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QTech Games announced its plans to expand in Asia, especially focusing on the Indian subcontinent where the company will realize its new recruitment program.
QTech Games is one of the most prominent games distributors in Asia, and the company has been eager to conquer the world’s second-most populous country’s market. QTech Games will also look forward to recruiting local specialists who know the country’s market.
“At QTech Games, we’re currently seeing the greatest growth in India. That’s no surprise considering a ramping population of 1.3 billion, near-universal access to 4G, and dropping costs for smartphones and the internet, even in the backwaters. Consequently, India’s online sector has welcomed a raft of acquisitions this year, as operators plant their flags in the sand ahead of the expected boom. Accordingly, QTech Games is now offering operators the chance to become the integration partner for new content/studios, removing the hassle of integrations in order that internal tech teams can concentrate on value-added processes. In fact, our company axiom is simply: one seamless integration for all the emerging and growth markets,” Markus Nasholm, CEO of QTech Games said.
“A flexible platform and an open mind are the only things you must be sure to take with you, wherever you’re traveling across this ever-changing landscape – and, at QTech, our market-leading platform has you securely packed for all the best, localized games – majoring in mobile. Asian operators aren’t too bothered if you have the ‘traditional’ game providers. That said, if you don’t have the Fish game in China, there’s a 0% probability of becoming successful. And it’s a similar story with the Andar Bahar card game in India, where the eyes of the industry are converging right now. As a result, we’re already on a strong recruitment drive to hire the best and brightest minds as our tentacles extend into ever more culturally-specific and diverse territories. So, if you’re an expert with relevant experience in the territory, we’d love to hear from you,” Markus Nasholm added.


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The FBI is telling U.S. Olympic athletes competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to leave their personal phones at home, and instead use burner phones.
“The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use a temporary phone while at the Games. While there were no major cyber disruptions, the most popular attack methods used were malware, email spoofing, phishing and the use of fake websites and streaming services designed to look like official Olympic service providers," a memo from the bureau reads, per Just the News.
"These activities include distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, ransomware, malware, social engineering, data theft or leaks, phishing campaigns, disinformation campaigns, or insider threats, and when successful, can block or disrupt the live broadcast of the event, steal or leak sensitive data, or impact public or private digital infrastructure supporting the Olympics," the memo continued.
At the recent games held in Tokyo, the FBI said more than 450 million attempted cyber-related incidents occurred, though “none were successful due to cybersecurity measures in place.”
The bureau warned that the use of digital wallets to hold things like COVID-19 vaccine cards could heighten the chances of cyber actors stealing personal information and installing malware on athletes' devices.
"The download and use of applications, including those required to participate or stay in country, could increase the opportunity for cyber actors to steal personal information or install tracking tools, malicious code, or malware," the memo reads.

domain: news


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Chart of the Week – Winter is Coming
RetailNext estimates Black Friday brick-and-mortar retail store traffic was down 48% year over year, while sales were off by 30%. Adobe estimates online sales were up 22% year over year.
It’s no secret that the pandemic has been rough on traditional retailers. For years it’s been widely noted that many brick-and-mortar retailers were just one bad holiday season away from a dire financial situation. For those that have squeaked by so far, that one bad season could be here. The situation could be exasperated by targeted lockdowns in December, as it gives consumers a limited ability to spend at traditional retailers and furthers the shift to online shopping. Spending in categories such as entertainment and restaurants and bars is starting to roll over, as physical distancing restrictions are once again being mandated.
Aggregated daily card spending by major category (% year-over-year growth)
Source: Bank of America. Total card spending includes total Bank of America card activity which captures retail sales + services paid with cards. Brick & mortar retail means retail purchases at the store. Card not present is largely online but could include purchases made by phone. Dates shown are November 11, 2020 through November 21, 2020. This chart is being provided as a general source of information for education purposes only, and is not intended as a recommendation to purchase, sell or hold any specific security or to engage in any investment strategy.


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Mahindra has reportedly started developing the second generation model of its popular SUV, the XUV500. 2018 was a busy year for the company with the development and launching of the Marazzo and the Alturas G4. The company has started 2019 on a high note too with the announcement of XUV300’s launch date, which is set to be on 15th of February, 2019.
After the XUV300, the company will shift its focus towards developing the newer generation of the XUV500, which since long has been a strong seller for the company.
The upcoming SUV will be based on an all new platform. However, the chassis type will continue to be monocoque as most of the other SUVs these days. The design and styling of the SUV is expected to be of top notch, especially now since the company has international expertise in its hand. The upcoming XUV300 is a prime example of Mahindra progress in design and styling. Whether the new XUV500 will grow in size or not is not yet known but we expect a minor bump in size.
The current generation of XUV had a major mid-life facelift a long time back and multiple minor changes over the time since its launch in 2011. The second generation vehicle will be an all new car and will feature different mechanical bits and engine. Talking of engine and transmission, the next-gen Mahindra XUV500 will be powered by a new 2.0-litre diesel engine which will be BSVI compliant. The power out of this engine is expected to be somewhere near 180 Bhp, which is a considerable improvement over the current 155 Bhp produced by the current XUV500’s 2.2-litre diesel engine.
The current generation Mahindra XUV500 is powered by a 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine that generates a maximum 155 Bhp of power along with 360 Nm of torque. The diesel engine gets both automatic and manual transmission options to choose from. Mahindra also offers AWD variants with the XUV500, something that is very handy in off road conditions. The other engine option on the Mahindra XUV500 is a 2.2-litre petrol engine that churns out a good 140 Bhp of power along with 320 Nm of torque and is available only with an automatic transmission.
The new XUV500 is expected to arrive at showrooms by the end of 2020, which is still some time away. With the launch of the Tata Harrier scheduled this month, Mahindra has already started to feel the heat and will definitely want to keep up its pace.
Mahindra is also expected offer an electric powertrain on the new XUV500. The new XUV500 could also have a coupe crossover variant, similar to the Aero concept. Meanwhile, Hyundai is also developing a newer version of the Creta which this time around will have a 7 seater twin too. Other potential rivals that will challenge the XUV500 upon its arrival are the Kia SP based SUV, the upcoming MG SUV and the Volkswagen T-Cross among others.
Want to see your photo feature about that exciting road trip published on Cartoq? Share your details here


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- MARKET TRENDS
- WEB EXCLUSIVES
- BUYER'S GUIDE
Ingredient briefs from various suppliers. Check it out!
Findings from the Sweetener360 research study conducted by Nielsen and Mintel Consulting about consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviors when it comes to sweeteners indicate that consumers are more influenced by taste and price than better-for-you claims. Their buying habits are different than what they say they are, too.
The American Bakers Association comments on the 2014 Farm Bill’s continued inclusion of the U.S. sugar program.
When it comes to quality, taste and cost, today’s sugar substitutes are becoming a sweet choice for producers of baked goods and snacks.
General Mills’ Betty Crocker brand and Hershey are collaborating on new baking mixes and frostings inspired by Hershey candy brands such as Reese's and Almond Joy.
Regarding the Senate vote reaffirming the Sugar Reform deal, the American Bakers Association (ABA), Washington, is disappointed in the rejection to modify what it says is an antiquated program.


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While I make it a point to go to mom-and-pop coffee joints when I have the chance, I'm not a complete snob about Starbucks -- mainly 'cause its espresso is fine and I'd rather have a new Starbucks than another Chase bank or nail salon open around town. That being said, I'm not sure my beloved -- and beleaguered -- neighborhood needs to be the home of the coffee giant's largest store in the world. But that's what's about to happen.
Starbucks Corp. aims to go bigger and bolder in New York City, planning to make southwest Chelsea the home of its largest store in the world.
The Seattle-based coffee retailer said Tuesday that it would set up its second roastery in a 20,000-square-foot space at the bottom of a boutique office building at 61 Ninth Ave. The massive store, expected to open in 2018, will be modeled on the company’s Seattle roastery, which the company describes as “coffee-as-theater” and a highly sensorial experience.
At the 15,000-square-foot Seattle location, where the company roasts small batches of rare coffees, customers chat with baristas to learn about the various methods of brewing and sourcing, and taste the high-end coffees.
“In New York we want to take elements from what we originally created and build something even bigger and bolder,” said Starbucks Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz.I guess if the onslaught of tourists visiting the Meatpacking district, Apple store and Chelsea Market weren't enough to keep me out of the area, this seals the deal.


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Arlington Heights police received a report about 6:55 AM Saturday March 24, 2018 of a theft at Jewel-Osco, 1860 South Arlington Heights Road Arlington Heights, IL. Police received a report that an unknown offenders entered the store and began filling shopping carts with miscellaneous food and OTC medication.
The offenders are described as two white males in their 20s. They ran off when confronted by an employee.
The crime is reported to have occurred on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 6:54 AM.
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The White House said it thinks consumers should have the right to unlock their smartphones.
(Read More: White House: Cell Phone Unlocking Should Be Legal )
The announcement came in response to a petition posted on the White House website titled "We the People," in which thousands of iPhone and Android users called for the Library of Congress to change its position on the legality of unlocking smartphones. Unlocking a phone means that a user can change carriers freely and not be required to buy a new device when switching network providers
(Read More: Google Controls Too Much of China's Smartphone Sector: Ministry )
"The White House agrees with the 114,000 of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smartphones," said R. David Edelman, the White House senior adviser for the Internet, in a blog post on the "We the People" site.
Edelman said that if a consumer has paid for their mobile device, and is not tied by a service agreement or other obligation, consumers should be able to switch their Apple iPhone, Android or other mobile phone to another network.
"It's common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers' needs," he said in the blog post.
Although carriers are beginning to carry more already unlocked devices, the mobile phones are usually more expensive up front or have higher fees associated with roaming and travel data packages.
During October of 2012, the Library of Congress decided that unlocking mobile phones should be removed from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In January, the change went into effect and it became illegal for any unlocking of a mobile device unless the carrier approved.
However, just because the Obama Administration has said that it supports the unlocking of smartphones it's still not legal to unlock a phone — but it may be soon.
The FCC is also looking into the issue and whether action is necessary by the agency, wireless providers or others, according to a statement from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.


