Posterous Groups function mobile this morning with the release of the Posterous 2.0 Android and iPhone apps. Along with the app’s previous functionality (including universal auto-posting), users can now create and participate in a Posterous Group over the phone, with the added advantage of setting up a permanent Posterous site to archive this information.
Posterous marketing manager Rich Pearson tells me that Posterous’ mobile efforts have more than doubled its userbase since its launch in December. Group sharing seems to be all the rage and this is Posterous’ most ambitious Group sharing endeavor yet.
Indeed, its newest Android and App build is sort of like a Group-texting app with a website attached, the ideal use case being people who need to quickly share media like photos and videos with friends, family or coworkers and want to have some sort of easy accessible and lasting web record, which photo-sharing services like Instagram and Group messaging apps like GroupMe currently lack.
Those who want to create a new group in Posterous 2.0 can, go to “Groups” and hit “New Group,” choose a group name and address. You can also conveniently add group members from your phone contacts. Subsequently, you create posts and can upload as many videos or photos as you’d like to the group, all in one fell scoop.
The app, which now supports landscape mode, allows all group members interact with each other’s posts on mobile –You can heart and make comments on individual posts via the app. By default the app emails the other group members of activity when there are new posts and comments.
Posterous, who recently landed a deal with The Gap to power its blog, is planning to add even more functionality with regards to Groups and hopes to launch Posterous Events, which builds Groups around events, right before SXSW.
You can download the app in the iTunes store here, or by searching for “Posterous” in the Android market.


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Halloween candy faves, coast to coast
America’s sweet tooth is real.
This Halloween, about 41.1 million trick-or-treaters will go knocking on some 118 million doors, the U.S. Census estimates. And Americans will shell out about $2.7 billion on candy to give them (and maybe eat themselves), according to estimates from the National Retail Federation. That’s twice the amount — $1.2 billion — spent on beer during the Super Bowl.
The kind of sweets you eat might be driven, at least in part, by geography.
Earlier this month, the bulk sweets retailer CandyShop.com released 10 years of sales data on 23 million pounds of candy sold in each state.
In Pennsylvania, the top candy was M&M’s, while Florida favored Skittles, and Delaware bought a whole lot of Life Savers. (Sorry, kids.)
The super-sweet candy corn — 28 grams of sugar per serving — was the top-selling candy in six states: Alabama, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
Sour Patch Kids were the top treat in five others: Illinois, Nebraska, Maine, Massachusetts and New York.
Connecticut was the only state with a preference for Almond Joy, and Louisiana stood alone with the most sales of Lemonheads, according to the CandyStore.com data.
Such trends come as no surprise to candy retailers.
At the Rocket Fizz Soda Pop & Candy Shop in Evesham, New Jersey, co-owner Joy Curley prefers the Mars brand Milky Way that’s manufactured in France for a European clientele that prefers a different flavor of chocolate.
“It has a very different taste,” Curley said. “It’s richer and creamier.”
With thousands of candy brands in stock, Curley said, customers travel hundreds of miles for the chalky Necco Wafers sold by the New England Confectionary company since 1847 or the rarely sold Chick-O-Stick, a mix of peanut butter, sugar, toasted coconut (and no chickens).
Southern states eat more white chocolate, and New Yorkers generally like a hint of orange in their cocoa, said Joseph Scavitto, co-owner of Gabe’s Candy and Nut House, which makes custom Halloween candies on the aptly named Haunted Lane in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
More than anything else, Philly loves a good chocolate-covered pretzel, said Andrew Kasparian, co-owner of the company, which also makes everything from business cards to turkeys shaped in chocolate.
The recipe for those chocolates is different for eastern and western Pennsylvania, Kasparian said.
“In western Pennsylvania and upstate New York, you find a different style of milk (chocolate). Our milk is a very dark milk. Theirs is a very light milk. And, it’s very different.”
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CandyStore.com isn’t the first company to study America’s sweet tooth.
Reese’s peanut butter cups are America’s most profitable candy, according to a 2013 study released by the Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. IRI said it studied 52 months of candy sales data and the top sales went to Reese’s peanut butter cups ($509 million), M&M’s ($500 million), Snickers ($456 million), Hershey’s chocolate bars ($324 million), Kit Kat ($306 million), Twix 4 To Go ($116 million), 3 Musketeers ($101 million), Hershey’s Cookies ’N Crème ($100 million), Milky Way ($93.4 million), and Almond Joy ($82 million).
Scientists also have studied our sweet tooth with published research that relates our preferences to everything from age, obesity and temperature to whether you smoke or were breastfed as an infant.
Children who are tall for their age preferred sweeter products in a study by researchers at the Monell Center, a Philadelphia-based institute focused on taste and smell. Kids with more body fat preferred saltier snacks, Monell scientists reported.
Such research is “very preliminary,” stressed Linda Stein, Monell’s science communications director.
“The chemical senses are very complicated, and I would stress that there’s no one factor you can point to (with taste).”
The census also released numbers on candy and nut stores nationwide. No one has more candy and nut stores than the Windy City. Chicago had 117 candy shops, followed by Los Angeles with 116 stores and 69 stores in New York City, according to a 2015 U.S. Census estimate.


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New Government Could Increase Pricing Pressures In Germany
Alexander Natz, secretary general of EUCOPE, warns that changes to a pricing and reimbursement system that has so far worked well, particularly for orphans, could dissuade advanced therapy medicinal products manufacturers from launching in Germany.
You may also be interested in...
With talks to form a new coalition progressing in Germany, the new government, which could take office in early December, is expected to introduce measures to curb pharmaceutical spending. Orphan drugs could be among products targeted.
The G-BA, the body in charge of Germany’s pricing and reimbursement process, has confirmed that Novartis’s gene therapy Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec) offers no additional benefit over Biogen’s Spinraza (nusinersen) for treating spinal muscular atrophy.
The Scottish health technology appraisal body also OKd Janssen's Ponvory and new indications for AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso, Roche’s Tecentriq and MSD’s Keytruda. It also said it could not make recommendations on a number of drugs because manufacturers had not made a submission to the SMC.


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When the prices of Oculus dropped to $399, many people believed that there would be a newer version of the Rift coming soon. Unlike the Oculus 2.0 version that you might have expected, Oculus has come up with an Oculus Go VR headset that is a standalone VR headset and does not need any phone to experience VR.
The Oculus Go is supposed to hit the sweet spot as it is between the PC VR headset Oculus Rift and the mobile powered VR headset. The headset is lightweight and is going to be super comfortable to wear. The headset was designed so that everyone could easily have an immersive VR experience.
There isn’t much information on the specs apart from the fact that the headset would be sporting an LCD display with 2560×1440 resolution and it is going to have an integrated audio. The headset is going to be cross-compatible with all most of the Gear VR titles.
The development kits are going to be shipped in November and the final consumer version which is going to be priced at $199 would be released in the beginning of the next year.


