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LISA JENNINGS – Nation’s Restaurant News, May 19, 2018 | If theres one problem facing the restaurant industry, its labor. Across this years NRA Show floor, technology companies offered solutions to lessen the sting of high labor costs.
Perennial challenges like competition for talent and high turnover rates have combined with recent market shifts like the gig economy and the rise of delivery to add new complexities to restaurant operators labor challenges.
David Cantu, HotSchedules co-founder and chief custom officer, addressed some of the trends impacting labor costs during the conference.
The unemployment rate is just under 4 percent nationally and has dropped below 2 percent in some cities, he said. Yet restaurants continue to grow.
I do believe unemployment for the significant future will continue to remain low, he said.
Meanwhile, turnover among limited-service restaurants is 153 percent, including a 60-percent turnover rate among managers. Full-service restaurants have a turnover rate of 101 percent, with managers churning at a 37-percent rate, he said, citing data from Dallas-based analytics firm TDn2K.
And 40 percent of hourly turnover occurs in the first 90 days, TDn2K data indicates.
Cantu said 75 percent of turnover in the restaurant industry is voluntary, in part because wages are too low.
For an additional dollar, theyll go across the street to another job, he said.
Many restaurant workers are probably also working part time in gig jobs, like Uber and Task Rabbit, he said.
And turnover is costly for restaurant operators, Cantu said. Turnover costs a restaurant about $93,000 per year in the limited-service segment and $127,000 per year in full-service concepts, he said.
A key initiative to optimizing labor is accurate forecasting, he said.
HotSchedules earlier this year announced a new forecasting engine called Clarifi, a cloud-based operating platform designed to help restaurants make better staffing decisions based on changing consumer demands, legislative mandates requiring operators to schedule in advance in certain markets, and the demands of off-premise business.
For a restaurant trying to forecast labor needs, a 5-percent variance in accuracy can result in a 1-percent increase in labor spend, Cantu said.
Other exhibitors on the NRA Show floor were also addressing the labor problem.
Harri, for example, got its start as a recruitment tool but has evolved with broader labor management functions. New at the show is an app for managers that allows them to access the labor management dashboard on their smartphones, including the ability to forecast labor.
The recruiting site Snagajob is also evolving. In April, the company changed its name to simply Snag, and it is moving into shift work on demand.
Last year in Richmond, Va., Snag launched shift work services in which workers can be called in to fill hourly positions, like dishwashers or bussers, as temporary workers. Snag takes on the labor costs, helping restaurants fill holes in their staffs quickly.
The program launched in the Washington, D.C. area in April, and Snag hopes to bring the service to new markets going forward.
ShiftPixy, which pioneered shift work on demand, meanwhile, is also expanding its services to help restaurants take control of delivery.
The company matches employers with delivery drivers to allow restaurants to do that last-mile delivery themselves, said Steve Holmes, co-founder of the Irvine, Calif.-based company.
We know we live in the delivery economy, and thats only going to grow, said Holmes.
But restaurant operators are increasingly concerned about the cost of using third-party delivery providers. Restaurant operators are also concerned about brand damage and the surrendering of data.
Every time they hand over that sack of sandwiches to a third party, theyre releasing the customer experience, Holmes said. This will allow the restaurant to complete that delivery.
Using ShiftPixy, restaurants can put their own branded, uniformed workers into the platform. ShiftPixy will handle the driver validation, including insurance and liability coverage on the drivers car, which is a key barrier to self delivery, said Holmes.
The feature is in test in Southern California, and ShiftPixy expects to roll it out into other markets. Currently, ShiftPixy has a presence in California, Texas, Chicago and Florida.
Read full article: https://www.nrn.com/operations/easing-pain-tough-labor-market


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Gamescom 2021 this Wednesday received the announcement of a new football game. As a surprise, Strikerz Inc. released the UFL firsthand. The free simulator promises to join the fight between FIFA and PES (today eFootball) for the football-loving public.
A revolutionary new online global football league
— says the developer
UFL: image released by the developer at Gamescom 2021 — Photo: Disclosure
According to the developer, the UFL will allow players to create their own football clubs. The game claims to have over 5,000 licensed professional players. Just like Konami’s eFootball, this new simulator will hit the market with graphics on the Unreal Engine.
As do EA and Konami, Strikerz Inc. announced a partnership with FIFPro, which represents more than 65,000 professional players. According to official images released, West Ham, from England, is the first club confirmed in the game. In the announcement note, the developer even gave rivals a nudge.
– The game is designed to be a fair game experience that emphasizes skill over “pay-to-win” – says Strikerz of the UFL.
In development since 2016, the UFL still doesn’t have a release date but is promised for “all major consoles”.
See more images of the novelty:
Player ties his boot in the UFL — Photo: Publicity
West Ham Stadium at the UFL — Photo: Publicity
More images of West Ham at UFL — Photo: Publicity

domain: news


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Software and IT Services (SITS) consulting company Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) has just released a report on the latest developments in the connected car entitled “The Connected Car in Europe- Strategies and Technologies for Connected Driving”.
The study is based on a survey distributed to 250 CEOs of auto companies in France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Italy with the objective to explore strategies for the industry to develop and launch connected car technologies and services. The researchers posed questions such as:
Which trends and changes are important?
What role do politics and standardization play regarding connected car offerings?
What are upcoming investment plans and who are the decision makers?
The PAC report’s conclusion is that “The automative industry is about to experience a technological leap that will substantially change mobility”.
The PAC survey found that around 55% of automakers are still in the early stages of a connected car strategy, defined as being in the research and development, design and implementation, and testing phases, but, a further 43% are already in production mode, defined by the integration into products, rollout, and operation phases. The main focus for manufacturers is on in-car connectivity, car-to-driver connectivity, as well as car-to-x connectivity.
The study also considered the challenges facing the European car industry such as how to bundle multiple third-party services, change in ownership strategy, and allocating revenue streams across different partners.
For more information visit https://www.pac-online.com/sitsi


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Take That, Bloomberg! Large soda ban officially ruled unconstitutional
New York City’s crackdown on big, sugary sodas is staying on ice.
A mid-level state appeals court ruled Tuesday that the city’s Board of Health exceeded its legal authority when it voted last year to put a size limit on soft drinks served in restaurants, theaters, stadiums, sidewalk food carts and many other places.
The ban, which would have stopped the sale of many high-calorie beverages in containers bigger than 16 ounces, had been lauded by some health experts as an overdue attack on one of the primary contributors to a national obesity epidemic.


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The spring semester is here and students are back on campus! For many Beloit seniors, that means continuing the remarkable work they began months or years ago in preparation for the next step of their career
As a first-year student, Rob Tavory (below) began working with director of the Center for Entrepreneurship in Liberal Education at Beloit (CELEB), Brian Morello. Rob continued his work with CELEB, eventually founding his own clothing brand, Rob Tavory. Read more about Rob's experience.
Rob plans to continue building his clothing brand by expanding his latest collection, Broke College Student, beyond Beloit's campus.


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Carl Icahn sold his roughly 2.7% stake in Lyft Inc. to fellow billionaire George Soros ahead of the ride-hailing company’s initial public offering last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Jonathan Christodoro, a former Icahn Capital LP managing director who sat on Lyft’s board until last month, facilitated the sale of Mr. Icahn’s stake, worth roughly $550 million at the IPO price, some of the people said.
Mr. Soros, 88 years old, is the founder of Soros Fund Management LLC. He is famous for building a fortune through a series of savvy trades.
The exact timing and motivation for Mr. Icahn’s move couldn’t be determined, though he had held the stake for roughly four years—a relatively long period for him. The activist investor, who rarely invests in private companies, had been unhappy with Lyft’s plan to use supervoting shares to give its two founders near-majority voting rights, some of the people said.
It isn’t clear what price Mr. Soros paid, but the investment was sure to be a successful one for the 83 year-old Mr. Icahn. He had invested roughly $100 million in Lyft in 2015 at a valuation of $2.5 billion, and later added $50 million at the same valuation. The IPO valued Lyft at $24 billion, or $72 a share, though he likely sold it for a bit less than that.
Lyft shares have been pressured in their first week of trading. After pricing ahead of their expected range and surging 8.7% in their debut Friday, they tumbled 12% Monday and were volatile Tuesday before closing Wednesday’s session up 1.5% at $70. Multiple downbeat analyst reports published after the IPO helped pressure the shares.
Lyft’s pre-IPO investors are prohibited from selling shares until a lockup expires 180 days after the offering, and Mr. Soros remains subject to that.
Mr. Christodoro, Mr. Icahn’s designee on the Lyft board, resigned in March, the company said in a filing that month without giving a reason. Mr. Icahn could have chosen to replace Mr. Christodoro with another representative, but didn’t.
Mr. Christodoro, who left Mr. Icahn’s investment firm in 2017, serves on several boards, including that of PayPal Holdings Inc. He personally invested in Lyft, with a stake worth roughly $900,000 as of Wednesday, according to a previous filing. He was present Friday morning when Lyft founders Logan Green and John Zimmer rang Nasdaq’s opening bell at a former car dealership in downtown Los Angeles, surrounded by employees, drivers and their families.