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According to Fox 28, stores across central Ohio are preparing for the hustle and bustle of the retail world, the day after Christmas.
Retail experts say crowds of post Christmas shoppers will be out today to get all the bargains. Stores will also be busy with shoppers returning Christmas gifts.
Target officials at the Lennox Town Center expect a big crowd this morning.
Target officials are urging people to bring their gift receipts and have their merchandise ready before they make a return.
Malls are opening up early this morning. Polaris Fashion place opens up at 7:00 am. The Easton Town Center mall opens up at 8:00 this morning.
Do you look forward to after Christmas sales? Leave a comment on our Facebook page.


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Betsafe added Quickspin’s newest video slot Sinbad yesterday.
This is a game that Quickspin released earlier this month so you may have already played it (Betsson added it a couple of weeks ago).
It has 40 pay-lines and a Free Spins feature where you can choose between three different alternatives (Ape, Roc or Snake).
They also added Microgaming’s Cool Wolf slot earlier this week. This game was released by Microgaming on May 8.
Betsafe has started a Drive a Gumball Car promotion as well where you can win a VIP trip to a Gumball launch party. official merchandises and bonuses.
You will find more information about this promo on their site (it ends June 11).


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China’s Wen Sees Some Sign of Recovery After Stimulus
China’s economy has shown some signs of recovery after the government started implementing its 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) economic stimulus package, Premier Wen Jiabao said.
“The government’s measures to tackle the financial crisis have shown preliminary results,” Wen said during an online chat with the public on the government’s Web site today. Wen cited rising loans, retail sales in January and growing power output and consumption since the middle of February as signs of relief.
China’s economy, the world’s third-largest, expanded by 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the slowest pace in seven years, as the global financial crisis trimmed exports and reduced industrial production. The government in November pledged 4 trillion yuan of spending on infrastructure and key projects, reduced benchmark lending rates five times since September and cut taxes on most exports to combat the effects of a slowdown.


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Host Cirina Catania talks with Alex Terpstra, CEO of Civolution about fingerprinting, watermarking and media interaction and learns more about how copyright is protected by these technological solutions.
The following information was released by Fujifilm: Wayne, N.J., March 1, 2013 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Optical Devices Division will show a variety of new lenses and upgrades at this year’s NAB at the Las Vegas Convention Center. On display within Booth C7525 will be FUJINON lenses for broadcasting, sports, digital cinematography and production […]
Check out the lineup at International Supplies, Booth #C9049 at the Las Vegas Convention Center during 2013 NAB: – Nighthawk Bluetooth Microphone Combo System The Nighthawk is a clip-on multi-functional microphone Bluetooth device with high-quality wireless recording capability for Apple and Android smartphones. It can function as a wireless interview microphone, recording device, smart phone […]


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Payments insights, latest news and articles.
May 19, 2020 at 11:00 AM
We’re living in strange retail times. With Covid lockdowns in place, shops shuttered or reopening under strict rules and supply chains under stress, ...Read more
November 4, 2019 at 8:00 AM
Stories in the media don’t paint a rosy picture for high street retailers, with skyrocketing rents, business rates and staffing costs making it ...


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Lumber Liquidators among new stores coming to Brighton area mall
The nation's largest retailer of specialty hardwood flooring and a few other home improvement products will open a new store near Brighton this year.
Lumber Liquidators officials selected the Brighton area for their first location in Livingston County and sixth location in the greater metro Detroit area.
The retail store and installation service will be located in an approximately 6,000-square-foot space at 9920 Village Place in the Green Oak Village Place shopping mall. A construction crew has begun building out the previously unoccupied space.
"This adds something new to the mall, because we haven't had a home improvement store," Sean Valentino, director of retail operations for REDICO, the company that manages the shopping center, said. "Lumber Liquidators offers some of the most affordable pricing, because they negotiate directly with the mills producing the materials and act like a wholesaler."
READ MORE: Vietnam: The Wall That Heals comes to Howell
Lumber Liquidators has "three main types of customers," Chris Crowe, a vice president of real estate and development for the company said. "They are the do-it-yourselfers and then what we call the do-it-for me customers that come in and buy their own products and then hire us to install it, and then we have our pro customers like flooring experts and building contractors."
Crowe said the Brighton area store will sell the company's full line of products and keep certain products popular with metro Detroit area customers in stock.
"Our stocking strategy is tailored to the local market," he said. "I think the greater Detroit area is more of a solid wood flooring market, but we'll carry the full line of products, including laminates ... and full-service installation."
The Toano, Va.-based company also sells tile, molding, stairs, butcher block counter tops and other products.
Company officials expect to open the new store in late September or early October and hire a few flooring experts, Crowe said. It will be the 11th store in Michigan and 410th store in U.S. and Canada.
What's new at the mall
Lumber Liquidators will be one of about a dozen new businesses to move into the Green Oak Village Place shopping mall in the last couple years and a couple more are on their way.
Owners of The Fuel, a juice bar and eatery, and The Space, a fitness and yoga studio, which opened last year, are gearing up to open a third business in the mall, according to Valentino. Ted and Kelly McMullen will add The Ride, an indoor cycling fitness center, to the mix. It will be located in a 4,158-square-foot space at 9715 Village Place.
Michigan-based Hair Mechanix Guys Haircuts is bringing "a male-oriented hair cut business with aesthetics geared towards males, like metallic finishes almost like in a speed shop," to the mall, Valentino said. It will be located in a 1,600-square-foot space at 9416 Village Place.
Other businesses that opened in the mall within the last 12 months include Petco, Rollin Stone Wood Fired Pizza, Big Frog Custom T-Shirts and ONE Salon.
"Currently, we're in the low 90s (percentile) in terms of occupancy, and we expect to be full this time next year," Valentino said.
Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Timar at 517-548-7148 or at firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow her on Facebook @Jennifer.Timar99 and Twitter @JenTimar99.


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By now, you might have already read the news about Kobe Bryant announcing he wants out of LA Lakers. The big question now is, where?
Bill Simmons of ESPN discusses the Seven trade possibilities for Kobe. It’s an interesting article and fun to watch out for….
You can also actually play with the other trade possibilities using ESPN.com’s trade machine.


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Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) reports its FY21 Q3 Earnings on 28 October. After a better than expected Q1, sales growth slowed in Q2. So, what can investor’s expect as the year rolls on?
General chatter towards its upcoming Q3 results is once again mixed. Amazon is never short of news coverage, and this is currently swinging from concerns its executives misled Congress to its ability to hire en masse as Christmas approaches.
What are analysts predicting?
Amazon is experiencing ongoing issues with its supply chain. This includes delays due to a lack of drivers and shipping containers stuck in ports. Furthermore, the company is likely to have endured heightened operational costs as a surge in electricity and fuel costs plague the globe.
While its intention to hire 150k seasonal workers is welcomed, Amazon has been under mounting pressure to improve working conditions and hike wages. Indeed, it is offering sign-up bonuses in busy areas to help attract staff.
These rising costs are likely to affect its bottom line. Thus analysts are increasingly bearish on Q3 earnings results.
Several recent broker estimates have reduced their targets. But the long-term consensus on AMZN stock still remains a buy, with a target price higher than it is today.
Amazon included some earnings guidance for Q3 in its Q2 report. This included wage pressure remaining and difficult year-over-year comparisons to periods of exceptionally high growth.
Net sales guidance for Q3: between $106 billion and $112 billion (10% to 16% growth year-over-year). This guidance anticipates a favorable impact of approximately 70 basis points from foreign exchange rates.
Operating income guidance for Q3: between $2.5 billion and $6 billion ($6.2 billion Q3 2020). This guidance assumes approximately $1 billion of costs related to COVID-19.
Amazon also made clear its guidance could be adversely affected by fluctuations in any of the following: foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and customer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet, online commerce and cloud services, and the various factors detailed in its regular filings with the SEC.
Amazon owns physical fulfillment centers and assets such as delivery trucks, drones, and stores, meaning it operates a cost-intensive business. Indeed, capital expenditure of property and equipment rose considerably in 2020 to $40.1 billion, versus $16.9 billion in 2019.
Nevertheless, sales were also up considerably, going from $280.5 billion in 2019 to $386 billion in 2020.
Most of Amazon’s 2021 budget on building openings is planned for the second half of this year. Therefore these costs will be evident in Q3 earnings. This is part of a multi-year investment.
What can investors expect?
There are rumors Amazon is struggling to deliver packages as efficiently as consumers are used to, thanks to supply chain problems. Plus, semiconductor shortages may affect Amazon’s seasonal sales in consumer discretionary tech items.
While Amazon is trying to avoid disgruntled consumers, dealing with late deliveries will not necessarily lead to Prime-subscription churn. Canceling a Prime membership means giving up Prime video, music, photo storage and kindle unlimited as well as next-day deliveries. Therefore, it would take more than a few late deliveries for most members to cancel.
There are clear signs inflation isn’t transitory, and it is making investors nervous. Inflation will increase the cost of conducting business, which may hurt Amazon’s share price.
Will Amazon’s Q3 earnings results spell a good investment opportunity?
It’s only natural that Amazon should have a period of downturn after such an exceptional 2020. But long-term investors don’t concern themselves with the intermittent fluctuations of the market.
Amazon’s Q3 earnings results will only be an issue if they spell long-term doom for the company. Going by its previous success and some of its ongoing projects that seems unlikely.
Amazon’s revenue streams include online stores, physical stores, third-party seller services, subscription services, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company has mastered an incredible balance in its ability to target both consumers and enterprise customers.
Like its Big Tech peers, Amazon’s free cash flow is enormous, and the potential for this to keep growing is real. Having a mountain of cash on hand should help see it through challenging periods with relative ease.
Does Amazon pay a dividend?
Amazon doesn’t offer dividends to cushion the fall in a downturn. Therefore, long-term shareholders are banking on future growth. Going by Amazon’s track record and prominence in society, it’s easy to believe future growth will continue.
Companies often bring in dividends once they believe peak growth has been achieved. So, Amazon dividends could be a future perk some shareholders are holding out for.
Inflation is a growing concern, and like its peers, Amazon is facing antitrust lawsuits.
Like all US tech stocks, some consider Amazon overvalued. Therefore, if the market experiences a significant correction or crash, it could take a long time to retrace previous highs.
A 16-month antitrust investigation into Amazon and its peers Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Google (Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)) recently concluded they are anti-competitive. However, there’s now disagreement in Congress as to how Big Tech should be handled. Some believe new laws should be created, while others think regulatory agencies and government departments should be funded to deal with Big Tech under existing laws.
Amazon amasses nearly 40% of all US e-commerce sales. The antitrust report states it unfairly uses its third-party sellers to hijack their successful business practices for its own financial gain. It can also up its fees on a whim due to its overreaching dominance.
From a shareholder perspective, Amazon is still increasing revenues and growing its market share. However, a crackdown could thwart this and damage its share price potential down the line.
Bezos criminal probe
Amazon is now facing a further investigation into whether its top executives, including founder Jeff Bezos, misled Congress. The company has a short time to provide “exculpatory evidence,” proving that it does not use seller data to copy popular third-party products and manipulate marketplace search.
Amazon share price overview
The AMZN share price has risen over 320% in the past five years. It is up 7% in the past year and down 3% in the past three months.
According to FactSet data, the 12-month average share price target is $4,153. This gives a 20% upside from here. The majority of brokers mark AMZN stock as a Buy or Strong Buy.
Many analysts see considerable growth potential ahead from Amazon’s cloud division, AWS. Nevertheless, it does have competition from Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Oracle, Alibaba, and several more. Plus, some contrarians think the growing interest in public blockchain and the so-called rise of ‘Web 3.0’ may suppress demand for cloud computing.
A dip in the Amazon share price is normal, and investors will only be concerned if the previous highs cannot once again be achieved in the future.


