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As the usage of digital currency is on the rise and various countries are developing their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is providing execution of financial transactions and payments between banks worldwide and it’s now testing on how to interconnect domestic CBDCs with Capgemini.
SWIFT wants to use the new technology for seamless cross-border payments involving digital currencies.
This comes at the time when SWIFT is facing huge challenges from many crypto projects that are eyeing the space with their blockchain technology, which can remit money within minutes, as compared to the SWIFT system which takes days to make cross-border payments.
As crypto adoption is increasing, there are many use case projects like Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), and others eyeing cross-border remittances.
Interest in CBDCs is clearly on a rise after a new report from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said that nine out of 10 central banks are now exploring CBDCs – covering economies that account for more than 90% of global GDP.
Many of these central banks are in the advanced stages of launching their CBDC with nine countries already having their own digital currency namely Nigeria and The Bahamas.
Speaking on this, SWIFT Chief Innovation Officer Thomas Zschach said,
“Facilitating interoperability and interlinking between different CBDCs being developed around the world will be critical if we are to fully realize their potential.”
Scaling across borders
Most banks want to develop a CBDC that will act as a digital version of fiat, but many banks want it to become a default currency for cross-border payments that can save a lot of money in remittance commissions.
The SWIFT Information Officer also stressed that the global CBDC ecosystem is at risk, as every central bank is developing its own digital currencies that have different technologies, standards, and protocols.
Emphasizing standardization, SWIFT Head of Innovation Nick Kerigan said:
“This is not good, as there will be various digital islands and instead of supporting business. This can hamper the ability of businesses and consumers to become a frictionless cross-border payments settlement system suing CBDCs”.
It is to be noted that last year, SWIFT conducted a first set of CBDC experiments that successfully demonstrated a cross-border transaction between one entity on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) based CBDC network and a second running on an established real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system.
Taking this to the next level, SWIFF has now collaborated with Capgemini where they are testing how they can interlink the multiple domestic-based CBDC networks emerging worldwide to make cross-border payments with CBDCs more seamless and frictionless.
Commenting on this development, Capgemini Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, Financial Services Sudhir Pai said that “navigating decentralization is a complex thing as there are many technologies, operating models, and policy considerations. With our well-defined taxonomy, it has helped accelerate our efforts to build CBDC interlinks with SWIFT”.
Challenges in CBDC adoption
With a wide range of challenges from operating models, technology, and others awaiting the central banks in the adoption of CBDC, if this is not addressed initially, wider adoption of CDBCs may not be so easy, Kerigan added.
Adding further, Kerigan said, “CBDCs are new forms of fiat currencies that have the potential to enable new or better payment capabilities.”
“But they are not necessarily a replacement to traditional payment infrastructures and processes. CBDC and traditional infrastructures will need to co-exist and work together for some time to come,”Kerigan underlined.
In order to scale, CBDC needs to adopt the same technology, as some CBDCs are built on centralized protocols, while some are based on DLT, so there can be a challenge of interoperability.
Finding solutions for interoperability
With the experience SWIFT has in international payments, it is working to solve interoperability between CBDCs and existing payments systems, using banks communicating via established messaging.
The testing of Capgemini has gone further to a network level, where CBDC platforms, regardless of technology with existing payments systems, can be connected via the SWIFT platform.
SWIFT is exploring whether interlinking could offer a highly scalable and easily integrated solution to making CBDC networks ‘cross-border payments ready.
With this technology for CBDCs, SWIFT is aiming to launch a solution that can be accessible to more than 11,000 financial institutions in over 200 countries.
“If the experiments are successful, it will demonstrate that SWIFT has the capability and technical components to interlink different networks. And it could enable us to help central banks make their own CBDC networks cross-border payment ready, ”Kerigan added.
SWIFT’s proof of concept with Capgemini ensures that, regardless of the platform used (Corda and Quorum are adopted in the experimentation), it provides efficient orchestration of transactions and can address three use cases – CBDC to CBDC, fiat to CBDC, and CBDC to fiat.
Looking at the fierce competition from cryptocurrencies, SWIFT has to work towards adopting new technologies that can make them a player in the fastest-changing cross-border payment business.


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At present, due to the increasing demand of some popular car models, the challenge has arisen in front of the car companies to deliver them on time. In such a situation, customers have to wait for 6 months for the delivery of some cars and up to a year for some. However, we have come across information about a car for which the company has given 76 years to the customer for delivery. Yes, you heard it right. The company is going to deliver this car in 2099. Let us know what is the matter.
Mahindra gave waiting period of 76 years
Actually, this feat has been done by Mahindra, a company which is famous for its safest SUV in the market. The company has recently given a delivery date of 76 years to a customer who booked the XUV700. In a receipt handed over to the customer, the company has given the estimated delivery date of the car as “9 September 99” which means that the car will be delivered to the customer on 9 September 2099.
wrong delivery date
As per the information, some customers who have booked the XUV700 have been given a delivery date of the same date which is said to be a typographical mistake. In fact, certain variants of the Mahindra XUV700 are being offered with a waiting period of six months to one year. This customer booked a booking for the XUV700 7-Seater Manual Transmission model. The customer was shocked to see the waiting period of 76 years on the receipt, after which he shared its picture on social media. Please tell that this picture is becoming very viral on the Internet.
7-star strong safety
Mahindra is known for making the safest cars in the Indian market. Mahindra XUV700, XUV300 and New Generation Thar are some of the safest cars from the company. Coming to the XUV700, it is a 7-seater SUV from the company with a 5-star safety rating. It was given 16.03 out of 17 in adult safety and 41.66 out of 49 in child safety. In the crash test, this SUV was successful in getting 5-stars.
Talking about the engine and power, the XUV700 has been given the option of diesel and petrol engines. It has been given a 2.2-litre diesel unit which is capable of generating 153 bhp power and 360 Nm of peak torque. At the same time, the 2.0-liter M Stallion turbocharged petrol engine generates 188 bhp power and 380 newton meter torque.
The car is offered with all wheel drive or 4-wheel drive systems in manual and automatic gearboxes. Mahindra XUV700 price starts at Rs 13.45 Lakh – Rs 24.95 Lakh, ex-showroom (Delhi).

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James Connelly has been named chief operating officer, xpedx and is a member of the xpedx senior lead team.
Lowell, MA-based King Printing Co. Inc. has become the first North American book manufacturer to install a new HP T350 Color Inkjet Web Press speed upgrade.
Digital Formatting Services (DFS) announces a newly formed relationship to supply its VDP services to the franchisees of the International Center for Entrepreneurial Development (ICED).
The Board of Directors of the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association (MFSA) recently voted to support the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) proposed move to five-day delivery service, during its recent meeting held in conjunction with the association’s Annual Conference in Colorado Springs, CO.
Printing Industries of America has announced the results of the 2011 Premier Print Awards.
Ricoh Americas Corp. has installed five Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition color production printing systems at five Consolidated Graphics, Inc. (CGX) locations.
InfoTrends’ latest print production workflow market forecast shows the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will be 7.9% between 2010 and 2015 despite the fact that most regions are still recovering from the global economic recession.
In an effort to accommodate its growing sales force and new cross-media department, Danvers, MA-based Shawmut announces the expansion of its headquarters.
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. announces it has been awarded approximately a $300 million multi-year Print Management agreement by Meredith Corp.
The Technical Assn. of the Graphic Arts (TAGA) has appointed a new president and board members from the ranks of the top companies and technical universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Sotware developer Transformations Inc. and inserting solutions provider Sensible Technologies have entered into an agreement to refer the products and services each provides to new and existing customers.
Survey Advantage has released its “Print Buyer Satisfaction Benchmarks” for the second quarter ending June 30th.
OKI Data Americas today announced the establishment of OKI proColor Financing, a financial services program enabled through various financing and lending sources to support OKI’s proColor dealer network.
With over 700 systems already installed worldwide, Glunz & Jensen CEO Keld Thorsen says, “We are very happy with the success the PlateWriter 3000 has shown in such a short time.”
The Government Printing Office has opened to the public “Keeping America Informed,” a new exhibit to commemorate the agency’s 150 years of service to the nation.
Rickard Bindery, a leading binding and finishing company with more than a century of experience, announces company president Jack Rickard has been inducted into the Binding Industries Association (BIA) Hall of Fame.
Komori America Corp. announces McCallum Print Group has retrofitted its new H-UV curing system on the company’s LS640 press.
The Ben Franklin Honor Society of Printing Industries of America is calling for nominations in the 2011 “Frederick D. Kagy Education Award of Excellence” program.
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. announces Firehouse Printing has grown its color print production business 18% with the bizhub PRESS C8000 color digital press.
Effective July 25, 2011, the USPS will be launching a new and improved website designed for users to find what they need more quickly and easily.
Copresco has won two awards for exceptional technical writing from the Society for Technical Communication, Chicago chapter.
The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC) has partnered with MOGO Media, a producer of training events and conferences for the design community, to provide an educational ePublishing Conference, September 13-14, 2011, during Graph Expo.
EFI is working with Canon U.S.A. Inc. to bring mobile printing to the enterprise-print marketplace.
Masterpiece Graphix (MGX), a digital material manufacturer and treatment center, is offering a heat transfer sheet material that has been certified by the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to run on the HP Indigo sheet press series.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. has acquired contact sheet cleaning and web cleaning solutions manufacturer Teknek.


