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The luxury carmaker, famous for making the car driven by secret agent James Bond, sold 3,259 cars globally last year, nearly 8 percent of them in China.
Aston Martin’s plan was conveyed on Tuesday to Chinese regulatory agencies that had taken up the issue after dissatisfied customers complained. Formal documents would be submitted by the end of the European day, Palmer said.
Chinese authorities did not respond to a request for comment.
The global recall will be unwelcome publicity for a company that has said for years it wants to go public. It reported its first Q1 profit in a decade in May.
Palmer did not say how much the recall would cost, but knowledgeable people close to the company estimated the total cost at around 300,000 pounds ($380,760).
The recall will cover 1,658 Vantage cars built between June 2010 and September 2013 with the Sportshift I and Sportshift II automated manual transmission gearboxes, including 113 that were sold in China. The Vantage is the only Aston Martin model with a semi-manual shift.
FAILURE TO RESET
Palmer said the problem occurred because some dealerships in China failed to reset the clutch position after software updates to the automatic transmission system.
“In the normal course of events, when you make a software change, you have to re-teach the engagement position of the clutch. And most of our dealers around the world automatically did that,” he said.
If the clutch is not re-taught the biting point – the point when the clutch plate engages with the engine plate – “it’s possible that a car could initially stall while in operation”, he said.
Aston Martin sent its engineers to China after it tried and failed to replicate the stalling problem in its own engineering laboratories. When they arrived, they discovered that some cars suffered unusual noise and vibration, and in worst cases an engine stall, after the new software was installed.


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Jul 22, 2010
L.K.Bennett USA Launch & International Expansion
Jul 22, 2010
Luxury British fashion house L.K.Bennett, renowned for its unique collections of footwear, clothing and accessories announces a significant step in its international expansion strategy.
L.K.Bennett autumn/winter Campaign 2010 - Four women, of different ages and professions, champion the brand as they are captured in the context of their busy lives.
Founded in London in 1990 and currently enjoying a successful online and retail presence of 116 stores across the UK, Ireland and France, L.K.Bennett will launch the brand for the first time in the US, and showcase the Fall/Winter 2010 collections in four of Bloomingdale’s prestigious destinations measuring up to 720 sq feet:
• 59th St , New York
• Bergen Shops at Riverside , New Jersey
• Tyson’s Corner, Virginia
• King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Rest of the World
L.K.Bennett continues to unveil the new store concept in London’s key shopping destinations including the opening of a flagship store in Covent Garden and King’s Road.
Following the successful launch of a clothing boutique at the Printemps Haussmann in February 2010 – L.K.Bennett will be expanding their presence with a separate shoe area opening end July and two further clothing and shoe locations within Printemps Parly 2, one of Paris’s most affluent suburbs.
In addition, L.K.Bennett will also be available in prestigious locations across Europe in Germany, Austria, and further afield Turkey, Hong Kong and China.
By Rosie Hart
Copyright © 2021 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.

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Martin Kenwright is funding next-gen games and entertainment development studio Starship Group, with developers who have worked on Motorstorm, Project Gotham Racing and the Wipeout franchises.
The studio is based in Liverpool and boasts a team that includes Kenwright - who founded Evolution and BigBig Studios before selling to Sony - alongside former Motorstorm brand director Paul Hollywood, ex-Psygnosis and Sony exec Clemens Wangerin and Mike Humphrey (Sony Liverpool, Sawfly Studios).
Between them, the team at Starship have worked on the Motorstorm, Project Gotham Racing, Wipeout, Blur and LittleBigPlanet franchises.
The new studio is "developing major cross-platform next-gen IP incorporating intelligent communications platforms," with more details expected at this year's E3 show.
“I was never going to return to the industry to do something that people expected,” said Kenwright. “I had five years away from making games, during which I came to the conclusion that gaming investment is broken, and because of that real innovation seems to have taken a backseat.
"The concept for Starship takes our AAA softology and wraps it around the antidote. The content that we’re working on now breaks new ground in a multitude of ways; in concept, in our approach to its creation, in how it’s funded, right through to how it’s marketed. Work on a number of genuinely game-changing products is already underway and we’ll be in a position to unveil the first as we get closer to summer.”


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ANALYSIS - One of the biggest threats and challenges to farmers today is the volatility of the market.
Managing the ups and downs of the market, constantly changing prices and costs and the competition from producers around the world on domestic markets are testing farmers daily.
Managing Volatility as the New Norm is the theme of this year’s National Farm Management Conference in London.
The conference, organised by the Institute of Agricultural Management, will focus on the challenges a volatile market presents looking at aspects from across the farming spectrum as well as taking views from those advising the industry and the end customer.
Joint conference chairman, IAgrM chairman, John Giles said that the UK and world agriculture and agri-food sectors are currently experiencing a period of volatility in terms of world commodity prices, climate, consumer behaviour, currencies, economic growth patterns and input prices.
“Our conference has been designed to reflect this situation, which as we have said in the title, might well become the new norm, at least in the next few years,” he said.
“We have identified what we believe to be a group of speakers from across the supply chain from a range of sectors to address us. These are all people and organisations at the top of their game.
“I am a strong believer in the principle of ‘transferable lessons’ from other sectors. I am sure the day will be of huge benefit to all our delegates, as we grapple with the challenges and opportunities that UK agriculture has to contend with.”
The conference will start with a presentation from the chief executive of the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board, former National Farmers’ Union president Peter Kendall.
He said that with British food and drink exports reaching £19 billion and rising, the long term future for UK farmers and growers is encouraging despite the upheaval of farmgate prices in recent months.
“Maximising the opportunities this offers us as farmers and growers lies in encouraging a mind-set, which looks to continually learn and adapt, one which is open to building new skills, innovating and adopting new technologies,” Mr Kendall said.
“Beyond the farmgate, we need a culture of joined-up thinking and collaboration across the supply chain, a culture which is backed up by strong centres of excellence in food and farming and a focus on applied research which delivers a tangible difference to agricultural businesses.”
Jimmy McLean, the agriculture chairman of RBS said that managing risk is key to managing volatility on the farm and he said risk is divided into three broad categories.
- Loss control
- Risk Transfer
- Risk Retention
“The objective is not to eliminate risk - but to manage that risk in balance with the return or cost to the business,” said Mr McLean.
“The sources of risk are well known. Yields can be affected by weather, pests or diseases. Price movements can be triggered by sudden changes in supply or demand, or by exchange rates. These can have knock-on effects on input costs. Although they may be categorised as production risks, they ultimately create financial risk within businesses.”
He added: “Many farmers already practice a degree of risk management, although they may not describe it in these words. In a world where costs and prices tend to be volatile, and where the cushion of price support has been reduced, risk management will become a more important part of business planning.”
In the conference, Connor McVeigh, the UK supply chain director at the fast food chain McDonald’s will look at the partnership approach between he supplier and the customer to managing volatility.
“I will explain how the relationships fostered over many years have enabled the business to meet its growing demand for quality ingredients,” he said.
“I will also talk about how McDonald’s treats its suppliers, very intentionally as partners and how both parties willingness to collaborate, innovate and invest together has steered forward success for both sides and created the strong and robust supply chain the UK business requires to meet its future demand.”
Andy Thompson, the Europe, Middle East and Africa regional director at Genus said that the current extremes of market volatility from both an output and input perspective are creating the ‘perfect storm’ for those customers aligned to non-differentiated milk contracts.
His presentation to the conference is to discuss how different segments of the dairy producer market need to adapt and change from a marketing stand point, while aligning their own production systems to this.
“Not only will traditional forms of benchmarking need to be used, but the integration of behaviour, leadership, strategic planning and effective partnerships will all need to be considered,” he said.
“Scale, geography, breeding and local resources will all play their part in the future success of dairying in the UK.
“My presentation will also touch briefly on what this means for those in the supply industry and how this needs to change to give customers choice and value in the future.”
Joint conference chairman, David Alvis managing director of Yorkshire Goats said that in the dairy sector a one per cent oversupply can result in a 50 per cent drop in the market price.
“Market volatility is the new normal and it is not going to go away anytime soon. It cannot be managed per se, but our exposure and resilience to its inherent risks can be” he said.
Mr Alvis added that it can be managed through competitiveness, consistency and cooperation.
He said that cost of production remains the most effective hedge against volatility but assured quality standards can often be the key differentiating factor in determining choice in an oversupplied market.
He added that cooperation and strength in numbers also played an important role as this helped to achieve the critical mass to add value to production while at the same time keeping flexibility and the capacity to take advantage of market opportunities.
Thia Hennessy, the principal research officer at the Rural Economy Research Centre in Ireland, will be looking at the approach taken in Ireland to managing volatility in the grain and dairy sectors.
Dr Hennessy said: “Farming has always been a risky business with farmers being at the mercy of markets, the weather and animal disease.
“However in recent years it has become a far more risky business.”
At the conference, Dr Hennessy will look at contributing factors to market volatility including extreme weather events and she will examine how the farming community has coped with these risks.
She will also examine how the US farming sector has approached volatility and describe the impact of volatile markets produced by extreme weather conditions on Irish agriculture.
The National Farm Management Conference takes place in London on 26 November.


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Who is your venue targeting the most with your marketing efforts: new customers or current customers?
If you said new customers, it’s time to rethink your marketing plan. According to Dorien Morin-van Dam, Social Media Marketing Consultant for More In Media, It costs five times as much to attract a new customer as it is to keep an existing customer. An existing customer already knows, likes, and trusts you. In fact, they’re 50 percent mover likely to purchase a new product or service from a business they’ve purchased from in the past — and they’re willing to spend 31 percent more, Morin-van Dam said.
“Why you should have a retention marketing strategy as part of your overall strategic plan is very simple: it’s money,” she said. “Part of your marketing strategy should be a social media strategy and part of your social media strategy should be some retention marketing.”
During this year’s EventCamp, Morin-van Dam spoke about three social media customer retention marketing ideas that your restaurant, hotel, or venue can use to easily market to your current customers and grow your business: Facebook groups, chatbots, and brand ambassadors. They’re three ways to keep your brand on the minds and in full view of your current customers. View Morin-van Dam’s full session and get her tips in the video below:
Don’t miss the next EventCamp!
We’ll announce our plans for EventCamp in early 2020. Sign up for email updates to be the first to know the details and get access to earlybird ticket rates. You can also access past sessions and tips by viewing EventCamp posts on the Tripleseat blog or by visiting the EventCamp website.