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- > 2016 > November
Monthly Archives: November 2016
I thought I’d bring back a feature this year that I haven’t done in awhile – my PR Golden Turkey Awards. Sound Opinions, one of my favorite podcasts inspired this year’s theme. Their November 18 episode focused on Turkey Pardons. … Continue reading


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LG Optimus LTE II is caught in the wild donning a white paint job
0. phoneArena 24 May 2012, 13:59 posted on
Knowing that the LG Optimus LTE II fits the bill as being yet another super spec’d Android smartphone, it has the qualifications to be blessed with that piercing white paint job. Rightfully, that’s exactly what we find as the device was recently spotted in the wild..
This is a discussion for a news. To read the whole news, click here
2. Osama2332 (Posts: 10; Member since: 04 May 2012)
Common LG release your big guns already . And i don't care about the reviews because LG phones are always bashed by reviewers for no reason. Some say you should be better off spending extra 100 bucks to get another phone.
And some say we don't like the U.I others say its kind of choppy.
3. nb2six (Posts: 298; Member since: 27 Apr 2011)
LG is still attempting to make smartphones? Why dont they just go back to feature phone market they dominate and leave the "advanced" stuff to the big boys..
7. shadowcell (Posts: 300; Member since: 28 Mar 2012)
Nice to see we still have rationalized opinions...
8. rg987 (Posts: 130; Member since: 29 Dec 2011)
lg shud make feature phones only...............they are the biggest losers i have evr seen..............
last to last year LG and SONY were lagging behind others in ANDROID ECOSYSTEM bcoz of mid end specs of their phones and slow software updates....................
then in 2011 and on, SONY started pushing software updates fastly (and even early than HTC AND SAMSUNG in case of ics in 2012) and sony is going to get fast processers now too (i.e. S4 in XGX) .........but LG was eating sh*t whole 2011 and this year too.....can u imagine their FLAGSHIP MODELS have not got ICS yet...............though they have got back on the highend hardware bandwagon..............but no update to NEW OS means NO LG PHONE...........bcoz we dont have to lick that hardware all the time on that OUTDATED OS.....................curse u LG
9. jellytime (Posts: 135; Member since: 05 Dec 2011)
10. The.Average.Fanboy (Posts: 12; Member since: 28 Mar 2012)
I wish to debate with you, sir. I would say Black Berry is currently the biggest loser.
15. corporateJP (Posts: 2431; Member since: 28 Nov 2009)
You make no sense.
"lick that hardware"
I'm starting to wonder if you are clearly not capable enough to operate an LG phone.
I've owned many, and have had less issues with them than any other brand, especially Samsung and Motorola. Yes, they were Lords of the Feature Phone. Yes, their first few Androids sucked. But now, they are kicking out some pretty wicked smartphones.
On a side note, it's nice to see that dudes do with phones what they used to do with trucks. Have to be newer, bigger, faster to make up for other, more personal, inconsistencies. Update!: ICS is not a penile implant.
I'll take a working phone on Gingerbread before I'm forced to deal with a nearly-beta ICS build on some of these devices. I'd rather have a manufacturer test and make sure a new version of the OS actually works before it is pushed too fast to a device (*cough* Samsung).
Whatever, my man.
11. TROLL.ISAHA (banned) (Posts: 535; Member since: 28 Mar 2012)
Nice looking phone. With 2gb ram.
16. OpTiMuS_BlAcK (Posts: 418; Member since: 04 May 2012)
Samsung fanboys thumb me down!
17. TROLL.ISAHA (banned) (Posts: 535; Member since: 28 Mar 2012)
A green from me.... Samsung. Fandroid....
18. InspectorGadget80 (unregistered)
BEAUTIFUL PHONE LG


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Tanium Lands $100M In New Funding, Says "No Impact" On Possible IPO Plans
Two years after its last round of funding, Tanium has landed $100 million in new financing as the security startup looks to continue to invest in its business and march towards a potential IPO.
The funding, which was raised through the sale of common stock, was led by TPG Capital. It also included other existing investors and one new investor, the company said. The company has seen investments to date from Andreessen Horowitz, TPG Capital, T. Rowe Price, Franklin Templeton Investments, and Citi Ventures.
Tanium raised the funding at a company valuation of $3.75 billion, higher than the company's $3.65 billion valuation when it raised $120 million in funding in September 2015. Tanium has raised $362 million to date.
The funding comes on the heels of a period of tough press for Tanium, with reports last month of an extremely challenged company culture and the sudden departure of the company's CFO Eric Brown in March. Until then, the company was seen as a hot upstart in the security market, with a peer-to-peer technology that lets organizations continuously scan all endpoints in a network to detect vulnerabilities and unmanaged devices.
CFO and COO Fazal Merchant, who announced he was joining Tanium from DreamWorks in April, said the new round of funding will be put towards purchasing shares from co-founder David Hindawi, who will put the money towards his charitable endeavors, as well as providing liquidity for other institutional and employee equity holders.
Merchant said Tanium will put the remaining funding towards general corporate purposes, including general working capital and capital for ongoing operations. He said there will likely be no funding earmarked for the company's reseller partners.
As for Tanium's IPO plans – as one of the tech companies most expected to go public in the coming months – Merchant said the new round of funding won't have an impact. As the company's new CFO, Merchant said he doesn't want to put out any deadlines or times for an IPO, looking instead to go public if and when it makes sense for the company.
"The beauty of our business, I think… is the way it's been built, the way it's growing, and the way it continues to scale gives us a lot of options to scaling it as a private company and scaling it as a public company and everything in between," Merchant said.
Merchant said Tanium needs to "get our ducks in a row" from a strategic, financial, and operational perspective so it can proceed with an IPO, or forgo one, when it makes sense.
"For me, the focus has to be on what is best for our customers, the employees, and the business over the long term," Merchant said. "Through that lens, if an IPO makes sense…then it's up to me and the rest of the team to ensure that we're prepared strategically, financially and operationally when the iron is hot."
That includes building out the company's leadership team, Merchant said. Tanium has seen many top-level executive departures in recent months, but the company has started to fill some of those posts, including the appointment of former Veritas channel chief Rick Kramer to lead channel sales and former Facebook executive Chris Bream as CTO.
Tanium said its roadmap for 2017 also includes investment in IT operations, growth in new and existing vertical markets, and international growth in EMEA and APAC.
"We're growing as a company and…making sure the right leadership team is in place as we keep growing," Merchant said. He said to expect further announcements in the near-term around executive team appointments.


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Ford said the seatbelt fasteners may not have been tightened properly and "may loosen over time, which may cause them not to function as intended, increasing the risk of injury in a crash."
No accidents or injuries are linked to the recall, Ford said.
Affected vehicles include certain 2014 Transit Connect vans built from November 6, 2013 to September 20, 2014 at Valencia Assembly Plant.
Ford dealers will replace and properly tighten the seatbelt fasteners. Dealers will also replace and properly torque the cargo tie-downs in the cargo area. The recall will begin on March 23. Owners can contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673.
No information about the recall has been posted on the Web site of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees vehicle safety in the U.S.
Edmunds says: Since this recall does not get under way for almost two months, it's best to contact your dealer with any immediate concerns.