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UK–Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commerce elevated by over 20 per cent final 12 months—value £47 billion—however there’s a enormous alternative for extra companies throughout the UK to faucet into this large financial system. As the primary new Dialogue Associate to ASEAN in 25 years, the UK is properly positioned to spice up financial progress with this dynamic area, contributing to a extra affluent future, the UK’s division for enterprise and commerce mentioned in a press launch.
UK’s worldwide commerce minister Nigel Huddleston is visiting two Southeast Asian international locations to reinforce commerce with the area, the place the financial system is anticipated to be value over £4 trillion by 2027.
UK-ASEAN commerce elevated by over 20 per cent final 12 months, valued at £47 billion.
The go to follows the UK’s accession to the CPTPP value £12 trillion.
The minister just lately joined the ASEAN counterparts in Semarang, Indonesia for the ASEAN Financial Ministers UK Session to spice up ties with the dynamic and fast-growing buying and selling group.
He’ll then journey to Hanoi to co-host the annual Joint Financial and Commerce Committee (JETCO) and the Commerce Committee of the UK-Vietnam Free Commerce Settlement. Throughout these, the minister will push ahead the UK’s ambition to assist UK firms promote extra services to Vietnam’s booming financial system.
“Southeast Asia affords huge alternatives for British companies. That’s why our crew of specialists has been working exhausting to take away boundaries to commerce to assist firms promote much more to this dynamic area. We all know nearer commerce ties with thrilling, thriving economies like Vietnam and Indonesia will present a lift for the UK. I’m wanting ahead to seeing how our expanded hyperlinks throughout the Indo-Pacific, together with accession to CPTPP, yield financial advantages up and down the nation,” mentioned Huddleston.
The go to comes simply weeks after enterprise and commerce secretary Kemi Badenoch signed the treaty confirming the UK’s accession to the Complete and Progressive Settlement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)—the Indo-Pacific commerce bloc now value £12 trillion in gross home product (GDP).
It additionally follows the decision of over £600 million value of commerce boundaries over 5 years within the monetary 12 months 2022-23 that have been hampering UK companies from promoting to Asia Pacific.
Earlier this 12 months, Badenoch made the elimination of those commerce boundaries one among her high 5 priorities, committing to lifting 100 of essentially the most vital hurdles.
Fibre2Fashion Information Desk (NB)


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Case thickness smartphone Umidigi Z1, which features a long battery life, is only 6,95 mm
Last week CEO Pete Lau (Pete Lau) has already said that OnePlus 5 will be the thinnest flagship smartphone.
To receive this title is also claimed by the company Umidigi, which prepares the public for the announcement of its flagship smartphone Z1 Umidigi. Earlier it was reported that it needs to stand out from the competition a record combined thickness of the hull and capacity built-in battery.
The manufacturer revealed one of the parameters, indicating that the thickness of the shell smartphone is only 6,95 mm. as for battery capacity, it can be assumed that it will be from 3000 to 4000 mAh.
The announcement of the smartphone is expected June 19.


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Winton woman gets calls for pizza after restaurant puts wrong number on flyer
A pizza restaurant in Winton recently sent out a flyer to promote sales. The big problem is it used the wrong number for takeout orders.
Wendi Walsh of Winton says it's caused all kinds of problems for her since early September. "About six weeks ago we started getting a couple of phone calls once or twice a week asking what our hours were, or if they could talk to the manager, or place an order."
Since then Walsh's phone has been ringing off the hook. Rico's sent out a flyer to 700 homes in the Winton area back in September but the phone number listed isn't Rico's, it's Walsh's personal number. The mistake was huge because the prefix for Rico's Pizza is 358 not 812.
Walsh's husband talked to the manager of Rico's but left unsatisfied. "I'm sorry it was wrong. Just give them the right phone number when they call. That's it. We've had to change our phone number. We didn't do anything wrong you know this is ridiculous."
Oscar Aguilar, the owner of Rico's Pizza didn't want to talk on camera but claims he did try to apologize to Wendi Walsh. He also wants to to make it right by giving her a gift card."
Rico's has since put out a new flyer with the correct phone number. But Walsh says she keeps getting annoying calls all hours of the day and night. "I feel like they should pay a fine or maybe make a donation to a charity of our choice."
Walsh's calls for pizza should be ending this weekend. That's when her new number goes into service.


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A recent study conducted by Pike Research found that hybrid powertrains will find a home in some 300,000 medium- (MD) and heavy-duty (HD) trucks and buses by 2015. The study also finds that while North America currently leads the world in usage of hybrid trucks, Asia is expected to take the lead as early as next year and will probably never look back. Here are some of the study's highlights (some very specific):
In addition to the planned Alias from ZAP, the electric vehicle company reportedly wants to branch into the electric pickup truck market as well. According to the latest in a long line of press releases from ZAP, the company has completed the engineering stage of a project to develop a four-wheel electric pickup. The company claims it plans to build the new EV right here in the United States using parts and components largely sourced from U.S. suppliers.
Way back in January, rumors began swirling regarding a potential tie-up between Chrysler's GEM and India's Tata Motors. The rumored love-child was an electric version of the delivery truck known in India as the Tata Ace. Now, we have a potential price for the unit, and it sounds almost too good to be true. According to Auto Observer, the electric Ace could sell for as little as $5,000 and would meet all necessary safety regulations in the United States. We'd imagine that this vehicle would be cl
The Royal Mail, Britain's post office has ordered a pair of electric vans from Smith Electric Vehicles for testing purposes. They will be receiving one Edison, which is based on the Ford Transit van, and a 7.5 tonne Newton, which is a larger cab-over truck. Both trucks use the Zebra sodium nickel chloride batteries and have a rated range of 150 and 130 miles respectively. The Royal Mail currently has over 33,000 commercial delivery vehicles including 10,700 3.5 tonne vans like the Edison and 2,5


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Old Navy is urging flip-flop wearers to recycle for Earth Day and make some children happy at the same time.
The clothing chain, which has an outlet in Minot's Dakota Square Mall, is collecting used flip-flops today through May 21 at stores nationwide for recycling into playground equipment.
Kristi Meiners, district spokeswoman in Minnesota for Old Navy, said the store's customers have been asking for flip-flop recycling and some even have left their old shoes with the store in the past when buying new ones. As the world's largest seller of flip-flops, recycling the footwear seemed a logical community project.
"It's something we can do with our customers to recycle flip-flops and put them to good use," Meiners said.
Minot's Old Navy will have a bin in the store where people can deposit their contributions. The store will accept any type of flip-flops. Shoes not of the proper material will be recycled in other ways.
Old Navy is working with TerraCycle, a New Jersey upcycling and recycling company that encourages consumers to rethink waste. Upcycling uses a waste product in its current form to make another product. TerraCycle works with major brands to upcycle a variety of packaging materials into products such as waste receptacles, fences and insulated coolers and backpacks. Schools and organizations participate and raise funds by collecting the packaging for TerraCycle.
TerraCycle is working with a manufacturer who will use the plastic derived from the flip-flops donated by Old Navy to make playground structures.
Old Navy wants to construct four playgrounds in different regions of the country. Locations still are being researched, but construction is expected by the end of the year.


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Snook keeps his Orange appeal
Highly-rated Orange chief executive Hans Snook is moving upstairs. He becomes chairman of the mobile phones group as Frenchman Jean-Francois Pontal takes day-to-day charge.
The reshuffle follows the takeover of Orange by France Telecom in May when it bought it for £31bn from Vodafone and comes ahead of its planned £60bn pre-Christmas flotation.
Investors would be nervous at any sign that Snook was to leave. But industry sources played down the talk and said his role would be to provide the vision. Pontal would give the management drive.
'It needs a first-rate operator to develop strategy and an operational manager with the total confidence of France Telecom to carry it out,' said one.
Orange's management changes come as competition in the European mobile trade increases. Ireland's privatised phone group Eircom confirmed talks to sell its mobile telecoms arm Eircell with an estimated price tag of £2.4bn.
Vodafone is front runner to buy the business. Ireland's mobile phone sector is one of the fastest growing in Western Europe. Eircell is the biggest operator with
1.1m users, followed by Esat Digifone, jointly owned by Telenor of Norway and BT.
Eircom shares, dismal performers since its float, rose 16p to 165p. Some think it will be the next bid target.
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Saudi Arabia, long the most passionate advocate of tough international action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, struggled Sunday to assemble an Arab coalition that would give the U.S. and other Western countries vital political backing for airstrikes on the Syrian regime.
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Its pitch to consumers pays off with a gain of 1.2 million customers to hold T-Mobile at bay. Still, Sprint's aggressive promotions have also brought mounting losses.
Worldly looks and top-notch specs make the impressive, metal Samsung Galaxy S6 the Android phone to beat for 2015.
Silicon Valley's male-dominated culture could cost the technology industry the thing it values most: innovation.
The Apple Watch is the most ambitious, well-constructed smartwatch ever seen, but first-gen shortfalls make it feel more like a fashionable toy than a necessary tool.
Norton's password manager doesn't hit you with a subscription fee, yet it syncs all your stuff between desktop, Web and mobile apps. Plus: a remastered classic game on sale!
Need to protect your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus? A slew of new cases are available, with new cases arriving weekly. Here are our current top picks.
Google's technology could pave the way for the cable providers to finally get wireless right.
Spotify offers a free music tier that delivers a good portion of the service's paid subscription version. And that's exactly the problem.
The Powerwall for homes and Powerpack for businesses can store energy from solar panels and help you save on energy bills.
HBO and Showtime networks charged $100 a pop to see the history-making fight, but netizens used technology -- specifically Twitter's Periscope tool for live broadcasting -- to watch the match for free.