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The 2015 KBB Brand Image Awards are in, and Ford has been recognized with the title of Best Overall Truck Brand! This isn’t the first time, either. In fact, this marks the 2nd time in a row and sixth time in seven years that Ford has received the honor. What makes the award even more special is the fact that the Brand Image Awards are based on customers’ and shoppers’ opinions of brands and their models.
People love the F-Series, and this latest recognition from KBB proves it. The all-new 2015 F-150 has been one of the lineup’s most praised models throughout the last year, and it’s definitely no stranger to the spotlight. In addition to this latest award, the 2015 F-150 has received 9 Truck/Utility of the Year awards, as well as numerous “Best Truck,” “Most Innovative” and “Best Performance” awards.
There’s a lot to love about Ford trucks, plain and simple. If you’re interested in experiencing America’s best-selling truck for yourself, come visit us at Shults Ford Lincoln of Wexford today!
It used to serve presidents, until the name fell out of favor as European luxury cars pushed their way into the American market. Now, it’s back. Lincoln is resurrecting the former presidential vehicle. The Lincoln Continental will go on sale in 2016.
Since it last rolled off the lines in 2002, the Continental has been storied. While Lincoln tried to compete with foreign automakers, the American aspect vanished from the car. Now, CEO Mark Fields is leading the revival.
“When we get a chance to work on an iconic nameplate like that, it’s a mixture of pride and a mixture of fear, because when you put that name out there, it’s got to deliver,” Fields told The Associated Press.
Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, who added it to the lineup in 1938, first inspired the Lincoln Continental. Sales gradually rose until 1990, where they peaked at 62,732 units. After that, sales slipped and Lincoln fell out of the luxury market. Now, with Fields behind the wheel, Lincoln is pushing its way back up from premium to luxury. Hopes are set high in China, where full-size sedans are growing in popularity.
It’s easy for a lot of crossovers and SUVs out there to stick a few shiny surfaces and finishes on their exterior and interiors and claim to be “luxury” vehicles. Not all that glitters is gold, though, as we know. Here at Shults Ford Lincoln of Wexford, though, we’ve got the real deal. The new Lincoln MKX might be built on the same platform as the Ford Edge, but it takes everything to a whole new level.
The Lincoln MKX is a beautiful crossover, with a uniquely Lincoln design look. Fortunately, the package is as excellent and luxurious as the wrapping indicates. It features perks like a Revel audio unit with 13 speakers in Select and Reserve trim levels—that number shoots up to 19 in the Black Label trim—the MyLincoln Mobile app, leather upholstery with 22-way power-adjustable front seats, and much more.
It’s not just a mobile hotel room, though—it’s got quite a powertrain under the hood as well. You can get a V6 engine with over 300 horsepower or even a new 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine option with up to 330 horsepower. The new version of the MKX will hit dealerships this fall, but come in and see us here at Shults to learn more about the MKX and the rest of the upgraded, truly luxurious Lincoln lineup today.
Together, The Center for Auto Safety and The Car Book have said that the Lincoln Navigator is a Best Bet. The award is only given to vehicles with superior crash test ratings, and the Navigator is the only large premium utility vehicle to earn this recognition.
The award is based on nine vehicle categories, including, crash tests, safety features, rollover, preventative maintenance, repair costs, warranty, fuel economy, complaints, and insurance.
The 2015 Lincoln Navigator earned a five-star Overall Vehicle Score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this year.
In addition to its excellent safety standards, the Navigator offers an interior with premium features including better second-row head room and leg room than the Cadillac Escalade. Also, when properly equipped, it has a best-in-class towing capability of 9,000 pounds.
The 2015 Navigator is also the most powerful and most efficient Navigator ever. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine delivers 380 horsepower along with best-in-class fuel economy of 16 mpg city, 22 mpg highway, and 18 mpg combined.
If you’re looking for a luxurious large SUV that will give you the best in safety and features, come check out the 2015 Lincoln Navigator available now at Shults Ford Lincoln of Wexford.
Ford has never been an auto company to shy away from lofty goals. Their latest ambition? To sell 700,000 Ford F-150 models—a goal that they’re already well on their way to achieving, thanks to the enormous popularity of the model.
There are two different assembly plants working on F-150’s, one in Dearborn, Michigan, and another in Kansas City, Missouri. Between the two, Ford will likely be able to build the 700,000 units in just a single year.
New technology in the Dearborn and Kansas City plans should make the Ford F-150 production smoother, faster, and generally more efficient than ever, including a new paint shop that detects dirt and a fleet of 500 robots to join panels and handle other small tasks.
The automaker reportedly sold 470,000 F-150’s in 2014, without even counting the other members of the F-Series (like the F-250 and F-350), which bring their 2014 F-Series sales easily over one million. It’s no wonder they’re trying to speed up production to meet this incredible demand.
Let’s say you have planned to go somewhere—the mall, coffee shop, a friend’s house, whatever. It’s something you have been looking forward to for a very long time. You trudge through the snow out to Lincoln MKC only to realize that you forgot to remotely start your car! Now you’ve got to scrape all of the ice of your windshield, making you late and putting you in a foul mood for the rest of the evening.
Not anymore. Not if you own a Lincoln automobile and an Android smartphone. That’s because the Lincoln Motor Company is “the first automotive brand to launch an available seamless integration with Now cards in the Google app,” according to a press release from the automaker. This is achieved by the way of the free MyLincoln Mobile app.
If you’re wondering what Now cards are, Google says that they are are “short snippets of useful information” that appear “when you’re most likely to need them” and when “they’re relevant, based on things like the time and your location.”
Now, if you’ve scheduled your outing in your Google calendar, your Lincoln automobile will be nice and warm.
We love great-looking cars, no doubt about it. However, good looks don’t mean much if the car isn’t safe enough to drive. Thankfully, the all-new 2015 Mustang is head-turning for both its design and its recent safety awards. The pony car has achieved a five-star rating for overall vehicle safety from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s New Car Assessment Program.
A five-star rating is the highest awarded by the organization.
“The new Mustang was built from the ground up,” said Carl Widmann, chief engineer for the Mustang. “It is more refined, more powerful and it has everything people have come to love about Mustang for the past 50 years.”
The iconic car received five stars in each crash test—front, side, and rollover.
The available rearview camera and lane departure warning technologies are also recommended for the vehicle.
Stop by Shults Ford Lincoln of Wexford today for more information on the vehicle that so seamlessly combines stunning design with trustworthy safety.
Is there anything better than that new car smell? Well, according to Chinese consumers, there is – no smell at all. In an effort to appease its Chinese car customers, Lincoln eliminates its new car smell from vehicles bound for China.
According to representatives from Lincoln Motor Company, research indicates Chinese patrons are less than enthusiastic about the scent caused by new plastics, glue, and leather that most Americans find so appealing in new cars. “They don’t like it,” says Kumar Galhotra, Lincoln’s president. “We’ve gone through a very thorough process of understanding the materials that contribute to that smell.”
In an effective effort to remove the new car smell, some automakers are employing nose teams to inspect cars for odor and develop methods for its removal. Fortunately for the Chinese market, Lincoln workers simply put a container of carbon absorbent sheets into the Lincoln cabins before the vehicle is shipped to China – much like eliminating bad odors from the fridge with baking soda – and upon arrival, the smell has dissipated.
Come check out Shults Ford Lincoln of Wexford, where we promise you can enjoy that new car smell!
By recently partnering with Google, Lincoln was able to develop a one-of-a-kind seamless app experience to add to the luxury experience of owning a Lincoln. The new MyLincoln Mobile app was developed to increase connectivity between drivers and their cars.
The new app is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, allowing drivers to schedule remote starts, lock, unlock, and locate their vehicle, all with the push of a button. The seamless integration also means that owners can sync their cars with their calendars to have their car ready to go when they need it, said Lincoln.
“Delivering unique experiences for the luxury client throughout ownership is fundamental to Lincoln,” said Matt VanDyke, Director at Global Lincoln. “By innovating with leading tech companies, we have an opportunity to personalize the ongoing interaction between the customer and the vehicle.”
The new MyLincoln Mobile app will also allow users to access Google, providing them with information on traffic, weather, and even things like sports scores. No more fumbling around with your phone; this new system lets users have hands-free information anytime they want. Plus, with the new remote system, drivers can access their cars from nearly anywhere.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has awarded the 2015 Lincoln Navigator with its maximum 5-star Overall Vehicle Score for safety in the New Car Assessment Program.
The score highlights the SUV’s ability to keep passengers safe in the event of a frontal or side-impact crash, as well as its resistance to rollover. It uses a nifty system called AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control to provide stability and minimize skidding/fishtailing in sharp turns.
However, what impresses us the most about the 2015 Navigator here at Shults Ford Lincoln of Wexford is the vehicle’s ability to avoid crashes altogether, thanks to its comprehensive suite of advanced driver-assist technologies.
Features like Blind Spot Information System, Cross-traffic alert, and forward and reverse sensing systems ensure that the driver is as aware of his or her surroundings as possible, making them less likely to get into a situation that would lead to an inevitable crash. And that, we think, is even better than its 5-star crashworthiness!