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Surface RT's screen bests the iPad 3 in some tests, is 'very good' overall
Now that the Surface is out, we can now compare the high-end tablets from Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft. As it stands right now, the iPad and Surface beat each other in different areas. They're both superb screens, but it's not easy to say that one is better than the other.
iPad 4 and iPad Mini: Apple goes to war to secure the tablet market
I sometimes wonder if companies like Apple and Microsoft engage in corporate espionage. Microsoft had been working on the Surface tablet in complete secrecy for more than three years before it finally showed it to the public in June of this year -- and yet, it seems Apple knew exactly what was coming, and exactly how to suck the wind out of Microsoft's sails.
The iPad Mini: Has Apple lost its way?
Just when we thought that the iPad Mini had been consigned to vaporware heaven, Apple has sent out invites for a special event on October 23. With the tagline 'we've got a little more to show you,' the star of the show will be a 7.85-inch iPad Mini. But at $250, where does the iPad Mini fit into Apple's line-up? Won't it cannibalize sales of the iPod Touch and iPad 3?
Kindle Fire HD 8.9 vs. iPad 3: Is the Apple Experience really worth $200?
On paper, the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 blows the iPad 3 out of the water. But most importantly, the 16GB Fire HD -- with its 1920x1200 (254 PPI) Retina-equivalent screen! -- is a full 200 dollars cheaper than the 16GB iPad 3.
The iPad Mini will destroy any hope of Android tablet success
The iPad Mini will have one purpose: To stem the loss of tablet sales caused by the rebellious 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7 -- and through better looks, better content, and priced at $200, the iPad Mini will do just that.
Apple’s iPad reclaims lost market share while Android flops like a fish out of water
Apple during the second quarter of 2012 shipped 17 million iPad 2 and 3 models, representing a colossal jump of 44.1% from 11.8 million units in the first quarter. For whatever reason, manufacturers simply have not been able to leverage Google's open source platform to compete with Apple's iPad in the full-size tablet space, and instead have had to focus on the less expensive 7-inch category. Even Google resigned itself to doing so when it launched the Nexus 7 in July.
By Paul Lilly
LG's new 440 PPI display is way too much of a good thing
LG has demonstrated a new display technology, but the 440 pixels per square inch it offers isn't just useless for the majority of people -- it'll inevitably come at the expense of battery life and device heat.
By Joel Hruska
Buy a Cadillac, get a free iPad. Is there more to this story (like ease-of-use concerns)?
Hyundai did it to promote a new car. Cadillac says it goes hand-in-hand with the CUE infotainment system. Could there be ease-of-use concerns?
By Bill Howard
Apple sneakily debuts 32nm A5 in new iPad 2, Apple TV
With an illusory flourish that only Apple could pull off, the magicians of Cupertino have quietly started shipping iOS devices with 32nm A5 SoCs. This new SoC uses 30% less power and costs a lot less to produce. Is it a sign of things to come with the iPhone 5?
What the iPad 3's Retina display looks like under a microscope
As you probably know by now, the pixels in the new iPad's Retina display are so small that they almost can't be seen by the human eye -- but as you can see, the story is very different indeed when you look at it at 80x magnification under a microscope.


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Friday, Jan 20 2012
News and Analysis
Microsoft will release Dynamics AX 2012 for Retail next month. The company made the announcement at the National Retail Federation conference this week. The 2012 release has multichannel capabilities that enable customers to buy, pick up, return or replace items via different channels.
Orders can be created and managed at the POS, while employees can utilize the dashboards in Role Centers to view information relevant to individual users and create orders and quotations without leaving the customer’s side. There is also integrated multichannel management and merchandising functionality. In a pre-show posting on the Executive Insights blog on the Microsoft website, Kirill Tatarinov, who heads the Dynamics business, wrote that Dynamics AX for Retail lets users make changes to a system, such as adding a store, integrating acquisitions or adding distribution centers via drag and drop. Using one of my least favorite phrases, Tatarinov said “We’re excited about the future of retail …” But that was followed with one of the most interesting points that Microsoft is bringing not just cloud computing to retail, and would also incorporate mobile applications and “Kinect touch-free interfaces.”
Last modified on Sunday, 16 June 2013


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West African startup and ‘African Super App’, Gozem has announced the onboarding of Othmane Bouhlal, co-founder of French ride-hailing company Chuaffeur-Privé, as a strategic advisor.
Gozem is creating a board of strategic advisors to help grow the startup
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With the tech startup expanding its offering and entering new markets, Gozem is building an advisory board with exceptional entrepreneurial skills in the mobility business. The aim of the advisory board to assist Gozem in its trajectory of growth, operational improvements, and upscaling.
Othmane Bouhlal, co-founder of Chauffeur-Privé comments on being added to the board of advisors for Gozem.
“I’m pleased and excited to join the Gozem family who has shown incredible traction in their journey to become Africa’s number one Super App. Their goal is ambitious and challenging and I will support them with the best of my abilities along the way.”
As the co-founder of Chauffeur-Privé, Bouhlal founded the ride-hailing company in 2011 and was able to grow the company to become one of the most successful mobility startups in Europe. Rising to success, Chauffeur-Privé was acquired by Daimler, the German automotive giant in 2017.
Chauffeur-Prive was rebranded to Kapten in 2019 and then merged with Free Now in 2020.
The addition of Othmane Bouhlal to the advisory board will enable a fast-track learning path for Gozem’s management team, and the entire Gozem organization will profit greatly from the experience, best practices, and valuable insight that Bouhlal can provide.
“It is an honor for us to welcome Othmane’s commitment as an advisor in the company. His knowledge and experience in executing a world-class mobility startup will be priceless for Gozem and will move the company to the next level,” concludes Gregory Costamagna, co-founder of Gozem.
Featured image: Othmane Bouhlal, co-founder of Chauffeur-Privé (Supplied)


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Gaming peripherals specialist Razer's plan to offer a computer keyboard with an integrated iPod dock emerged back in March this year. Five months on and the company has finally confirmed it is preparing to launch just such a product.
The Pro|Type Multimedia Keyboard not only incorporates an iPod dock, but it has a set of iTunes-friendly media-control keys and line-out ports for connecting up speakers and other audio equipment, Razer said. Ten further keys can be programmed to run macros or send out specific keystrokes.
Other peripherals can be connected through the board's two USB ports. It itself hooks up to the host by its own, gold-plated USB connector. There's 32KB of on-board buffer memory, apparently.
Razer would only say the Pro|Type is "coming soon". It's been claimed of late the company is also working on a Zune-oriented version of the product. ®


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With Amazon sending amazing shivers up the spine of Australian retailers, there’s also plenty of advice on what retailers (let alone consumers) can expect, with online shipping do’s and don’ts for retailers to ensure their shipping costs remain shipshape.
Search behemoth Google has bowed to the demands of the European Union that it make changes to ensure that its search engine dominance does not give illegal advantage to its own comparison shopping service.
Chinese millennials use digital tools to satisfy functional and emotional needs — food, expenditure, socialising — more often than their US counterparts, according to a new report.
Excellent article thx Alex -Pricing to enable bonuses to execs while hiding what they do to their 'essential workers' -[…]
Time for the US gov't to BAN these a***holes at Fecebook, Twatter, Instagrub and elsewhere. PUT THEM IN JAIL FOR[…]
Quite frankly passwords are a pain in the posterior.Why can't I have one secure password that I use on all[…]
Seems that the NBN Co is continuing to rip off consumers.The NBN was supposed to be available to all with[…]
Well u might be of self admitted low intelligence, which u've claimed many times, but u are a good writer[…]


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Ubisoft has released the first look gameplay trailer for its recently announced Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which is “representative of Xbox Series X gameplay.”
“As developers, we’re always excited to work with new hardware because it gives us a greater ability to express our creative vision,” said Assassin’s Creed Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail in a press release. “Assassin’s Creed has always been committed to exploring new technologies and leveraging new consoles’ abilities to deliver the most immersive experience possible. We are excited to be collaborating closely with Microsoft to bring Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to the Xbox Series X,.”
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is due out this holiday for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC via Uplay and the Epic Games Store.
Watch the trailer below.


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In September last year, the CEO of OnePlus, Pete Lau announced the OnePlus TV development. However, no release date has been revealed until now. The OnePlus TV is expected to launch soon although the plans were announced last year. However, since then, the Shenzhen-based Chinese company has not released any further details. Also, the upcoming TV will bring a total connected experience and will offer a premium flagship TV experience out-of-the-box to the buyers. The arrival of the OnePlus TV will, however, bring competition for the Xiaomi’s Mi TV lineup. Xiaomi has gained huge popularity in Indian and Chinese markets because of its affordable offerings with respect to the Android TV operating system.
Also, the details of OnePlus’s plan for the launch have not been specified for Indian or global markets. No specifications have come out about the price or the features either. Since it will be a premium TV, hence we cannot expect a very affordable price.
Last year, OnePlus also tool registrations to choose an official name for the TV product to be launched that is now internally called the OnePlus TV. Formal debut of the product is still awaited.