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Kennesaw, GA, January 5, 2022 – j5create today announced that it has been named a CES® 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree for the 360° All Around Webcam with Speakerphone and the ScreenCast USB-C® Wireless Display HDMI™ Extender. This year’s CES Innovation Awards program received a record high number of over 1800 submissions. The announcement was made ahead of CES 2022, the world’s most influential technology event, happening Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas, NV and digitally.
The CES Innovation Awards program, owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, is an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in 27 consumer technology product categories. Those with the highest rating receive the “Best of Innovation” distinction. An elite panel of industry expert judges, including members of the media, designers, engineers and more, reviewed submissions based on innovation, engineering and functionality, aesthetic and design.
The 360° All Around Webcam with Speakerphone is an all-in-one virtual meeting device that combines HD video and business-grade speakerphone with Acoustic Echo Cancellation to remove echo and unwanted background noise for audio clarity. It is ideal for any space whether used to capture a 360° panoramic view of the room or focus on specific presenters with its various display modes. It is equipped with a USB-C® cable and a USB™ Type-A connector to work with both older and newer devices.
The ScreenCast USB-C® Wireless Display HDMI™ Extender transmits audio and video signal from a USB-C® equipped device to an HDMI™ enabled TV, projector, or monitor, creating a dedicated AV connection without an existing network. Users can enjoy a large screen experience by connecting the USB-C® transmitter to a compatible device and then connecting the HDMI™ receiver to a TV.
"We’re honored to be named as a CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree for two of our products," said Chuck Akins, Vice President of Sales, and Marketing at j5create. "We pride ourselves on creating innovative technologies that help solve people’s day-to-day problems."
The CES 2022 Innovation Awards honorees, including product descriptions and photos, can be found at CES.tech/innovation. Many honorees will showcase their winning products in the Innovation Awards Showcase at CES 2022.
Owned and produced by CTA, CES 2022, the global stage for innovation, will convene the tech industry in person and digitally, giving global audiences access to major brands and startups, as well as the world’s most-influential leaders and industry advocates. Visit CES.tech for all CES 2022 updates, including health protocols and registration.


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Retail milk prices are at their lowest for seven years and processors have forced further swingeing price cuts on thousands of dairy producers.
The cuts of up to 2p/litre from 1 August, announced in the past few days by Wiseman, Dairy Crest, Arla and First Milk, come on top of those imposed in June for milk producers on non-aligned contracts.
“Something has got to give. There is a limit to which they [processors] can keep cutting milk prices to farmers without jeopardising future supplies,” said DairyCo analyst Patty Clayton.
Reversing a 10-year trend, the average retail price for liquid milk in multiple retailers had fallen sharply over the past three years, said Mrs Clayton.
“Given the strategic importance that retailers have placed on milk and its use to help bring consumers into stores, retailers have resisted any increases in processor selling prices.”
Just who is making what out of milk is becoming more difficult to discover. DairyCo’s annual supply chain margins report is due out later this month but will not be able to break down liquid milk gross margins between processor and retailer for the 2011/12 milk year.
The long-run trend pointed to falling processor margins but the extent of rationalisation in the liquid milk processing sector meant that DairyCo did not have enough data to estimate the margins without breaking commercial confidences, said Mrs Clayton.
“It seems unlikely that processor gross margins would have increased given the continued high levels of competition in the retail market, pressure from retailers to keep processor selling prices down and the increase in average farmgate prices.”
Six major retailers contacted this week by Farmers Weekly were unable to comment on milk retail margins.
Without significant change in the structure of the liquid milk market, processor gross margins would remain under pressure, said Mrs Clayton.
However cream prices had risen in June, oil prices were down 30% and milk costs had fallen, pointed out consultant Nick Holt-Martyn of The Dairy Group.
“On that basis, we should have had an improvement compared with May. Non-aligned producers are feeling more pain and pressure and will suffer more – the feed market is looking horrendous.”
The latest cuts could be a major factor in decisions to quit milk, but these would not be immediate decisions unless it was something that had already been under consideration, said Mr Holt-Martyn.
“We’ve been here before. If there’s an opportunity for retailers to get a supply of milk at lower cost they will take it, and while processors are prepared to undercut each other for a bigger share, we’ll see more of the same.
|Retail milk prices – 3 July 2012|
|Four pints||Two pints|
|Tesco||£1.18||£0.89 or 2 for £1.70|
|Waitrose||£1.25 or 2 for £2.00||n/a|
|Doorstep (average) 66p a pint|


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Ocean Club Resorts is set to reopen on July 22, the same day the Turks and Caicos Islands begin welcoming guests to their destination.
Ocean Club Resorts includes two all-suite properties, Ocean Club and Ocean Club West, which are located one mile apart and face Grace Bay Beach.
Resorts are implementing procedures recommended by the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the World Health Organization.
Measures include modifying all public spaces for social distancing purposes; providing face masks, hand sanitizer and COVID-19 training to guests and staff; use cleaning products that meet the guidelines of the Environmental Protection Agency; and increased disinfection procedures in all public spaces.
“Ocean Club Resorts has a long-standing commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our guests and staff,” said Wilbert Mason, General Manager of Ocean Club. “Our team has taken the necessary steps to improve cleaning measures and implement new protocols that respect social distancing without impacting the overall guest experience. We look forward to the return of our guests and have implemented new safety measures in order to provide a safe but still unforgettable stay in a post-COVID-19 travel climate.”
Both properties will unveil spring, summer and all-inclusive packages that allow travelers to save up to 25% when booking stays of four nights or more through December 18, 2020.
The resorts offer a “Stay at One, Play at Both” program, allowing guests to enjoy the services and amenities of both properties.
The Turks and Caicos Islands comprise 40 islands and cays, of which only nine are inhabited.


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Sainsbury’s had complained that Tesco shouldn’t be able to compare the prices of its own label products and fresh food with Sainsbury’s. It said the comparisons were misleading, unfair and unlawful because Sainsbury’s own brands are superior in quality.
Lawyers for Sainsbury’s said Tesco did not factor in non-price elements such as product quality and sustainability and that it was like comparing “apples with pears” according to the Press Association.
It had asked for a judicial review of the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) decision in July last year to reject its complaint about Tesco’s Price Promise scheme, which unlike Sainsbury’s Brand Match compares own brand products if an equivalent is sold by a rival. It had hoped that such a review would take into account “all relevant factors” including ethics, provenance and price.
However Justice Wilkie, sitting in the High Court in London, dismissed the application, saying there was “no substantial flaw” in the ASA’s approach. He upheld the ASA’s findings that the products being compared “met the same needs or purpose” and could therefore be legally compared under the UK’s advertising code.
Sainsbury’s says it is “disappointed” with the ruling and will now consider its options. The supermarket says it still considers Tesco’s price match scheme to be “fundamentally misleading”.
“While we respect the court’s decision… we continue to believe that it is fundamentally misleading for customers if price comparison schemes are inconsistent in taking into account provenance, quality and whether products are Fairtrade or sustainably sourced. These values continue to be at the heart of our business and it will be for customers to reach their own verdict on this issue,” says a spokeswoman.
Tesco has welcomed the decision, saying it proves the supermarket is on the side of customers and that it is a strong supporter of fair and transparent sourcing.
“This and the previous rulings by the ASA and Independent Reviewer demonstrate that Price Promise makes fair and reasonable comparisons between our branded and own brand products and those of our competitors.”
The ASA also welcomed the decision, saying it is pleased the claim has been unsuccessful.
Sainsbury’s is the only one of the big four not to price match own-brand products as part of its Brand Match campaign. It also recently changed the scheme to only compare prices with Asda, with Sainsbury’s marketing director Sarah Warby telling Marketing Week at the time that this was because Asda was seen by the public as the leader on the price.
At the same time, Sainsbury’s also launched a campaign to highlight changes it has made to the price of branded goods which claims to offer better promotions and a lower “normal” price than Tesco.
Tesco claims that since that was launched Sainsbury’s has raised the price of some of its own brand products.