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Apple puts the mobile in automobile with CarPlay
While the world obsessively reads the tea leaves on Apple's inevitable foray into wearables and televisions, the electronics giant is motoring into an even bigger market — the automobile.
Apple announced details of its plan to reinvent the driving experience at the Geneva Auto Show Monday.
CarPlay (formerly iOS for the Car) integrates the iPhone with a vehicle’s infotainment system, providing turn-by-turn navigation; Siri-activated phone calling; notification alerts; even third-party app support, such as music streaming service Spotify.
CarPlay (AutoPlay would have been cooler, but Microsoft got there first) will initially be available on 2014 models from Ferrari, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. Further down the road, CarPlay will roll out to mass-market automakers including General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Hyundai.
With CarPlay, Apple threatens to disrupt multiple industries including GPS device makers, terrestrial radio, cheap plastic button manufacturers, and competing infotainment operating systems from BlackBerry (QNX) and Microsoft (Sync)
The biggest disruption, however, will be for the driver. By transforming the vehicle into an extension of the iPhone, CarPlay promises to make driving not just about getting places, but getting stuff done along the way.
Many questions, however, remain unanswered. Will CarPlay require special hardware; will automakers offer the service as a paid option; how will the iPhone communicate with the in-vehicle infotainment systems.
Like the smartphone, the car is also about to become a pawn in the mobile OS wars. Google is believed to be working on a similar infotainment service, which I expect automakers to offer to their Android-toting customers.
Urvaksh Karkaria covers Technology.
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Sumary of Bitcoin About-Face: JPMorgan Opens Crypto Trading To All Clients:
- [+] speaks on September 25,2019 in New York,US. (Photo by Misha Friedman/Getty Images) Getty Images In an ironic twist given CEO Jamie Dimon’s well-established distrust of the industry, JPM JPM organ has reportedly become the first major US bank to provide all wealth-management clients with access to bitcoin and other cryptocurrency funds.
- Advisors in JPMorgan’s $630 billion wealth management division can now accept orders to buy and sell five crypto products including Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust, Bitcoin Cash Trust, Ethereum Trust, Ethereum Classic products, and Osprey Funds’ Bitcoin Trust.
- OBTC remains the lowest-priced publicly traded bitcoin fund in the U.S. and we believe JPMorgan’s clients will see value in the product,” Greg King, founder and CEO of Osprey Funds, told Forbes.
- Advisors are not allowed to recommend crypto products to clients, and the clients must ask to make crypto trades.
- Previously, JPM only allowed private wealth clients to invest in an actively managed bitcoin fund, with crypto firm NYDIG providing custody services.
- MORE FOR YOU Observers will now look to see if other Wall Street banks that have also offered limited crypto exposure to select clients follow suit.


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TOP 10 BEST ALBUMS OF 2012 By: Fridae Mattas #1: DEFTONES - KOI NO YOKAN - Watch a tune from their set at Heavy T.O, 2012 here. #2: ENTER SHIKARI - A FLASH FLOOD OF COLOUR: Read the record review by FridaeTV contributor Anthony Dell'Orso here. #3: THE CULT - CHOICE OF WEAPON: You can watch the interview with Ian Astbury here. #4: KRS One … Continue reading FRIDAE TV’S TOP 10 BEST ALBUMS OF 2012
THE USED, from Orem, Utah USA, will be doing two in store autograph sessions in Alberta during their western Canadian tour in June at WEST 49 locations! Bert, Quinn, Jeph and Dan will be at the West 49 store in West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, AB on June 05th and in Chinook Mall, Calgary, AB on … Continue reading ALBERTA!! THE USED ANNOUNCE TWO AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS!!
THE USED Release New Album VULNERABLE TODAY! March 27, 2012 – Today The Used have released their 5th studio album, Vulnerable off their own record label Anger Music Group partnered with Hopeless Records HERE. In conjunction with the new album release, the band has announced a headlining tour kicking off May 12th with Dead Sara … Continue reading THE USED RELEASE NEW LP ‘VULNERABLE’ TODAY!
The Used Release New Song "Hands And Faces" The Used have released a new song from their upcoming full length Vulnerable out March 27th. The song was released February 21 with the band holding a live twitter chat discussing the new song with fans. Fans can stream the song exclusively on http://www.theused.net "Hands And Faces" … Continue reading THE USED’S NEW TUNE HANDS AND FACES!
THE USED FORMS NEW RECORD LABEL, ANGER MUSIC GROUP PARTNERS WITH HOPELESS RECORDS TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM VULNERABLE MARCH 27TH 2012 Hopeless Records is excited to announce that they have partnered with The Used and their label, Anger Music Group to release their highly anticipated follow up to 2009’s Artwork. “The Used are proud to … Continue reading THE USED NEW SINGLE OUT JAN 17TH, RECORD TO BE RELEASED MARCH 27TH


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- This is our first official look at the new Google Nest smart speaker.
- It has the same fabric mesh design as most Google smart home speakers.
- It also looks like a more compact version of the Google Home Max.
Just a few hours ago, we got our first glimpse at the upcoming Google Home successor thanks to some images discovered within an FCC listing. Google has now provided Android Authority with a clear image and a short supercut video showing the upcoming Nest speaker in its entirety.
We don’t really know the final product name for the new Google Nest speaker but as you can see from the image above, it sports the very familiar fabric mesh finish with rounded corners that we’ve come to expect from Google’s smart home speakers. In fact, the new speaker looks like a more compact version of the Google Home Max that launched back in 2017. It echoes the same design aesthetic, albeit without the protruding chassis at the back.
The image above and the video embedded below also show us the Google Assistant lights shining through the fabric mesh covering when prompted by the “Hey, Google” command. You can daisy-chain two (or possibly more) of these new Nest speakers to play music at the same time as shown in the video.
We can’t really see the back of the device in the official material shared by Google with us, but the FCC listing showed that the Google logo and a power port are placed at the rear of the device.
That’s all we know right now about the new Google Nest speaker, but we’re hoping Google will launch it soon since the device has already cleared FCC and Google has also seemingly readied promotional material for it.


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Samsung has something ticking up its sleeve. In a few hours, at an event in the middle of Berlin before IFA 2016 officially kicks off, we think you’ll find yourself a brand new smartwatch. Here’s how you can watch along with us.
At 2AM AEST, Samsung’s livestream for the first of a couple of different IFA 2016 press conferences kicks off. Down the bottom of the video, you’ll find an embedded YouTube video to take part yourself, or head here for a direct feed.
Why do we think it’s the Gear S3? Well, take a look at Samsung’s ‘Talk About 3’ event page — there’s a big ol’ watchface, the number 3, and a Gear logo. And a bunch of rumours beside that. You don’t have to be an expert to put two and two together.
What we know about the Gear S3 is… nothing, for the time being. We’ve heard that it’s an evolutionary update on the Gear S2 with the same Tizen software and signature rotating bezel, but support for new features like Samsung Pay and potentially support for 3G
You can tune into the livestream below. We’ll be covering the announcement as it happens from the ground, so if you’re awake, make sure to check back in and see exactly what it is Samsung has to unveil. [Samsung]