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The next twist in net neutrality
The FCC recently altered its regulations regarding internet traffic in an attempt to provide consumers with unbiased access to the internet.
A new government-initiated policy set up by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) aims to protect the flow of internet traffic. It endeavours to keep net neutrality intact, so that people have unbiased internet access. The FFC rule change will prevent fixed-line broadband companies from selecting certain legal content to block or prioritise.
It has previously been the case that people could pay certain broadband companies in exchange for delivering their content faster to consumers. This meant that non-paying organisations could risk being left behind.
Mark Baker, online marketing manager at theEword, stated: "The notion of net neutrality has sparked a lengthy debate. While some people believe that providing impartial internet access is necessary, it has also been said that showcasing the best websites for an individual search is more essential."
Leniency for mobile networks
While fixed-line broadband companies will undergo a strict rule change during the next two months, the FCC is being more lenient with mobile networks. Phone companies cannot block applications that compete with their services, but they are able to manage traffic so that the small systems are not overwhelmed.
However Verizon, the largest US mobile phone company, wishes to challenge these changes due to its belief that they are unnecessary. A Verizon news release stated: "Verizon is fully committed to an open internet. We are deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority to impose potentially sweeping and unneeded regulations on broadband networks and services and on the internet itself."


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Yunjin is one of the next characters to be released on Genshin Impact, but it appears that several official images have been leaked ahead of his official release.
Updates 2.1 and 2.2 will bring with them a host of new Genshin Impact characters, with the release of characters like Baal (Shogun Raiden) , Kokomi, Yae Miko, and Aloy. However, there are some characters that have yet to be officially announced. While miHoYo has yet to release Yunjin, that hasn’t stopped a number of new Genshin Impact leaks from popping up online.
In fact, speculation and rumors surrounding Yunjin have been circulating for months. However, it now appears that the latest data leak has finally given fans a sneak peek at what the Heyu Tea House singer will look like in the game . Whether you’re saving your Cousins for Yunjin’s official release or just want to see what the new character looks like, then the latest leak could be a deal breaker.
Yunjin leaks into Genshin Impact
The leaked images of Yunjin appear to come from the game’s concept art and were shared on the Genshin Impact Leaks Reddit page. Daisy, a renowned Genshin leaker, also shared her findings with fans via Twitter. According to Daisy, the character model comes from the first Genshin Impact closed beta.
In the leaked images, Yunjin can be seen wearing an elegant purple dress that is adorned with various symbols. It remains to be seen if this skin will change after its release, but for now, players had better start saving their First Gems if they wish to add this character to their team.
Genshin Impact Yunjin release date
MiHoYo has yet to confirm a release date for Yunjin, but we know that it will likely be added to the game after Kokomi, Yae Miko, Thoma, and Gorou have been added. With this news, we expect the Yunjijn banner to be revealed in update 2.2 or much later.
Yunjin’s abilities in Genshin Impact
Yunjin’s abilities have yet to be revealed, but it has been speculated that he could be the first Dendro character in the game. This would certainly come as a surprise to many players, especially since only two types of monsters are the only creatures capable of unleashing plant-based attacks.
Yunjin’s story at Genshin Impact
According to the Genshin Impact wiki , Yunjin is affiliated with the Heyu Tea House, a location within Liyue. It is here that the singer performs, entertaining weary travelers with her excellent voice. Yunjin has also been compared to Granny Ruoxin, another famous opera singer who was also incredibly popular.
Recent leaks on the voice line have many of Liyue’s characters praising her voice and graceful stage presence. She is described as the most popular performer in the region, but remains humble behind the scenes.
At this time, we don’t know when Yunjin will appear in the Genshin Impact storyline, but it seems like several NPCs are already aware of her.


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Standon Calling 2018 tickets go on sale
- Credit: Archant
Tickets for Standon Calling 2018 have gone on sale.
The music festival will return to Standon Lordship in the Hertfordshire countryside next year from Thursday, July 26 to Sunday, July 29.
Festival-goers at Standon Calling 2017 can buy tickets for next summer on-site at the merchandise stand and at top-up stations at super early bird prices.
Early bird tickets will go on sale online from Monday, July 31.
Adults weekend tickets for this year’s festival headlined by Orbital, Clean Bandit and Grace Jones sold out.
You may also want to watch:
Early bird adult weekend passes for 2018 will cost £107, with teen weekend tickets priced £87, and children’s weekend tickets £30.
• Visit https://standon-calling.com/ for more details.
- 1 Upgrades to key shopping street will leave town 'well-placed' for future
- 2 Icy weather continues to suspend bin collections
- 3 Police disperse large group near the university
- 4 Isabel Hospice closed to new admissions due to staff sickness
- 5 Post delayed due to staff self-isolating at Royal Mail
- 6 More than 15 social housing homes open at £6.7 million development
- 7 The latest court results for Welwyn Hatfield and Potters Bar
- 8 COVID-19: Cases fall by hundreds but still above national average
- 9 'We need to be heard and treated fairly' – dog groomers demand after not receiving COVID grant
- 10 Fine issued to funeral director after ‘clear and blatant breach’ of coronavirus rules


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Inter have already sold out of season tickets for the 2022/23 season and they have opened the waiting list for the following season, according to a report in the Italian media.
As has been reported by FCInternews, the club has announced that all 40,000 available season tickets for the upcoming season have been purchased and there are no more available.
That means that the club are already looking ahead to the future and they have opened the waiting list for the 2023/24 season. It is designed for fans that could not get a season ticket this time around and want to act as fast as possible to get one for the next season.
In terms of the tickets available for the opening match of the season against Spezia that aren’t already taken by season ticket holders, the sale will begin on July 8 on the Inter website and at the official sales points in Milan and online.


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The deal for two corrugated box plants and one recycled containerboard mill will be completed subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities.
The two corrugated box plants consume 130 thousand tonnes of containerboard per annum and the recycled containerboard mill is capable of producing 105 thousand tonnes per annum.
For the year ended 31 December 2011, the operations generated revenues of €160m and pre-tax profit of €23m.
Mondi currently has nine operations in Germany and three production sites in the Czech Republic.
The firm said it would assume €5m net cash upon completion of the deal, implying an enterprise value of €120m.
A Mondi spokeswoman told FoodProductionDaily.com the acquisition was a good opportunity and made strategic sense.
“We are always looking for potential moves to fit within our strategy and we wouldn’t have made the acquisition if we didn’t think it made sense.
"It will open up a number of synergies and boost our strong market position.
“The acquisition will strengthen our position in packaging and our corrugated business and is a clear sign of our focus on Central and Eastern Europe.”
All employees of operations from Duropack Wellpappe Ansbach and Duropack Bupak will be taken on by Mondi Group.
The news follows the acquisition of Nordenia International into Mondi’s consumer packaging business for €240m in July.
Duropack will continue to run packaging and corrugated board operations in Slovakia, Austria, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia.
“Our strategy is consequently focused on East- and Southeast-Europe. The sale of our operations in Germany and the Czech Republic further strengthens our profile and allows us to focus entirely on our core markets and core business, packaging”, said Peter Szivacsek, CEO of Duropack Group.
In 2010, Duropack strengthened its geographic focus with the acquisition of the majority of the shares in Croatian corrugated base paper and packaging producer Belišce.


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Leading hire management software provider Jaama is busy following up numerous new business opportunities following leads secured at the recent Vertikal Days show.
Despite torrential rain and the attraction of the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, Jaama is confident that discussions held with stand visitors will trigger an increase in sales of its industry-leading Key2 Hire Management software for plant and vehicle assets.
The annual two-day crane, access and telehandler event held at Haydock Park, Merseyside, celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.
Jaama is taking the plant and tool hire industry by storm with its next generation Key2 Hire Management as an ever-growing number of companies recognise that with constantly squeezed margins, implementation of good software can bring real benefits.
Key2 Hire Management is the most advanced, flexible web-based product on the market. Allied to Jaama’s on-going development and investment programme which negates costly upgrade fees, the system is at the forefront of innovative management across the sector.
Jordan Thompson, Jaama’s hire sales manager, said: “We are following up more than 25 good quality business leads, which is a tremendous return from the show as Jaama continues to make significant inroads into the plant market.”
What’s more recently launched system functionality includes a new day book module to proactively manage equipment delivery and collection with associated assets and a slicker, streamlined and efficient ‘quick hire’ process.


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During the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), the company Intel showed the details of its new ASIC Bonanza Mine, the chip manufactured for mining cryptocurrencies.
According to the firm, this little device combines 300 of these small, low-power chips into a powerful 3,600W miner and offers up to 40 THash/s of throughput.
It is a domain-specific processor measuring just 14.16mm2 in a 7×7.5mm package and manufactured under Intel’s 7nm node.
This chip promises a much higher Joule mining capacity than other similar devices, such as the Avalon 9 and Bitfury Clarke, where with a rate of 54 J/TH it can reach 47.7 TH/s.
Although it was just introduced, Intel already has several major customers that will be able to directly use the Bonanza Mine, such as BLOCK, Argo Blockchain, and GRIID Infrastructure.
A few days ago, Intel announced its intention to enter the field of cryptocurrency mining, where conventional graphics cards do not reach their best performance.
“Today, at Intel, we declare our intention to contribute to the development of blockchain technologies, with a roadmap of low-power accelerators,” said Raja M. Koduri, CEO of the company, a few days ago.
“Intel will commit to and promote an open and secure blockchain ecosystem and help advance this technology in a responsible and sustainable manner.”
This new bet by the company responds to the growing trend in the technology sector and the increasingly popular adoption of blockchain technology.