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Mozilla has just released Firefox 22 browser with integrated support for 3D gaming, video calls, and file sharing. Thus, application developers can create applications that can run in the browser without the need to use third party plugins.
Firefox has aged 15 years, and according to vice president of Firefox Engineering, Johnathan Nightingale, the browser has changed in terms of how people use it. Browser applications have been the key to connect to the internet and used to locate information and software, and therefore the present browser must be built for the needs of people and how they use them more quickly.
To highlight the potential of this feature, Mozilla has made a 3D game called BananaBread. This game utilizing WebRTC, asm.js, WebGL, and Emscripten.
via The Next Web
Mozilla has just released Firefox 22 browser with integrated support for 3D gaming, video calls, and file sharing. Thus, application developers can create applications that can run in the browser without the need to use third party plugins.
Comments Off on Facebook offers the dummy’s guide to mobile advertising
Facebook Inc’s mobile advertising success offers a ray of hope for Internet companies trying to make money within the confines of the smartphone’s small screen.
The social network’s 75 percent surge in mobile ad revenue in a span of just three months not only doused skepticism on Wall Street and Madison Avenue about Facebook’s business prospects, some say it could serve as a how-to guide for other Web companies navigating a world where the phone and tablet have fast become the screens of choice.
Facebook’s “Newsfeed” ads, which inject marketing messages straight into a user’s content stream and are tailored for mobile devices, were the stars behind the social network’s stunning numbers on Wednesday.
“You’re going to see a lot of companies transitioning and trying to emulate this model because it’s working so well. That’s why last night was a true watershed moment,” said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Research.
Internet company executives have long been concerned that mobile advertising is inherently less lucrative than traditional desktop PC advertising, due to the smartphone’s limited screen size and possible consumer resistance to a flood of ads on their devices.
Companies from Google Inc and Yahoo Inc to upstarts such as Snapchat are searching for the right formula to monetize mobile services. While Google has developed a mobile ad business generating an estimated $10 billion a year in revenue, it remains much smaller and less lucrative than Google’s desktop search advertising. Analysts expect Google to generate $60 billion in annual revenue this year.
That wholesale exploration of “native ads” – or marketing messages intended to blend with a users’ personal content, rather than stand out as an ad – has met with varying success.
Twitter, which pioneered the concept of the in-stream ad even before Facebook, may also be well-positioned to benefit from mobile ads. “Sponsored” messages now pop up abruptly in the middle of streams of tweets, but analysts say the frequency is much lower on Facebook newsfeeds.
More than half of the privately held company’s revenue will come from mobile ads this year, reckons Clark Fredricksen, at industry research firm eMarketer.
Some are just getting into the game. This week, LinkedIn Corp, the network for business professionals, rolled out in-stream ads on mobile and PC versions of its service. Yahoo has experimented with similar types of ads, and acquired blogging hub Tumblr for $1.1 billion in May, in part to jumpstart efforts at developing new formats.
But it’s Facebook, which a year ago had zero mobile revenue, that has most aggressively promoted its mobile advertising business to Madison Avenue – with seeming success.
“Compared to other companies, nobody has come right out and said mobile is our sole focus now,” said Angela Steele, CEO of Ansible, part of advertising holding company IPG. “Facebook put all their eggs in one basket.”
One longstanding question has been how much tolerance consumers have for ads that disrupt their stream of content. Facebook said it has steadily increased the number of ads in the news stream without noticing a drop in user satisfaction.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that, on average, ads now account for 5 percent or one in 20 “stories” in the newsfeed. That ratio could now provide a baseline for calculating success, prompting other Web companies to raise the frequency of ads in their streams.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if other companies would look at that and follow suit,” said Ansible’s Steele.
Hussein Fazal, the CEO of AdParlor, which manages advertising campaigns on Facebook, guesses that the social network must have gradually opened the spigot, gauging user reaction and adjusting the stream all the while.
They seemed to have hit on the right formula, but it’s one that differs across platforms, he said.
“The reason Facebook can do it is, the rest of the content that’s there is so engaging that you don’t mind one out of every 20 ads,” he said. “If you have a newsfeed that’s not so engaging, and you keep seeing ads, then it doesn’t work.”
Plus, the more ads in the stream, the less users will click on them, which can dampen ad prices, he added.
Facebook’s seeming success on mobile devices contrasts with Google’s more gradual improvement in that area. The No. 1 Internet search engine has gradually managed to narrow declines in its overall ad rates from the mobile effect, but last quarter they reversed and went down again, disappointing investors.
Google has avoided news stream ads entirely in its Google+ social network. Instead, its mix of mobile search ads, video ads and innovative formats such as “click-to-call” have delivered what RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney estimates is a $10 billion annualized run rate for its mobile business, about four times as much as Facebook.
But mobile has driven down the average cost of Google ads, and some industry watchers consider the transition a long-term threat to the search giant. But other analysts say recent changes to the way it sells ads to marketers, blurring the distinction between the mobile and PC, could help bolster rates.
Comments Off on Google Open Streaming TV Service
California: Google is rumored to be opening for Google TV streaming service. The tech giant is said to be developing a streaming service similar to cable TV services, such as Hulu or Netflix.
Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, according to sources who declined to be named. The source revealed that Google has approached several media companies to discuss licensing and television program content. Google wants to provide more services to Google TV via channels such as television package, but by using a broadband connection.
Google TV audience of streaming content will not require registration and subscription requirements as well as cable television service. Google TV so users will not be charged monthly. Google TV is not much different from the Apple TV. But the Apple TV first implement streaming TV service.
Google seems to need to fight hard to make it happen because just like the Apple TV earlier, the problem of security issues and also the reluctance of media companies to cooperate with Web TV newcomers a big challenge.
Comments Off on Facebook Earnings Review: What Wall Street Thinks
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Facebook’s (FB_) second-quarter earnings focused on mobile revenue. Shares were soaring in premarket trading Thursday as Wall Street raised price targets and upgraded shares.The Menlo Park, Calif.-based social networker earned 19 cents a share on $1.813 billion in revenue for the quarter, as mobile advertising revenue accounted for 41% of advertising revenue this quarter. Total advertising revenue was $1.6 billion, 88% of total revenue, and up 61% year over year.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting Facebook to earn 14 cents a share on $1.62 billion in revenue for the quarter.
The company ended the quarter with 1.15 billion monthly active users (MAUs), up 21% year over year. There was a 51% annual increase in mobile MAUs, which drove the strength in mobile revenue. Daily active users (DAUs) were 699 million, up 27% annually.
Following the earnings, many analysts were bullish, with several upgrading shares and raising price targets. Here’s what some analysts on Wall Street had to say:
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth (Overweight, $44 PT)
“Facebook delivered its strongest quarter yet as a public company–results that we think could be thesis-changing for many–and we would continue to buy Facebook shares even after the ~17% move up in the after-market. Our revenue and nonGAAP EPS estimates increase 12% and 38% for 2013, and 22% and 46% for 2014.”
Topeka Capital Markets analyst Victor Anthony (Buy, $40 PT)
“Facebook needed to, and delivered, a blowout quarter. What is clear from the results is advertisers have validated Facebook as an advertising platform. For full year 2013, our revenue and Adj. EPS increases to $7.196B and $0.71, resp, from $6.733B and $0.63. We still see more upside for the stock and recommend purchase. There are several well defined catalysts over the next two years that should lead to further share price appreciation, including: 1) monetizing Instagram, which, per CEO Zuckerberg, will generate “a lot of profits”, 2) launch of auto-play video ads, 3) monetizing Graph Search, 4) a bigger push into e-commerce, and 5) the potential for S&P 500 inclusion. Further, only 1mm or 6% of FB’s 18mm potential advertisers are buying ads, implying a huge runway for advertiser uptake exists.”
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia (Buy, $37 PT)
“We are incrementally bullish on FB’s prospects following 2Q results and believe the stock should be a core holding in Internet portfolios. 2Q’s highlight was Mobile advertising (+76% q/q versus consensus +20%). Overall revenue (53% y/y) and EBITDA (+57% y/y) accelerated from 1Q’s 38%/35% revenue/EBITDA growth. Better than expected user engagement, strong monetization and good cost control helped FB outperform even the most bullish expectations on the Street. Reiterating Buy.”
Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein (Outperform, $36 PT)
“Following materially better than expected 2Q results, we are increasing our estimates and price target, and are reiterating our Outperform rating. 2Q upside was driven by higher advertiser demand for newsfeed, both on volume and price, and since mobile Newsfeed pricing is similar to desktop and advertisers are largely indifferent between mobile and desktop, revenues are tracking the consumer shift to smartphones. We believe this dynamic is an important differentiator vs. other ad-supported internet companies, that are being hurt by the mobile mix shift. As such, we are increasing ’13E and ’14E revenue by 3% and 5%, and non-GAAP EPS by 7% and 9%, respectively. Raising target to $36 from $32.”
Shares of Facebook were soaring following earnings, tacking on 30.48% to $34.59 in premarket trading.
Comments Off on Google releases Chrome 28 with Blink browser engine
Google on Tuesday released Chrome 28, the first polished version of the browser to use the company’s home-grown “Blink” rendering engine. On Windows, the upgrade also sported Google’s new notification service that lets developers of Chrome apps and add-ons display messages and alerts outside the browser window.
The upgrade was the first since May 21, when Google shipped Chrome 27 and touted some minor performance improvements.
[ Also on InfoWorld: Bug bounty programs provide strong value for Google, Mozilla. | Get your websites up to speed with HTML5 today using the techniques in InfoWorld’s HTML5 Deep DivePDF how-to report. | Learn how to secure your Web browsers in InfoWorld’s “Web Browser Security Deep Dive” PDF guide. ]
Google announced in April that it was dropping the open-source WebKit browser engine — at the time also used only by Apple’s Safari — and was instead launching Blink, a WebKit variant, to power Chrome. Since then, Opera Software’s Opera has also adopted WebKit as an interim step before it eventually moves to Blink.