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Dhaka, Feb 19 (UNB)- Under the joint declaration with US-Bangla Airlines, AerCap and The Boeing Company, the first-ever Boeing 737 Max 8 will be operated by the US-Bangla Airlines in the country.
AerCap, is the largest owner of commercial aircraft in the world and the most active aircraft trader. AerCap serves over 200 customers in approximately 80 countries with comprehensive fleet solutions.
Since its beginning the main goal of US-Bangla has been to provide comfortable, modern and acceptable aircrafts for the passengers and Boeing 737 Max 8 is one of the most widely accepted aircraft, said a press release of US-Bangla Airlines.
Shortly, two brand new ATR 72-600 aircrafts will be added to the fleet of US-Bangla Airlines. According to the demand of passengers, US-Bangla Airlines is the first private airline in country which is collecting aircraft from the factory directly.
The Boeing 737 Max aircraft offers the latest technology to the most popular jet aircraft, Boeing 737. The Boeing 737 Max is designed to provide a comfortable travel experience for the passengers and to manage the routes directly to their favorite destinations.
Many renowned airlines in the world have already started using Boeing 737 Max Aircraft. Notable airlines includes: Malaysia Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, United Airlines, American Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Fly Dubai and many more.
Imran Asif, Chief Executive Officer of US-Bangla Airlines, AerCap's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Commercial Officer Philip Scruggs, Leasing high official Sutesh Selvaratnam, Ahsen Rajput, Director Sales and Marketing, The Boeing Company and high officials of US-Bangla Airlines were also present on the press conference.
Rabat, Feb 19 (Xinhua/UNB) -The Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj signed Monday here four agreements to cement bilateral cooperation.
The two foreign ministers inked four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the areas of security, housing, investments and youths.
Speaking at a press briefing, Bourita said the signing of these agreements will strengthen the legal framework governing the relations between the two countries.
For her part, the Indian foreign minister stressed that India is committed to developing bilateral relations with Morocco.
Swaraj also met with several Moroccan officials, including the Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani.
Dhaka, Feb 18 (UNB) - International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB) has said the trade conflict between the United States and China is a major concern for global economy as the two countries are the world’s two biggest economies.
“Trade and economic relations between the two countries are of great significance for world economy,” said the ICCB quoting the editorial of its current news bulletin released on Monday.
For most Asian nations, China is their single biggest trading destination while the US remains an invaluable economic partner.
As a result, ICCB said, the escalating tensions between the two economic giants have caused unease for the region.
Bilateral trade and economic ties between China and the US have developed steadily over the decades and the recent trade friction between these two countries has clouded their relations, said the chamber body.
Based on purchasing power parity (PPP) China has been the world's largest economy for the last three years having economic output of $23.12 trillion, followed by EU countries ($19.9 trillion) and US ($19.4 trillion) according to 2017 World Fact book of CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
The world's three largest economies combined have produced $62.4 trillion, 49 percent of the world's total economy.
Currently, the US is China's biggest export market and sixth biggest source of imports. On the other hand, China is the fastest growing export market and biggest source of imports for the USA.
“The tariff fight between the two countries is often cited as the biggest risk to global investor confidence and a threat to the world economy,” said the ICCB.
According to the recently released White Paper by China, regarding trade and economic frictions with the US, trade between the two states reached US$583.7 billion in 2017.
The Trump administration has instigated a trade war with China by imposing tariffs on a total of $250bn of imports from China.
As counter to the US move, China is also imposing tariffs on $110bn of imports from the US. There have been warnings from both the private and public sectors about the potential spillover effects on the world economy of the ongoing trade war between the two world economic powers.
The ICCB said the US and China agreed to a temporary truce to escalate trade tensions, during G20 Summit in Buenos Aires on December 1 last year.
According to the agreement, both the US and China will refrain from increasing tariffs or imposing new tariffs for 90 days (until March 1, 2019).
On January 7, official delegates from the US and China began trade talks, which were held in Beijing -- the first face-to-face meeting since agreeing to a 90 days truce. Both sides have agreed to continue to keep in close contact.
The ICCB said a trade war cannot help the entrenchment of trust and constructive cooperation in the US-China relations.
“So, it’s crucial for both the countries to mitigate ongoing rivalry without losing any further time to ensure sustainable global economic growth,” the editorial reads.
Dhaka, Feb 18 (UNB) – Members of E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (E-CAB) on Monday welcomed the Digital Commerce Gazzette-2019 terming it a ‘milestone’ for advancement towards digitisation of country’s business sectors and demanded extension of tax holiday for the sector.
They urged government to acknowledge all sorts of online business as e-commerce activities and demanded extension of vat-tax holiday considering e-commerce a priority sector. They also sought to keep the income tax at a minimum 0.1 percent for e-commerce enterprises.
They came up with the plea at a press conference on ‘Digital Commerce Gazzette-2019 and proposals about digital commerce in coming national budget’ arranged by E-CAB at the Jatiya Press Club.
President of E-CAB Shomi Kaiser urged the government to retain tax holiday for e-commerce enterprises in the upcoming budget of 2019-20 financial year.
“E-commerce will gain more popularity if tax-holiday is retained for the enterprises involved. Also, if any retailer trades online despite having shops outside virtual marketplace; it should also fall under e-commerce and be given the facility,” she added.
E-CAB General Secretary Abdul Wahed Tamal presented proposals from E-CAB for the upcoming budget of 2019-20 financial years.
He demanded change of current definition of ‘online product selling’ and inclusion of proper definition in current gazette.
‘It is indeed a appreciable initiative from the government to publish the policy as gazette in the shortest time. It will be considered as a milestone for e-industrialisation of the country,” said Tamal.
He further said that e-commerce has yet to gain public confidence despite its infrastructural development.
E-CAB put forward a set of proposals for rapid growth of country’s e-commerce sector which included allocation in budget for training of e-commerce entrepreneurs; annexing e-commerce with Information Technology Enabled Service (ITES) definition; vat exemption in renting out office and warehouse; reducing income tax to 0.1 percent and more.
E-CAB executive committee members and Local e-commerce entrepreneurs were also present at the event.
Washington, Feb 18 (Xinhua/UNB) - A recent report showed that U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon did not pay federal income taxes in 2018.
Published Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the report listed the effective tax rate of Amazon at negative 1.2 percent on its pretax profit at 10.8 billions U.S. dollars in 2018.
"The company's newest corporate filing reveals that, far from paying the statutory 21 percent income tax rate on its U.S. income in 2018, Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate of 129 million U.S. dollars," the report said.
It also mentioned that the company paid no federal corporate income taxes in 2017, as the effective tax rate was negative 2.5 percent on its 5.6-billion-dollar income.
The U.S. think tank suggested that government review current tax laws and stop corporate tax avoidance.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted in March 2018 on Amazon's reported tax avoidance, accusing the company of "causing tremendous loss to the U.S." by using the postal system as "delivery boy."


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Please choose between the two following links.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
GTH CEO Bryan Richards Speaks at Canadian Transportation Research Forum
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Brightenview breaks ground on new trade complex at the GTH
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Future Transfer, a national logistics company brings important distribution service offering to Global Transportation Hub
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Company to play host to Ride Don’t Hide from Mental Health bike event
Monday, February 6, 2017
Brightenview becomes latest client at Saskatchewan’s inland port
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
The Gateway is a quarterly newsletter we release for our local business community. Read the Fall 2016 issue here.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
GTH adds global experience and industry expertise to its board


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Vice Media, the renowned digital media and broadcasting company known for its alternative and edgy content, is undergoing a significant restructuring. In a memo issued by CEO Bruce Dixon last Friday (23 February), Vice announced plans to lay off hundreds of employees and cease content publication on its Vice.com website.
Established in 1994 as a punk magazine in Montreal, Canada, Vice Media has evolved into a multimedia platform covering a wide array of topics including news, culture, arts, music, technology, and lifestyle. However, despite its initial success, the company has encountered financial challenges in recent years.
At its peak in 2017, Vice was valued at $5.7 billion with approximately 1,000 employees worldwide. Today, its market value has plummeted, likely fetching under $1 billion. The company operates in various regions globally, including the Asia Pacific, with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Australia, and Japan.
In the memo to staff, Dixon cited the need for strategic changes to enhance competitiveness in the long term. He acknowledged that Vice’s previous methods of distributing digital content were no longer cost-effective, necessitating a fundamental shift in their strategic vision.
The decision to lay off staff and discontinue Vice.com’s operations reflects the company’s efforts to realign resources and streamline operations amidst financial difficulties. Dixon emphasized that Vice’s women’s lifestyle site, Refinery29, will continue to operate independently, with discussions ongoing regarding its potential sale.
This latest round of layoffs follows Vice’s rescue from bankruptcy in June 2023 through a $350 million acquisition by Fortress Investment Group. Prior to this acquisition, Vice had struggled with financial challenges, executive departures, and unsuccessful attempts to sell the company.
One of the significant challenges Vice faces is the impact of programmatic ad-blocking on advertising revenue, compounded by concerns about brand safety. This challenge underscores a broader issue within the digital media sector: balancing engaging content with advertisers’ brand safety preferences.
Vice’s struggles are not unique, as other media organizations have faced similar challenges. CNN Philippines recently announced its closure due to financial losses, highlighting the harsh realities of relying on advertising revenue in competitive markets. Business Insider also implemented layoffs as part of a restructuring effort to focus on core audience engagement amidst reduced advertiser spending.
The difficulties faced by Vice Media serve as a reminder of the ongoing transformations within the media industry. As digitalization continues to reshape the landscape, media organizations must adapt to survive in an increasingly competitive and volatile environment.
Despite the challenges, Vice Media remains a prominent player in the digital media sphere. As it navigates this period of transition, the company will need to innovate and evolve to remain relevant in an ever-changing industry landscape.
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For the Hamptons crowd, summer began in mid-March this year as they fled a city becoming the global epicenter of the pandemic.
Many of their beloved Manhattan restaurants were in tow, reports The Wall Street Journal.
As New York City enters phase three of its reopening today, an indefinite ban on indoor dining continues. Elsewhere in the state, restaurants can seat patrons indoors at 50 percent capacity.
Café Boulud, Carbone and Il Buco have established pick-up or delivery services on the East End, and city bars Dante and Death & Co. have also set up shop there.
“It was totally crazy. It was just like, ‘Let’s do this,’” said Donna Lennard, who owns Il Buco and formed a partnership with the Marram hotel in Montauk.
Marc Glosserman, owner of Hill Country Barbecue Market in Flatiron, turned his East Hampton home into a pickup location for the restaurant’s Texas-style barbeque.
Restaurants have sought creative ways to limit their overhead expenses while following the outflow of revenue from the city and delivering a sense of normalcy to their customers. For some, the venture has not been cheap.
Kissaki, a Japanese restaurant with Manhattan locations, put in close to $125,000 to build its service in the East End hamlet of Water Mill, not including rent.
City restaurants, meanwhile, that rely on indoor dining have found that they need to negotiate new lease terms. Some landlords have been willing to defer rent payments or take temporary cuts based on the health of their tenants’ business. [WSJ] — Orion Jones


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Shop the collection during Gallery Hop
Warren Kipperman, a CCAD Advertising and Graphic Design major, is launching his own brand of clothing Saturday, June 1, during Gallery Hop.
AYSM, a streetwear and musically inspired line, will make its debut at Milkbar Boutique from 7 to 10 p.m. T-shirts, priced at $45,will be available for purchase, and the entire collection, which also includes jackets, pants, skirts and hats, will go up for sale online soon, a release said.
Items from Kipperman's lookbook are pictured, courtesy of Warren Kipperman.
-Taylor Rogers, @rogerstaylorj


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This week we have June Felix, CEO of the £3.5bn IG Group (LSE:IGG) on the podcast. IG Group is a FTSE 250 stock and online commerce and technology giant, which recently posted strong results.
IG Group has been an established name in the e-commerce segment in the UK and internationally for decades. It is arguably one of the leading trading and investment brands globally. We had a lively discussion with June about how the broker and tech company fared during the pandemic and why companies like IG were able to attract so many new traders during this time.
June Felix was a good choice as CEO to take IG to the next level. The business was already a leading name in financial spread betting and CFD trading before he joined, but Felix recognized the need to diversify the business into new investment areas and also put the focus on its evolution into a technology company. Like many other brokers, IG has moved from focusing on OTC CFDs/derivatives to offering physical stock trading as well. But Felix saw another potential here.
On the podcast, we talk about some of the major themes affecting e-commerce and businesses like IG. This includes the thousands of young traders who started in the markets following the meme stock mania of 2020 and how the pandemic has served to open the door to trade for a whole new generation. What do they want to get out of it? What sort of demands do they make of brokers?
Expand IG Group’s global footprint
IG Group has also been on the acquisition trail under Felix’s leadership. For example, in June 2021, IG completed the $1 billion acquisition of tastytrade, an American trading and education platform with over 105,000 active investor accounts. Major spread betting brokers have eyed the huge US options and futures market for years. Felix saw the deal as an opportunity to tap into the huge US e-commerce market, with its 1.5 million retail merchants. The timing was also excellent, as IG gained a foothold at a time when online commerce was booming in the United States.
We discuss the international expansion of the IG Group and how this is likely to work in practice, and how technological innovation is affecting online commerce. The elephant in the room here is digital currencies, of course, and we get to the potential cryptocurrencies that are now set to change the world of commerce, with so many thousands of traders now fully dedicated to the crypto markets.
Prior to joining IG, Felix was President of Verifone Europe. She talks about her experience at the highest levels of dynamic companies and the lessons she learned there that she applied at IG. For example, Felix has worked in the financial digital sector in leadership positions at JP Morgan Chase, Citi, IBM and Deutsche Bank during a time of transformation for these companies.
Finally, we end with his thoughts on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the implications for the IG Group, its employees and its customers.