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Haivision, Vitec Group’s Vinten and Autoscript, EcoDigital, and Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) are the latest members of Grass Valley’s Technology Alliance.
The Alliance, launched in 2019, aims to support Grass Valley’s customers with access to a wide range of systems and solutions that are interoperable with its platforms and workflow components.
The new members join ChyronHego, Frankly Media, Net Insight, RT Software and Telemetrics in the Alliance.
“Since its launch a year ago, the Grass Valley Technology Alliance has seen significant interest and positive industry acceptance, and we are proud of the dynamic range of companies that the program brings together,” said Tim Shoulders, president of Grass Valley.
“As broadcast media companies strive to deliver the captivating content and high production values that consumers demand, we give our customers access to trusted solutions that are tested and configured to meet the demands of mission-critical production environments. The GVTA gives customers greater buying confidence and a wider array of value-added capabilities.”


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T-Mobile, a prominent player in the telecommunications industry, has undertaken a significant workforce reduction, affecting approximately 5,000 employees reported by Bloomberg. This move comes as the company seeks to balance its efforts to enhance coverage and offer competitive pricing to customers.
While T-Mobile has been striving to outpace its carrier competitors, Verizon and AT&T, in terms of affordability and network quality, these endeavors have incurred substantial costs that have led to the decision to lay off a portion of its workforce.
CEO Mike Sievert conveyed the rationale behind the layoffs in a letter to employees, highlighting that the expenses associated with customer retention have become significantly more burdensome compared to previous quarters.
The company’s diversification into other ventures, including high-speed internet, has been unable to adequately meet evolving customer expectations. As a result, T-Mobile has deemed it necessary to reduce its workforce by approximately 7 percent.
The layoffs primarily impact corporate and back-office roles, as well as some technology positions, with retail and consumer care divisions expected to remain unaffected. Sievert indicated that these layoffs should not result in widespread headcount reductions beyond this point.
Despite the workforce reduction, T-Mobile is positioned to maintain a robust presence in the market, especially with the impending launch of the iPhone 15, which could offer opportunities for aggressive marketing and device promotions.
T-Mobile’s decision to streamline its workforce follows its recent dominance in the U.S. carrier market for more affordable plans. While this move may provide the company with some breathing room to develop competitive strategies and promote cost-effective plans, the layoffs underscore the financial challenges associated with its ambitious initiatives.
While details about the compensation and support for the affected employees have not been publicly disclosed, the company’s phased approach to the layoffs over five weeks indicates a degree of consideration for impacted workers. This timeframe allows affected individuals the opportunity to seek suitable employment alternatives.


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Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch company that makes Omo washing powder has withdrawn from a sponsorship deal with Danish artist Flemming Rolighed, fearing he would present them as anti-homosexual.
The company had announced it would give him 70 packages of Omo for a work of art. But, the artist says that “having seen what I made with other brand names, the decision was reversed”. Rolighed’s work has included a piece in which he changed the brand name “Cocio”, a chocolate milk drink, to “Cock” and “Toblerone” to “Tobehomo”.
“We were afraid, that he would create a piece that would make it look as if the multinational Unilever is prejudiced against homosexuals,” said brand manager Gitte Matzen.
Their suspicions were correct: the artist purchased dozens of boxes of the washing powder, which he piled in a phallic tower for a display in Aros Kunstmuseum in Aarhus; each box was labelled “Homo”.
Matzen denies that Unilever has problems with gay people. “We are living in the 21st century and we all have to wash our clothes,” she says. Commenting on Rolighed’s work of art, she said: “He got his PR stunt.”
• Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper under the headline 'Unilever withdraws gay art sponsorship'


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NEW DELHI: Awfis Space Solutions, a shared-space provider, has opened up a 35,000 sq ft of co-working space in Baner, Pune. This is company’s first community workplace in the city for which it has tied-up with Teerth Realties, a Pune-based developer.
The centre has 525 seats and is priced in the range of Rs 5,000-10,000 per seat per month.
“We were overwhelmed by the demand and need of experience led workspaces in the Pune market and decided to commence our operations here. The centre in Baner is already 45% occupied,” says Amit Ramani, CEO & Founder of Awfis.
The company will open its next centre in Viman Nagar by 15th August. It will have 52,000 sq ft of total space. “Out of the total space, we have tied-up with Mantri Developer for 30,000 sq ft, while the rest is with a HNI landlord. The centre is already 100% sold-out,” says Ramani.
Awfis plans to open upto 5 more centres in Pune in next six months in areas like Bund Garden, Hinjewadi and Kharadi, among others. Depending on the location, price range of these centres will vary from Rs 5,000-12,000 per seat per month.
The company is focusing on manufacturing industries, SMEs apart from corporate and BFSI companies as clientele for these co-working spaces.
As for the competition, Ramani claims that they are first National player to enter the Pune market and although there are existing regional players, the demand they are witnessing is quite high.
Read the original article here – http://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/commercial/https://www.awfis.com/inspiration/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/shutterstock_3835072871.jpg-opens-35000-sq-ft-of-co-working-space-in-pune/59789029


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Dec 1 (Bloomberg) -- Copper gained as faster-than-expected manufacturing growth in China and improving U.S. consumer confidence boosted the global economic outlook. The London Metal Exchange cash premium rose to the highest level in two years.
The metal for three-month delivery in London gained as much as 0.9 percent to $8,432.50 a metric ton before trading at $8,415 a ton at 3:10 p.m. Shanghai time. Other base metals traded on the exchange also advanced.
"The latest PMI figures indicated the economy is still growing at a healthy rate,” Peng Qiang, an analyst at Cofco Futures Co., said by phone from Beijing. "The tightening is aimed at controlling inflation, not bringing down economic growth. There is a subtle difference.”
China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index in November rose to 55.2, the fastest pace in seven months, from 54.7 in October, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said on its website today. The result was more than the 54.8 median forecast of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The LME copper premium for immediate-delivery climbed to $60 a ton over the benchmark three-month contract yesterday, the highest level since October 2008. An unidentified company held between 50 percent and 79 percent of LME copper stockpiles from Nov. 22 through at least Nov. 26, the latest exchange data show.
"It looks like a squeeze to me,” Lu Chenghong, an analyst at Jiger Capital Management Ltd., said by phone from Shanghai, referring to a situation in which a single investor may be able to influence prices by holding a dominant position. "As the month progresses, the situation may change,” Lu said.
Copper for March delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 1.6 percent to close at 63,670 yuan ($9,554) a ton. The metal traded on Changjiang nonferrous metals physical market was quoted at 62,550 to 62,700 yuan a ton today, or a discount of 150 to 300 yuan to the front-month Shanghai futures contract.
"The physical market in China isn’t really tight,” Peng said. "In fact, it’s a bit weak as demand in winter traditionally isn’t good.”
Another PMI released by HSBC Holdings Plc today showed manufacturing in the world’s biggest metals user rose to the highest level in eight months to 55.3 in November, from 54.8 the previous month, indicating the economy is keeping momentum amid recent increases in interest rates and required reserve ratios.
In the U.S., consumer confidence rose in November to the highest level in five months, exceeding the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, while Institute for Supply Management- Chicago Inc. said its business activity gauge advanced to the highest level since April.
In Chile, the workers’ union at Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc’s Collahuasi copper mine, the world’s fourth- biggest, had a day of "difficult” negotiations with the company and was still far from reaching an agreement over wages to end a 26-day strike, a union official said yesterday. He declined to be named, saying he is not an authorized spokesman.
Aluminum in London gained 0.7 percent to $2,291.50 a ton, zinc increased 1.8 percent to $2,149 a ton, and lead climbed 1.8 percent to $2,270 a ton. Nickel rose 0.5 percent to $23,175 a ton and tin advanced 1.3 percent to $24,800 a ton.