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The world’s fastest-growing marketplace has discovered that gyms could be set to lose 37% in revenue as Brits plan to stick to lifestyle changes made in lockdown.
According to the research, restaurants and high street retail are set to be the next hardest hit industries, as more people plan to continue cooking at home and spend less in physical shops. The research comes after DW Sports announced it will be entering administration and Pizza Express consider closing 67 of its UK restaurants.
The world’s fastest-growing marketplace has surveyed the British public on what new lifestyle changes they would be sticking with now the UK is easing restrictions, to discover which industries would be hit hardest.
After surveying 2,572 members of the public, OnBuy.com discovered that only 63% of gym goers have renewed their membership after lockdown, meaning that gyms could be set to lose as much as 37% revenue.
Similarly, 35% of respondents stated they plan to significantly reduce or stop eating out at restaurants altogether, with a further third (33%) indicating they plan to stop or significantly cut down on visits to high street retail stores. The research comes after recent news that gym and sports retailer DW Sports will be going into administration, and high street restaurant chain, Pizza Express, is considering closing 67 UK restaurants.
The five industries that will be hit hardest by the changing lifestyle habits of Brits are:
1. Gyms – 37% loss in revenue
37% of gym goers said they would not renew or have already cancelled their gym membership. The main reason for this being that they feel gyms are unsafe (47% believe so), followed by 21% of people who now prefer exercising at home or outdoors. Sixteen percent also stated that they can no longer afford a membership.
2. Restaurants – 35% loss in revenue
35% of respondents stated that they planned to significantly reduce or stop eating out altogether at restaurants. Safety was again one of the most popular issues (31% feel unsafe eating out), but the top response was that they had improved their own cooking during lockdown (36%).
3. High street retail – 33% loss in revenue
33% of people plan to stop or significantly reduce visits to high street stores. As well as safety concerns (25%), the most popular reason was that they preferred shopping online (59%).
4. Beauty parlours – 31% loss in revenue
31% plan to use beauty salons significantly less, aside from safety (21%), a quarter of people have invested in their own home treatments, while a third (31%) don’t wish to spend money on beauty related services anymore.
5. Aviation – 31% loss in revenue
31% of respondents do not intend to travel abroad for at least another year. Again, safety was a popular reason (38%), along with a new interest in holidaying within the UK (25%) and less disposable income to spend on foreign holidays (24%).
The full survey results with the 10 industries that will be hit hardest by British lifestyle changes can be found here: https://www.onbuy.com/gb/blog/the-industries-that-will-be-hit-hardest-by-the-changing-lifestyle-trends-of-britain~a247/
As the fastest-growing marketplace in the world, OnBuy offers competitive prices on millions of products supplied by thousands of trusted online retailers. From household names to independent sellers, buyers can shop securely for products from a range of categories, such as electricals, baby and toddler, home and garden, and cars and automotive.
Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy, said,
“I think that for a lot of people, lockdown became a time for a bit of personal reflection and a re-evaluation of their spending habits. While this will be great for tightening up the purse strings and saving a few pounds, there will inevitably be knock on effects across the economy.
“While these lifestyle changes won’t have been the sole cause, we have already seen how hard some of the big national chains have been hit this year and the sad news is that it looks like more will follow. With lockdown restrictions easing, things will be sure to pick up soon and certainty can return to the British economy.”


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A month after the Canvas Juice A77 smartphone was spotted online, Micromax today has made it official for Rs 7,999. The company mentions it will launch this phone later today in an exclusive partnership with HomeShop 18.
The Canvas Juice A77 is a dual-SIM phone which comes with a 5-inch display WVGA (854×480 pixels) display. It is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM, 4GB internal memory which is expandable by up to 32GB using a microSD card. It sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and has VGA front facing camera. Connectivity options in the phone include 3G (HSDPA), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS/AGPS support. The Canvas Juice A77 houses a 3,000mAh battery which is expected to offer up to 10 hours of talk time and up to 250 hours of standby time.
The phone will compete against the recently launched Gionee P3 smartphone which dons a smaller display at 4.3-inch but comes with a quad-core processor. The rest of the features including Android version, internal storage and camera too are similar in both the phones. The Gionee P3 is priced for Rs 7,499 in India. Other options against the Canvas Juice A77 include the Karbonn Titanium S2, which has a similar display, but runs on a quad-core processor and sports an 8-megapixel rear camera. The phone is available at a similar price point.


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Grocer Doing What It Needs To Survive
By George Anderson
The president and chief operating officer of Minyard Food Stores, J.L. “Sonny” Williams, said larger retail competitors have a luxury this Dallas-Ft. Worth-area grocer doesn’t.
“The larger chains have other markets if they don’t make money here. We have to make it here or break it here.”
The 72-store chain has more than enough competition when it comes to making it in its own backyard. Minyard’s does battle daily with the likes of Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Randalls
and Tom Thumb.
In recent times, Minyard’s has struggled to increase sales with annual revenues stuck at $910 million for each of the past three years.
Mr. Williams told the Dallas Business Journal he remains optimistic as recent changes at the company have corresponded to an up tick in sales.
“It has been stagnant, and it’s been harder to get it back. But, all of a sudden sales are on the upswing, and we are really excited,” he said.
Minyard’s has begun doing store remodels, adding gas pumps at some locations, merchandising dollar store items on designated shelves and aisles within its stores and exploring
new format concepts, including possibly opening a dollar store or “bazaar” concept.
As to what else Minyard’s has planned to make it against its stiff competition, Mr. Williams said, “We are doing what we need to do to survive and to make money.”
Moderator’s Comment: What are your thoughts on what it will take for Minyard’s to regain share of the Dallas-Ft. Worth
Metroplex retail market? Are there lessons Minyard’s can learn from other smaller local chains that have faced similar competition in other markets around the country?
Sonny Williams thinks Minyard’s is in a better position to compete because it operates three separate formats including Minyard Food Stores, Sac ‘n Save
stores and Carnival Food Stores.
“We’ve continued to tweak our concepts for the market,” he told the Dallas Business Journal. “The fact that we are fighting with three sticks, has made
it somewhat easier.” –
George Anderson – Moderator


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This year is coming up all tech.
That’s according to BrandZ’s top 100 most valuable global brands rankings of 2018, released today by London-based multinational advertising firm WPP and market researcher Kantar Millward Brown. Although brands like Google, Apple and Microsoft continued to show their dominance, the report also revealed that retail, luxury and apparel combined are no small moneymaker, accounting for 16 of the list’s names.
“Retail was the bellwether category,” it read. “Having been battered and thoroughly transformed by e-commerce, retail led category value growth for the second consecutive year, with a rise of 35 percent.”
Amazon was the leading retail company at No. 3, boasting a brand value of $207.6 billion. It edged out rivals Alibaba Group at 9th and Walmart at 31st, with brand values amounting to $113.4 billion and $34 billion, respectively.
In the luxury sphere, Louis Vuitton took the top spot at No. 26. The French fashion house marked its brand value with a cool $41.1 billion while Hermes, at 39th, and Gucci, at 54th, owned their places at $28.1 billion and $22.4 billion.
As for apparel, Nike, Zara and Adidas were winners. The former sportswear giant ranked 29th as its brand value increased 13 percent to $38.5 billion. Its Germany-headquartered competitor was a new appearance on the list, earning the last spot of 100th (a brand value of $12.5 billion), while Inditex-owned Zara sat at 42nd with $26.9 billion.
In addition, the report detailed a number of notable trends: 1) Chinese brands were growing at double the pace of those in based in the United States, with retailers JD.com and Alibaba appreciating most in value on a year-to-year basis; 2) Brands are increasingly using data-driven, intelligence-led technologies, including artificial intelligence and augmented reality; and 3) Strategic, long-term partnerships can prove to be pivotal for brands looking to offer better customer experiences.
Overall, the total brand value for the top 100 companies climbed by a record 21 percent in the last year, adding $748 billion to the ranking, which is now valued at $4.4 trillion, and marking the largest one-year value increase in the global report’s 12-year history.
“We’ve seen the biggest ever rise in brand value this year, driven by growth across all categories,” added the study’s leader, David Roth, who is also CEO of WPP’s global retail practice, The Store. “Both new and established players have seen the payoff in being bold and adopting a long-term outlook towards brand-building.”
Amazon Boasts Five Times More Online Traffic Than Walmart, According to Study
How Louis Vuitton Became the ‘World’s Most Desirable Brand’
Zara Owner Inditex Reports Increase in Profits, Thanks to Rapid Digital Growth


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When Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a statewide shutdown of all nonessential businesses on March 17, I had strong concerns about my health, my business outlook, the future of Nevada and our country. Was there going to be a future? And, what will that look like? My thought process spreads to every avenue in my life. I was seeing the coronavirus outbreak spreading across the U.S., impacting nearly every industry, and I knew the construction sector would not be immune from its effects.
MassMedia Marketing, Advertising, PR is analyzing current digital media consumption trends and offering insight to businesses that are trying to maintain and even increase their brand awareness during this pandemic.
Our state today looks profoundly different than it did just a few weeks ago. States across the U.S., including Nevada, have implemented strict social distancing guidelines. Most businesses that could have transitioned to remote work and many brick-and-mortar shops have turned entirely to digital sales in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. And, while the shops are now slowly reopening and our state’s physical distancing restrictions are being gradually lifted, the implications of a period of such immediate transition and reliance on digital tools will be profound and lasting.
While it may not be business as usual, Nevada Realtors are still busy helping people buy and sell homes during this pandemic.
Maintaining connections to work and social circles has never been more important in this new era of working at home and social distancing. In the past few months, we’ve transitioned from traditional offices to kitchen tables and home offices, set new records for streaming content and pushed our home internet and Wi-Fi to the max.
If you’re among the thousands of Nevadans who have been putting off a trip to the dentist, you should know that it’s not only safe, but crucial, that you come back for the care you need.
Nevada minimum wage will increase for the first time in nearly a decade on July 1, and on July 1 of each year until 2024. Because these changes will impact overtime requirements and eligibility, Nevada employers should review their payroll and time-keeping practices to ensure compliance with current wage and hour law.
The June 2020 Southern Nevada CCIM Healthcare Panel shared insightful knowledge regarding how Las Vegas responded to COVID-19, commercial real estate growth plans in the Medical Arts District and navigating the future through COVID-19,
All of us have encountered a tremendous change in our lives over the last couple of months —personally and professionally. For those of us working in the lending, homebuilding, and real estate industry, the impact was immediate.
A new bankruptcy law may be the assistance small businesses need to survive the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.