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New York’s licensing flood gates are finally opening after a week where two lawsuits against the state were settled. One lifted a restraining order that held 445 Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license holders in limbo, and the other granted approval for the first Multi-State Operators to convert from medical to adult-use hybrid dispensaries by the end of the month.
All this comes less than two weeks before the end of New York’s general operator application window, which is expected to bring in another thousand adult-use licenses.
The state originally planned to reserve the first round of retailer licenses for charitable organizations and individuals with prior cannabis convictions from New York state. Only 27 out of 472 were able to open before lawsuits from applicants that did not qualify for CAURD licenses resulted in the court-ordered freeze.
New York’s Cannabis Control Board voted to allow six of the state’s 10 medical cannabis providers into the adult-use market, during the board’s Dec. 8 meeting.
Those six companies, licensed as Registered Organizations (ROs) in New York, include Columbia Care, Cresco, Etain, Curaleaf, Acreage and PharmaCann. All six will be permitted to convert one of their three existing medical cannabis dispensaries into a hybrid retailer before the end of the month.
MSOs happy to expand sales
The ROs were originally going to have to wait until the end of 2024 to enter the market, but this was before four of the ROs formed the Coalition for Access to Regulated & Safe Cannabis and, along with some prospective dispensary owners, sued in March. The previous month, four veterans sued the state after they had also been left out of the CAURD application round. Both cases are finally settled, meaning they and the CAURD applicants can move forward.
“To finally get on the same page as OCM in charting a sustainable path forward for a vibrant cannabis market is an incredible step forward for New York customers and patients, and the countless entrepreneurs from businesses of all sizes who have been eager to enter this emerging market,” said Curaleaf CEO Matt Darin in a statement. “As New York works to turn the tide in shutting down this illicit market, the most effective tool to do so is with a robust legal market where New Yorkers can securely purchase safe, tested, and well-regulated cannabis products, and that is what this ratified agreement ensures.”
Matt Kotzke, chief operating officer and interim chief executive officer of RIV, which owns Etain, also weighed in with a statement.
“The excitement surrounding this expansion of the New York adult-use cannabis market is palpable,” he said. “We are ready to begin this new chapter and it is a true testament to our team, their expertise, their passion, and the hard work we have done to prepare for this moment.”
“New York is going to rapidly become the largest cannabis market in the country, and we are ready to supply that growing demand from our scaled cultivation and manufacturing facilities in Long Island and Rochester, with premium and enjoyable products,” added Nicholas Vita, CEO of The Cannabist Company, which was formerly known as Columbia Care.
The settlements clarified that they did not include an admission of wrongdoing, which is a common feature in settlements such as this one.
“It is understood and agreed that any actions taken pursuant to this stipulation are made solely to avoid the burdens and expense of protracted litigation,” said both filings.
The settlements allow the existing pre-approved CAURD holders to move toward final licensure, but it also includes a restriction against the issuance of any new CAURD licenses until after April 1, 2024. There are currently 483 CAURD applicants that will have to wait until next spring, according to CRB Monitor’s license database.
The settlement states that this delay allows the state to “dedicate OCM’s application and licensing resources in the next coming months to the current application and licensing window for adult use licenses, including SEE (Social & Economic Equity) applicant licenses.”
The state also agreed to create a task force to promote greater access into the cannabis industry for service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses and prioritize research on how cannabis can treat veterans’ health needs.
In the meantime, the application period for all other individuals opened in October and will last until Dec. 18, from which the New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) has said it expects to license at least 1,000 operators, from cultivators to processors to retailers.


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Crossroads Robber Sentenced
Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - With credit for time already served, a Rochester man will spend a little bit over three months in jail for robbing a Rochester business last fall.
40-year-old Chad Hatton, who last month admitted to a second-degree aggravated robbery charge, was also sentenced to 15 years probation and 150 hours of community work service.
Police say Hatton entered the Fish and Pet Store in the Crossroads Shopping Center last November and fled on foot after he grabbed money out of the cash register. He was found about only a block away from the store. The arresting officers were able to respond to the robbery within seconds because they were already nearby dealing with a bomb threat that prompted the evacuation of a number of businesses and almost the entire shopping center parking lot.


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Xiaomi Mi A2 Gets NCC Certification; Launch Could be Imminent
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi launched the Mi 6X in China in April 2018. The smartphone is yet to be launched outside China, where it will be renamed as Mi A2. We are getting closer than ever to the release of Xiaomi Mi 6X’s Global version, Mi A2. Recently, the smartphone has passed the National Communications Commission (NCC) certification with model number M1804D2SG. The NCC certification means the device will make it to Taiwan. But it is also expected in other markets like India. Even Xiaomi has started teasing its next global launch event through its official Twitter and asking its fans where they would like to go with Mi for a global event.
The listing does not make any specific mention of the Xiaomi Mi A2 name. Still, the similarities to the Chinese Version of Xiaomi Mi 6X (M1804D2SC) in the model number suggest that this is a new global offering, Mi A2.
The certification reveals that the Mi A2 suits Taiwan’s 4G frequency band 2600 MHz/1800 MHz/ 900 Mhz. Though it lacks a 700 MHz band, it has 3CA carrier aggregation. The NCC certification didn’t reveal any other specs. It should sport identical specs as the Mi 6X, but it will deliver stock Android OS instead of Xiaomi’s MIUI.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 will feature a 5.99-inch LCD with 1080p+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 18:9. It will be powered by a Qualcomm 660 chipset clocked at 1.84 GHz, which will be coupled with 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. There is a circular fingerprint sensor at the rear.
The smartphone sports a dual camera setup like its predecessor, consisting of a 20 MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture and a secondary 12 MP camera sensor with f/1.8 aperture. It offers a 20 MP camera sensor with f/2.0 aperture on the front. It will run on Android 8.1.0 Oreo and be backed by a 3010 mAh battery. The predecessor, Mi 5X/Mi A1, came with stock Android and will do the same this time.
The Xiaomi Mi 5X was announced in August, and the Xiaomi Mi A1 a month after. Judging by that time frame, the Mi 6X was launched in April, which means the Mi A2 will launch soon. The improved Mi A2 will give tough competition to those like the Honor 7X, the top competitor of the Mi A1.


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In a game that featured quarterback match-ups between southern-born white "traditional" pocket passer, Payton Manning and the Denver Broncos against the more mobile, less traditional African-American QB, Russell Wilson, of the Seattle Seahawks, the game was no contest. Seattle crushed Manning and the Broncos 43 – 8. Oh, yeah, and don't forget Seattle's defense was led by "thug" cornerback Richard Sherman. Keep in mind the man labeled a thug by many for his post-game rant following the NFC Championship game has a degree with honors from Stanford University.
But if the game was not bad enough, in addition, the "purists" (what others are calling racists) had to endure a couple of Super Bowl ads that challenged their "American" way of life.
In a follow-up to the Cheerios ad that set the Internet abuzz and caused General Mills, makers of Cheerios, to disable comments from its YouTube page, the cereal maker brought back an ethnically blended family in its spot called "Gracie."
The character Gracie is the biracial girl who initially appeared with her white mother in a scene asking about the health properties if the whole-grain cereal. Later, it's revealed that the father is African-American. The commercial ended with the word, "Love." The spot has nearly 5 million hits to date on YouTube and was the source of severe backlash for a vocal minority of whites. Support for the ad came from many other whites, African-Americans and other ethnicities.
In the ad that aired during the first quarter of the already lopsided Super Bowl game, Gracie was seen – this time with her father – talking about the addition of another child to the family. Gracie bargained for a puppy. Again, the spot ended with the word, "Love." And again, there were a few who took to Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms to protest their outrage.
But as Angela McClendon, a Super Bowl watcher from St. Louis said, Golden Valley based General Mills stood firm.
"I think that it (the commercial) was a direct message to society that (General Mills) was not going to be bullied into back peddling on its decision to use an interracial couple," said McClendon. "They felt the heat for the first commercial, but they stayed in the kitchen. I can respect that, because most companies will flip-flop when they are criticized. They stood their ground."
Camille Gibson, vice president of marketing for Cheerios said the 30-second spot is about celebrating the American family.
"Cheerios is about families and love and connections – and breakfast," said Gibson. "And our new Cheerios ad celebrates one of those special moments with a family that America fell in love with."
Tamala Nicholson of Minneapolis said for her, the commercial was less about race and more about father, daughter time.
"I thought it was cute. And honestly, I saw a little girl have 'daddy' time," said Nicholson. "That stood out to me because I'm a daddy's girl. As a byproduct of my life with (my father), I see through goggles of positivity. (I see a) family having breakfast together – that's it."
Believe it or not, the General Mills Cheerios spot was not the one that drew the most ire of the "purists."
Coca-Cola's "It's Beautiful" ad featuring people of varying ethnicities singing "America the Beautiful" caused an Internet firestorm with racist rants being found on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Published on Feb. 2, the YouTube video of the commercial has already logged more than 3.8 million views in addition to the worldwide Super Bowl audience.
Attorney Jeffrey Kass, who lives in Denver, enjoyed the spot.
"I loved the Coca-Cola commercial the best of the more serious ones, but the Cheerios commercial was still very good," said Kass, who is white. "It was not too long ago that corporate America and its advertisements perpetrated negative feelings so this is a breath of fresh air."
Not all was lost for the "purists." The number one rated commercial, as rated by the USA Today Ad Meter was Budweiser's "Puppy Love" spot. Beer is as American as it gets and Budweiser is "America's beer" – even if its parent company is now German.