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Newly obtained reports further prove what we already knew to be true: Animals suffer and die at Petco stores. Damning Colorado Department of Agriculture records reveal that 12 Petco stores were hit with more than 80 violations of the state’s Pet Animal Care Facilities Act (PACFA) between January and July 2019.
Petco stores in Colorado were cited for neglect, filth, poor recordkeeping, and other infractions.
Violations were found at stores in Colorado Springs, the Denver area (including Arvada, Englewood, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lakeside, Lakewood, and Northglenn), Dillon, and Fort Collins. The details of the reports, which were just obtained by PETA, will leave you flabbergasted.
Petco Staff Neglected Animals, Including a Gecko and a Ferret
At one outlet in Northglenn, workers failed to provide a thin leopard gecko with veterinary treatment over nine days. The animal lay motionless for at least two days before finally dying.
A ferret who was suffering from a painful prolapsed rectum and a suspected upper respiratory infection wasn’t provided with any veterinary care at the Northglenn store, either.
That animal also died, reportedly as a manager was finally taking him or her to get treatment.
Petco Allowed an ‘Excessive Amount’ of Fish to Die
In April 2019, a Petco store in Englewood was cited for an “excessive amount of dead fish.”
Petco Workers Denied Animals Necessary Heat, Clean Cages
A “large amount of feces” was found in a parakeet cage in the Northglenn store. Two stores in the state also deprived reptiles of adequate heat and ultraviolet lighting. In Northglenn, iguanas, chameleons, and bearded dragons—who require basking temperatures in the mid-80s to low 90s—were in tanks as cold as 72 degrees.
Petco Grooming Salons Are Hell on Earth for Dogs
An assistant manager at the Northglenn outlet acknowledged that “sewage had leaked into the wall” of a grooming room, leaving a hole. Other violations there included failure to clean and sanitize bathtubs between animals, rusted doors with sharp edges that could injure animals, and “a strong mildew smell.”
Petco Stores Kept Shoddy Records—When They Kept Records at All
Several stores lacked essential documentation, including written agreements with licensed veterinarians, proof of veterinary examinations of animals imported from other states, and complete records on sales of birds and rodents. One store lacked a certificate for conures (parrots) it had evidently held for more than a year.
These violations were exposed because of the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s PACFA Program—one of the strongest efforts in the country to regulate pet stores.
If other states joined Colorado in implementing this program, suffering at Petco’s stores and at its suppliers’ facilities would less often go undiscovered.
PETA exposed Petco’s partnership with Holmes Farm, a massive animal dealer in Pennsylvania that supplied hamsters, rabbits, and other small animals to the company and other pet stores. Even after Petco representatives visited Holmes Farm—where animals were being confined to plastic bins, frozen alive, and crudely gassed to death—the chain continued to order and receive animals by the hundreds from the dealer.
We’ve also documented a long list of incidents involving animals who’ve been traumatized, allowed to escape, severely injured, and even killed in Petco grooming salons. In November 2019, for instance, a Petco groomer tied a rubber band around the ear of a dog named Baylee, cutting off the circulation and necessitating amputation.
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Another dog is seriously injured after a @Petco grooming appointment. Baylee LOST HER EAR after a groomer allegedly tied a rubber band on the dog's ear, cutting off her circulation. NEVER trust #Petco with your dogs' life. Tap the link in our profile to learn more: http://peta.vg/2nla #Animals #AnimalRights #Petco #AdoptDontShop #Vegan #GoVegan #Veg #GoVeg #CrueltyFree #Veganism #EndSpeciesism #PETA
And we’ve publicized the widespread suffering and neglect of betta fish at Petco stores across the U.S.
Dead and dying fish have been found floating in cups of contaminated water, and some were left to suffer from painful or debilitating health conditions.
Petco appears to consider it acceptable for a certain number of betta fish to suffer and die—as long as it continues to profit from selling them. Many customers’ concerns for the sick and dying fish have often been met with disregard and annoyance.
Animals at Petco Are Suffering—Take Action Now!
PETA has asked the Northglenn Police Department to investigate the Petco store there for criminal cruelty to animals. As consumers, we can take multiple actions to help these animals, too. Please, avoid all Petco stores until the chain pledges to stop selling live animals. Shop elsewhere instead:
And urge Petco to stop selling betta fish immediately:


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Trina details exactly what went down.
Trina was shopping at a local Walmart in Flordia recently when a woman went off and called her a n***er bitch. At the time, it was reported that the unidentified woman used such disgusting language after Trina accidentally bumped into her but the "Here We Go" rapper has now explained the story in full to TMZ.
According to Trina, she was walking down an aisle in the store when she saw a woman crying.
"I just looked over and was like 'oh hi, are you okay' and she looked up like a demon, demonic very evil satanic witch and she was like 'get away from me you n***er bitch,'" Trina explained. Right away, Trina was taken back and "confused" and even looked to a Walmart employee to confirm that's what she just heard.
Trina eventually left the aisle the woman was shopping and continued to get bombarded by shoppers who were just as shocked. When she made her way to the cash to check out she ran into the woman again and Trina's friend told the woman to apologize.
"And that's when she just looked around acting belligerent like 'why are you guys asking me I don't know anything' and I said say it again."
Elsewhere in Trina's chat with TMZ, she made it clear that this behavior is unacceptable despite whatever political climate we're living in.
"This is not the 1800s, this is not the slavery days... you will get your ass whooped so stop trying."
Check out the fight and her explanation and down below.


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A Northern Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control store is closed Friday after the store manager’s significant other tested positive for COVID-19, state officials said in a press release.
The Graham Park Plaza ABC store located at 7263 Arlington Boulevard in Falls Church will be closed until further notice. Customers will not be able to place online orders for pickup at these stores during the closure, however the nearby ABC store located at 7200 Little River Turnpike in Annandale will be open for business from noon to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
Another store in Richmond was closed Friday after an employee’s family member tested positive, as well.
Both employees are in self-quarantine, authorities said. For the safety of employees and customers, both stores will undergo thorough deep cleaning and sanitization per Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, ABC said. The stores will be closed until ABC has determined the risk has been eliminated.
“While no employees at either store have tested positive for COVID-19 at this time, we are closing the stores out of an abundance of caution,” said ABC CEO Travis Hill. “We will continue to check in with those employees, and follow VDH and CDC guidance on when to reopen these stores.”
Since the beginning of the health crisis, ABC has closed six stores due to the virus. Two of those stores located in Virginia Beach and Richmond have both now been reopened after following VDH and CDC guidance for store sanitization and employee quarantine, ABC said.


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U.S. and California regulators say they have approved a fix for about 38,000 Volkswagen Group 3.0-litre diesel crossovers in the United States. VW Canada is attempting to get the same fix approved in Canada.
The seats in the 2017 Audi A3, supplied by Canada's Magna International, received a perfect score in J.D. Power's latest Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study.
What does the future of the auto industry hold and how fast is that future coming? Some of the auto industry's biggest players offer dramatically different answers.
Luxury automakers are expanding their reach in Canada by grabbing an increasingly bigger piece of the compact and subcompact segment, according to auto researchers at J.D. Power.
Audi's dismissed engineers include the automaker's engine development chief and a former head of emissions in the United States, a report said.
Connectivity and other aspects of “digitalization” will increasingly require more software development, an area Audi won't leave to others, said Audi Canada President Daniel Weissland.


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HAYS, Kan. - China has a national economic strategy designed to create more and better jobs. We have global corporations designed to make money for shareholders, regardless of where they reside.
Robert Reich, author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, recently explained that the United States "doesn't have a national economic strategy. Instead, we have global corporations that happen to be headquartered here."
As many others have pointed out for at least a decade, the U.S. now has two distinct economies. We have the economy of "Main Street" and the economy of "Wall Street."
The two don't move in lock-step anymore; when one is profitable (Wall Street and global corporations), the other economy (made up of American small businesses not located in China or India and including most American citizens) is often unaffected or worsened.
That's why multinational corporations (such as ExxonMobil or Microsoft) are doing really well while many of our neighbors and friends are stressed and hurting.


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Here's a round up of some of the best infographics we've seen this week.
We have infographics on social media at the Olympics, Apple's Q3 earnings, mobile content and the rise and fall of magazines.
The Olympics is only two days away now, and LOCOG has undertaken a well-publicised crackdown on non-sponsors’ attempts at guerrilla marketing.
However, new data from Experian shows that the overzealous approach to protecting the rights of official sponsors may have backfired.
As of last week, the Olympics was the third most visited sports category online behind football and cycling, while the average time spend on an Olympics website stands at six minutes 33 seconds.
Apparently the next CEO of Yahoo will not be current Hulu CEO Jason Kilar. He reportedly isn't interested in the job, and one of the reasons may be that he has a new friend in Facebook.
According to the New York Post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is considering Kilar for a senior role at the world's largest social network. His job: get Big Media to 'like' Facebook.
At the time of writing this article, there are just 40-something days left to go until the Olympics begins. And there’s been a lot of chatter so far this year about how well Nike has capitalised on the ‘Summer of Sport’ theme.
So we thought we would take a closer look at how Nike (not a headline Olympic sponsor) has fared compared to headline Olympic sponsor Adidas in the social stakes on some comparable key terms.
London's 2012 Olympic Games are fast approaching, and NBC, which has television rights to the Olympics through 2020, is doing everything it can to recoup its substantial investment.
That's good news for viewers in the United States this year because NBC's strategy will make the 2012 Games coverage the most extensive yet.
The Olympics certainly are a double edged sword when it comes to marketing.
The rules and regulations are heavily enforced but not always widely understood.
In the UK there's even the Olympics Symbol etc. (Protection) Act 1995 which means making mistakes with Olympic marketing may have very serious consequences.
There have been multiple reports of social media ‘restrictions’ being enforced upon volunteers for London's 2012 Olympic.
The 70,000 volunteers – called Game Makers – have been prevented from posting behind-the-scenes updates and photos to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.
In 2012 the Olympic Games are coming to London. They bring one of the most strict and heavily enforced set of trademark restrictions, sponsorship and marketing rule sets in the world.
Apparently, the 2012 Olympic Games aren’t just any old Games. They’re the world’s first social Olympic Games.
Sponsors are lining up their social campaigns, most notably BT’s Storytellers and Lloyds TSB’s ‘Local heroes’ campaigns.
But what of the (hundreds) of brands sponsoring major but non-Olympic events? The Grand National, FA Cup, Six Nations, Wimbledon, and the soon-to-be-not-the-Carling Cup?
We did some digging around to see how some of the brands currently sponsoring major events are using social media to make their sponsorship deals go further...
Billions are spent by global brands on sports sponsorship. Olympic sponsors will have to learn the lessons from last year's World Cup and make the most of social media to get value out of their sponsorship deals.
Do you hear that sound of ice cracking? If you're in New York, it might be on account of snowpocalypse outside. But elsewhere it's the sound of NBC warming up to live video online.
After taking a hard stance against live viewing of events out of prime time (and fumbling that strategy by hiding the America versus Canada hockey game on MSNBC earlier this week), NBC will be broadcasting the Men's Hockey Semifinal between the U.S. and Finland today online.
Attempting to control what is said about your brand in 2010 may seem like an attempt to put toothpaste back in the tube, but that isn't going to stop The Olympics organizers from trying. The Olympics have very specific rules about what can and cannot be said about the Winter Games and the athletes participating in them.
But rather than focusing on the minutia of violators, the group would do better to focus on a bigger issue — brands don't feel like advertising with NBC or with the Olympics directly is worth the money.