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Accurate market data can make the difference between an online marketing campaign that fizzles and one that succeeds, according to eXelate CEO Mark Zagorski. More than half of respondents of a Black Ink study cite data accuracy as a challenge to return on investment. "Accuracy in data needs to become the next step, because we now have efficiency in media delivery through real-time bidding. We're moving toward using real purchasing behavior, integrating offline and online," Zagorski said.
Published in Brief:


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Investment company says Apple may exceed its Apple Retail Store revenue estimate of $1.45 billion for fiscal 1Q07 by $55 million or more.
Strong Black Friday sales at Apple's retail stores appear likely to lift the computer company's earnings, according to an informal survey conducted by investment bank ThinkEquity Partners.
The investment company conducted a nationwide survey of Apple Retail Stores on Friday, Nov. 24th, and noted healthy visitor traffic. The firm says that Apple may exceed its Apple Retail Store revenue estimate of $1.45 billion for fiscal 1Q07 by $55 million or more.
"According to our observations, the Apple Retail Store conversion rate was over 8% on Friday; in other words, we witnessed over eight purchases for every 100 visitors, on average," stated analyst Jonathan Hoopes in a research note issued on Monday. "The overwhelming majority of purchases fit into a small bag. That said, demand for CPUs [notebooks and desktops] and larger beyond-the-box items [such as printers] also appeared healthy."
Based on the survey, ThinkEquity raised its target price for Apple stock from $100 to $110. Apple opened trading today at $91.60. As noted in ThinkEquity's disclosures, the firm makes a market in Apple securities.
Recent reports in a variety of publications, citing anonymous sources at Asian contract manufacturing companies, have suggested that Apple's 2007 product lineup may include significant new products beyond those that have already been announced such as Apple's iTV set-top box. These rumored new products include a mobile phone and Mac tablet PC.
"Never in the history of the PC has a company been better positioned to both gain share and improve profitability, in our opinion," Hoopes said in the report.
The Business of Going DigitalDigital business isn't about changing code; it's about changing what legacy sales, distribution, customer service, and product groups do in the new digital age. It's about bringing big data analytics, mobile, social, marketing automation, cloud computing, and the app economy together to launch new products and services. We're seeing new titles in this digital revolution, new responsibilities, new business models, and major shifts in technology spending.


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Winning business with Japanese automotive manufacturers
16 Mar 2012
Australian component suppliers are pursuing opportunities to expand their business in ASEAN with Japanese Automotive manufacturers.
In 2010-11, 80 per cent of all vehicles manufactured in the ASEAN region were produced by Japanese Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). And with market production forecast to reach five million units by 2015, Austrade’s automotive team says this is an opportunity too great to ignore.
According to Austrade’s ASEAN Automotive Business Development Manager, Leigh Wilmott, Japanese Automotive manufacturers represent a large volume of business in the ASEAN region; however, Australian companies need to be prepared to commit to long term engagement.
“Following a number of natural disasters in the ASEAN region, we are seeing a shift in the way Japanese OEMs approach sourcing and decision making,” Mr Wilmot says.
“More than ever, Japanese companies are looking to secure their supply chains and achieving cost reductions through innovation, localisation and multi-sourcing strategies.
“Unlike other markets, Australia’s automotive capability is not well understood by Japanese manufacturers. Austrade is working to raise awareness through the Japan in Asia initiative and a series of visits to leading Japanese Automotive Manufacturers in the region."
In February 2012, Mr Wilmott led a webinar for Australian companies looking to grow their business throughout ASEAN. More than 30 companies attended the session, gaining insight crucial to winning business with Japanese OEMs.
The recorded webinar is now available online and you can learn more by subscribing to Austrade’s quarterly Asia Auto Update.


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Guha and Karthik Bala — the founders of the video game studio Vicarious Visions that supported "Guitar Hero" and "Skylanders" — are building a new studio in downtown Troy, New York.
Velan Studios, based at 225 River St., is an independent video game developer focused on developing innovative, experimental games using new technology such as virtual reality, sensor technology, new platforms and more.
"Velan Studios specifically was created for new types of gaming, exploring and discovering the next breakthroughs especially because now we have an intersection of so many technologies and new consumers coming in," Guha Bala said in an interview with the Business Review.
While it's just the two of them to start, the studio will eventually have small experimental prototype teams with game industry veterans and new talent. The aim is to discover the next set of gaming ideas that can become the global entertainment franchises of tomorrow like a "Guitar Hero" or "Skylanders." The Velan website currently advertises openings for various positions including programmers, visual artists and animators.
"The idea for this is to bring veteran talent into the region and pair them up with new talent coming out of gaming programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester and NYU," Karthik Bala said. "The idea of collaborating with universities and pairing them with veteran talent is really appealing to us because then we can find those breakthrough ideas that can build the next game clusters of the future."
The Bala's first company, Vicarious Visions, was created in 1991 while they were in high school in Rochester.
The brothers grew the company at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Karthik Bala's alma mater. Guha Bala graduated from Harvard University, and both Balas earned MBAs from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 2005, Vicarious Visions was bought by video gaming giant Activision, now Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI). The Balas stayed on for more than 10 years and officially left Activision Blizzard in April. Today, Vicarious Visions employs 150 developers, artists and producers in the Albany suburb of Menands.
The new studio aims to build on what its founders learned in their 25 years at Vicarious, as well as take advantage of a bill the New York State Legislature passed earlier this year that would give digital media and gaming companies a 25 percent tax credit. The bill, which was sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's desk last week, is an extension of the film industry tax credit that offers $420 million a year in tax breaks for film and movie productions.
"When you look at the video game industry, the average salary is $95,000 a year," Karthik Bala said. "You've got the brightest students coming out of universities making $70,000 and they want to live in that downtown culture with disposable income and new restaurants. All of these things matter, it's part of the lifestyle. The ingredients are here. We need to bring the jobs to downtown Troy."
Velan Studios will be part of their company Velan Ventures, which invests in gaming and digital entertainment companies.
Their first investment was in Lottery Rewards, a startup from former state lottery commissioner Jeff Perlee. Lottery Rewards turns every lottery ticket into a free second chance to win cash and prizes daily.
Lottery Rewards is currently working out of Velan Studios in downtown Troy.
"This is the right time to do it and the right place to do it with the proximity to RPI and with the revitalization in downtown Troy," Guha Bala said. "With what's on the Governor's desk right now, a digital media credit bill could accelerate the growth in this area."


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Doha-based Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has bought a huge stake in the India based ecommerce company, Flipkart. According to media reports, the investment, pegged at USD 150 million, is said to be the third round of fund-raising done by the ecommerce player.
QIA also holds investments in other companies including Tiffany, Barclays, and Credit Suisse, managing USD 300 billion worth of assets.
With the deal closed, Flipkart is now valued at USD 11 billion, following investments from other foreign companies like Singapore based GIC. Reports also states that QIA is the third round of investment raised by the online retailer this year. Previously, it received USD 1 billion investments from other existing investors followed by another USD 210 million.
In totality, Flipkart has accumulated investment of USD 700 million through new investors including Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates along with QIA and its existing investors.
Flipkart plans to utilize these funds towards long-term strategic investments in India and to build a world-class technology company, delivering superior customer experiences.
Other online retailers racing to be the front runners in the fastidiously growing ecommerce market are Amazon and Snapdeal which also increased their marketing budget with each rasing investments of USD 2 billion and USD 627 million in its Indian arm.


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Onefinestay – which lets you rent out private luxury homes – announced a $40 million funding round on Monday, as competition in the hospitality space continues to heat up.
The money, which the British start-up said would be spent on training, technology and global expansion, takes its total funding to $80 million. Intel Capital was one of the investors in the round, which also included Hyatt Hotels -- despite onefinestay being a competitor to major hotel chains.
"The journey for us over the next year, two years, is to add a variety of new cities into the ecosystem and scale up internationally," Greg Marsh, co-founder and CEO of onefinestay, told CNBC in an interview on Monday.
The start-up differs to the better-known Airbnb because the homes featured on its site are serviced by onefinestay's team – similar to hotels. Linen, towels and other amenities are provided by onefinestay.
On average, guests pay more than $600 per night to rent a property, the company said – substantially more than most Airbnb listings.
Its latest funding round comes after Airbnb raised $1.5 billion, giving it a $25.5 billion valuation, according to a Wall Street Journal report last week.
Onefinestay bills itself as a challenger to established hotel players. It claims that its portfolio across London, New York, Paris and Los Angeles is six times bigger than the combined inventory of The Ritz, The Plaza, Hotel George V and Hotel Bel-Air.
The company also announced on Monday that it had poached Tom Singer – the former InterContinental Hotels chief financial officer – to be its finance chief.
CEO Marsh said that interest in hospitality technology start-ups should worry the established players.
"This is an idea whose time is come…this is fundamentally something that is making established hospitality companies sit up and take notice," he told CNBC.
Marsh would not confirm whether the company was eying an initial public offering, but said the aim was to continue to grow.
"We have a lot of ambitious shareholders who share our desire to build a very big business," he added. "We aspire to build a global hospitality brand and we are on the journey to that end and money helps us get there faster."


text: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a message about the importance of imposing appropriate security measures on—and monitoring—vendors with access to confidential consumer information. The FTC issued a 20-year consent order with GMR Transcription Services (GMR) over its overseas contractor’s data security breach. The decision marks the FTC’s 50th information security settlement and fifth health information complaint (four of which have settled). For health care providers and business associates, the GMR settlement suggests that the FTC has higher expectations than HHS regarding management and oversight of vendors and other downstream subcontractors, especially when these vendors are outside of U.S. jurisdiction. The GMR settlement did not involve security failures by GMR itself, but by a subcontractor, Fedtrans.