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GARDEN CITY, Mich., Sept. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Lions are getting set to kick off the 2012 season, Fanatic U invites you to come celebrate the kickoff of its remodeled and expanded Garden City store. The event will also be filmed by MTV as part of a pilot TV show.
Fans are invited to the store, located at 30409 Ford Rd., on Sunday, Sept. 9 to enjoy a family-friendly tailgate party complete with free snacks, nonalcoholic beverages and a chance to win front row tickets to an upcoming Tigers Game. Doors open early at 9:00 a.m. with all-day discounts on all gear. Drawing takes place at 11:30 a.m. Must be present to win!
MTV will be on hand to film the event as part of a pilot TV show for MTV International featuring Fanatic U. Fans are invited to hang out at the store to watch the game.
"Lions fans deserve a party to kick off the season, check out our new store and show MTV that we have the best fans in the country," said Greg Every, owner of Fanatic U.
The store just completed its 1,000-square foot expansion into an adjacent space and went through an over $150,000 renovation including all new Detroit team-themed displays, interactive props and TV/video system to help customers feel like they're already at the game. The store also has improved infrastructure and operations, including new floor-to-ceiling carpet, interior ceiling, roof, walls, displays, point of sale system, offices, warehouse and computer system, and exciting new merchandise.
"We are as fired up for the football season as the fans are," Every said. "They put the 'fanatic' in Fanatic U!"
Along with the original Garden City store, Fanatic U also has stores at 15526 W. 12 Mile Rd, Southfield; 16750 Allen Rd, Taylor, and; 31896 Groesbeck Hwy., Fraser. You can also shop online at www.FanaticU.com.
SOURCE Fanatic U


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California released long-awaited rules Thursday that will govern the state’s emerging legal marijuana industry, while potentially opening the way for larger-scale cultivation that some fear could strangle small-farm growers.
The thicket of emergency regulations will allow the state to begin issuing temporary licenses for growers, distributors and sellers on Jan. 1, when recreational sales become legal.
They provide a regulatory road map for business operations, from licensing fees to establishing guidelines for testing, growing and distribution of marijuana in what is projected to be a $7-billion economy, the nation’s largest.
As for infused munchies, “edible products cannot be shaped like a human, animal, insect, or fruit,” according to a summary of the rules.
Top image: © Filmfoto | Dreamstime.com
Source: Cannabis Business Times


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Australian packaging company Amcor has completed previously announced $6.8bn (£5.3bn) merger deal with US-based flexible packaging major Bemis in an all-stock deal.
The combined company will now operate as Amcor Plc (Amcor). It will be trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange.
Amcor CEO Ron Delia said that the acquisition is “a significant milestone as two strong companies with histories each dating back over 150 years look forward to one great future.”
“The acquisition of Bemis brings additional scale, capabilities and footprint that will strengthen Amcor’s industry leading value proposition and generate significant value for shareholders,” Delia added.
As per the terms of the deal signed in August 2018, Amcor shareholders will own 71% stake in the combined company, while the remaining 29% interest will be owned by the Bemis shareholders.
The completion of the deal follows approval from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for the merger of packaging firms Amcor and Bemis.
In April 2019, Amcor agreed to sell its three manufacturing facilities units to Tekni-Plex in a deal valued at around $215m (£169.2m), in order to resolve certain specific antitrust concerns raised in the US associated with the proposed merger.
Delia added: “As the global leader in consumer packaging, Amcor is uniquely positioned to capitalize on shifting consumer preferences, an evolving customer and retail landscape, and the increasing need to develop packaging that best protects the product as well as the environment.”
The combined firm is expected to play a key role in the consumer packaging segment, in addition to providing significant value for shareholders, customers and employees, the firms said.
Additionally, the merged entity will have increased exposure to major end markets and product segments, including protein and healthcare packaging, barrier films and foils.
Amcor and Bemis supply a range of rigid and flexible packaging products for customers in multiple sectors.
US-based Bemis is involved in the distribution of rigid and flexible packaging products to customers in the food, consumer, medical, pharmaceutical and other industries.
Australia-based Amcor supplies a range of rigid and flexible packaging products to customers in the food, beverage, medical, pharmaceutical, personal care and other consumer goods sectors.


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Yahoo has taken a 25% stake in content discovery and ad network Taboola. In exchange for this move, Taboola is becoming Yahoo’s native advertising partner through a 30-year commercial agreement. According to Yahoo news, the partnership is expected to generate US$1 billion in annual revenue and Yahoo will also get a seat on Taboola's board. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Yahoo is currently owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Taboola will exclusively power native advertising across all of Yahoo’s digital properties and will be available to buy through the Yahoo DSP, establishing Taboola as a native advertising offering for advertisers, publishers and merchants on the open web. According to a release, through this partnership, Taboola will benefit from Yahoo’s scale as a consumer tech company reaching nearly 900 million monthly active users worldwide as a top-ranked internet property across mail, sports, finance and news.
By powering Yahoo’s native advertising solutions, Taboola will help deliver greater reach, better campaign performance and improved user experiences, supporting brands as they continue to look for alternative advertising options outside of walled gardens.
Taboola will continue to invest heavily in research and development (R&D), enhancing how people discover things they may like and strengthen its leadership in contextual advertising. As part of the partnership, Yahoo will receive just under 25% of the pro forma equity of Taboola. The partnership will allow Yahoo to further enhance its own unified advertiser offerings, enhance consumer experiences across Yahoo’s owned media properties and participate in significant shared value creation as Taboola’s largest single shareholder.
Yahoo is an internet pioneer, representing one of the largest, most trusted and most sophisticated publishers in the world, said Adam Singolda, founder and CEO of Taboola.
“Everywhere I look, I see a rocket ship growth opportunity for both of us - native, eCommerce, video, header bidding (display) and more. This win-win partnership will meaningfully accelerate our growth flywheel, expanding our reach to more users on the open web with high-intent traffic to provide world-class solutions for advertisers, publishers, merchants and users in a cookie-less world,” Singolda said.
Singolda added for publishers in the open web, the partnership will enable more investment in driving revenue, engagement and audience growth moving forward, empowering performance, brand advertisers, merchants as well as agencies with an immense reach to users in a premium, trusted environment. He added, "This partnership is a big step toward achieving our goal of generating US$1 billion in ex-TAC by 2025.”
“Partnering with Taboola enables Yahoo to further enhance the contextual and native offerings within our unified advertising stack," said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo. Lanzone shared that the partnership also allows Yahoo and Taboola to continue to differentiate in market, improving user, advertiser and publisher experiences across properties, while benefiting from the long-term tailwinds in digital native advertising.
“Together with Taboola, we will maximise reach and campaign performance for advertisers, enhance monetisation opportunities for publishers, and drive improved, privacy-forward experiences for users. As we continue to build the next era of Yahoo, we are thrilled to have strong partners by our side,” he added.
Nan Fung Group takes a flight of fancy with Yahoo’s immersive technology
Bayer and Yahoo raise awareness of Endometriosis-related issues to women of different needs
Yahoo makes two key promotions within APAC leadership team
Taboola merges with special purpose acquisition firm to go public
Vivo partners Taboola to bring personalised content experiences to customers


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This September, Uber, the app-summoned taxi service, launched a fleet of driverless Volvos and Fords in the city of Pittsburgh. While Google has had its own autonomous vehicles on the roads of Mountain View, California, Austin, Texas, Kirkland, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona, for a few years, gathering data and refining its technology, Uber’s Pittsburgh venture marks the first time such cars will be available to be hailed by the American public. (The world’s first autonomous taxi service began offering rides in Singapore at the end of August, edging out Uber by a few weeks.)
Pittsburgh, with its hills, narrow side streets, snow, and many bridges, may not seem like the ideal venue to deploy cars that can have difficulty navigating hills, narrow streets, snow, and bridges. But the city is home to Carnegie Mellon’s renowned National Robotics Engineering Center, and in the winter of 2015, Uber lured away forty of its researchers and engineers for its new Advanced Technologies Center, also in Pittsburgh, to jump-start the company’s entry into the driverless car business.
Uber’s autonomous vehicles have already begun picking up passengers, but they still have someone behind the wheel in the event the car hits a snag. It seems overstated to call this person a driver since much of the time the car will be driving itself. Uber’s ultimate goal, and the goal of Google and Lyft and Daimler and Ford and GM and Baidu and Delphi and Mobileye and Volvo and every other company vying to bring autonomous vehicles to market, is to make that person redundant. As Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman make clear in Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead, the question is not if this can happen, but when and under what circumstances.
The timeline is a bit fuzzy. According to a remarkably bullish report issued by Morgan Stanley in 2013, sometime between 2018 and 2022 cars will have “complete autonomous capability”; by 2026, “100% autonomous penetration” of the market will be achieved. A study by the market research firm IHS Automotive predicts that by 2050, nearly all vehicles will be self-driving; a University of Michigan study says 2030. Chris Urmson, who until recently was project manager of Google’s autonomous car division, is more circumspect.
“How quickly can we get this into people’s hands? If you read the papers, you see maybe it’s three years, maybe it’s thirty years. And I am here to tell you that honestly, it’s a bit of both,” he told an audience at Austin’s South By Southwest Festival in March. “This technology,” Urmson went on, “is almost certainly going to come out incrementally. We imagine we are going to find places where the weather is good, where the roads are easy to drive—the technology might come there first. And then…
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John Deputato has been promoted to president of apparel for the U.S. practice area of The NPD Group, the Port Washington, N.Y.-based market-research firm.
Deputato was most recently senior vice president of NPD’s North American analytics and modeling practice and has spent more than 25 years in the consumer product goods and research industries, including nearly a decade with Information Resources Inc., where he supervised contact with clients in the beauty, personal care and health industries.
Deputato reports to Diane Nicholson, president of U.S. softlines for NPD, and takes over responsibilities that had previously been handled by Amy Hyland, who was earlier promoted to executive vice president of product management and development at the firm.
Alberta Ferretti's "Rainbow Week" sweaters are back. The designer closed her #MFW show with a few day-of-the-week sweaters, which first debuted on the catwalk last January as part of the pre-fall 2017 collection. #wwdfashion (📷: @delphineachard)