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The Ford Bronco is back and it is coming next Monday. These are the words Bronco enthusiasts have yearned for – almost since Ford retired Bronco following the 1996 model year.
Not just a Bronco, but an entire brand family of Bronco ‘Built Wild’ vehicles are coming – complete with U.S. off-road driving school programs, owner community groups and even merchandise from Amazon.
The all-new Bronco brand includes a Bronco two-door, first-ever Bronco four-door model and all-new rugged, small SUV, the Bronco Sport – and will be the only domestic brand of SUVs with standard 4×4.
Ford is revealing the all- new models July 13 at 8:00 p.m. EDT across Disney network channels National Geographic, ESPN and ABC – the first ever reveal/introduction of this magnitude. In addition, the reveal coincides with the opening of a Bronco reservation order bank for would be owners to get in line.
Every Bronco model is engineered to deliver thrilling and confident off-road experiences that build on the original 1966 Bronco DNA and racing heritage, with ingenious new updatable technologies and adventure-ready attributes created with today’s outdoor enthusiasts in mind.
“Bronco gave rise to the fun and versatile off-road SUV in 1966, becoming the first enjoyable sport utility vehicle for those who wanted to live, work and play outdoors,” said Jim Farley, Ford chief operating officer. “Like the original, the all-new Bronco family is engineered to take you to epic places, with capability to deliver confidence on any type of terrain.”
Inwheeltime.com will have more later (Thursday) about the Bronco brand program. But first, lets get a little history of the origin of Bronco in 1966.
Ford’s off-road SUV expertise traces back to World War II, when the automaker was part of a government competition to build rugged carry-all utilities for GIs in the battlefield. Ford’s entry was called the GP, for General Purpose.
More than 270,000 Ford GPs were built for Allied forces. GIs returning home bought Army surplus GPs for work and play, but they were too small and uncomfortable for civilian life, according to Ford research from the early 1960s, so Ford developed a more refined, spacious, yet durable off-road vehicle to meet this need – the Bronco.
As an agile, sports-oriented off-road 4×4, Ford dubbed the original 1966 Bronco “a completely new line of sports-utility vehicles” at its reveal Aug. 11, 1965. This was the first reference to “SUVs” from an American manufacturer.
The original Bronco was nicknamed G.O.A.T. by Donald Frey, the Ford product manager who championed both Mustang and Bronco nameplates and challenged engineering teams to deliver “go anywhere roadability.”
For the record, G.O.A.T. (Goes Over Any Type of Terrain) was the original internal code name for the development of the Bronco.
Early Broncos had a rugged body-on-frame design with short front and rear overhangs, high ground clearance and a short wheelbase, for maximum off-road capability. Bronco’s toughness and agility at high-speed enabled off-road racers like Rod Hall and Larry Minor to capture an overall win at the grueling 1969 Baja 1000 – a victory that no other production 4×4 has replicated in 50 years.
“Rugged vehicles are in our heritage and we see strong growth opportunities with this ever-more popular segment,” said Kumar Galhotra, Ford president, Americas and International Markets Group. “The Bronco brand meets that need by creating a family of truly capable off-roaders to take our customers further into the wild. We’ve leveraged extensive off- road experience from vehicles like our F-150 Raptor to ensure that every Bronco delivers the ‘Built Wild’ toughness and durability our customers expect.”
Bronco holds a special place in popular culture and has been featured in more than 1,200 films and 200 songs. Since Ford ended production in 1996, Bronco SUVs have continued to grow in popularity with collectors and enthusiasts.
Valuations have skyrocketed since the January 2017 announcement of the return of Ford Bronco. According to Barrett-Jackson, the average first-generation Bronco sale price has nearly doubled from $39,763 to $74,820 in just over three years.
Hagerty valuation guide ranks 1966-77 Broncos as among the highest vehicle price increases of all collectible SUVs over the past three years – a 75.8 percent gain.
“Bronco delivers on the common thread desired by enthusiasts – authenticity,” said Mark Grueber, Ford U.S. consumer marketing manager. “Building Bronco as Ford’s distinct outdoor brand includes a unique network of experiences, community and engagement that extends far beyond ownership of Bronco and Bronco Sport models.”
1966 Bronco Pictorial
We thought you might be interested in what the original – 1966 – generation of Bronco utility vehicles looked like. Some of us remember and might even have had one. Note how simple they were then. We borrowed these photos from the Ford Archives.
The Bronco Reveal is Monday, July 13 at 8:00 p.m. EDT across Disney network channels National Geographic, ESPN and ABC.
You can follow the countdown on Instagram @FordBronco or on the web at Ford.com/Bronco where you can also register for updates.
Source: Ford Press Releases


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Apple Confirms Next U.S. factory is set for Arizona
05 Nov, 2013
Statement about the project from Barry Broome, president and CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Development Council:
“Apple’s presence in the region will be a game-changer for the Greater Phoenix area, its innovation landscape and future ability to attract other high-tech companies. Between their plans to hire 700 direct employees and run completely on renewable energy, I’m convinced Apple could not have chosen a better location than Mesa and Eastmark. This deal is the result of the cooperation and support of several parties, including Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Chucri, City of Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, DMB Associates, the ACA and SRP, whose infrastructure will enable more projects to move forward in the surrounding area.”
A company that will make small pieces of high-tech glass for Apple products plans to employ about 700 people at the now-vacant First Solar Inc. factory in east Mesa.
This is the first significant Arizona presence for Apple Inc., which is buying the building for its supplier, GT Advanced Technologies Inc. Apple looked closely at the Phoenix area about two years ago before deciding to award a much larger facility to Austin.
The deal, which was announced by GT in a regulatory filing Monday afternoon, is seen as a coup for Arizona, drawing excitement and praise from Gov. Jan Brewer, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and a variety of economic-development officials.
The project also will create 1,300 construction-related jobs to get the facility ready for production, Brewer said in a statement.
“Apple is indisputably one of the world’s most innovative companies and I’m thrilled to welcome them to Arizona,” her statement said.
Apple confirmed the deal but shared few details.
The Arizona Commerce Authority, which Brewer chairs, Salt River Project, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Mesa and Maricopa County worked to bring the factory to Mesa.
It is still unclear what incentives, if any, they used to seal the deal with the technology giant.
“Apple will have an incredibly positive economic impact for Arizona, and its decision to locate here speaks volumes about the friendly, pro-business climate we have been creating these past four years,” Brewer said in her statement.
The factory will be run by GT, a New Hampshire-based company that will supply specialty sapphire glass for some of Apple’s tech products.
Apple will buy the building and lease it to GT. GT said in its regulatory filing that it expected sapphire-glass production to start bringing in significant revenue in 2014.
The sapphire glass that GT will make in the facility will be used to cover the camera lenses in Apple’s phones and the fingerprint-reading devices in its latest products. GT’s technology also can be used to make scratchproof glass covers for smartphones, although it is not used for that purpose by Apple today.
“We are very excited about this agreement with Apple as it represents a significant milestone in GT’s long-term diversification strategy,” said Tom Gutierrez, GT’s president and CEO.
The Arizona factory is a departure from GT’s usual business, which is selling the equipment for sapphire-glass production. Supplying Apple with sapphire glass represents a more steady line of business than equipment manufacturing, the company said.
GT has lost about $45 million this year.
Apple prepaid for $578 million of GT’s sapphire-glass goods, which GT must repay over five years ending in 2020, either as credit against Apple’s purchases or as cash, GT said in its regulatory filings.
Arnold Maltz, supply-chain-management professor at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business, said it is unclear why Apple wants the production capacity in Mesa, but he had several ideas.
Maltz said it is possible that the material made in Mesa could go to another factory nearby in Juarez, Mexico, run by Foxconn Technology Group, another Apple supplier.
“I would not be surprised if a lot of this output doesn’t go to Juarez,” he said. “Foxconn has a monster plant there, and my guess is their client is Apple.”
He also said it is possible either Apple or GT executives wanted to keep sapphire-glass production in the U.S.
The majority of Apple products are manufactured in China, a fact that has put the company under considerable scrutiny. At its October launch event, Apple disclosed it was assembling its specialty Mac Pro computers in the U.S.
The building also comes at a steep discount price, with First Solar announcing it is taking a $56 million loss on the sale.
Apple courted the Phoenix area, at least superficially, before deciding in early 2012 to build a massive operations center in Austin, where it will spend $282 million in the next decade on a 39-acre campus.
The Austin-American Statesman reported that project will receive an estimated $35 million in state and local tax incentives. The campus is projected to house 3,600 new workers with an average wage of $54,000 in the first year, growing to an average wage of $73,500 in a decade.
The Arizona Commerce Authority and other government agencies can provide tax incentives in Arizona. About $51.5 million was offered to First Solar to build a factory at the site before its plans changed.
Brewer and other economic-development officials declined to detail any such offers Monday. The Arizona Commerce Authority has made a “competes” incentive offer, senior vice president Nicole McTheny said, but the details are not final.
“Apple’s presence in the region will be a game-changer for the Greater Phoenix area, its innovation landscape and future ability to attract other high-tech companies,” Greater Phoenix Economic Council President/CEO Barry Broome said in a statement Monday.
In February 2012, Broome got a call from Apple asking for a presentation at their California headquarters in three days. Broome said he and Don Cardon, then the CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, were given an hour to pitch the region, and signed confidentiality agreements promising not to reveal the name of the company.
Some Arizona officials expressed frustration at the time that they didn’t get more of a chance to compete for the operations center, but Apple officials seemed impressed with the region nonetheless.
“We are in the game, and when you are in the game, opportunities will continue to come, and you will get better at the game,” Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said in 2012.
On Monday, Smith said the participation in that earlier site-selection round paid off in landing the current facility.
“We hope this is the first of many facilities,” Smith said. “We’d love it if they had great success here and found a reason to build more here.”
Mesa city officials, who had signed confidentiality agreements with Apple, referred to the current project internally as “Operation Cascade.”
Scott Somers, who represents southeast Mesa on the City Council, said it’s likely the Apple factory will spawn spinoff businesses in the neighborhood, and that Mesa needs to be careful about the zoning on nearby properties to take full advantage of those opportunities.
First Solar pullback
First Solar never occupied its factory because it scaled back its global expansion plans last year.
The world market for solar panels was flooded by oversupply, which caused prices to drop. The glut occurred just as some of the major markets in Europe were cutting subsidies for solar panels and decreasing demand for panels.
First Solar was one of the largest producers in the world at the time, and while it weathered the crisis, it had to restructure to remain in business.
In May 2012, First Solar announced 2,000 layoffs, or 30 percent of its global workforce.
At the time of the pullback, the Mesa facility was nearly complete, but it was clear First Solar did not have the demand for its panels to need the additional factory space.
In October 2012, the company disclosed it was seeking a tenant for the facility.
Last month, First Solar announced it had a deal to sell the building, but did not disclose the buyer.
Apple logo from ps1d3r at www.userlogos.org
JX Nippon Mining & Metals USA, Inc. Breaks Ground On New Manufacturing Plant In Mesa, Arizona
Opendoor Expands Presence In Arizona With Creation Of Regional Hub In Tempe
Arizona: New Projects at Park Place
Texas Issues Electronics Industry Report
Involta Opens Data Center in Tucson, Arizona
Phoenix Region Reviews Sequester’s Impact on Region