Google cited difficulties in adapting WebKit to Chrome, and in the first weeks after the announcement, stripped copious amounts of unnecessary-for-Chrome code from the fork that became Blink. Previously, only the rougher “Dev” and “Beta” builds of Chrome relied on the Blink engine. Users can verify that Blink is present by typing chrome://version/ in the Chrome address-search bar, dubbed the “Omnibox.”
Also included in Chrome 28 is new support for more sophisticated notifications that appear outside the browser pane and display even when the browser’s not running. “Packaged apps” — ber-Web apps that look and behave like “native” code written specifically for the underlying OS — and add-ons can push brief messages and alerts to Chrome users after their developers have enabled the feature.
Only the Windows version of Chrome 28 currently supports these next-generation notifications, but Google promised that the feature would soon make its way to OS X and Linux. On a Mac, Chrome notifications are not integrated with OS X Mountain Lion’s Notification Center.
Along with the debut of Blink and notifications, Chrome 28 contained patches for 15 security vulnerabilities, one of them rated “critical,” Google’s most serious threat ranking. According to Google’s terse security advisory, that flaw was a memory management bug — dubbed a “use-after-free” vulnerability — in the browser’s network sockets code.
But while Colin Payne, who reported the bug, received an impressive reward of $6,267.40, another researcher was handed triple that. Andrey Labunets was paid a record $21,500 for filing several vulnerability reports, including two in the Google synchronization service and an unknown number of others that Google said were “…since-fixed server-side bugs.”
That last phrase and the amount paid were clues that Labunets discovered one or more flaws in a core Google service. In April, Google boosted bounties for vulnerability reports in its core websites, services and online apps, resetting the top reward to $20,000 for remote code executable bugs, those that attackers could use to slip malicious code onto a server or into an app or site.
Labunets is no stranger to large bug bounties. Earlier this year, after reporting a string of weaknesses in Facebook’s authentication protocol, Labunets was awarded $9,500 by the social networking giant.
Altogether, Google this week paid bounties totaling $34,901 to six researchers, including Payne and Labunets, for reporting eight different bugs. Through Tuesday, the Mountain View, Calif., company has awarded nearly $250,000 thus far this year in bounties or hacking contest prizes.
Users can download Chrome 28 from Google’s website. Active users can simply let the automatic updater retrieve the new version.
Comments Off on Q&A: Microsoft Talks Changes to SkyDrive in Windows 8.1
When was the last time you had to delete a bunch of photos or apps on your mobile device to clear out space? With the massive amount of data generated every day, it’s easy to exhaust all the available storage on your phone or tablet.
And this problem is only getting worse. Industry trends suggest that device storage capacities are growing at 25 percent per year, but the amount of data being produced is increasing even faster — by around 50 percent a year, according to Microsoft. The software giant is looking to address this problem with SkyDrive, which will be updated in Windows 8.1 with the goal of giving you access to your files at all times, without taking up all your available storage or Internet bandwidth.
The updated service utilizes what Microsoft refers to as “placeholder files,” which look and feel like normal folders and files with one major change — you don’t download the full file until you access it. The placeholder file contains just a thumbnail image and some basic properties, making it significantly smaller than its actual size. This means that 100GB of files in SkyDrive will use up less than 5GB of storage on the hard drive of your Windows 8.1 device, Mona Akmal.
“I have a Pictures folder in SkyDrive that’s 5.6GB in size but it’s only taking up 185MB on the local disk,” Akmal wrote.
Another major change to SkyDrive in Windows 8.1 deals with offline access to files. With the SkyDrive app, you’ll now be able to mark any folders or files you want remain available when you lose Internet connectivity.
Any edits you make to a file while offline will automatically be synced back up to SkyDrive when you regain a connection. For added convenience, all the files you open or edit on your device will automatically be marked for offline access.
As a reminder, new SkyDrive users get 7GB of storage for free. After that, an additional 20GB costs $10 per year, while 50GB will set you back $25 a year, and 100GB costs $50 a year.
We sat down with Angus Logan, group product marketing manager for SkyDrive (pictured below), last week to get the scoop on the most important changes to the online storage service in Windows 8.1.
Comments Off on Google Chromecast Announced, Change Ordinary So Smart TV
In addition to announcing second-generation Nexus 7 and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, Google today also announced the existence of which is a smart Chromecast shaped dongle instead Nexus Q. Chromecast shaped stick that utilizes an HDMI port on the television to run Chrome OS version is simple and will integrate several Google services such as YouTube, Google Play Music, Play Video, and Google Chrome both applications in mobile, tablet or laptop.
Chromecast works like a second screen. If someone such as looking at a YouTube video on your phone, laptop, or tablet and then touch the button Chromecast available in the Chrome browser, it is a television that has been installed sticks Chromecast will play the video as it is displayed on the phone screen. In addition Chromecast can also accept input from a variety of devices that will be played simultaneously turns, for example, from cell phones and play video from laptop playing a movie. Besides Google Play Music and Video, Netflix app (in the U.S.) are also supported by this Chromecast.
Chromecast control can be done from the phone, for example, adjust the volume or change the video played. Chromecast also allows playback of video ‘removed’ from the phone to the tablet and will be passed from the last time the video is played.
Google Chromecast also able to play music like a DJ. This service can access Google Play Music and Pandora. In addition it can also display tabs Chromecast Chrome on television to view photos or videos on Google+ or Vimeo for example. Chromecast also create opportunities through Google Cast application development SDK for Android, iOS and Chrome. To run Chromecast, the television must have an HDMI port plugs plus a blank as a resource for Chromecast mealui microUSB.
Chromecast can be purchased at a price of just USD 35 and is now becoming available in the United States. In addition Chromecast can also be purchased from the Play Store, Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. Currently no information when this gadget will be available in Indonesia.
Comments Off on No space for over-30s as relaunched MySpace erases its past
Did you pour your heart out on a MySpace blog and make hourly checks on your Friends total? Now the social network has been accused of erasing the personal histories of its dedicated members after a $20 million relaunch designed to bury its past and attract a new teenage audience.
The music-centred platform, which helped launch Lily Allen to fame and attracted 100 million users at its 2007 peak, is seeking to climb out of the social network “graveyard” after years of being a source of digital derision.
The site, lacking innovation and overtaken by Facebook, shed users and was abandoned by Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation had bought the company in a disastrous $580 million deal.
Backed by new investors, including singer Justin Timberlake, Myspace (after dropping the capital ‘S’) has been rebranded as a music-streaming service, with a new sleek interface, and an iPhone app for radio play and animated GIF creation.
The new Myspace has shown signs of life, attracting 31 million unique visitors and one million app downloads since a high-profile relaunch last month.
However its owners do not appear to want those loyal users, who stuck around even when MySpace became a tarnished brand, to spoil the party for its new target audience of young “millenials”.
Furious users complained that Myspace has erased all of their blogs, private messages, videos, comments and posts, when they try and log-in to the new site.
Myspace veterans, whose lives have been marked out by the blogs and photos posted daily over nearly a decade, are threatening a class-action lawsuit over what they see as the destruction of their personal histories.
One disgruntled member wrote: “I was a loyal user who never deserted Myspace. I used it almost everyday since 2006. I wrote hundreds of blogs that, to my horror, were simply gone as of last night with no prior warning given. That is no way to treat us. Please give us a chance to recover old blogs. This is like losing family photographs, and it is really horrible.”
Another posted on the site’s forum: “This is no different than losing one’s writing or photographs in a house fire, and I am feeling awful right now.” “You in essence just stole our blogs without permission to delete them. How dare you!,” complained another user.
Myspace, bought for just $35 million in 2011 by Timberlake and the Specific Media Group, told users that it had made changes to create a “better experience.” The company said: “That means you won’t see a few products on the new site. We know that this is upsetting to some but it gives us a chance to really concentrate on creating a new experience for discovery and expression.”
The “year zero” approach extends to stars who once built huge followings through MySpace. Britney Spears, who enjoyed 1.5 million Friends on the old MySpace, found her new “Connections” count set to 0.
Myspace won’t mind irritating 30-somethings who enjoyed sharing family photos if the network maintains a positive buzz from younger users since the relaunch, which featured the rapper Pharrell in a major advertising campaign.
The new app is ranked among the Top 20 social networking apps and the site makeover received positive feedback on Twitter.
Yet Myspace has been forced to respond to the backlash from its loyal users. “Change isn’t easy and there has been a lot going on lately,” the company said. It told angry members: “We understand that this (blog) information is very important to you. Please understand that your blogs have not been deleted. Your content is safe and we have been discussing the best ways possible to provide you your blogs.” Pictures and music playlists can be located and transferred over to the new Myspace, the company added.
Founded in 2003 by a team of California web pioneers led by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, MySpace generated $800 million in revenue by 2008. Arctic Monkeys were among the bands who used the network’s music-sharing feature as a springboard for success.
Comments Off on Google’s Chromecast could throw your mobile and browser games onto your TV
Google was announced The Chromecast, a small WiFi-enabled HDMI dongle that may well prove big news for bringing mobile and browser games to your living room.
The Chromecast plugs into your television’s HDMI slot, and allows you to send content from Android and iOS devices to the TV screen via Wi-Fi, while also supporting Chromebooks, and the Chrome web browser for Mac and Windows.
The device that is connected to the Chromecast then controls everything you see on the TV. The one caveat is that mobile apps need to integrate the Googlecast SDK to be able to send content across (apps in a Chrome web browser will work via “Chrome tab projection.”)
The device costs $35, and is already available to purchase directly from the Google Play Store. Notably, the possibility of projecting mobile and browser games via the device is not mentioned on the official website, which focuses on the video and music capabilities of the device.
As such, there’s no word as-of-yet regarding whether games will be fully supported, or whether input lag will cause issues for this particular line of fire.