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The Walt Disney Company India has made some top level changes in the management with immediate effect.
The group has promoted Roshni Bakshi, regional director, emerging markets (Asia), Disney Consumer Products to the post of vice-president, consumer products, publishing and retail. The announcement was made by Mahesh Samat, managing director, The Walt Disney Company, India.
In a bid to satiate the increasing demand for local content, the company has promoted Swati Shetty to the position of executive director, theatrical productions and acquisitions, Walt Disney Studios International Production (India). With more than 300 million movie admissions every year, the arm is one of the key growth drivers for the company.
Shetty has been with the company for the past five years and has handled advertising, sales and content syndication. In her new role, she will be responsible for creative and production aspects of the business as well as managing talent relationships for local projects.
Vijay Subramaniam has been promoted as executive director, Disney India Media Solutions and Alliances (DIMSA). He will be responsible for identifying commercial opportunities across all the businesses of the company including TV, studios, merchandising, publishing, mobile, Internet and live events in the country.
In an official communiqué, Samat says, "With the expanded responsibilities of key functions, I am confident that together, our teams will continue to bring alive the Disney magic to many more Indian kids and families."First Published : May 20, 2010


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Technology is upending traditional banking, giving longstanding financial services organizations a view of how they can improve their growth prospects and resilience. A business model leveraging digital technology—not just in the business, but as the business—can be critical.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s wealth management unit recently launched an ad campaign targeting younger customers. Dipti Kachru, CMO of the division, talks about how her team is rethinking the concept of wealth for the millennial generation.
COVID-19 and the resulting digital acceleration have disrupted the banking ecosystem, sending more consumers to online channels in place of retail bank branches. By focusing on six critical product features, banks can redefine their digital experiences and differentiate themselves from the competition.
Financial institutions can operate with a corporate social purpose in mind at the same time they seek to generate profits. Achieving financial inclusion can be done by adhering to strategies built around four dimensions of a financial framework.
As investment apps gain in popularity, a new segment of financial customers is emerging. Brokerage firms, investment companies, and other financial institutions are adapting their acquisition strategy, customer experience, and pricing models to meet the needs of individual investors.
Financial services companies have an opportunity to address major societal issues and make new markets, without a significant trade-off in growth or profits. They are being called to reach for a higher bottom line—to lead the shift to a consumer-led economy, proactively rebuild trust, and transform not just financial services, but also the collective human experience.
Shaping attractive digital offerings with sustainable business models has been challenging for some large traditional banks. A recent Deloitte report explores consumers’ digital banking preferences and identifies strategies banks can adopt to accelerate their digital transformations.
Regulators increasingly expect more from financial services organizations than basic compliance with consumer protection laws. A proactive approach to protecting customers begins with a strategy for identifying how they might be harmed across the full scope of products and services, then mitigating risks.
U.S. small businesses are facing daunting challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent Deloitte research explores these companies’ most pressing needs and identifies five ways in which banks can better serve these customers.
Commerzbank aims to be a partner to its customers, but its processes were not keeping pace with its vision. Thanks to a cloud-based transformation effort, the company has not only improved its customer-facing capabilities but has also shortened its product development life cycle and elevated its security posture.


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MONGOLIA – The State of Mongolia has recognised the Vietnamese Association as a non-governmental organisation by granting it a licence and seal to operate in the country.
About 450 Vietnamese people currently work, study and live in Mongolia. Most are involved in a variety of businesses, such as painting cars, welding, supplying Vietnamese goods, opening restaurants and photography. On average, they earn from US$1,000 to $1,500 per month.
They typically send from $2 million to $3 million in remittances back to their families in Viet Nam each year.
At the licence granting ceremony last week, Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Tuan Thinh said the association was a favourable legal entity for Vietnamese people doing business in the country.
He expects the association to remind people to abide by local laws and take responsibility for each other in their personal and business lives.
The association was established in August 2010. – VNS


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GUWAHATI, Dec 13 � US Ambassador to India Nancy J Powell today formally launched the American Business Corner (ABC) in the city, making it the first such centre in Eastern India.
The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the partner organisation in the centre.
American Business Corners are designed to showcase catalogues and business materials of US companies at the dedicated ABC space allocated by partner organisations nationwide.
Launching the corner, Powell said that it would act as a bridge between entrepreneurs of the North-east and American firms for enhancing bilateral cooperation in matters of trade and commerce, tourism, investment services, etc.
�This is a recognition of the growing trade relations between the US and India, and also of the need to expand bilateral activities to all parts of India, including the North-east,� she said.
Powell said that the North-east had the potential for emerging as a major partner in the growing Indo-US ties, and the US was keen to help it achieve that.
Powell said that the North-east�s share in Indo-US trade was limited due to lack of opportunities and knowledge but that drawback can be removed to a large extent with the setting of the American Business Corner.
Bilateral trade between India and the US shot up to $ 57.8 bn from $ 5.6 bn in the last two decades, and is expected to reach a hundred billion in the years ahead.
After Guwahati, Bhubaneswar and Patna are scheduled to have American Business Corners.
The American Business Corner will assist US companies in promoting their brand and generating business leads from emerging metropolitan cities in India besides showcasing catalogues and business materials of US companies. It is also a value- added service by industry chambers to their members who seek American technologies and equipment to upgrade production capabilities and become more competitive in global markets.


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Debuting in India, the new Profile Guard feature will stop unwanted people from copying your profile picture, and could expand to additional countries soon.
Researchers at Caltech say that they're developing a single-layer "lensless camera" that can switch from a fisheye to a telephoto lens instantly.
It might seem obvious, but new data from Safehome offers a fascinating look at the different ways different generations balance privacy, security and convenience.
Lenovo's first ThinkPad was a groundbreaking crowdpleaser back in 1992. Now, 25 years later, the company will honor it with a nostalgia-inducing throwback model.
Skimmers are illegal card readers that criminals can hide at places like gas pumps to steal your credit card data. Here's how to stay safe.
The old directors are out, and Oscar-winning director Ron Howard is taking over.
Samsung's family of touchscreen refrigerators just got bigger -- and certain models are already available at a steep discount.
The Amazon Dash Wand scans barcodes to add items to your shopping cart, pays for itself if you already shop on Amazon, and its tiny speaker is home to Alexa, too.
Scan it or say it and the Amazon Dash Wand will add it to your shopping cart. Is the newest (and cheapest) Alexa gadget a grocery game-changer?
Say it or scan it, and the Amazon Dash Wand will add it to your shopping cart. But can it move online grocery shopping to the mainstream?


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SUMMARY: There are currently around 103 million people over the age of 50 in the United States–75 million are baby boomers (ages ~55–74) and 28 million are from the silent generation (ages ~75+), making this one of the largest consumer demographics. Boomers+ are defying traditional stereotypes. They are more active than past senior generations and they see themselves as younger.
While there is a lot of talk and data around Millennials marketers seem to be confused by aging Boomers who, in 2017, are approaching half of the U.S. adult population and control a full 70 percent of the disposable income. By 2050, there will be 161 million 50-plus consumers, a 63 percent increase over 2010. Globally, the spending power of consumers age 60 and older will hit $15 trillion by the end of this decade, up from $8 trillion in 2010, according to research from Euromonitor.


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Yokota parcel mailing counter has new hours starting Monday
Stars and Stripes May 16, 2008
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Yokota postal officials are revamping the operating hours for the parcel mailing counter.
Starting next week, the counter will be closed Mondays, will open an hour later other days, and will offer extended hours every Saturday, according to assistant postmaster Tech. Sgt. Marc Nickelberry.
He said the new hours make sense given customer usage patterns.
"We have crunched our financial data and found that during the last year, more pounds of mail have been generated on Saturdays," Nickelberry said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.
He said many customers have asked for extended Saturday operating hours, and the planned 5:30 p.m. closing time — instead of 2 p.m. — will mean they won’t have to rush.
"Our customer service had been a focal point as of late," Nickelberry said, "and we had to address this issue."
Instead of opening at 9 a.m., the counter will open at 10 a.m., he said. That means the counter will open the same time as the parcel pick-up window, so the post office can "effectively utilize personnel during peak business hours, provide efficient quality-control procedures, reduce customer service lines [and] complaints," he said.
Nickelberry added that the new hours of operation mean that clerks will have the necessary training time to accomplish their jobs and will help them ensure that all mail is posted before cutoff times.
"In the long run, we foresee this as benefiting the entire Yokota community by giving them a better product," he said.
Yokota post office’s new scheduleParcel pick-up window:


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The way India has moved towards the digital world, it is facing not only the personal but also national security challenges at every door. The increasing penetration of cyber attacks and digital transactions, especially in the wake of COVID-19, has revolutionized the world; it has also spawned a series of cryptic threats — the menaces of digital piracy, cyber-crime, stalking and online infidelity. To discuss the same and its measures to have a safe internet experience, Ramesh Kumar Raja caught up with Zakir Hussain, CEO, BD Soft, a leading IT security distributor offering industry-leading consumer and enterprise-level solutions in Indian market. Excerpts:
How do you look at the current situation of cyber security in India, especially in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak forcing people to work from home?
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread business disruptions, particularly due to business continuity via remote working. Since cyber security was not as sought-after precaution, WFH during lockdown only led to companies using instant fixes to protect their data, rather than a long term solution. With that, work from home has opened many new doors for cyber criminals. Over last few months, there has been massive spike, in cyber attacks and malicious attacks especially in India. The several unprotected home networks with BYOD devices, have boosted the cases of cyber-attacks, hacking, ransomware posing serious challenges to the new economic realities where digital networks are widely used for schools, colleges, government machineries and financial transactions. India’s critical sectors such as banking, financial services etc have fallen prey to this situation.
The current situation calls for Indian businesses to engage robust preventive and detective technical measures to deal with the increasing threat of cyber attacks.
Since mobile phones are there in every hand, how vulnerable we are to cyber attacks, particularly when most of our activities have shifted online via smartphones?
Smartphones have become a much convenient mode to provide an efficient and convenient way to access, find and share information; however, the availability of this information has caused an increase in cyber attacks. While people are moving towards true digitalization, monetary transactions have become rather enticing to cyber attackers because they can gain access to bank account information after hacking a user’s smartphone. Traditional security softwares that we find for our personal PCs or laptops such as firewalls, antivirus, and encryption are not pre-installed in smartphones making them extremely vulnerable to cyber attacks. The convenience of carrying a smartphone which acts as your little computer is exactly the loophole that cyber crooks exploit to gain your personal data.
|“Smartphones have become a much convenient mode to provide an efficient and convenient way to access, find and share information; however, the availability of this information has caused an increase in cyber attacks. While people are moving towards true digitalization, monetary transactions have become rather enticing to cyber attackers because they can gain access to bank account information after hacking a user’s smartphone”|
What are the most common cyber threats nowadays as they keep changing/ evolving with time or day-today lifestyle trend?
Ransomware, phishing, data leak, insider threat, Trojans and malware on mobile apps are few of the most common threats experienced since COVID-19. Cyber threats are rarely static and they keep evolving to make space in the digital space, and have hence become more and more intense lately.
What one should do to keep cyber attacks at bay, as the situation is only going to worsen in coming times, giving more rooms to cyber crimes?
Few of the simplest cyber defense protocols that one can follow on a personal level are:
Password Hygiene: This goes a long way for people to avoid getting hacked. Easy passwords are giving a way for attackers to penetrate your personal data, such as passwords based on birth dates, age, etc. Your passwords need to be strong enough to ensure the basic safety.
Beware of Phishing attacks: Phishing attacks often happen in the form of an email pretending to be from a legitimate organization, such as your bank, the tax department, or some other trusted entity. Due to its legitimate pretense, people panic and give off their information which is why phishing attacks are the most common and surprisingly effective threats.
Stay up-to-date on the know-hows of the latest cyber security trends: Cyber security has not been as much of an impactful subject among the Indian masses on a large scale. However, since COVID-19 people have become more aware of data protection and they need to keep going on the path learning more about the latest happenings in cyber security. The future is digitization, and people need to update themselves with the latest trends to ensure security on a personal level too.
Are governments and their public-dealing institutions doing enough to protect citizens falling prey to cyber crimes?
The government keeps on doing their things. But, we as people and end-users need to understand also and deploy the necessary security measures which we are capable of doing. Let’s not blame the government. Let’s learn ourselves and use the best practice to keep our digital life and data safe.
Don’t you think there’s a dire need of literacy programmes for masses to be aware about the evolving threat looming large on the horizon?
Yes, there surely is a dire need to educate the masses regarding the cyber security threats that loom over them, as India is now evolving to digitization on a large scale. On an organizational level and educational level, one can conduct mandatory sessions to educate the people about the magnitude of cyber security in our lives moving forward, and ways to tackle the same. On a personal level, we at BD Soft are also coming up with educational program to educate our partners and consumers about the issues and how can they take care of their data in such a situation.
BD Soft has created a niche for itself in providing the cyber security solutions across sectors. Can you please tell us in short about the services you provide and what are the technicalities involved?
BD Software Distribution (BD Soft) is one of the largest cyber security distributors in India. Our varied portfolio of products includes, Bitdefender Endpoint Security solutions for Consumers and Enterprises (Country partner) End Point Protector (DLP solutions) from CoCosys, Proget (MDM solutions), Zecurion (UBA & DLP), Abbyy (Fine Reader 7 OCR), Digitware (Cloud Backup), Supermail (Mailing Services), Mailvault (Mail backup). The complete security solutions are offered to the customers via our reseller base across the country.
Rapid adoption of Cloud and IoT technologies are resulting in growing complexities pertaining to data security, network infrastructure, and security regulation & compliance, thereby boosting demand for cyber security solutions and services across the country. What’s your take on this, especially when threat points have increased?
The rate of ‘things’ being attached to the internet is increasing and everyone has heard the term ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) but are they aware of the security risks involved. Education before using devices connected to the net is very important and necessary. We feel that such devices should inform the users about the security risks and how can they avoid it.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are said to be the new disruptors in the tech world. Are you adopting these technologies?
All the products we sell are adopting these technologies and trying to be one step ahead from the bad actors. The solutions we sell have deployed good number of time and money to keep evolving.
What are the areas of growth for BD Soft in the country and what is your roadmap for the same?
We are working on building an aggressive roadmap for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India. There is a growing demand and unexplored market which now is awakening to cyber security. The awareness among the Tier 2-3 markets is negligible and so, to let the message reach the end audience we have launched a series of educational programs to make the businesses/enterprises aware of the dangers of reckless digitization.
To take the distribution to the small towns, we have been rapidly expanding our reach and also the channel network. We have also been undertaking special Training of our alliances/partners to ensure final mile is delivered to the people. We have also added products such as DLP, EDR and MDM to our extensive portfolio of security solutions, thereby strengthening our position in the Indian markets.
Other players such as Quick Heal, McAfee, Norton, etc. too have aggressive plans for India. What will be your strategy to be a leader in the market?
The market is huge, and the consumers are also becoming educated. We have worked on our strategies and accordingly executing it in the market. Being a lean and newcomer, we are open to changes and disruptive way of doing things which gives us faster and better results. The idea is to connect with as many partners and customers you can and educate them on our solutions. Some solutions take time to establish and some do immediate business and we have products of both the kinds.
Can you please tell us about the security trends that will dominate the market in 2021?
Some of the key trends include – Endpoint Management: Managing endpoints with remote workforce shall play a crucial role, as these endpoints can be the entry point to corporate networks for cyber criminals. EDR is also becoming a must sought after solution by banks and enterprises, Hyper Automation: Businesses by 2021 shall look at automating several of its processes. Adoption of new technologies – AI, ML, RPA (Robotic Process automation) shall bring several new challenges.


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Pricelinesaid its quarterly profit increased on a surge in bookings and growth in the company's global hotel business profit, and gave a forecast Thursday for the current quarter that also topped targets.
The online travel company reported first-quarter earnings of $2.66 a share, compared with $1.70 last year.
Revenue came in at $809.3 million, versus $584 million a year ago.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $2.46 a share on revenue of $779 million.
Priceline, which is best known for its name-your-own price auction, said the total value of its bookings rose 57 percent to $4.7 billion.
For the current quarter, Priceline expects to report a profit fo $4.70 to $4.90 a share, versus Street expectations of $4.45 a share.
Shares were flat in extended trade. Get after-hour quotes for Priceline here.
The stock closed down $3.59, or 0.67 percent, to end at $533.97.
Priceline announced Thursday Christopher Soder will be CEO of its North America division.


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As of Monday, November 24, 2014
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 25, 2013
LAST UPDATED: 09:36 p.m. HST, Nov 23, 2014
» Tuesday: Commerce Department releases third-quarter gross domestic product. The Conference Board releases the Consumer Confidence Index for November. Hewlett-Packard Co. reports quarterly financial results.
» Wednesday: Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims. Commerce Department releases durable goods and personal income and spending for October. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.
» Thursday: Thanksgiving Day — U.S. markets closed.
"Shop Small on Small Business Saturday": Movement created by American Express to encourage shopping at local small businesses. Business participants will also have access to free promotional merchandise for their business and their customers. Meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at wherever is convenient for the participants. Call Brian Beaty at 429-5196 or visit nobrandhawaii.com.
Toys for Tots Car Show & Shine: Participants and spectators may bring an unwrapped new children's gift for the Toys for Tots Program as well as donations for the Hawaii Foodbank. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at 160 Ahui St. in Kakaako, in the "piano lot" next to the Children's Discovery Museum by Kakaako Waterfront Park. Call 389-8640 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
The Future is Now: Renewable Energy and Climate Change educational briefing, 5:30-8:45 p.m. at Ala Moana Beach Park, McCoy Pavilion. Call Shannon Wood at 224-4496.
Exchange Club: Jeffrey Portnoy, newly appointed University of Hawaii regent and chairman of the regents' sports subcommittee, will provide an update on sports at the university. Noon to 1:30 p.m. at Oahu Country Club. Cost: $25. Visit dexhon.com or call Ed at 225-2965.