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2013 Chevrolet Spin Minivan
Chevrolet has just announced that a new minivan will make its way into the “Global Market,” which is the PC term for developing markets. In addition to announcing the upcoming debut, Chevy also teased us with a rather revealing image, for a teaser anyway.
This image depicts a minivan that boasts much bolder styling than your average people-hauling minivan. It features wrap-around headlights that come to a sharp point near the halfway point of the fenders. The windshield rakes rearward at a very shallow angle and its roofline actually has a slight curve to it. Really, this “minivan” looks closer to a crossover than an SUV.
Considering that the developing markets that Chevy has in its targets, Indonesia and Brazil, it is no wonder that it would bear the minivan classification instead of crossover. From personal experience, I can tell you that the term “crossover” is not a well-known one in Indonesia and only a handful of cars, including the Nissan Juke and Suzuki SX4, bear that classification. We would assume much of the same is going on in Brazil.
The Spin will be available in both a five- and seven-seat capacity, but unlike American minivans, this one will boast hinged doors – again, bearing more resemblance to a crossover. To remain competitive in these developing markets and allow buyers to be able to fuel this new minivan, it will likely boast a sub-2.0-liter engine as its base level, with its smallest engine likely being the 141 PS (139 hp) 1.8-liter four-cylinder in the Chevy Orlando and Cruze.
Given its size and the fact that its closest competitor will be the 2.4-liter-powered Honda Odyssey, which is far smaller than the American Honda Odyssey, Chevy may offer it with an optional 171 PS (168 hp) 2.4-liter found in the Captiva SUV.
Chevy is set to fully unveil this upcoming minivan/crossover in the next few weeks and it’ll hit showroom floors early in 2013. We’ll update you once Chevy releases this additional info.
Click past the jump to read Chevy’s official presser.
2013 Chevrolet Spin Minivan
13 June 2012
Chevrolet Spin Manufactured in Indonesia
JAKARTA, June 13, 2012 - Featured Products General Motors (GM) of Indonesia officially named the next Chevrolet Spin. Multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) seven passengers will begin to be produced at GM’s manufacturing facility in Jakarta, West Java, from early 2013.
Announcement of new vehicle models is carried out by GM Chief Executive Officer , and Akerson, the company’s annual meeting in Detroit, the United States.
The statement following the announcement of GM in August last year, where GM invested U.S. $ 150 million to reopen the factory facilities in Calcutta area of 11 hectares which will produce about 40,000 vehicles a year and opened 800 new jobs. GM Southeast Asia President , Martin Apfel , said the entry of Chevrolet Spin the Indonesian automotive market that is growing, built over 100 years history in producing a variety of Chevrolet’s best vehicles for its customers - exceeding their needs and desires.
"Spin Chevrolet is a charming small MPV, efficient and functional, as well as the only vehicle that offers a six-speed automatic transmission in its class. Spin offers affordable prices and - equally important - affordable to own. "
Spin Chevrolet offers five or seven seats, depending on vehicle configuration. Spin Chevrolet provides flexibility, handling like a sedan car, carrying capacity and fuel use is very economical with the appearance of the exterior thanks to a sturdy SUV and a wide view. In the interior, the cabin Chevrolet Chevrolet Spin describes the commitment to deliver more value than expected with various levels of execution detildan usually found on the type of vehicle is higher than the class.
Apfel added, "Indonesia is very pleased to be one of the world’s first market to introduce the all-new Chevrolet Spin. Spin Chevrolet vehicles will be produced for the people of Indonesia, and by the people of Indonesia. Spin Chevrolet vehicles will be the pride of Indonesia. " "The decision to reopen our factories in Calcutta is a continuation of GM’s commitment to maintaining a strong manufacturing base in Indonesia and Southeast Asia in producing various world-class products that will inspire consumers. It represents one of the most significant effort we have done in this area. " -finish-
more than 140 countries and sold more than 4 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides fuel-efficient vehicles to consumers who described the appearance of energetic, expressive design, and high quality. More information about Chevrolet car models can be found at www.chevrolet.com .
GM Indonesia - Chevrolet, PR & Media Relations Specialist
Tel: +62811.910.5355, 021.3040.6671
E-mail: augusta.sirait @ gm.com
Weber Shandwick - Account Manager
Tel: +62856.765.3939, 021.5292.1881 ext. 4650


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July 04, 2022 12:33
Korea suffered its biggest trade deficit ever in the first six months of this year due to surging raw material and oil prices.
According to the Korea Customs Service last Friday, exports increased 15.6 percent on-year in the January-June period to US$350.30 billion, but imports surged 26.2 percent to a record $360.60 billion. This resulted in a deficit of $10.30 billion, the highest for the first half in 66 years.
It exceeded even the $9.16 billion deficit in the first half of 1997 before the Asian financial crisis. In the first half of 2008, Korea suffered a $6.4 billion deficit. At this rate, Korea is expected to post the biggest annual trade deficit since the global financial crisis in 2008.
The Korea International Trade Association forecast that exports will grow 9.2 percent this year to $703.9 billion, but imports will soar 16.8 percent to $718.5 billion. That would translate into a deficit of $14.7 billion for the whole year.
This year was also the first time in 14 years that the country posted three straight months of trade deficits since April.
The biggest culprit is a surge in energy prices. Korea's energy import costs increased more than $40 billion to $87.9 billion or 24 percent of total imports in money terms. Korea also suffered two months of deficits in trade with China for the first time in 28 years.
Joo Won at Hyundai Research Institute said, "If a trade deficit compounds a fiscal deficit, export-dependent Korea’s credit rating could decline."
- Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com


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Carthay-based Reliable Properties has purchased a roughly 137,000-square-foot retail center near downtown known as Washington Plaza for $44.8 million.
The property, at 408-530 E. Washington Blvd., was sold by Huntington Beach-based Eagles Nest Property.
Washington Plaza, which was 98% leased at the time of the sale, is anchored by 99 Cents Only and Rite Aid. Other tenants at the center include Davita Dialysis, Ace Cash Express, Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin Robbins, Waba Grill, El Pollo Loco, T-Mobile, Panda Express and Boost Mobile.
Marcus & Millichap’s Orbel Ovaness and Ara Rostamian represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.
“This property traded for the second time in history,” Ovaness said. “It was owned by a family office … since the early ‘80s and it encompasses an entire city block.”
And despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the center has continued to do well.
“Historically this center has been occupied at 98%, and even during Covid they sustained one small vacancy and all the tenants paid and stayed in operation,” Ovaness said.
The buyer, he said, viewed Washington Plaza as a great long-term hold.
“It has so many different avenues of creating value,” Ovaness said. “You have the value-add component through the existing shopping center and their leases and you have an incredible redevelopment opportunity here.”
Ovaness said roughly 1,000 multifamily units could be built on the site, which is near public transit and sits on 5.6 acres.
The buyer “looked at it as a trophy, generational investment from the low in place rents with an existing tenancy that is there. They saw the opportunity to increase rents over time and in the next 15 or 20 years consider redeveloping this site into a mega-complex with a retail and residential component,” according to Ovaness.
The seller, Ovaness added, is looking to do a 1031 exchange with the money from the sale. In a 1031 exchange, sellers avoid paying capital gains taxes by reinvesting sale proceeds in a specific time frame, or vice versa in a reverse exchange.
“The seller had reaped the rewards from their bases and wanted to simplify their lives and go into a less management-intensive replacement property,” Ovaness said.
The seller, who Marcus & Millichap is continuing to represent, is looking at trading into multiple, single-tenant, net-leased assets throughout the country. Ovaness said these properties would allow the seller to “retire with a steady flow of income coming in.”
“Single-tenant assets across the board are some of the hottest-ticket items in the retail sector,” he said, especially when leased on an absolute triple net basis with a long-term lease in place. “It simplifies life and secures their equity … with zero management involvement.”
In a true triple net lease, the tenant is responsible for everything from maintenance to property taxes. Ovaness said he was seeing other investors interested in exchanging into low-management, heavy triple net leased properties as well.


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November 6, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO – November 6, 2013 – Old Navy announced today it will give away
$1 million to one lucky shopper this year on Black Friday. The first 500 shoppers at every Old Navy store in North America when it opens for Black Friday shopping will be given a chance to win the $1 million jackpot in the “Overnight Millionaire” sweepstakes during the brand’s biggest sale of the year.
“This year, we’re adding to the anticipation and excitement around Black Friday shopping with a sweepstakes that could change an Old Navy’s shopper’s life overnight,” said Stefan Larsson, Old Navy Global President. “The ‘Overnight Millionaire’ promotion, coupled with our best sale of the year, is a uniquely Old Navy way to surprise our fans as they begin the holiday shopping season.”
In addition to the “Overnight Millionaire” sweepstakes, Old Navy is making everyone a winner by offering the best deals ever this year. Stay tuned for details of the compelling offers.
Over 900 Old Navy stores will open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, November 28. More than 700 stores will reopen at 7 p.m. that evening and remain open until midnight on Black Friday, November 29, giving shoppers 29 hours to find what they need for everyone on their gift list.
“Old Navy stores across the country are opening their doors for an unprecedented 29 hours of Black Friday shopping,” said Steve Stickel, Old Navy Head of Stores. “We want shoppers to be able to take advantage of our amazing Black Friday deals for longer than ever.”
For "Overnight Millionaire," the first 500 people to line up at each store when it opens for Black Friday shopping will receive a game card giving them a chance to win the sweepstakes. More than 700 stores will open at 7 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving, November 28 (store hours may vary, check local store for details). The winner will be randomly selected on November 29 at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET. Full rules can be found at https://oldnavy.promo.eprize.com/million/.
To see a list of the promotions as they become available, visit www.gapinc.com.
Throughout December, Old Navy is asking shoppers to join the brand in giving back to their community by participating in the 10th annual St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® Thanks and Giving campaign. St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. Old Navy shoppers will be encouraged to donate to the hospital from December 2 through December 24 at the checkout counter or online at www.oldnavy.com/stjude.
About Old Navy
Old Navy is a global apparel and accessories brand that makes current American essentials accessible to every family. Originated in 1994, the brand has now grown to one of the largest apparel retailers in North America. A division of San Francisco-based Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Old Navy brings a fun, energizing shopping environment to its customers in more than 1,000 stores in the U.S., Canada and Japan. For more information, please visit www.oldnavy.com.