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Moses’ tablets have generally been considered to have the edge over the iPad, in part because he at least had a hard copy. It’s been one continuing gripe about the iPad that it’s had no printing facility.
But Apple is narrowing Moses’ lead with the announcement that it’s launching a wireless printing feature that should be available to end users in November.
A beta version of AirPrint for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is being released to members of Apple’s iOS developer program today, and the feature will be included in the free iOS 4.2 software update in November.
AirPrint automatically finds printers on local networks and prints wirelessly over Wifi – without the need to install drivers or download software, says Apple.
The first printers to support printing direct from iOS devices it will be HP ePrint-enabled printers. Others will be added soon, says Apple, including HP Photosmart, Officejet, Pro machines.
For those that don’t have one of these, says Apple, the devices will be able to print to a printer shared with a Mac or PC.
“AirPrint is Apple’s powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS — no set-up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.
“IPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to an HP ePrint printer or to a printer shared on a Mac or PC.””


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Alabama farm equipment sales people got a late Christmas present today.
Alabama State Representative Paul Lee announced a new bill to drop state sales tax on farm equipment.
Surrounding states have already dropped this sales tax and it's causing major revenue loss in Alabama.
" One, two and three counties deep, all around those borders people are leaving the states and going there to buy their farm equipment,, not only are we losing sales.. And thats the very opposite thing of what we have tried to do over the last three years is to build an environment for businesses and for people to have their jobs,” said Rep Paul Lee.
Alabama farm equipment salesmen are happy about this bill.
They say business has been down for several months and they hope this will help turn things around.