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Electrolux workers have edged closer to industrial action at the Electrolux white goods factory in Orange after rejecting the company’s latest enterprise bargaining agreement deal, which included an 11% increase in pay over three years.
According to the article on the Central Western Daily, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Electrical Trade Union and the Australian Workers Union had pushed for a 12% increase in pay, with 5% increase in the first two years and 2% in the third.
Employers are locked in negotiations in what is the last enterprise bargaining agreement before the plant shuts in 2016 and more than 500 people are made redundant.
AMWU secretary Tim Ayres said the unions demanded improved severance packages for the outgoing workers to allow them a smoother transition to new employment.
“Getting a decent outcome in bargaining will not reverse the devastation caused by the company’s decision to close,” Mr Ayres said.
“But allowing workers to leave the factory with some dignity will give the region the best opportunity to get back on its feet. With the company stonewalling any reasonable requests for improvements, workers are being left with very few options.”
According to the article on Central Western Daily, the opposition spokesperson for trade and investment Mick Veitch has also sided with Electrolux workers and asked the NSW Parliament to amend the payroll tax rebate to include the redundant workers.
“It’s a very simple amendment, this is above politics,” he said.
“We were concerned that the cut-off date excluded the Electrolux workers and we wanted to make sure it didn’t”.
Meanwhile, Electrolux spokesman Craig McCarthy said the company was hopeful an agreement would be made before the situation escalates into a full blown workers’ strike.
“Progress is being made and in time we’ll reach an agreement,” he said.
Negotiations for a new collective agreement have been going on since November last year.


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US egg production drops slightly
United States egg production totalled 7.19 billion during February 2013, down 1% from the same period last year.
Production included 6.23 billion table eggs, and 962 million hatching eggs, of which 893 million were broiler-type and 69 million were egg-type, according to the latest data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
The total number of layers during February 2013 averaged 344 million, up 2% from last year. February egg production per 100 layers was 2,088 eggs, down 2% from February 2012.
All layers in the United States on March 1, 2013 totalled 345 million, up 2% from last year. The 345 million layers consisted of 291 million layers producing table or market type eggs, 51.7 million layers producing broiler-type hatching eggs, and 2.98 million layers producing egg-type hatching eggs. Rate of lay per day on March 1, 2013, averaged 74.3 eggs per 100 layers, up slightly from March 1, 2012.
Egg-type chicks hatched during February 2013 totalled 40.8 million, up 4% from February 2012. Eggs in incubators totalled 41.8 million on March 1, 2013, up 6% from a year ago.
Domestic placements of egg-type pullet chicks for future hatchery supply flocks by leading breeders totalled 236 thousand during February 2013, down 1% from February 2012.
Broiler-type chicks hatched during February 2013 totalled 690 million, down 2% from February 2012. Eggs in incubators totalled 622 million on March 1, 2013, up 2% from a year earlier.
Leading breeders placed 7.16 million broiler-type pullet chicks for future domestic hatchery supply flocks during February 2013, up 2% from February 2012.
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If you’re looking to effectively protect your Android devices and secure your files, you may want to check out Sophos Cloud, the newest offering from one of the most respected names in mobile security.
Countering the rapid 1,800% growth rate of Android malware in the past two years, Sophos has developed a new system that aims to protect both corporate- and employee-owned devices regularly used for work. Sophos Cloud supports not only mobile devices but also desktop computers, using a simple and user-friendly interface that secures data within a network. It includes features such as remote lock, remote wipe, password reset, theft protection, WiFi configuration, and Microsoft Exchange setup help.
Sophos also recently launched the new Sophos Anti-Malware SDK for Android, which allows telcos and IT vendors to integrate Sophos’ anti-malware technology to their products.
“Well over half of all mobile apps fail basic security measures, and these sobering figures are on the rise,” said Dan Schiappa, senior vice president and general manager, end user protection group, Sophos. “Every day the risk is growing, and we’re proud to offer the most comprehensive mobile protection for businesses to keep confidential information out of the wrong hands.”


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In a landmark ruling in Singapore, an electronics retailer has been convicted of selling illegal streaming devices (ISDs), which provides users access to illegal broadcasts of various entertainment content like Premier League football.
At the end of a 22-month long court battle, Synnex Trading and its Director Jia Xiaofeng were found guilty of four criminal charges of copyright infringement for helping people access pirated content via Android TV boxes. Jia was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail and ordered to pay a fine of SGD 5,400 and Synnex Trading was ordered to pay a fine of SGD 160,800.
Jia, who masterminded the operation, sold the Android TV boxes, from his electronics store on Geylang Road. He pleaded guilty to four criminal charges for "wilfully authorising copyright infringement of copyrighted works for commercial gain" by selling the devices which had apps providing illegal access to the Premier League, other live sports, National Geographic documentaries, films, TV shows and video-on-demand. These ISDs were falsely advertised to the public as legal and containing legitimately sourced content.
“This case shows there are serious consequences for sellers of illegal streaming devices and that the Premier League will prosecute those responsible for the piracy of our content. This sentencing shows that this is not a grey area, and that selling these devices is against the law,” said Kevin Plumb, Director of Legal Services, Premier League.
This conviction comes on the heels of the April case against the company director of local retailer An-Nahl, who was fined SGD 1200 after pleading guilty to one criminal charge of copyright infringement. Both Synnex Trading and An-Nahl and their directors were taken to court in January 2018 by pay-TV operators Singtel and StarHub, Fox Networks Group and the Premier League. These are the first ever successful prosecutions of ISD sellers in Singapore.
Following a three-year review of local copyright laws by the Ministry of Law and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, new laws are set to be tabled in Parliament in the next few months. These laws will aim to ban the sale of streaming boxes that provide "add-on" services which help consumers access illegal or pirated content.


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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The International Yacht Charter Group has hired Derek Holding as its chief executive officer and chief operating officer, and Kathy McErlean as a yacht-charter broker, the company said in a release today.
Holding is former COO of Yachtstore, Ltd., and prior to that was the chief design officer and senior vice president of marketing at OUTPOST.com, a computer and electronic goods retailer.
McErlean is a former corporate bond sales executive for Freeman Securities and Legg Mason Wood Walker in New York City. She will be based in Connecticut and focus primarily on research for clients and assisting in the maintenance and growth of the PowerhouseCHARTER database.
“Derek and Kathy bring specific, exciting skills to the company,” IYCG president Janet Bloomfield said. “Their combined presence gives us the ability to further enhance our new PowerhouseCHARTER partner program.”


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We all remember the whirlwind that was the blue and black versus white and gold dress debate back in 2015.
Back then, a photo of a dress which many people saw as white and gold, and others saw as blue and black, sparked a huge row online about its true colours.
Today, in the Serious And Important Internet News Files, another such debate erupted.
The question is: is this shoe pink and white, or grey and teal?
Vote in our poll and let's nip this one in the bud shall we...


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Here's a look at one of the new playable characters from Capcom's latest Street Fighter game.
Donkey Kong is among the games that have been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame.
A guy found the source code to Blizzard's 'StarCraft' game, and got quite the reward when he returned it.
The popular fantasy-based shooter is now available on the two popular consoles.
Could the popular Mario role-playing game be coming to Nintendo 3DS?
We’ve rounded up 5 Xbox One games that offer a great multiplayer experience for you and your partner.
Two new heroes, the Centurion and the Shinobi, will be joining the second season of For Honor on May 16.
'Perception' launches on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on May 30.
Watch the Call of Duty: WWII reveal livestream.
The XA1 phone will go on sale at retailers on May 1.


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Apple’s First OLED MacBook Expected as Early as 2024: Kuo
Apple is expected to debut its first OLED MacBook by the end of 2024. According to TF International Securities’ reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s use of OLED displays will result in a “thinner and lighter” design.
Recently, Kuo published a Twitter thread, detailing Apple’s supposed plans to introduce OLED displays to its MacBook brand. Kuo continues to note that the adoption of OLED tech would open Apple up to new design philosophies. However unlikely, Apple could begin looking at foldable designs in some fashion due to how mendable OLED displays can be.
Compared to mini-LED, laptops that use OLEDs have the advantage of being thinner and lighter and offering more diverse form factor design options, like folding, so it has caused Apple to plan to ship the OLED MacBook by the end of 2024 at the earliest.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) January 11, 2023
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Apple’s potential plan to introduce OLED display to its MacBooks. Late last year, Ross Young also claimed that Apple has serious plans for OLED. It’s said that Apple may release a new 13-inch MacBook Air alongside an 11-inch iPad Pro, and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, all featuring an OLED display in 2024. Kuo’s new claims don’t specify which MacBook could receive the OLED treatment. The Apple analyst’s Tweets also refrain from bringing up iPads.
Currently, Apple’s MacBook lineup all lean on the use of LCD displays. The current 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros offer mini-LED backlighting paired with its ProMotion technology. If the transition to OLED displays is indeed correct, Apple could find itself in a position where it no longer requires the use of backlighting. This could theoretically cut on battery usage, while also providing better colours and contrast.
Apple’s transition to OLED technology isn’t the only news regarding display panels currently circulating. Bloomberg recently reported that Apple is due to transition away from Samsung and LG’s displays. By doing so, Apple will design its own microLED technology, likely made by a third-party supplier. Once again, a target is supposedly set for 2024. Next year could prove to be a major year for Apple and display innovations if correct.