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The delay in the mainnet launch caused Theta’s price to lose a quarter of its value during the recent correction.
After recording all-time highs throughout 2021, the price of Theta (THETA) 25% off in less than 24 hours. The drop is believed to have come from the interrupted mainnet rollout.
According to Cointelegraph, Theta’s mainnet launch was pushed back for up to two months, which caused some previous plans to be overturned.
Theta, the blockchain-based video streaming platform, is preparing for the official Mainnet 3.0 launch later this month, but on March 24th, Theta’s development team announced that they were forced to postpone. this plan until the end of June.
This news makes price Tetha turning. On Thursday morning of March 25, Theta’s price lost a quarter of its value – down from $ 14.43 to $ 10.66.
The cause of the delay in mainnet launch appears to be due to the delayed ‘code review’ process and the decision to put in the NFT market at the last minute in the upcoming upgrade.
Theta development team representative said: “Many opportunities for collaboration in the NFT space have required us to devote resources to building the upcoming Theta NFT market in a broader approach and incorporating several elements into the Mainnet. 3.0 ”.
With growth Theta’s magic during the first three months of 2021, perhaps it’s no surprise that coin prices are finally falling.
Theta recorded a 961% increase from January 1 to March 24, when its value rose from $ 1.36 to $ 14.43.
If you do not have a Binance account, register here: https://CHK.com/go/binance
#Theta #price #plummeted #mainnet #planning #delayed


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SEMINOLE, Fla. — January 9, 2019 — Superior Group of Companies Inc. today announced that Charles Sheppard, its vice president of Global Sourcing and Distribution, has been named to serve on the Cotton Board by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.
“Charles’s appointment to the prestigious Cotton Board is a well-deserved recognition of his unique and invaluable expertise in the textile world,” said Michael Benstock, CEO of Superior Group of Companies. “Charles is one of the nation’s preeminent experts in his field, helping us offer our customers quality products steeped in technical expertise. This recognition of Charles’s wealth of knowledge and proficiency is a fitting honor.”
“The Cotton Board carries out research and promotional activities that help cotton compete in domestic and foreign markets, improve fiber quality and lower production costs,” said Perdue. The Cotton Research and Promotion Act of 1966 (Act) authorized a national cotton research and promotion program that is both industry-operated and funded. Since 1966, Congress has authorized 22 industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities.
Sheppard will serve a 3-year term ending on December 31, 2021.
Posted January 11, 2019
Source: Superior Group of Companies


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After reviewing testimony presented at a congressional hearing in July and other evidence, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration yesterday sent a warning letter to Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns stating the company is violating federal regulations in its marketing by claiming its electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) is “much safer than cigarettes” and the “FDA would approve it any day.”
Specifically, “our review of testimony from the July 24-25, 2019 House Subcommittee hearing, documents from FDA’s inspection of Juul’s headquarters, Juul’s submissions to the agency, and Juul’s website, revealed that your firm has engaged in labeling, advertising, and/or other activities directed to consumers, in which JUUL explicitly and/or implicitly has represented that Juul products are free of a substance, have a reduced level of or exposure to a substance, and/or that Juul products present a lower risk of tobacco-related disease or are less harmful than one or more other commercially marketed tobacco products,” states the letter signed by Anthony Villa, senior regulatory counsel for the FDA Center for Tobacco Products.
“The FDA’s action dealt a setback to the company’s efforts to rebrand itself after public outrage erupted over a surge in teenage vaping,” write Sheila Kaplan and Matt Richtel for The New York Times.
“And it served as a reminder that the health effects of e-cigarettes are not established at a time when more than 400 people have been sickened by vaping-related illnesses. Five deaths have been linked to vaping, and hundreds of people have been hospitalized. Public health investigators have yet to determine a specific cause, but they have cited the use of cannabis and nicotine vaping products as possibilities. No one product or company has been implicated,” Kaplan and Richter continue.
The FDA “also sent a letter to the company ‘expressing concern and requesting more information’ about its outreach and marketing practices, especially to students, tribes, health insurers and employers,” Jayne O’Donnell reports for USA Today.
“Witnesses testified, for example, that Juul advertising saturated social-media channels frequented by underage teens and that Juul used influencers and discount coupons to attract new customers,” a letter, signed by Center for Tobacco Products director Mitchell Zeller, states.
“These marketing techniques were common and well documented, says Robert Jackler, a researcher at Stanford who studies e-cigarette marketing,” writes Sara Harrison for Wired.
“‘This has been going on for years,’ says Jackler, who also testified at the two-day congressional hearing. … He speculates the FDA is reacting to pressure from U.S. representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois), who chaired the hearing, and from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois). Both Krishnamoorthi and Durbin have urged the FDA to take action in recent weeks to curb the youth vaping epidemic,” Harrison adds.
“Juul has maintained that its products are intended to convert adult smokers to what it described in the past as a less-harmful alternative. In other communications, the company says it cannot make claims its products are safer, in line with FDA regulations,” write&n bsp; CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht and Jacqueline Howard.
“We are reviewing the letters and will fully cooperate,” Ted Kwong, a Juul Labs spokesperson, tells them.
“Agustin Rodriguez, counsel at Troutman Sanders in Richmond, Virginia, said when vaping companies receive a letter like this, it is in their best interest to have their in-house counsel organize a team to respond to the claims in the letter,” Dan Clark writes for Law.com.
“It is critical that the organization engage in a thorough process to review the facts and assess the allegations of the warning letter. This will lead to the writing of an equally thorough and complete response,” Rodriguez, who previously served as an in-house attorney at Altria Group Inc., tells Clark. He added that both internal and external stakeholders should be involved in that review.
In The Guardian this morning, Jessica Glenza writes about the “rising tide of lawsuits being filed against America’s dominant vape manufacturer.” She cites, in particular, the case of a 20-year-old woman who says she started “Juul-ing” when she was 16 and quickly began vaping the equivalent of eight packs of cigarettes a week.
“An estimated 9 million adults and 3.6 million US teenagers vape, including 20% of high school students, making the potential plaintiff pool enormous. Juul commands three-quarters of the U.S. e-cigarette market, with sales growing 783% between June 2018 and this year to $942.6 million, Wells Fargo reported. In less than one year, Juul’s valuation rose from $16 billion in the summer of 2018 to $38 billion in December 2018,” Glenza reports.
The way things are going on the medical, legal and political fronts, however, that may all go up in vape.


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The Illinois State Society held its inaugural gala at the Renaissance Washington Hotel in downtown Washington last night and the only word to describe it was EPIC! It was truly a taste of Illinois, especially for those of us who have never been. With eight different musical groups, multiple levels of open bars, a champagne […]
Girl about town, Kate Michael spends her days modeling some of the most coveted designers for Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue; as well as high profile fashion shows in Washington, DC. At night, she switches into reporter mode, covering the most exclusive and top secret events around the city and it’s neighboring communities for […]
Last Saturday the who’s who of Washington headed to the National Building Museum for the 2012 Fashion For Paws runway show benefiting the Washington Humane Society. From the fashion to the music, and the venue, this years event was bigger and more glam than ever before. Now in its sixth year, Fashion for Paws blew […]
Over the last 15 years, I have partnered with fashion, lifestyle and beauty brands to create beautiful campaign images to amplify their products to my audience. Click below to check out a few of my most recent campaigns and partnerships.
© Glamazon Diaries 2022


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With this licence, Nium can directly engage in a variety of payment services activities across the subcontinent, including currency conversion, money transfer and prepaid card issuance. According to Nium co-founder & CEO Prajit Nanu, digital payments have got a big boost during the pandemic and companies are modernising their digital infrastructure to capitalise on the post-Covid economic recovery.
Wirecard, a global electronic payments company, had acquired Star Global Currency Exchange some years ago. The Munich-headquartered parent went into insolvency following a financial scandal in 2018, resulting in the company’s global businesses being sold. According to Nium, it is one of the several global players to have recognised the residual value of Wirecard.
Nium expects India’s prepaid card market to boom at a compounded annual growth rate of 40.5% between 2021 and 2026. Driving this growth is an expected increase in adoption by businesses looking for fast and easy payments processing, payments flexibility and elimination of delays related to reimbursements. And, as consumer spending returns after Covid, gift cards, meal cards, travel cards, and payday cards will become increasingly popular with businesses and consumers. Post-acquisition, all of the 190 employees of Wirecard India will join Nium. This acquisition is Nium’s second in just over a month after it acquired UK travel payments firm Ixaris. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to RBI’s approval.


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Kamaz approves 19.7 bln rubles investment to 2013
MOSCOW. Feb 10 (Interfax) - Directors at Kamaz have approved a strategic development program for the period 2010-2013 with investment of 19.7 billion rubles, the truck maker said in materials.
This year's investment will run to 3.766 billion rubles.
The group's major investment projects in the next few years are engine production with Cummins Inc; gearbox production with ZF Friedrichshafen AG (for which a joint venture has already been established); the development of new-generation trucks, with new-style cabs and axles; and all-terrain vehicles for the armed forces, among others.
Kamaz said in November that it was forming two joint ventures with Germany's Daimler on a parity basis in Tatarstan, the internal Russian republic where the Russian truck maker is based.
One of them, Fuso KAMAZ Trucks, will produce and sell the Fuso Canter LCV in Russia. The other, Mercedes-Benz Trucks Vostok, will produce and sell the Mercedes-Benz Actros and Azor heavy trucks. The partners have each invested EUR4.1 million in the former and EUR5.9 million in the latter.
Kamaz expects to sell 27,200 trucks in 2010 and 46,100 in 2013.
The state Russian Technologies (Rostekhnologii) corporation owns 37.8% and the Troika Dialog investment company controls 44.4% of Kamaz. Daimler owns 10%.