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Couple of days ago, GlobalFoundries issued a press release stating that they ‘demonstrated silicon success on the first AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) products using GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ most advanced 14nm FinFET process technology.’ “FinFET technology is expected to play a critical foundational role across multiple AMD product lines, starting in 2016. GLOBALFOUNDRIES has worked tirelessly to reach this key milestone on its 14LPP process. We look forward to GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ continued progress towards full production readiness and expect to leverage the advanced 14LPP process technology across a broad set of our CPU, APU, and GPU products,” said Mark Papermaster, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Advanced Micro Devices.
Since its inception, GlobalFoundries had a plan to become world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer. From starting as an AMD manufacturing spin-off, the company owners set a multi-decade plan which involved acquiring Chartered Semiconductor and recently, acquired IBM foundry business as well. The capacity grew from initial 60,000 300mm wafers in 2009 to almost quarter billion 300mm and 130+ million 200mm wafers in second quarter of 2015. While the absolute capacity numbers were even higher, the owners (Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi) decided to re-address the capacity and increase volume in processes that make financial sense. In order to stay ahead the company kept on investing in SOI
Electronics manufacturing is a very labor-intensive process, employing a combination of robotic and chemical processes and treatments, manual labor but above all – it is a very dislocated process. Over the course of past 15 years, we managed to witness the manufacturing changed in its scale, employing tens of millions of people and massively reducing time to market. Still, the process takes a lot of time, and not all can be done as efficiently as possible. There are two base components of any piece of electronic equipment on the market: chip and PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and revolution is coming to both: IBM / GlobalFoundries
AMD’s SVP jumps ship to GlobalFoundries is a win-win situation?
IBM has reported less-than-stellar 3Q 2014 earnings, characterized by its CEO as “disappointing.” Will Big Blue’s new focus on the cloud be the silver lining?
IBM will reportedly pay GlobalFoundries to take over its chipmaking division in exchange for access to intellectual property.
One of Qualcomm’s most senior and pivotal employees has been snatched up by the fab company Globalfoundries after spending 12 years with the company. Bill Davidson has been a investor relations and global marketing executive at Qualcomm for the past seven years, last assuming the role of SVP of Qualcomm Investor Relations, SVP of Strategy and Operations for Global Market Devlepment-QTI. QTI is Qualcomm’s biggest business unit, accounting for almost all of the company’s non-licensing revenues and profit. Davidson has been one of the pivotal figures inside Qualcomm over the past 12 years at the company, and his departure surely comes as a surprise to many.
In the five years since GlobalFoundries broke ground in Malta, Saratoga County, New York for their Fab 8, they have exceeded their promise of job creation in the community. Instead of its initial projection of 1,200 new jobs, the company is responsible for approximately 2,400, including construction of the Technology Development Center on its existing 223 acre campus. The direct jobs have a trickle down effect resulting in 3,000 indirect jobs according to a study by Dr. Everett Ehrlich, business economist. GlobalFoundries also made a capital investment of $6.9 billion, plus the building of the new Technology Development Center which increases that number by $2.1
After Intel reported their earnings for the first quarter of 2014, many people expected AMD’s earnings to mirror that of Intel’s or to do worse. Well, by the looks of it, AMD’s earnings have mirrored that of Intel’s in terms of remaining fairly stable and ensuring that their core business is strong. AMD reported a net loss of $20 million (or a non-GAAP profit of $12 million) on $1.4 billion in revenue which translates to a loss per share of about $0.02 or a non-GAAP profit per share of about $0.02. Wall Street’s estimates for AMD’s non-GAAP earnings were at an EPS of $0.00 and
Samsung and Globalfoundries have announced a partnership to collaborate on a global scale to deliver 14nm FinFET technology to their customers. This partnership is different from the already existing Common Platform Alliance which includes Globalfoundries, Samsung and IBM, but is likely a product of that relationship considering that IBM is mostly a research fab and doesn’t really produce many commercial wafers. This 14nm FinFET collaboration is an effort by both companies to build up enough fab capacity in order to satisfy the demand of their customers on this leading-edge technology. As you can see from the slide above Samsung and Globalfoundries’ partnership means that the
While reading through excellent Phenom II scaling article on Madshrimps, we encountered a very interesting line. According to Madshrimps, Globalfoundries is working hard on improving its existing process nodes and the results are very encouraging. Thanks to engineering experts over at Abu Dhabi-powered Dresden foundry, AMD will be able to release Phenom II 955 processor. Phenom II 955 allegedly works at 3.2 GHz, with working voltage of only 1.25V, down 0.10V from Phenom II 920 and 940. If all things work out, P-II 3.2 GHz just may be the ticket for the upcoming launch of AMD 800 series of chipsets. We’re not sure is this


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Originally Published on DopeMagazine.com
By Kelly Vo | Dec. 12, 2017
or cannabis companies, giving back to the community isn’t always easy. In fact, many charitable organizations are reluctant to accept donations from the cannabis industry, citing worries of legality at the national level.
For cannabis companies, giving back to the community isn’t always easy. In fact, many charitable organizations are reluctant to accept donations from the cannabis industry, citing worries of legality at the national level.
No non-profit wants to risk their 501(c)(3) status by accepting donations from what could potentially be considered a criminal organization, and you can’t really blame them. However, that does present a few problems. As Organa Brands President Chris Driessen told Forbes after his company was rejected from donating to Wounded Warriors, American Cancer Society and The Children’s Hospital Foundation: “It felt like a slap in the face . . . because the message was essentially you’re a drug dealer.”
The good news is that the barriers haven’t stopped cannabis companies from moving forward with their philanthropy, and some companies—such as kindColorado—are working to make cannabis giving easier and more effective. And for an industry that’s expected to be worth $10 billion by 2020, according to Frontier Data, that’s good news for everyone.
Headquartered in Colorado, kindColorado is a consulting firm that works with cannabis companies across the country, helping them figure out how to get involved in their community. “We think cannabis can be an asset. It can contribute to economic health and impact communities positively,” says Kelly Perez, Co-founder and CEO of kindColorado. “The key is determining how best cannabis can meet community needs.”
That’s what kindColorado is all about. They work with cannabis businesses located in communities negatively affected by the drug war, and they figure out how cannabis companies within those communities can begin to change the narrative. It’s not about throwing money at projects and charities, but giving cannabis a seat at the table to engage in civic conversations and meet community needs.
“We want to create places for cannabis businesses to participate in the community, including in philanthropy, where they can be the hero of their own story—a force for good in their community,” explains Perez. “Our focus is to connect non-profits with the cannabis industry in a way that opens a dialogue and embraces the idea of ‘doing good.’”
They do this in three ways:
Education & Training: Many non-profit organizations have a difficult time understanding the cannabis industry. “We work with them to organize a framework for giving where the cannabis company can be actively engaged, and not just a wallet,” explains Courtney Mathis, Co-founder and President of kindColorado.
Philanthropy Projects: For cannabis businesses who want to give back but don’t quite know how to get started, kindColorado helps them develop their concept of Cannabis Social ResponsibilityTM, which opens the door for mutually beneficial partnerships between cannabis and the community.
Volunteer Opportunities: Finally, kindColorado matches cannabis businesses with current charitable projects and volunteer opportunities for active charitable giving.
For example, kindColorado recently partnered with The Gathering Place, the only daytime drop-in center in Denver that serves women, children and transgender individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness. Through this partnership, kindColorado and five women-owned or operated cannabis businesses—Lightshade, Wana Brands, Olio, the Marijuana Industry Group and Mason Jar Events—raised $35,000 for the organization. More than that, they got a seat at the table to participate in volunteer opportunities, sponsorship and more.
“We think cannabis can be an asset. It can contribute to economic health and impact communities positively . . . The key is determining how best cannabis can meet community needs.”
Another cannabis company volunteered with 12-15 of their staff members at the Denver Urban Gardens, DeLaney Community Farm, which partners with refugee farmers to grow food and nourish the community. During this volunteer time, the cannabis employees broke down cultural barriers and represented not just their company, but the cannabis industry as a whole.
“This was possible because the cannabis company owner was value-driven and 100% open to listening to his community and figuring out what it needed based on their priorities,” says Mathis. “Whenever we organize efforts, we ensure that the entire business is excited to actively engage.”
How Can Cannabis Give Back? As for how cannabis businesses can and should get involved in giving back, Mathis and Perez recommend starting with your community. “Before you volunteer and before you give money, find out what your community wants and needs,” says Mathis. “You need to understand the community dynamic. Find out what they care about and what they’re afraid of. That’s the only way to get their support and to change their perception of cannabis business.”
Many of the communities where cannabis businesses have been set up, based on zoning and local policy, are the same areas that have been most negatively affected by the War on Drugs. That means marijuana businesses already have a huge hurdle to overcome in terms of their public perception; they need to move forward carefully if they want to change the cannabis dialogue.
For instance, kindColorado is currently working in a community where the local soup kitchen, Grant Avenue Street Reach, desperately needs help to serve 1,200 meals every Monday. Specifically, they need a security guard at just $250 a week to stay open. Mathis and Perez would love to find a cannabis business to fill this specific need instead of just throwing money at something else. “The sweet spot for giving back is where a cannabis company’s values align with what the community cares about,” explains Perez.
If you’d like to get your business involved in your community, kindColorado has many options, including their trademarked Cannabis Social ResponsibilityTM program, which matches cannabis businesses with non-profit partners for a mutually beneficial relationship. You can learn more at kindcolorado.org.