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Couturissimo brings haute couture to the masses
A new e-commerce fashion website Couturissimo is selling “accessible” fashion from high-end designers.
The multi-label fashion website was started by the Asian Couture Federation and has been operating a month. Prices range from $S169 to $869.
The concept is to work with famous haute couture designers from around Asia and create pieces which those with more modest budgets can afford. Three Asian designers signed up for the launch: South Korea’s Zio Song, Michael Cinco from the Philippines and Sebastian Gunawa from Indonesia.
Paris brand On Aura has also provided garments.
To mark the online launch, a capsule collection is on display in a pop-up store in the Takashimaya department store on Orchard Rd in Singapore until September 30.
This story first appeared on sister site, Inside Retail Asia.


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Elon Musk intends to invest a substantial amount, around a billion dollars, in his new artificial intelligence project, named xAI. Launched this year, the project aims to gather the necessary investments by selling part of its shares.
Significant progress in financing has already been achieved, with over 130 million dollars collected from several investors.
xAI stands out from competitors like Microsoft's Bing AI, Google's Bard, and OpenAI's ChatGPT with its unique approach to exploring truth and the universe. It is developed with a focus on curiosity, bypassing traditional moral constraints of AI.
Musk is actively attracting investors, offering them a stake in his startup during a period of intensifying competition in the AI field. The company also introduced a new chatbot, Grot, which will be available to users of the social platform X and as a separate application.
This chatbot is unique in its basis on a well-known science fiction novel and its rapid mastery of internet knowledge.
The xAI team consists of outstanding AI specialists, recruited from leading technology companies and universities. Musk emphasized his preference for creating a new startup to attract talents who were reluctant to work in larger, more established companies.
It was previously known that Elon Musk is implementing the artificial intelligence Grok, developed by his startup xAI, into Tesla electric cars to enhance the interaction between drivers and vehicles.
Grok, whose design is inspired by the famous science fiction work "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," is characterized by its sarcastic approach and ability to respond to complex or provocative questions that are typically not processed by other AI systems.
There is not yet complete clarity regarding how exactly Grok will be integrated into Tesla cars, but Musk hopes that the implementation of this AI will enhance Tesla vehicles' computational capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence.
Soon, Tesla owners will be able to interact with Grok using voice commands. The AI is expected to adapt to individual driver preferences, such as in climate control system management, functioning as an innovative voice assistant.


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- Show us a better way than collecting metadata, NSA director says to critics
- Arizona lawmaker hopes to stop NSA spy efforts in her state
- Juniper: Quick look at security strategy behind its SDN controller security
- The top 8 security threats of 2013
- Nvidia exploit could turn render farms into password crackers, bitcoin miners, researchers claim
- Amazon drones are 'fantasy,' says eBay CEO
- On snooping disclosures, AT&T and Internet companies are like night and day
- In his own words: Tony Abbott on the NBN
- TPG buys AAPT
- US faces major Internet image problem, former gov't official says
operating systems in pictures
For the next generation of its flagship enterprise Linux distribution, Red Hat aims to support new cloud technologies while preserving the ways of the seasoned system administrator.
As quietly as Microsoft defined the dates it would stop selling Windows 7, over the weekend it revised its end-of-sales deadlines again, saying it had made a mistake.
The Internet Storm Center, an arm of the SANS Technology Institute, has started collecting reports of fake support calls in an attempt to figure out how prevalent the scam is among computer owners.
Microsoft has waffled over the past few days about how long it will continue to sell Windows 7, initially stating that it had already stopped shipping the operating system to retailers and OEMs, but shifting the status over the weekend to "to be determined."
Microsoft sold out the Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet within minutes of kicking off an online discount Monday morning.
An easy step-by-step guide to the Bash command-line shell and shell scripting
Windows 8's bare-metal virtualization layer is a great way to create an app sandbox, run a test machine, launch a VHD appliance, and more
Reformatting and restoring a PC is not fun--in the way spending 2 hours in the dentist's chair is not fun. You have to back up all your data (and pray that you haven't forgotten anything), reformat the hard drive, install Windows, track down missing drivers, find and reload all your software, restore your data, and pull out clumps of hair over the things you inevitably neglected to save. (Firefox plug-ins, anyone?)
With all the many compelling reasons for a company to switch to Linux on the desktop, it's no wonder that businesses large and small are increasingly relying on the free and open source operating system.
WARNING: Overclocking is not for the faint of heart. Do not attempt to hack your phone unless you understand and accept the risks of turning it into a useless "brick."
Microsoft may revert to separate release schedules for consumer and business versions of Windows, the company's top OS executive hinted this week.
The Windows Phone operating system still ranks third behind Android and iOS, but it is slowly seeing growth in the U.S. and Europe, and its eventual convergence with the Windows OS could mean even greater momentum.
Tucked in amongst Apple's several hardware debuts last month was word that the company will stop charging for OS X and iWork. Why is Apple willing to forgo this small revenue stream? How might it affect IT buyers? The move is interesting on several fronts.
What Microsoft puts in its upcoming touch-based Office suite will be a huge test for the company, analysts said.
Apple's decision to give away OS X upgrades and other software, including the iWork productivity suite, is seen as both an offensive and a defensive move that challenges Microsoft to respond.
Whitepapers about operating systems
In this enterprise buyers guide Computerworld provides a framework for assessing the suitability of tablet computers with different work styles and demands. The guide takes into account upgrade cycles, pricing and contract issues with telecommunications providers. It features a shopping checklist covering screen types, connectivity and hardware as well as a guide to application management. This is in addition to a full roundup of the major players including road maps for the most popular operating systems.
For years, most companies have dealt with the evolving dynamics of data archiving by addressing an immediate need rather than building a long-term strategy. But over time, putting all information on costly storage is likely to be very expensive. This whitepaper explains why it’s time for organizations to start to strategically evaluate archive solutions for capabilities they need, both now and in the future. While no technology is future proof, an archiving solution can make you “future ready.”
UltraISO is an ISO CD/DVD image file tool that creates, edits and converts. It is also a bootable CD/DVD maker that has the ability to ...
Think back to the last time all your employees were in the office, at their desks, on the same day. It’s no surprise that you might struggle, between travel and off-site meetings, remote staff, flexible schedules and sick days. In today's competitive business climate, organisations need to maintain productivity and connectedness with their staff, despite not always being onsite. In this whitepaper, we look at five ways you can improve productivity, no matter where employees are.
- Facebook performance report signals rising brand engagement on social
- Australia's love of online search advertising continues, finds new report
- Why Shazam is helping advertisers hit the right tune with consumers
- Twitter, the protector of news?
- B2B customers are increasingly led by consumer habits and experience


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James Austin Farrell May 10, 2013Editorial
Instagram emboldens the spirit of the damaged online community. Why? Because it can make tanned skinned Thais look as pale as English bog roll; it turns ageing blue eyes a fetching hue of innocent hazel and vacuums-up the freckles around them; wrinkles and crinkles are ironed-out at the push of a button; we can reduce hair loss, accelerate cuteness, or inflate mammary glands
Georgia May 23, 2013Features
CityNews - Phone apps have become a part of every day life for many people with smart phones with a few simple swipes of a screen or click of a button, you can access all kinds of information right at your fingertips. There are 100’s of thousands of apps available for almost any purpose, many of them free and easy to use, and last year over 60 billion phone apps were downloaded worldwide.
May 22, 2013Business
CityNews – Boonsong Teriyapirom, the Minister of Commerce revealed that the Ministry of Commerce and Department of Foreign Trade would arrange Thailand's Rice Convention this year under the name ‘Pushing ASEAN Towards the World’s Rice Hub’ from 26th – 28th May at Chiang Mai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
May 21, 2013Business
May 16, 2013Society
May 16, 2013Others
May 16, 2013Business
CityNews - Thailand – A total of 38 individuals, institutions, companies and organisations which have provided unstinting support to the Thai travel & tourism industry over the years will be presented with the “Friends of Thailand Awards 2013” at the Thailand Travel Mart 2013 Plus, the kingdom’s most important travel trade show, on 5 June 2013.
May 8, 2013Society
May 8, 2013Business
May 7, 2013Others
News in Pictures
Courtney Winkleman May 23, 2013Business
Anna Brooks May 23, 2013Features
May 23, 2013Environment
Restaurant of the Week
“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art,” states the large chalkboard in the middle of this lovely, shady little vegetarian hideaway in the heart of Santitham in Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai in Pictures
James Austin Farrell May 15, 2013Op Ed
The younger generation, for the most part, will no doubt grow up with the knowledge of what it looks like when a person’s skull is shattered by a bullet. They will likely know all the ins and outs of what it looks like to have double, triple, penetrative sex. They’ll have seen cats frying, and dogs being thrown from bridges
May 22, 2013Others
May 22, 2013Education
May 21, 2013Environment
Chiang Mai Designs Awards
Associate Professor from Faculty of Medicine, CMU wins FIRI Award for the Best Invention in Switzerland
Apr 29, 2013Education
Apr 24, 2013Society


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A FOOTBALL motif designed by a Harrow man is to appear on 50p coins as part of a new collection of 29 Olympic-themed designs.
Each of the 2012 London Games commemorative editions was chosen by the Royal Mint from submissions from the public - including the soccer-inspired entry submitted by online journalist Neil Wolfson, 26.
All the sketches entered by participants had to be approved by the Olympic Sporting Association to ensure the sport was accurately and fairly depicted.
Unlike some of the more figurative icons, Mr Wolfson's design features a diagram explaining football's offside rule.
He said: "The offside rule is always a talking point so I wanted to create something to original to reflect that. It’s a case of ‘lateral thinking, so to speak!"
Dave Knight, the Royal Mint’s director of commemorative coin, said: "Every one of the winners is making history. Their coins will become treasured mementos of the biggest sporting event to happen on UK shores for over half a century and we hope
will encourage a new generation of collectors."
Customers will begin to see Mr Wolfson's football coin as part of their change in the next fortnight or a pristine, uncirculated version can be bought for £2.99.