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Minnesota Retailer Wins Prestigious National Award
On Tuesday Sept. 20th 2011, Ted Reeck, owner of The Cellars Wines & Spirits, won the prestigious “Market Leader” award from Market Watch publication.
Each year Market Watch presents this award honoring and recognizing the “Leaders” in the drinks industry. This years event was held at the St. Regis Hotel in New York which was attended by the most influential people in the drinks industry.
As Ted Reeck explained after receiving the award “This award is special because it represents our entire staffs’ ongoing effort to provide the best possible buying experience in the drinks industry. This includes offering the highest quality consumer beverage education program, more extensive and exciting product offerings coupled with a strong commitment to the community including participation in raising over $1.2 million for multiple nonprofit organizations in 2010.”
More on The Cellars Wine & Spirits
• The Cellars opened in the late 1980’s as a specialty drinks retailer
• The Cellars currently has five Metro area locations: Roseville, Woodbury, Eagan, Shorewood and Plymouth
• The Cellars Wines & Spirits is owned by Theodore “Ted” Reeck
More on Market Watch
Market Watch is owned by M. Shanken Communication which also publishes The Wine Spectator and other consumer publications. Market watch is the primary resource for business information for the drinks industry, providing extensive analysis of industry trends, data, statistics, on- and off-premise operations, as well as coverage of business strategies, merchandising promotion and wholesale news.
Market Watch sponsors an annual event honoring and promoting retailing with the induction of “Market Watch Leaders” each year. It is the only event that brings together all three tiers of the industry: retailers, wholesalers and suppliers.
For more information and interview requests please contact:
651-578-7433 or 651-263-1185
651-738-7050 or 612-669-6622


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|By Dan Voorhis, The Wichita Eagle,
Kan.McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
March 8, 2009 - Like an unwelcome guest, the recession is starting to vandalize the financial returns of local hotels. The hotel industry in Wichita and nationally is reeling from the twin scourges of a slowing economy and the credit crunch.
That dumps the hotel business into the same mess as other forms of commercial real estate -- and similar in many ways to what's happened much more visibly in the housing market.
Falling revenue in January, plus plenty of doom and gloom from national forecasters, has left some local hoteliers anxious.
"Where is the bottom? That's what I want to know," said Mike Aaron, general manager of the LaQuinta Inn and Suites on West Kellogg.
Some national experts are predicting a financial bloodbath as hundreds or thousands of newly built hotels across the nation default because their owners can't refinance the three- to five-year mortgages that were popular during the hotel construction boom of 2004-2008.
The good news is that, as usual, Wichita never flew as high as most places, so it won't have as far to fall.
Local hotelier Jim Korroch said business is off 7 to 8 percent at his hotels, the Courtyard by Marriott Old Town and the Residence Inn at 13th and Greenwich.
He'll be OK, he said, because he has long-term financing and strong brands to pull in travelers.
So, who will be in trouble?
"Anyone who is overleveraged," he said. "And hotels that don't have strong brands or strong reservation systems."
That was then...
It's been a good five years in the hotel business in Wichita.
Eleven hotels have opened in the area since 2003, according to industry analyst Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, Tenn. The market now has 108 hotels and 8,250 hotel rooms.
Rooms rose from an average of $60.45 a night in 2003 to $76.07 today, a 26 percent increase.
Rising room rates and occupancy triggered new construction.
Even with additional hotels, Wichita hoteliers enjoyed a healthy increase in revenue per room per night of 39 percent over those five years.
Revenue for Wichita area hotels in 2008 was $147.6 million, a 50 percent increase over 2003.
...and this is now
Nationally, hotel revenue started falling in the fall and accelerated in the winter.
PKF Hospitality Research is forecasting that the average American hotel will experience a nearly 10 percent drop in revenue this year.
The fancier the hotel, the harder the fall, say experts. Five-star hotels in New York are cutting room prices by two-thirds to lure business, said Joel Ross, an investment banker who created the securitization of hotel financing in the early '90s.
Jan Freitag, vice president of Smith Travel Research, agrees.
"It's not going to be easy," he said. "We'll see rough operating conditions through the summer."
Wichita hoteliers felt the first real pinch of the downturn in January, with a fall in occupancy of 6.1 percent and in revenue per room of 4.9 percent, according to Smith Travel Research.
That fall in business will be aggravated by the fact that hotels that got financing early last year are still under construction and will open this year.
In Wichita, at least five hotels will open this year.
Korroch is close to opening a new hotel, a SpringHill Suites, at 13th and Greenwich. He got the financing before the credit spigot was turned off.
Hotel owners will be reluctant to lower prices, he said, although they might if competitors drop their prices. Eventually, everybody loses in a price war, he said.
"It takes years and years to get back (the former prices)," he said.
A potentially fatal factor for some in the industry is the mortgage crisis.
Huge numbers of hotels were built in the past five years using three- to five-year floating rate mortgages, said Ross, the investment banker.
Just as in the housing crisis, many borrowers contributed little equity and relied on rising values to make the loans work.
Now, revenue is down and credit is hard to find. The result, Ross said, is that the value of hotel properties across the nation is plunging, pushing mortgages underwater. The next phase will be an epidemic of defaults.
Hoteliers who borrowed locally from bankers they know and have a lot of equity might be able to refinance.
If not, he said, just drop off the keys on the way out.
"It's just like all the people who took 98 percent loans on houses they shouldn't have," he said. "The same thing exact thing happened in the hotel business."
Theron Froggatte of Oppenheimer & Co. in Wichita sells the debt for development projects, such as hotels, to banks in the region.
Most banks don't want to refinance because they are trying to rebuild capital ratios.
"The banks are having to divest existing hotels to get their concentration down," he said.
But, it's not a big problem in Wichita, said Gary Schmitt, executive vice president at Intrust Bank.
He said he'd be surprised if more than a handful of Wichita hotels are financed by short-term mortgages with balloon payments. But for those who do:
"They need to start negotiation sooner than later," he said.
The new business environment will be a challenge, acknowledged hotelier Jason Madhu.
Madhu helps run his family's Red Carpet Inn at 47th South and I-135. Last year, his family took a financial leap by building Best Western Eastgate Inn & Suites on East Kellogg. It will open in May.
Fortunately, he said, the family is using long-term debt and won't have to refinance anytime soon.
He remains optimistic that his family's hotels and the local industry will come through this downturn OK.
"Times are tough," Madhu said. "But I don't see anyone going out of business."
Reach Dan Voorhis at 316-268-6577 or email@example.com.
To see more of The Wichita Eagle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansas.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email firstname.lastname@example.org, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.


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U.S. hedge funds Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners on Friday asked Australia’s takeover regulator to intervene in surfwear company Billabong International Ltd’s $359 million refinancing deal with Altamont Capital Partners, Reuters reported.
(Reuters) – U.S. hedge funds Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners on Friday asked Australia’s takeover regulator to intervene in surfwear company Billabong International Ltd’s (BBG.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $359 million refinancing deal with Altamont Capital Partners.
Oaktree and Centerbridge, whose own refinancing proposal was rebuffed by the company, are claiming elements of the deal including a hefty break fee “amount to lock-up devices that are anti-competitive and coercive.”
The pair are asking the Takeovers Panel to delay the drawdown of a $294 million bridge facility and the sale of Billabong’s DaKine brand to Altamont, both expected to occur early next week, until the panel investigates the issue.
The Takeovers Panel said it had received the application and was considering whether to investigate further.
Billabong said in a statement it “disagrees with the basis for the application.”
Billabong announced a refinancing deal with Altamont on Tuesday, unveiling plans to issue Altamont share options for 15 percent of the company along with the sale of the DaKine business.
The company said Thursday it had received a proposal from the two hedge funds, which recently bought some of Billabong’s debt from senior lenders, after it had entered into the binding agreement with Altamont.
Billabong began refinancing and asset sale talks with two former takeover suitors — one led by its former U.S. boss Paul Naude and private equity firm Sycamore Partners, and the other by Altamont and U.S. clothing group VF Corp (VFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) — last month after both walked away from indicative offers at A$1.10 ($1.01) a share.
Plagued with high debt from an ill-timed expansion and struggling as its brands fell out of favor, Billabong has issued a series of profit warnings since rejecting a A$850 million bid from private equity firm TPG Capital Management TPG.UL in February 2012.
The company’s shares were up 8.8 percent at A$0.40 on Friday, from a high of A$13.56 six years ago.


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The use of technology in education is not new. The pandemic has only made it more pervasive and acceptable. In the wake of the lockdown last year in 2020, educational institutions across the world had to shift classes online and incorporate digital learning and assessment techniques into the curriculum.
Most brick-and-mortar schools in India were unprepared for this sudden change where learning practices had to evolve overnight. However, over the course of the year, they have become more comfortable with the use of technology. The pandemic has underscored the significance of digitization across the country and given a fillip to online learning as classroom teaching was suspended. It emerged as a panacea to sustain the momentum during the lockdown as all one needed was a computer, tablet or smartphone and a good internet connection. Now that life is gradually returning to normal and educational institutions have started opening up, one is increasingly hearing the phrase blended. An amalgamation of two training environments—high-tech digital learning and traditional face-to-face learning. There is something for every learner, be it those who learn better in a structured environment comprising face-to-face learning with an educator and independent students as well as those who prefer to learn online using digital tools and leveraging technology. Yeshwanth Raj Prasmal, co-founder and principal director, 21K School, an online school, says, “This type of learning allows students to get the best of both worlds; while the traditional way of learning offers an advantage of quick, on-the-spot feedback, online learning facilities personalized, self-paced learning while mastering each topic.”
courtesy- India today


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Arab Israelis call for a boycott on Zara after Ben-Gvir event
Arab Israelis are calling for a boycott on Zara after a franchisee hosted a Itamar Ben Gvir campaign event
i24NEWS Senior Correspondent Bianca Zanini reports on the anger towards the clothing brand and how it could affect the election
#i24NEWS # #i24NEWSDesk
Live news updates throughout the day from around the world.