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Welcome to the two-hundredth-and-twenty-sixth episode of my series entitled BestTechInfo and Rumors! In this week’s episode I delve into the latest iOS 8.3 Jailbreak details and discuss iOS 8.4 beta 1’s features, WWDC 2015, Apple’s forthcoming iOS 9 release, the New MacBook and more.
Early this morning, ensuing yesterday’s new iOS 8.4 beta release, Apple announced that their annual World Wide Developers Conference will be held from June 8th to the 12th at Moscone West in San Francisco, California. This year’s WWDC will undoubtedly play host to the unveiling of both iOS 9 and the next installment to OS X, surely being 10.11.
5 months ago Apple, iOS 9, News, WWDC
Today, in a surprising beta release, Apple issued the first developer iteration of 8.4 to those enrolled in the company’s official iOS Developer program. With iOS 8.3 having been released to the public less than a week ago, Apple appears to be rapidly increasing the speed at which they issue updates, but like iOS 8.3, today’s new 8.4 firmware will likely go through a number of beta revisions.
Today, in a seemingly out-of-the-blue move, Apple released iOS 8.3 to the general public ensuing four developer beta iterations of the firmware. As with past iterations of iOS, 8.3 can be downloaded, and installed, via either iTunes or Apple’s substantially more popular OTA update method. Being the third substantial 8.x update since Apple issued iOS 8 last fall, iOS 8.3 introduces a few minor bug remedies and adds several small features.
While the iPad Air 2 was a drastic improvement over its predecessor, boasting significant reductions in weight and form factor while also reducing the air gap between the display, a number of customers were severely disappointed that the device’s smaller cousin didn’t receive the same treatment: the iPad mini 3. Today, ensuing last week’s iPhone 6c leak and iPad Pro dummy images, Nowhereelse.fr publicized images of what’s allegedly the rear casing for Apple’s forthcoming iPad mini 4.
Welcome to the two-hundredth-and-twenty-fifth episode of my series entitled BestTechInfo and Rumors! In this episode I discuss the latest iOS 8.3 and iOS 8.2 Jailbreak status, an alleged iPhone 6c component leak, an iPad Pro dummy, the forthcoming Apple Watch and New MacBook Pro and more.
Today, as we quickly approach pre-orders for the forthcoming Apple Watch, which will ship the 24th of April, additional information on the device has been made available by Apple themselves. In addition to revealing AppleCare+ for each of the three variations, Apple also updated their site to reflect the official pre-order time and the company added new “guided tours” to their Apple Watch page.
Ensuing the images of a purported iPhone 6c that leaked earlier today, pictures of a mockup iteration of the highly rumored larger, 12-inch, iPad Pro began making their way across the Apple blogosphere. But that’s not even the interesting part, said mockup features either two Lightning ports, with the secondary one positioned on the opposite side, or a USB-C port!
5 months ago Apple, Rumors
Today, following last week’s rumors of a third lower-cost 4-inch 2015 iPhone, dubbed the iPhone 6c, Future Supplier leaked images of what are allegedly said device: the iPhone 6c!
5 months ago Apple, Rumors
Welcome to the two-hundredth-and-twenty-fourth episode of my series entitled BestTechInfo and Rumors! In this episode I discuss the MSS (Mobile Security Summit) 2015, TaiG’s decision to not release a Jailbreak for iOS 8.2, Apple’s latest 8.3 beta 4 seed, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6c rumors, the Apple Watch and more.


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July 20, 2018 09:14 AM
A warning for parents about a popular children's toy.
UK researchers found that some fake slime products contain toxic levels of chemicals that can cause serious illness and infertility later in life.
Researchers tested eleven of the most popular fake slime products on the market and found that eight of them had dangerous levels of boron, an ingredient commonly found in pesticides and household cleaners.
Roland Earl is the Director General of the British Toy and Hobby Association. He says,"I think The Which? report is very important and timely. Obviously, there are still out there some great slimes, but the report clearly shows that there are either rogue manufacturers or poorly tested products getting into the market."
Earl says if you are not bothered with that and you are producing counterfeits that you not only get a competitive advantage against people who test it but also expose consumers to considerable danger.
All of the slime products that failed were bought online from Amazon.
The company has since removed them from sale.
Created: July 20, 2018 09:14 AM
Copyright 2018 - WHEC-TV, LLC A Hubbard Broadcasting Company