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If someone were to ask me what I expected from Google in 2023, I’d probably suggest more of the same from 2022 – so a Pixel 7a, Pixel 8, and 8 Pro – only with a decent chance at their first foldable launching alongside the rest. After that, well, I try not to make big bold predictions beyond the coming year, but we do get to start thinking about the next 3 years, thanks to a new report.
The crew at Android Authority believes a trustworthy source has handed them Google’s roadmap for 2023, 2024, and 2025. This roadmap tells us about the devices just around the corner, as well as what our wallets can plan for if our goal is to hang-on to the excellent Pixel 7 for more than 12 months.
Google’s 2023 Pixel phones
For 2023, as I mentioned above, we should expect a Pixel 7a around Google I/O, only this year we could see a foldable launch with it, a foldable rumored to be called the Pixel Fold. Today’s report calls these devices “lynx” and “felix.” The name “lynx” we already know as the Pixel 7a, but now we get to follow “felix” for Pixel Fold stories.
Google is reportedly planning to price the Pixel 7a at $449, like the Pixel 6a. For the Pixel Fold, it could rise up to around $1,800 and into that Samsung Galaxy Fold territory. That’s a scary thought, but foldables are not inexpensive still to this day. Remember, we think the Pixel Fold looks like this.
And finally, a Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro should arrive later in the year. Codenames for these are “shiba” and “husky,” and they should be powered by a chip with a codename of “zuma” that is believed to be a Tensor G3. The only other noteworthy piece of information around these two phones is the idea that the Pixel 8 might have a smaller display and overall form factor. This is me trying not to freak out with excitement.
Google’s 2024 Pixel line-up gets wild
For 2024, Google has apparently decided to shake it all up by considering the success of the Pixel 7a in 2023 and then expanding the flagship Pixel 9 line-up in Apple ways.
The Pixel 8a (codename “akita”) may or may not happen. Google is supposedly weighing the idea of making its A-series an every-other-year release instead of yearly. The fate of the Pixel 8a could lay with the success or lack thereof of the Pixel 7a. Should the Pixel 8a launch, pricing could hit $499.
Where the fun begins for 2024 is around the launch of the Pixel 9. Google could take an Apple approach by releasing a regular Pixel 9 (probably with a lower price point) along with two “Pro” phones with different sizes. Think of it like the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, only with Google’s Pixels.
The Pixel 9 would be a foll0w-up to 2023’s Pixel 8, with similar size. For the Pixel 9 Pro line, we’d then get devices with 6.3″ and 6.7″ displays. The codenames to follow there are “komodo” and “caiman.”
If you were wondering about another Pixel Fold for 2024, there’s some sort of plan for one, but it launching likely depends on how the original Pixel Fold hits the market.
Google in 2025!
Since 2025 is so far away, it seems like Google hasn’t quite decided how it’ll take on the time period, but is reportedly considering a couple of different routes. It’s thinking about a Galaxy Z Flip-style phone, as well as a Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro line-up that could have up to 4 different phones (2 under each name).
And I think that about covers it.
My reaction to all of that is mostly that I think it sounds like a solid roadmap of ideas I can get behind. I’m all for shrinking high-end devices, more choices, and to see what Google can do in the foldable space. All of that is apparently being considered, so hell yeah.


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Gaming peripheral manufacturer AMDISI has successfully Kickstarted a Switch case that extends the handheld's battery life and replaces the need for a bulky dock.
The Pelda Pro case offers an additional 4.5 hours of playtime with a 6000mAh battery that straps onto the back of your Nintendo Switch. Better yet, it includes an HDMI port, so you can plug the Switch directly into the TV without the need for a bulky dock.
There's also a simpler version that doesn't include the HDMI port. Simply called the Pelda, this budget model offers a 8000mAh battery that's expected to boost your play time by six hours.
Both cases come with a couple of slots to hold extra games, along with a much stronger kickstand and two USB ports for additional charging options.
AMDISI's third peripheral, the Pelda Dock, is a more minimalist rendition of the Switch dock that doesn't have a front or bulky back, but rather operates as a scaled down stand.
The Pelda currently goes for $45, though it's expected to retail for $89 at launch.
Comparatively, the Pelda Pro, the one with the HDMI port, goes for $95 right now, though they're slated to cost $139 at launch.
Just the Pelda Dock currently goes for $69, with an $89 price tag planned at launch.
AMDISI has already released a few Switch products, notably a kit consisting of a case, screen protector, and Joy-Con controller grips. While I've not tried any AMDISI accesories myself, this set has extremely positive reviews on Amazon.
All of the Pelda products have collectively crowdfunded $19,033 on Kickstarter, nearly doubling AMDISI's $10k goal - and that's all within the first two days! The campaign still has another 27 to go before its 21st September deadline.
AMDISI is aiming to ship all of these Pelda peripherals in January 2018.


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Huawei’s upcoming flagship smartphones – P30 and P30 Pro are confirmed to be launched on March 26 in Paris, France. The upcoming Huawei P30 Pro and P30 smartphones will have cameras as their key highlight as the company has been teasing the camera samples and some photography-centric features of the devices online. And now, the Vice President of Huawei, Clement Wong has confirmed that the Huawei P30 and the P30 Pro will have come with periscope-style zoom cameras.
The predecessor of the upcoming smartphones – the Huawei P20 Pro already came with exceptional cameras with 3X optical zoom and up to 5X hybrid zoom capabilities. However, recently the company released a picture which teased that the upcoming Huawei P30 Pro and P30 handsets will come with lossless zoom capabilities. The company also released a video about the zoom and the speaker features of the smartphones.
Wong broke this news to Android Central while also confirming that the Huawei P30 series will have much better low-light photography capabilities. He said that the upcoming smartphones will come with a ‘next-generation night camera’ which will be a ‘major upgrade’ to the Huawei P20 Pro. Although the VP revealed this, he maintained silence about the zooming capabilities of the camera.
The VP further added that Huawei P30’s camera would be ‘something nobody (has done) before’ which hints at mechanical zoom lens integration. The information is not yet confirmed but the company would surely be coming up with something new.
Earlier leaked news about the Huawei P30 suggests that the smartphone will have a 6.1-inch OLED dewdrop-notch while the P30 Pro will have a 6.5-inch OLED display with dewdrop notch. Huawei P30 will come with triple-rear camera setup while the P30 Pro will have a quad-camera setup. The primary lens is said to house a 40MP camera with 5X lossless zoom while the selfie camera might comprise of a 24MP sensor. Both the variants will have in-display fingerprint scanners and will be powered by HiSilicon Kirin 980 SoC. However, the RAM and storage configurations in both the models will be different. We will update you as we get to know more!


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A Florida man walked into a convenience store with a four-foot alligator and tried to trade it for a 12-pack of beer, according to wildlife authorities who cited him with illegally taking the animal from a park.
"That crazy guy, he came to the store with a small alligator. He tried to sell it to buy a couple of beers," said Javier Herrera, the store owner.
It was unclear why the man thought the clerk at the Santa Ana Market in Miami would accept the reptile as payment.
Mr Herrera said he was concerned that the wild animal might get lose and bite one of his customers, so he asked the man to leave, but he would not.
"I was scared. It's the first time that I see somebody with that kind of animal in the store," he said.
Mr Herrera said that one of the customers called authorities.
Suspect Fernando Caignet Aguilera was reportedly arrested and charged with possessing, illegally taking and attempting to sell an alligator.
"He was standing over there with the alligator. After that, five minutes later, the police came here to arrest him because somebody called 911," said Mr Herrera.
Each of the three misdemeanour charges carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine up to $500, according to wildlife authorities.
The alligator was unharmed and was released back into the wild.


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As it was promised, today the Chinese smartphone brand Vivo has launched its S1 Pro smartphone in the market of India. Well, the Smartphone is not new because it was unveiled in last year and now the company has brought it to the fans of India. The company has launched the smartphone in a single variant and that is 8GB RAM with 128 GB of internal storage. Before we get into the pricing and availability details let’s look back to the complete specification details of the smartphone.
Specifications of Vivo S1 Pro
The device sports 6.38 inch full HD+ super AMOLED display with 2340 X 1080 pixels resolution along with an aspect ratio of 19:5:9, and features waterdrop shaped notch. Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor and paired with 8GB of RAM. In terms of storage device, the smartphone has 128 GB of internal storage and that can be expandable upto 256 GB via micro SD card.
Moving to the photography department, the smartphone rocks a quad rear camera setup and that’s in the combination of 48-megapixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture, followed by an 8-megapixel wide-angle sensor with f/2.2 aperture, and the remaining sensors for the depth as well as a macro lens. Up front, it features a 32-megapixel with f/2.2 aperture. The camera department also features Panorama, beauty, photo, video, and AR shoot. The smartphone also supports the in-display fingerprint scanner.
Regarding the connectivity options, the smartphone supports Wi-Fi, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS with GLONASS, and USB Type-C Port. The device runs on Funtouch OS 9.2 based on Android 9 Pie, and ships on 4,500 mAh battery.
Pricing and availability
The smartphone is priced at ₹19,990 and it will available through Flipkart, Amazon, the official website of Vivo, and offline retail stores across the country.