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A couple decades ago, I met a woman from Kansas who was making her first trip to Maine. When I told her where I was from, she asked me what I thought was an odd question: “Is that near Old Town?”
Brewer was, in fact, near Old Town. But why was she asking?
“Because I’ve always heard about Old Town Canoe, and wanted to go there some day,” she replied.
According to Lloyd Hall, the retail manager at Old Town Canoe, those kinds of conversations are actually pretty common. And he’s got the map to prove it.
“We get people who will drive for days to be here. People come here just to visit. It’s on their bucket list,” Hall said. “We’ve got a visitor map here in the store with all 50 states and probably 60 or 70 countries represented of people who have just come to see the place.”
This weekend, Old Town Canoe will give visitors from away — as well as those from nearby — another reason to visit their factory: It’s time for the “Summer Sizzler.”
Hall explained that this year, the company’s popular spring boat sale, during which paddlers flock to Old Town and save tons of cash on “blem,” or slightly imperfect, and overstocked boats, was not held at the factory. Instead, dealers across the state held a weekend-long sale in lieu of the traditional event.
“[We] let [dealers] really get the first shot at spring consumers, but we still have a need to work through the blems here at the factory, so we’ve merged the June sale and the September sale into a big summer event,” Hall said.
Thus, the Summer Sizzler: A perfect way for visitors (and paddling Mainers) to get their hands on a new boat or accessories at reduced prices.
The sale will run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday. And there will be plenty of products up for grabs.
“There should be just about 1,000 boats available. Canoes, kayaks — from starter boats to high-end composites,” Hall said. “We’re even having a silent auction on some composite boats, which is a great opportunity to get a heck of a deal on a high-end boat.”
First-time visitors can find the Old Town Canoe factory on Gilman Falls Avenue (Route 43). Just take Interstate 95 to Exit 197 and head toward downtown Old Town. Stop when you see dozens of cars parked alongside the road.
Hall said the on-site sales that Old Town Canoe previously has staged always have proved popular.
“I’d like to say that we’re always out front on new and exciting products and we have been for 113 years,” Hall said. “But I think there’s something to coming to the factory and being right here where they’re made and having the opportunity to buy here that excites people, as well.”
Shooting sports day on tap
Getting involved in the shooting sports can sometimes seem an intimidating task, especially for those who didn’t grow up around hunters or gun enthusiasts. The learning curve seems steep. The initial investment can seem extreme. And it’s often difficult to know which way to turn to find good advice.
The Penobscot County Conservation Club is again staging an event that will remove a lot of the confusion and will allow newcomers to get top-notch advice and instruction from experts who have years of experience with firearms.
Called “Introduction to Shooting Sports,” the program is funded by a grant from the National Rifle Association Foundation, and will give novices a chance to learn skills in a controlled, safe settings.
The program is set for Saturday, Aug. 6. It will be hosted by the Hampden Rifle and Pistol Club and the Hermon Skeet Club. Two sessions will be held at each location: one from 9 a.m. until noon and one from 1 to 4 p.m.
In all, 100 people will be given the chance to try their hand at skeet, trap and sporting clays at the Hermon facility, and to try rifle, pistol, cowboy action and action pistol events in Hampden.
The event is free, and all participants will receive safety classes and ear protection. Use of all guns and ammo and lunch are all included.
The catch: If you want to take part, you’ve got to reserve a spot. To do so, call Charlie Rumsey at 941-8575. Those under age 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
Now, a quick (and unsolicited) endorsement: I attended the program a couple years ago and had an absolute ball. The instructors were fantastic, safety was the top priority, and I learned more in a day than I thought possible. If you’ve got any interest in shooting sports, I’d make the call right away.
And if you’ve been looking for a way to introduce a friend, spouse or loved one to the sports you love and haven’t been able to make it happen, this might be just the program you’ve been looking for.


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Lowe's also reaffirms that it expects revenue to increase roughly 5 percent by the end of the year. » Read More
U.S. luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers reported a 40 percent rise in quarterly profit as it sold more homes and said its orders jumped 26 percent. » Read More
As demand weakens for its condensed soups and V8 vegetable juices, Campbell warned its full-year sales could decline. » Read More
Facebook easily topped Wall Street's most optimistic estimates for both revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter, the company announced Wednesday.
PayPal reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations on Wednesday.
EBay reported no growth in revenue in the holiday quarter, during which it faced intense competition from bigger e-commerce rival Amazon.com.
Boeing said expects to deliver fewer commercial planes this year, sending its shares down.
Biogen's quarterly profit breezed past Wall Street's estimates, driven by higher demand for its key oral multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also reported better-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter operating profit as strong results from North America.
Apple reported fiscal first quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates, but came in below expectations on revenue, iPhone sales and more.
Johnson & Johnson reported a 2.4 percent drop in fourth-quarter sales, hurt by a strong dollar.
DuPont forecast higher 2016 earnings, helped by cost-cutting to offset continued pressure from a strong dollar.
3M reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and backed its 2016 forecast as it cut jobs to keep costs low.
Sprint, the No. 4 U.S. wireless carrier, reported a smaller quarterly loss, helped by cost cuts and higher number of subscriber additions.
Crediting Gillette for helping earnings, P&G CFO Jon Moeller tells CNBC the company will "vigorously protect" its razor patents.
McDonald's reported better-than-expected sales, helped by the launch of all-day breakfast in the U.S. and recovering demand in China.
D.R. Horton reported a slightly higher-than-expected profit along with a rise in orders for the last quarter of the year.
General Electric's profit in its industrial businesses fell 8 percent, hurt by weakness in its divisions catering to power and oil and gas industries.
Boeing announced Thursday it will take a $569 million after-tax charge in its fourth-quarter results as it scales back production of its 747-8 jet.
Starbucks is growing U.S. sales faster than competitors because it is cashing in beyond its peak breakfast hours, CEO Howard Schultz said.
Earnings per share, excluding certain items, came in at $1.23 on $8.39 billion in revenue.
Travelers reported a 16.6 percent fall in net profit as its net investment income was hurt due to low interest rates and a slump in oil prices.
Goldman Sachs profit slumped for the third straight quarter as a settlement of crisis-era claims ate into earnings in a tumultuous three months.
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Brady's Marketability Likely To Stay Intact A's Reportedly Holding "Positive" Ballpark Talks CBS To Live-Stream All Super Bowl Ads Adidas Signs Three-Year Deal With Pac-12 Royals Getting Aggressive With More Trades Marketplace Roundup Hornets, FanDuel Sign Multiyear Deal Behind Sherwin-Williams' Deal With IndyCar, IMS WMG Using Image Recognition Company Social Studies: Twins President Dave St. Peter
SBD/March 27, 2014/Marketing and Sponsorship
MLB Marketing Notes: Acer Inks Deal With Blue Jays To Become Team's Laptop/Tablets Partner
Acer announced that it has signed a deal to become an official partner of the Blue Jays and will support the team with a national marketing campaign throughout the '14 campaign. Acer as part of the deal will be the exclusive category partner for laptops and tablets and have marketing progr...
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Late last year, Bethesda announced that the ill-fated Fallout 76 would be skipping Steam in favor of an exclusive release through their Bethesda.net store. The publisher further hinted that future games like Doom Eternal and Rage 2 may be Bethesda.net exclusives as well, which, unsurprisingly, didn’t sit well with some fans. Well, you can breath a sigh of relief Steam lovers – it seems the Bethesda.net PC exclusivity experiment is officially over.
Today Bethesda announced that all their major upcoming games, including Doom Eternal, Rage 2, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, and Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot will be available on Steam. Also, not that anybody’s really asking at this point, but Fallout 76 will also be released on Steam later this year.
We’re pleased to announce that RAGE 2, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot, and DOOM Eternal will be released on Steam as well as https://t.co/p0BARqmTBp. We will also be bringing Fallout 76 to Steam later this year.
— Bethesda (@bethesda) March 25, 2019
This has to be seen as a major victory for Valve's platform in their increasingly heated battle with the Epic Games Store. At GDC 2019, Epic announced a variety of major exclusives, including The Outer Worlds, Control, and Dauntless, although Bethesda’s lineup is arguably bigger than any of those games. It will be interesting to see if the increased competition brings more big publishers to Steam and/or Epic – could we perhaps see some Blizzard games on Steam? A greater selection of EA titles, perhaps? We'll just have to wait and see.
Of course, just because Bethesda has returned to steam doesn’t mean they’re shutting down their Bethesda.net store. In fact, Bethesda is offering a free copy of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind through their store, for today (March 25) only. Enter the code “TES25TH-MORROWIND” in Bethesda’s launcher to get your free game.
Rage 2 rampages onto PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on May 14. Meanwhile, Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein: Youngblood arrive sometime this year.