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We have heard of motor rallies for decades, but hardly have we heard of tricycle rallies. But that is now history as for the first time ever, Nigeria experienced its own Keke (tricycle) rally that kicked off on August 7 from the Stallion Auto Keke – Ijesha, Lagos showroom for Bajaj Kekes.
The Stallion Bajaj Keke Rally has now completed a tough terrain of 5594 kilometres through 27 cities and 18 states in the West, East and North Central in less than 41 days.
It consisted of a team of five experienced riders and the Stallion Bajaj officials and security agents. Collectively the convoy covered more than 26000 Kms without any product issues.
The Managing Director for the business, Mr. Manish Rohtagi stated that “The Keke Rally really boasts on how the New Baba Bajaj is tough, strong, reliable, and well equipped for the Nigerian roads.
Having covered almost more than 5000km, the Kekes did not face any performance or maintenance challenges. It kept its brand promise of “Runs Faster, Lasts Longer” through every rider who was a part of this rally.”
The rally was flagged off from Lagos and covered states like Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Enugu, Ebonyi, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, to prove the durability of Bajaj Keke.
To also strengthen Stallion’s Corporate Social Responsibility, the rally spread the message of urging people of Nigeria to be responsible for maintaining hygiene to curb the spread of the Coronavirus.
The Stallion Bajaj Keke Rally visited celebrated cultural and historic sites in each state highlighting and sharing the Nigerian culture of host communities.
The journey to these sites brought forth the stories around it to encourage connecting the youth to their rich heritage.
The vision from this rally was not only to take up the challenge of proving how credible the product is but also engaging in the stories of these riders that will go on to make the brand what it is.
The alliance of Stallion and Bajaj will continue to improve lives by going an extra mile providing rider-training facilities, scholarship programmes, mechanic empowerment programmes, ease in the financing, ease of spare part availability and differentiated customer service through its existing footprints within the auto industry.
Bajaj Auto Limited is a world leader in the intracity vehicle space. Loved in 70 countries the brand stands for integrity, dedication, resourcefulness, and determination to succeed and empowerment.
It is a well-known brand for its durability, speed and manoeuvrability and is the pioneer brand of tricycles in Nigeria loved by millions. It’s a Keke for the people engineered for a smooth journey and better livelihood.


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Go211.com announced today that it is partnering with BMX and mountain bike pro rider Tara Llanes in hosting an online auction to help raise funds for the Tara Llanes Road to Recovery Fund. The auction begins April 25th at 5pm EST with the bidding ending on May 9th at 5pm EST.
Llanes was seriously injured on September 1st, 2007 while racing at the Jeep KOM Finals. Presently she is paralyzed from the waist down, and has been working intensely at physical therapy to walk, then ride again. Llanes raced on the professional mountain bike circuit for 14 years and won four national championships.
The online auction will feature some of the most sought after items in the sport today, including:
Eric Carterâ€™s 2006 National Championship 4x bike
Steve Peatâ€™s signed replica Troy Lee Designs helmet
Tracy Moseleyâ€™s UCI leaders jersey
Adam Craigâ€™s signed XC jersey
And more items from Shaun Palmer, Leigh Donovan, Alison Dunlap
â€œWeâ€™re very pleased to be partnering with Tara for this very worthy cause.â€ said Sean M. Aruda, CEO of Go211.com. â€œThe positive attitude and determination she demonstrated while competing bodes well for her during her recovery, and we look forward to hosting this auction.â€
â€œThis auction is simply â€˜one of a kindâ€™ and to be quite honest Iâ€™d like to bid on everything in it,” Llanes said. “I’m a fan of every one of these riders so these items are a big deal to me. Everyone at Go211.com is behind this auction and I know it will turn out great!â€


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Summary Box: India BlackBerry ban averted for 60 more daysBy AP
Monday, August 30, 2010
Summary Box: India BlackBerry ban averted for now
TEMPORARY REPREIVE: India is withdrawing its threat to ban BlackBerry services for at least 60 more days. The deadline had been Tuesday for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. to give security officials lawful access to encrypted data.
UNTIL THEN: India’s Department of Telecommunications will study the feasibility of routing BlackBerry services through a server in India.
NOT KNOWN: India’s Ministry of Home Affairs says RIM made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement, but it’s not clear what those concessions were. RIM declined comment.


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October 19, 2016, Covington Alert
On September 15, 2016, the European Commission published its Preliminary Report on the ongoing e-commerce sector inquiry. The report is based on the input from nearly 1,800 companies operating in e-commerce of consumer goods and digital content and has analyzed around 8,000 distribution contracts. The report confirms the fast growth of e-commerce in the EU and identifies business practices that may restrict or distort competition.
July 20, 2016, Global Competition Review
Kevin Coates participated in the American Bar Association’s criminal antitrust conference and is quoted in a GCR article regarding the effects of Brexit on antitrust. According to Coates, the effects of Brexit on competition law will only be felt if the United Kingdom decides it wants an economic relationship with the European Union different from one created by ...
July 19, 2016, PaRR
Kevin Coates spoke at an American Bar Association webinar entitled “Cartel and Criminal Practice Update” and is quoted in a PaRR article regarding the significance of the European Commission’s July truck cartel decision. According to Coates, this is the first case in which the EC issued a normal procedure statement of objections (SO) to parties, and then agreed ...
April 4, 2016, Global Competition Review
Kevin Coates, Johan Ysewyn and Deborah Garza are quoted in this GCR article announcing the arrival of Coates as a partner in the firm’s European competition practice.


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Martin Marietta reports huge 2nd quarter profits
Revenue for the company totaled $669.2 million, up from $561.3 million during the same period last year. Net sales hit a record $601.9 million, up from $507.1 million.
The company kept busy during the second quarter of 2014, shipping 12.7 percent more materials this period than the same period last year. Nonresidential construction shipments were up 16 percent compared to the second quarter of 2013.
“We continue to see numerous positive indicators that underpin our confidence in the momentum and growth trajectory of our business,” CEO Ward Nye said in a statement.
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June Price Statistics
The CPI jumped up 9.3 percent (annualized rate) in June, almost entirely because of a large spike in motor fuel (up 569 percent at an annualized rate). According to the data release, that spike in motor fuel accounted for over 80 percent of the overall increase in the CPI. However, even with this month's jump, the CPI is down 1.4 percent over the past year.
|Percent change, last|
|1 mo.a||3 mo.a||6 mo.a||12 mo.||5 yr.a||2008 average|
|Consumer Price Index|
|Less food and energy||2.4||2.4||2.3||1.7||2.2||1.8|
|16% trimmed meanb||2.0||1.3||1.5||1.6||2.5||2.7|
|Producer Price Index|
|Less food and energy||6.5||2.1||2.0||3.4||2.4||4.3|
b. Calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The core CPI rose 2.4 percent in June, following a 1.7 percent increase in May and outpacing most of its longer-term trends. Turning to the two measures of underlying inflation produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the median CPI increased 0.8 percent, while the 16-percent trimmed mean CPI rose 2.0 percent in June. Over the past three months, the median has averaged 1.2 percent and the trimmed mean 1.3 percent. Over the past year, they are trending between 1.6 percent and 2.1 percent.
Digging a little deeper into the report reveals a couple of curious price movements. First, apparel prices exhibited an unusual seasonal pattern, jumping 8.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, while falling 25.5 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Perhaps the story here is that the severity of the business cycle has already depressed clothing prices (and some other items as well, such as recreation), negating any of the usual "sales" during this time of year. Said another way, apparel prices have already been slashed to "rock-bottom prices" due to the recession, but the seasonal adjustment still takes place even though there may not be much of a "season" left to adjust for - leading to artificial price increases. Also, just as in the June producer price index, prices of new vehicles rose 8.2 percent in June and are actually up 0.9 percent over the past year (which doesn't make intuitive sense given the current environment, and may be another result of ill-timed seasonal effects).
The underlying component price-change distribution in June shows a substantial amount of weight in the tails. Nearly 52 percent (by expenditure weight) of the consumer market basket was in the extreme tails (rising in excess of 5 percent or exhibiting price decreases). Moreover, roughly 30 percent of the index rose at rates between 0 percent and 1 percent in June, leaving just 10 percent of the overall index between 1 percent and 3 percent a broad range that is usually associated with price stability.
One-year average inflation expectations from the University of Michigan's preliminary report of itsSurvey of Consumersticked down to 3.8 percent in July, from 3.9 percent in June. Longer-term (5-to-10 year ahead) average expectations jumped up to 3.7 percent from 3.2 percent in June (most likely biased by a few outliers), though the median only rose by 0.1 percentage point to 3.1 percent. The variance in the long-run responses was much wider than the average since 2000 (14 compared to 8.7), outlining the relative uncertainty survey respondents have about the inflation outlook.