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Since 2019, China has promulgated a series of laws, regulations and IP protection guidelines, including the Foreign Investment Law, to create a fairer and more transparent business environment.
The industry watchdog has also cracked down on IPR infringements and offered high-quality IP services for foreign enterprises.
The country's efficiency in processing patent applications is now world class. In a 2020 report by the World Bank, China's business environment ranking surged to 31st globally from 46th in 2019.
The NIPA also attributed the deal to a well-established GI system. China had approved 2,394 GI products and had 6,127 GI trademarks registered by the end of February. More than 10,000 enterprises had received permission to use GIs. The total output value of enterprises using GIs exceeded 600 billion yuan ($91.61 billion) in 2020.
GI has also helped Chinese farmers battle poverty. Twenty-four demonstration areas of GI product protection were built, covering all major counties in the national poverty alleviation and development scheme.
For example, Sangzhi county, Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, is known for its distinctive pillar-like peaks and precipitous cliffs featured in the 2009 movie Avatar. With a population of 470,000 and 28 ethnic groups, it once had some of the poorest areas in China. However, in recent years, NIPA has made great efforts to help locals develop GI-based industries. Enterprises in the county have applied for registration of GIs and trademarks on tea, honey and vegetables, creating agricultural brands, setting up factories and increasing farmers' incomes.
China's efforts on IPR protection are recognized by its trading partners. Luis Castro Henriques, chairman and CEO of the Portuguese Trade& Investment Agency, said the China-EU agreement will enable Portuguese producers of GI wines and pears to look at the Chinese market more confidently.
"Their products will be protected by competent local authorities against possible infractions of intellectual property and brand usurpation. They will also benefit from greater recognition of their products and their images, which will certainly help increase trade between the EU and China," he said.
Last year, China overtook the United States to become the EU's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade volume reaching $649.5 billion. EU imports from China grew by 5.6 percent year-on-year and exports rose 2.2 percent.
More importantly, the trade relationship has strengthened amid the global economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The signing of the China-EU Agreement on GI shows that economic and trade cooperation continued to advance without stagnation," said Cui Hongjian, director of the Department for European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies.
And in four years, the scope of the landmark China-EU agreement will expand to cover another 175 GI names from both sides. Cui said it would result in reciprocal trade benefits and greater cooperation.
And the trend is growing, with China promoting bilateral GI cooperation with France, Thailand and Japan.
China will continue to participate in processes under the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization－promoting the improvement of international rules, standards and related trade and investment－to make the global IPR governance system more just and equitable, NIPA said.


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If Amazon acquires Carrefour, Amazon will immediately have a very strong pedal in Europe, South America and the Middle East.
Recently, analyst Xavier Caroen at investment bank Bryan Garnier made a noteworthy remark: “If Alexandre Bompard (new CEO of Carrefour supermarket chain) does his job well, Carrefour will be the target. ideal acquisition for Amazon”.
Carrefour, a French supermarket chain, was a pioneer in building hypermarkets (big-box supermarkets, combining food and other consumer goods) in the 1960s. Now Carrefour is seek to promote e-commerce activities, as well as combine online and offline shopping experience.
Recently, Carrefour has chosen a new CEO, Alexandre Bompard (44), who has led the successful FNAC electronics store chain since 2011. Now, in Carrefour, Bompard is tasked with finding how to expand e-commerce activities, as well as seek to revive the company’s struggling hypermarkets. From Carrefour’s backbone, these hypermarkets are now becoming the company’s Achilles heel, having struggled to compete with a new set of competitors: e-commerce sites like Amazon; more flexible hypermarkets like E.Leclerc; super discount stores; and high-end groceries like Grand Frais.
Retail consultant Joelle de Montgolfier at Bain & Co. “Hypermarket model needs to be rethought from the beginning, about what value it can bring to the market, as well as what difference it has with online shopping”, says the author.
In France, supermarket chains have implemented e-commerce quite well compared to supermarkets in the US, in which Carrefour is leading this trend. The online ordering model and the click-and-collect supermarket have grown strongly in France for over a decade, and Carrefour alone has more than 500 locations that allow customers to do this. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart in the US has only adopted this model since 2014.
Bompard took office at Carrefour at the same time as the new French President Emmanuel Macron sought to reform the country’s labor laws, as well as encourage the development of a digital economy. Previously at FNAC, Bompard once made investors extremely pleased when he drove this chain of stores to develop in the direction of high technology, as well as successfully acquired Darty electric chain stores. Today, FNAC and Darty’s e-commerce site has nearly the same traffic as the Amazon site in France, based on research from Mediametrie and Fevad. The stock price of Darty FNAC has also increased about 3 times since the IPO in 2013.
Meanwhile, Carrefour’s share price has fallen about 70% from its peak in 1999. The growth of Carrefour supermarkets in Brazil and the deployment of smaller store models in inner city areas were not possible compensate for the recession of hypermarkets in France. After believing Amazon acquired the high-end Whole Foods supermarket chain in the US on Friday, the price of Carrefour shares also plummeted like many other supermarkets, before recovering slightly earlier this week.
From before Bompard’s recruitment as CEO, Carrefour also sought to boost its e-commerce segment. Since 2000, Carrefour has conducted more than 50 acquisitions, including Greenweez organic food company and online market Rue du Commerce. The e-commerce segment of Carrefour has a total value of traded goods (GMV) of 1.2 billion euros in 2016, and its predecessor Georges Plassat of Bompard has set a goal of bringing this number to 4 billion. euro in 2020.
However, Carrefour is still lagging behind in selling groceries online. The wrong strategies in the early years caused Carrefour to lose the No. 1 position in the online grocery market to rival E.Llerler (43.5% market share), while the second place belongs to Auchan (25,3%). Carrefour only accounted for 9% market share in this segment.


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Hackers steal bitcoins worth millions in attack onBut Bitcoin is exhibiting gold-like properties -- with still higher upside.GLD.The more Bitcoin gains in popularity, the more it becomes a target for theft.Taking something that does not belong to you by force or by fraud is one of the things governments were put in place to stop.Gox Data Dump, Researcher Says An archive containing transaction records from Mt.
Now Cerber ransomware wants to steal your Bitcoin wallets
North Korea appears to be targeting bitcoin (both users and exchanges) as a means to counter the increasing effect of international sanctions.Another timely lesson in crypto security comes as a user reports malware stealing 13 Bitcoins by automatically replacing their destination address.Two former federal agents were charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of virtual currency during an undercover investigation into an online drug.The complete Bitcoin Thief Tutorial. HTA-R02. Uri Rivner Etay Maor.
stealing from bitcoin wallets - blog.trendmicro.comThe Slovenia-based Bitcoin trading platform, Bitstamp, revealed in a Tweet that it had uncovered a Google Chrome extension that replaced all QR codes.
Wallingford Man Charged with Stealing Bitcoins in Dark WebTwo rogue U.S. Secret Service agents, Shaun Bridges and Carl Mark Force, were caught and sentenced to prison for stealing Bitcoin funds that were seized in the Silk.Cell phone numbers are important to your online security, but hackers have found an easy way to steal numbers belonging to bitcoin investors to swipe their virtual.The soaring value of virtual crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin makes them attractive to thieves, and it turns out the malware being used is not very sophisticated.A trojan horse virus that steals Bitcoins, a digital currency that people can use for transactions online, has been spotted in the wild, according to computer.
NFL Star Accuses Ex-Manager of Stealing $3 Million forCerber ransomware has acquired the reputation of being one of the most rapidly evolving ransomware families to date.
Money North Korean hackers are trying to steal bitcoin andNorth Korea is making a play on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Hackers Are Uing Cell Phone Numbers to Steal Bitcoin | Inc.comGet started with Bitcoin: find a wallet, buy bitcoin, shop with bitcoin, read bitcoin news, and get involved on the forum.Two brothers from Rotterdam have been arrested for stealing electricity to mine bitcoins.
The former Secret Service agent already serving a six-year sentence for stealing bitcoins while investigating online black market Silk Road has confessed to pocketing.
Bitcoin Stealing Chrome Extension Called BitcoinWisdomWhile we try to stay out of politics here on the news page, here is an incredible report that we cannot ignore since we know many of our readers have a.
He is either able to get the Bitcoin wallet password (Wallet key) of a User or.
Bitcoin Stealing Russian Hackers | 99 BitcoinsUsers have begun to point to a number of withdrawals from bitcoin wallets. are stealing funds.
Michael Richo Admits to Stealing US$365,000 Worth ofIn the second half Max interviews Craig Hemke of TFMetalsReport.com about.
A cybersecurity firm has revealed details of a campaign by state-sponsored North Korean hackers to steal bitcoin from South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges.North Korean hackers may be stealing bitcoin and other virtual currencies in a bid to evade sanctions and obtain hard currencies to fund the regime. That.There are Basically two ways a hacker could hack Bitcoin System for Stealing Bitcoins.
North Korea Hackers are Stealing Bitcoin to Fund Kim Jong
Former Federal Agents Charged With Stealing Bitcoin - WSJStealing the Bitcoins of targeted users would represent a valuable source of potential income.
DEA agent gets prison time for stealing bitcoins during
Rogue Secret Service agent Shaun Bridges, a former member of the team that eventually managed to shut down the black market website Silk Road has been arrested at his.
North Korean hackers could be stealing bitcoin to fund regimeWhen using a lightweight client, the server can not steal bitcoins,.Now Cerber ransomware wants to steal your Bitcoin wallets and passwords too.
Bitcoin Heist Steals Millions, Hack Shuts Down Silk RoadTwo former federal agents have been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and related offenses for allegedly stealing digital currency during their.
The Cryptocurrency-Stealing Malware Landscape | SecureWorksA Connecticut man pleaded guilty last week to stealing Bitcoin from users of Dark Web marketplaces, said the Department of Justice on Tuesday.
Here are 7 ways that cyber criminals can steal your Bitcoins.