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- “The industry continues to show incredible discipline when it comes to incentives.” TrueCar president John Krafcik
- $31997 is the average new vehicle transaction price with $2293 in factory incentives according to Edmunds.
- GM’s 2014 market share =17.7% as opposed to 24.5% in 2006.
- Nearly 1.6 million new vehicles retailed in August yielding an annual rate of 17.5 million new vehicles sold.
- 5% more new vehicles sold year to date in 2014 than in 2013.
- More trucks,SUVs and Crossovers have been sold so far this year than cars.
- In September inventories of new vehicles is at the lowest level in the past 12 months -this will not lead to increased incentives.
- Did you know that Maserati Quattroporte and Ghilibi engine blocks are made in Detriot by Chrysler? NO FOOLING!
- “Fitch Ratings predicts that used car values to further weaken as off lease and fleet volumes rise and sales of new vehicles continue to be strong” according to Used Car News.
- LeRoy Walker ,the Edsel King, has sold 2300 Edsels to BF Salvage to be crushed. Don’t worry he still has another 300 of them.
- Some new vehicle stats in terms of days supply: Mini – 36 days supply, BMW SUVs -30 days,Dodge Caravan – 38 days, Jeep Wrangler -43 days,Ford Mustang -34 days,Ford Escape -39 days, Lincoln cars -99 days,Cadillac Escalade -31 days, Chevy Suburban -36 days,Acura TSX -23 days,Honda Accord -34 days,Honda Odyssey -35 days,Land Rover -18 days, Lexus SUVs -33 days,Audi SUVs -20 days,VW cars -104 days,Porsche SUVs -40 days -Automotive News
- Can you believe that 49.6% of all auto loans for new vehicles are for terms between 73 and 84 months? 6.7% are for terms greater than 84 months.
Here are some terms that are used to describe changes to new vehicle product lines:
Freshen –minor changes to interior and exterior which could include new grille,fascia, seats,lights:
Re-engineering –significant engineering changes which could include new sheet metal,powertrain,chassis,suspension,console,or interior.
Redesign– New platform, powertrain,interior and sheet metal, Engine and transmission could be carried over.
- New – a new nameplate added to the lineup
- Frank Palluch, Honda’s president of R&D in the US said in at a conference that “a collision free society is within reach” with the development of of advanced safety technologies that will take control of the vehicle at critical times.
- Robert Hollenshead the largest wholesale dealer arguably in the world has the following take on the current wholesale market:
“I just got done reading a few the automotive economists “expert analysis” of the wholesale market. I bust into a deep belly laugh when reading the “experts” analysis of the market. The market has been very difficult to navigate as prices across the board are plummeting with near zero anxiety to buy. Nobody is hungry for anything as evidenced by the generally horrible conversion rates on the $20,000 up inventory. I am fairly sure skin in the game players never take them seriously as they are almost categorically wrong but it is surely comical. That’s not to say that anyone reads this or is influenced by what I say either, but this is straight from the block with skin in the game up to the family jewels.
Out of towners are not buying deep, they are skimming. On line is very active but quitting about a gee under what the units can be acquired for on the street as trades. MMR is catching up (going down as sellers are forced to face the market) but not fast enough as the knuckleheads in the dealerships are looking at results from a month or two ago which is utterly off today’s market. “
- Top Ten new vehicles sold in August 2014 1. Ford F-Series – 68,109 sold,2. Honda Accord – 51,075 sold,3.Chevy Silverado 49,201 sold,4. Toyota Camry – 44,043 sold 5.Ram -43775 sold 6.Toyota RAV4 -35614 sold,7. Honda CR_V – 34,079,8. Honda Civic – 34,032. 9.Toyota Corolla/Matrix 33,088, 10. Nissan Altima- 32,153.
- Winners and Losers through the first 8 months of 2014 as to % change in sales from 2013: Winners: 1. Maserati up 319% 2.Jeep up 45%, 3.Mitsubishi up 29% 4.Ram up 24% 5. Subaru up 19%. Losers: 1.Mini down 21% 2. Scion down 14%, 3. Volkswagon down 13%, 4.Volvo down 11%, 5. Chrysler down 9%.


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For a week, rescuers in Bangladesh have sifted through the wreckage of an eight-story garment factory, listening to the cries of people trapped in the rubble, smelling the stink of rotting bodies, consoling the families who came to look for loved ones whom they will probably never see alive again. More than 400 deaths are confirmed, and that total will surely increase.
Both Western consumers and the companies that serve them must respond to this tragedy. Primark, a European chain that got some of its clothes from a factory housed in the building that collapsed, has insisted that it has a superior ethics policy, working with the Ethical Trading Initiative, a third-party standard-setting organization, and conducting thousands of audits in recent years.
However, its methods didn’t work. The company says it will pay more attention to building safety in the future. But this episode should prompt a thorough re-examination of corporate ethics codes and the groups that companies tap to monitor compliance. The public, meanwhile, should demand to see the results.
Most important, as it strikes the balance between growth and labor protections, the government must develop the capacity to enforce its own rules. The building that collapsed last week did not comply with existing codes. According to the rules already in place, no one should have been working there when it collapsed.
The Washington Post (May 2)


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Intel has become the first chip maker to support for the latest version of Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX), Cisco's controversial proprietary add-ons to standardized Wi-Fi gear.
On Wednesday, Intel said it had achieved CCX 4.0 certification with the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection, part of the Centrino bundle of chips. The certification is designed to ensure wireless clients are compatible with Cisco's Aironet range of wireless access points -- and more specifically, with proprietary additions that handle security, manageability, roaming and other features.
"With this certification, future Intel Centrino mobile technology customers can be assured that their devices are designed to be supported," said Jim Johnson, general manager of Intel's Wireless Networking Group.
The Intel chip involved is intended for the next generation of Centrino, shipping in early 2006. The announcement is part of a wider deal between the two companies around compatibility. The two companies have collaborated on new features called Business Class Wireless Suite, which includes CCX 4.0, Intel PROSet/Wireless Software v10 and additional improvements for roaming and IP telephony.
Cisco says CCX is designed to keep enterprises up to date with WLAN technologies that may not have been integrated into standards yet, arguing that standards bodies such as the IEEE can't keep up with the pace of change. CCX builds new features into Cisco routers and keeps client chip makers compatible.
Intel, IBM, HP, Atmel, Atheros, Agere, Texas Instruments and Marvell are among the CCX program's supporters.
The close collaboration between Intel and Cisco is not to everyone's taste, however. Both companies dominate their respective markets. While exact market share figures for Centrino are not usually published, Intel is the biggest maker of notebook WLAN chips, besides controlling more than 85 percent of the world market for all PC processors. This is all the more remarkable in that Intel only began making wireless laptop chips with the introduction of Centrino in 2003. Cisco's Aironet APs have by far the largest share of the WLAN AP market, although the company faces stiff competition.
Some in the industry fear a Wintel effect, with Intel and Cisco creating de-facto standards that undermine organizations such as the IEEE and the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Cisco introduced enhanced security via CCX at a time when enterprises were awaiting an improved system from the Wi-Fi Alliance. Currently, Cisco is focussing on roaming and network management elements, which are also addressed in upcoming standards such as 802.11k.