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Trendy in Vegas
ISC West 2012 is now a wrap, the show having ended a few hours ago. Day 3 proved as thought provoking as the first two.
I started out today talking to Rick Robinson, president of Qualified Commercial Electronics Co. (QCECO), a fire and security company in Phoenix, Ariz. in business for 25 years.
Among the things that Robinson, who said his company is a Silent Knight dealer, talked about with me was trends. One trend he said he sees in the industry is that “the technology is consistently getting better and less expensive. I think the products we have available to us now, and that we’re offering to our customers, are selling themselves so to speak because they’re so good compared to the way things were 10 to 15 years ago.”
Robinson’s words seem to me to sum up very well what I was seeing and hearing this past week in Las Vegas. And the show also seemed reflective of other trends.
A case in point is the home energy management trend. Consumers already are demanding ways to manage their use of energy and that demand is expected to grow phenomenally in the next decade, according to a new study.
It was clear at the show that the security industry is already anticipating that demand with a variety of products that help consumers track their energy usage to save money.
Alarm.com, a Vienna, Va.-based technology provider of interactive security solutions is among those doing that through its new Smart Schedule Activity Patterns. The feature helps homeowners optimize their thermostat settings based on data from their security systems.
Alarm.com at the show was also promoting its new location-based services, called Geo-Services.
One of those services, to be released next month, is an arming reminder alert, said Jay Kenny, Alarm.com’s VP of marketing.
He said the service will make use of a homeowner’s GPS device on their mobile phone to determine if they’ve left a “geofence” around their home without arming their system. “If I leave that fence I can get a notification [that says]‘You forgot something on your system,’” Kenny told me.
He said such services all are part of a larger trend.
“The solution is really starting to be bigger than just security, more the management of these critical things in the home, [such as] energy, locks on the door, and two-way video systems,” Kenny told me. “That connected solution is something we’re seeing consumer interest in, and our dealers who are adopting the approach of selling that type of solution are having a lot of success right now.”


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New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman jointly announced with San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón the launch of the Secure Our Smart phones (S.O.S) Initiative. The movement is calling upon smartphone manufactures to “adopt technologies that would deter theft by drying up the secondary market on which stolen devices are sold,” according to a release.
“The epidemic of violent street crime involving the theft and resale of mobile devices is a very real and growing threat in communities all across America,” A.G. Schneiderman said via release. “According to reports, roughly 113 smartphones are stolen or lost each minute in the United States, with too many of those thefts turning violent. This nationwide coalition of leaders is committed to doing everything in our power to encourage industry to be good corporate citizens and take responsible steps to ensure the safety of our consumers.”
The group is looking to encourage anti-theft technology installation on smartphones, such as a “kill switch” that would render a reported device useless until recovered. This would--- in theory--- remove the incentive of thieves to steal the phones.
The move is supported by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who has also “urged” the major players in the smartphone industry---Google Inc (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930:Korea SE) to develop deterrent technology.
The S.O.S initiative is made up of law enforcement officials, public safety activists, consumer advocates, and Attorneys General across the United States.


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Microsoft plans to start a small-scale pilot of a microblogging service aimed at business users that it has been experimenting with in Office Labs.
It didn’t reveal many details of the service but said it has been testing it internally and the company is now looking for customers willing to participate in a pilot test.
Called OfficeTalk, the service is designed to let employees share brief bits of information, similar to the way that people use Twitter. “This concept test applies the base capabilities of microblogging to a business environment, enabling employees to post their thoughts, activities, and potentially valuable information to anyone who might be interested,” according to a blog post on the Office Labs site.
OfficeTalk was one of the most popular internal concept tests at Office Labs, the post says.
“Not only was the obvious demonstrated, that people don’t limit microblogging activity to the purely social, but that even an IT managed implementation focused on business productivity can spread quickly across informal networks and create unique collaboration efficiencies and experiences,” it said.
Microsoft now wants to test OfficeTalk along with other social-networking experiments with a few customers. It hopes to study ways that businesses and people use the technologies, according to the blog post.
Microsoft is following other companies that are already offering microblogging software for enterprises. For instance, SocialText, StatusNet, Yammer, Socialcast and Salesforce’s Chatter are all microblogging products used by enterprises.
Office Labs researchers are always quick to point out that they work on experiments that may never become live products, and this blog post is no different. “OfficeTalk isn’t a product — it’s a research project focused on learning how people might use social networking tools at work and in what ways both people and organizations realize their value,” it reads.
The blog post is dated Wednesday, and ZDNet wrote about it on Friday.


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Analogix Semiconductor, a major player in enabling DisplayPort products, has introduced SlimPort Mobile Device to display accessories.
Officials with Analogix Semiconductor said that the new line of SlimPort accessories feature a microUSB adapter that connects SlimPort or MyDP (Mobility DisplayPort) enabled mobile phones and tablets to any HD projector, TV, computer or monitor for multi-display productivity and big screen entertainment.
“Using next generation smartphones and tablets with integrated SlimPort products combined with SP accessories will make it easy to own most any screen wherever you go,” said Andre Bouwer, vice president of marketing for Analogix, in a statement.
Bouwer added that multi-screen multi-tasking will soon become a reality, while sharing content with friends, family and colleagues will be simpler than ever.
Company officials said that coming to market in the next couple of months, tablets and smartphones featuring SlimPort capabilities will be equipped to display true full HD (1080p at 60Hz) media on any screen, even in 3D, all while preserving battery life.
According to company officials, Analogix is releasing a total of four supporting microUSB cables and adapters with connectivity through most popular display standards - HDMI, VGA, DVI and DisplayPort.
“The VESA MyDP specification, based on globally adopted DisplayPort technology, was designed specifically to make media sharing high quality and intuitive to connect,” said Mike Engbretson, chief technology engineer of Granite River Labs.
“We are very pleased to have certified the source silicon for the industry’s first MyDP product, and look forward to working with Analogix and their customers to certify SlimPort active adapters and mobile devices,” said Engbretson, adding that MyDP certification is critical to the successful launch of SlimPort and assures customers that the products meet expected compliance and interoperability requirements.
With lab locations in Santa Clara, Calif., and Taipei and Hsinchu in Taiwan, Granite River Labs provides a range of engineering services to help customers adopt multi-gigabit connectivity technologies from the IC to system level, including compliance testing, debugging, device characterization, signal/power integrity modeling and simulation, stress testing, benchmarking, and interoperability.
Edited by Allison Boccamazzo