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Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. has said it re-launched its Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Film, generic version of Suboxone in the US market.
According to a press release issued by the city-based drug maker Wednesday night, the re-launch comes on the heels of a favourable decision delivered by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluding that UK-based Indivior had not shown that it is likely to succeed on its claim that Dr Reddy's product infringes a patent pertaining to Suboxone.
Indivior is in a legal battle against the launch of the copycat version of its opioid addiction treatment by competitors including Dr Reddy's Laboratories in the US market.
Suboxone had sales of around $1.86 billion in the US for the 12 months ended April 2018, according to market reports.
"We are pleased with the decision of the appellate court in Dr Reddy's favour, vacating the preliminary injunction that had prevented Dr Reddy's from continuing to market this important drug to the public," Marc Kikuchi, Chief Executive Officer, North America Generics of DRL said.
In June 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved Dr Reddy's Buprenorphine and Naloxone Sublingual Film, in four strengths including 2 mg/0.5 mg, 4 mg/1 mg, 8 mg/2 mg, and 12 mg/3 mg, for sale in the US market.
The product was launched immediately after approval, with sales and commercialisation activities halted as a result of a court-imposed temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction against Dr Reddy's.
The TRO and preliminary injunction did not prohibit commercial manufacture of the product.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.


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Holden Commodore Black special editions arrive
THE Aussie-built Commodore may be counting down the months until a sad final farewell, but to tug at your patriotic heart strings Holden is offering SV6 and SS "Commodore Black" special editions to add more value to an already attractive package.
Available on sedan, sportwagon and ute body styles, the new Commodore Black models bring unique styling and a decent amount of additional technology for an extra $1000 above the RRP of the SV6 and SS, meaning $37,290 and $44,990 respectively for sedan versions.
Buyers score unique 18-inch alloys with a black finish on the wheel ports, there's a black grille, black surrounds for the daytime running lights, black mirror scalps and Black Edition badging. Sedans also gain a black lip spoiler, while all cars get red stitching on the seats and Black Edition carpet floor mats.
Black Editions are given a colour head up display and satellite navigation, adding to the SV6 and SS's standard inclusions like auto park assist, rear camera, reverse traffic alert, MyLink infotainment and 8-inch colour touch screen.
The Commodore Black is on sale now, with sedan and ute buyers able to spend an additional $1000 to fit 20-inch black Baretta alloy wheels.
In other Holden news we've been given an indication of what the new Colorado ute will look like before it arrives later this year, following the unveiling of the 2017 Chevrolet Colorado.
Revealed in Brazil, the redesigned Colorado brings updated styling alongside engineering and technology improvements, not least Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard across the range.
Holden says the 2017 Colorado has been developed with "key Australian engineering input to ensure it would meet the needs of a range of customers in different markets. We've worked hard to make sure we have engineered greater refinement without losing any of Colorado's tough characteristics, off-road capability and impressive towing capacity."
Finally, the current model Colorado will gain an LS-X 4x4 Crew Cab variant this month. It introduces 16-inch alloy wheels, alloy sports bar, front fog lights, smoked bonnet protector and carpet flooring over the LS model on which it's based.
The LS-X is priced at $37,990 driveaway including free auto transmission and three years free servicing.


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UK Recession: Confusing Picture On Recovery
Business in the UK's powerhouse service sector grew more slowly than forecast in April but hiring and confidence are both on the rise, according to a closely watched survey.
The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for services, which make up about 75% of the economy, showed its lowest reading since November.
Combined with slower growth in manufacturing and construction, the PMI data could help tip the Bank of England into overcoming its reluctance to pump more money into the economy through its programme of asset purchases, known as quantitative easing.
A slide in construction output and a weak services sector were blamed for a surprise 0.2% dip in gross domestic product (GDP) between January and March.
After the fall of 0.3% in the previous quarter, the UK tumbled into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s though many economists expect the figure for the first quarter of 2012 to be revised upwards.
The mixed picture for the economy in terms of current activity is backed somewhat by the latest forecasts from the CBI.
While the leading business organisation has cut its GDP growth estimate for 2012 from 0.9% to 0.6%, it is however predicting a "pick up" in the recovery over the rest of the year.
The lobby group, which represents some 240,000 UK companies, agreed with another key finding of the PMI that optimism among businesses is increasing - reaching a two-year high last month according to the survey.
Markit's chief economist, Chris Williamson said: "From what we are hearing from panellists, this certainly does not sound like a recession."
John Cridland, CBI director-general, said: "Optimism among businesses has been increasing since the turn of the year, with manufacturing demand holding up and that is beginning to translate into more jobs and investment."
But Mr Cridland warned the global economy continued to pose a number of challenges, including eurozone worries, high oil prices and fragile household confidence.
The CBI also stated its belief that falling tax receipts as a result of the weaker than expected economic growth will mean the Chancellor misses key borrowing targets.
It forecast that public sector borrowing will be £8bn higher than forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, at £128.2bn in 2012/2013.
In response to the latest news for the UK economy Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec Securities, told Sky News he did not believe the country was in recession.
He said: "The service numbers...suggested that the service sector at least is growing moderately and at least the largest engine in the economy is not in recession."


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This week the FDA approved the very first 3D-printed medication. 3D printing has taken the world by storm, and the pharmaceutical industry is getting in on this innovative technology.
Aprecia Pharmaceuticals has taken seizure medications to the next level with Spirtam. The active ingredient of Spirtam, known as levetiracetam, is available as a generic and also currently used in other popular seizure meds including Keppra, Keppra XR, and Elepsia XR (approved March 2015).
How is the 3D-printed pill made?
Spirtam will be made using thin layers of powdered medication spread on top of one another and bonded together by patterns of aqueous fluid.
Why does this make Spirtam different from the other prescription levetiracetam medications?
The 3D printing process will allow Spirtam to have a unique absorbent structure that allows even high strengths of the medication to be quickly dissolved with just a sip of liquid.
High-dose medications often require hard tablet or capsule formulations that must be swallowed with liquid. This can be difficult for some people, including those who experience seizures.
The development of Aprecia’s Spirtam using their ZipDose technology will make it easier to take and swallow the pill.
How exactly is Spirtam taken?
The new ZipDose technology used to make Spirtam allows the medication to dissolve in your mouth in less than 10 seconds, even for high-dose medications up to 1,000 mg. You don’t need to swallow a tablet or capsule to get the full dose. This wasn’t possible without 3D printing.
When will Spirtam be in pharmacies?
Spirtam is set to be available in the first quarter of 2016.
What are the side effects of Spirtam?
The most common side effects include sleepiness, weakness, dizziness and infection.
Want more information?


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Crowds of customers came out to Norman's in Bay City today as the local chain kicked off its going out of business sale.
"I think it's sad. It was here for 80 years and it was a historical part of the town," said one Bay City resident.
Along with the Bay City location, owner Stan Norman will also close stores in Gaylord, Tawas, Bad Axe and Standish.
Norman's financial advisor and friend, Michael Zimmerman, says it was a tough decision but it was time for Norman to retire. He says Norman is in his 80s and didn't have anyone to take over his corporation.
"He just can't do the day-to-day grind anymore as he would want to do it," said Zimmerman.
Doris Raber is a former Norman's employee. She says it's tough to see the stores close.
"It's just sad to see that there's no longer a Norman's, the community has lost a great thing," said Raber.
Copyright 2013 WNEM (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
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Commemorating 60 years of India’s Independence, Coca-Cola India has launched ‘India Extraordinaire, 60 Years, 60 Luminaries’, a special edition of the Limca Book of Records. The first-of-its-kind book catalogues the contribution of 60 Indians who have made a significant contribution to the country. Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Muhtar Kent, President and COO, The Coca-Cola Company, unveiled the special edition of the record book.
The launch event was organised in partnership with CII. Also present on the occasion was Richard Holbrooke, Chairman, The Asia Society, and Tarun Das, Chief Mentor, CII. To create awareness about the indomitable spirit of Indians and to connect them globally, the new website of Limca Book of Records was also launched by Sunil Bharti Mittal, President, CII, and Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises.
The special edition of the Limca Book of Records was unveiled amidst a felicitation ceremony for some special records holders and eminent personalities who have done India proud. This 152-page special edition of the Limca Book of Records incorporates achievements of 60 stalwarts across 13 fields like medical science, literature, entertainment, defence, sports. The list of 60 luminaries who grace this special edition book were drawn by the experienced panelists H K Dua, Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune, and Prof. Dipankar Gupta from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Nath said, “I compliment Coca-Cola India for the ‘Limca Book of Records -- India Extraordinaire, 60 years, 60 Luminaries’, which stands as a special and a befitting tribute to our country, and more importantly, the talent that the people of India represent. These luminaries showcase the indomitable spirit and energy of a new, young and zealous India. Equally, the luminaries from India portray our global face and the ability to seamlessly integrate with the world across streams.”
According to Kent, “Limca Book of Records is a one-of-its-kind book that celebrates the extraordinary achievements of Indians across the globe. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, but what really defines the country is her indomitable spirit. The achievements of the 60 stalwarts captured in this special edition subtly reveal the grandeur of India’s 60 glorious years of Independence. The Coca-Cola Company shares a long and endearing association with India, and it is our hope that India will be among our top global markets in the future.”