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Digital TV News: ALi Corp
ALi to release DVB-S2X SoC at IBC 2019
Sep 12, 2019 – ALi Corporation will launch F6A, a next-generation DVB-S2X SoC targeting India, APAC, Africa and Cenam/Latam at IBC. The F6A SoC is designed to meet global pay TV CA system requirements while offering HEVC, Ethernet and Full HD to enrich the viewing experience.
News categories: ALi Corp, Sophia Liang, Africa, Asia, Digital TV, DVB-S2, IBC2019, ICs, India, Latin America, Set Top Box
ALi and Vewd bring OTT functionality to entry-level Pay TV STBs
Sep 11, 2019 – Vewd has announced that ALi Corporation will pre-integrate Vewd Atom on its ALi M3528 platform for set-top boxes. This breakthrough cloud-based solution brings full OTT functionality to entry-level set-top boxes previously unable to run modern TV apps.
News categories: Vewd, ALi Corp, Aneesh Rajaram, Sophia Liang, Digital TV, IBC2019, Middleware, OTT, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Worldwide
Dish TV India launches hybrid STB with HANDAN and ALi
Jan 30, 2019 – ALi Corporation, Dish TV India and HANDAN have announced that they have further extended their partnership by launching the latest hybrid solution, 'Dish Box', to enrich TV the experience for subscribers in India.
News categories: ALi Corp, Dish TV India, HANDAN, Daniel Huang, V.K. Gupta, Y. Lee, Digital TV, India, Satellite, Semiconductor, Set Top Box
ALi to showcase F8 STB SoC family at Convergence India 2019
Jan 25, 2019 – ALi Corporation has initiated further efforts to penetrate the Indian market with its next-generation F8 series set-top box chipset (M3711C). The SoC is due for wide deployment in 2019.
News categories: ALi Corp, Daniel Huang, Digital TV, ICs, India, Set Top Box
1+1 Media selects Verimatrix for DVB-S security in Ukraine
Sep 13, 2018 – Verimatrix has announced that 1+1 Media, one of the largest media holdings in Ukraine, has deployed the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for DVB to secure its digital satellite (DVB-S) network.
News categories: Verimatrix, 1+1 Media, Steve Oetegenn, Pakholchuk Yaroslav, Content Protection, Digital TV, IBC2019, Satellite, Semiconductor, Ukraine
Skardin and ALi grow NAGRA NOCS3-certified STB shipments in South America
Jul 6, 2018 – ALi Corporation and Skardin have announced that they reached record-high shipments of NAGRA NOCS–certified secure STBs to South American operators in 2018. The milestone symbolizes the joint effort and commitment to meeting today's Pay TV security standard as well as the strong dedication in this regional market.
News categories: ALi Corp, Willis Chang, Alessandro Bassi, Content Protection, Digital TV, Latin America, Semiconductor, Set Top Box
ALi and iWedia announce joint hybrid DVB+OTT STB offering
Jun 26, 2018 – ALi Corporation and iWedia have announced that they have joined forces to provide a common offering for hybrid DVB+OTT STBs. The solution integrates iWedia's Teatro-3.0 software for Linux hybrid STBs with ALi's M3527 and M3727 chipsets.
News categories: iWedia, ALi Corp, Sunghoon Kim, Willis Chang, ConnecTechAsia, Digital TV, Middleware, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Worldwide
ALi provides pre-integrated solution for Videocon d2h HD STBs
Mar 7, 2018 – ALi Corporation and Videocon d2h have announced that they have cooperated on the development of a next-generation HD set-top box solution. The SoC provided by ALi is pre-integrated with the software ecosystem of Videocon.
News categories: ALi Corp, Videocon d2h, Willis Chang, Saurabh Dhoot, Digital TV, India, Middleware, Satellite, Semiconductor, Set Top Box
Inside Secure provides Secure Provisioning for ALi STB SoCs
Feb 26, 2018 – Inside Secure (Paris:INSD) has announced that they have entered into an agreement with ALi Corporation to use Inside Secure’s Secure Provisioning Solution to build robust security into its products during the chip manufacturing process.
News categories: Inside Secure, ALi Corp, Inside Secure, Daniel Huang, Content Protection, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Silicon IP, Worldwide
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OTTAWA (Reuters) – Ottawa’s first three legal cannabis stores opened on Monday to a steady buzz of customers but no raucous celebration or line-ups around the block. Store owners weren’t sure what to expect, having been reassured by Ontario’s government-appointed monitors that the new regulated market was well prepared for the launch of adult use sales.
Weed Store Ottawa at Hobo Recreational Cannabis, which opened on Bank Street just after 10 a.m. Owner Drummond Munro said the store had steady business all day, and none of its roughly 75 strains sold out.
At Fire & Flower York Street Cannabis in the ByWard Market, co-owner Michael Patterson said business was similarly strong, with customers coming from both Ottawa and Gatineau. “It’s been a very busy morning, but we’ve definitely seen that as the pattern throughout the day,” he said.
Ottawa’s High Demand: Exploring Trends in the Local Cannabis Market
While the stores are open, the City’s marijuana production and processing licensing policy remains in effect and only licensed producers can operate on the land occupied by each store. Producers can apply for a licence by visiting the City’s website or by calling 3-1-1.
In addition to physical weed stores, Canadians can legally buy marijuana online as long as they are 19 years old or older and have a valid form of identification. Many Ottawa residents choose to purchase marijuana online as it provides a wider range of products and often offers better prices. Buying online also eliminates the inconvenience of waiting in long in-store lines and having to make purchasing decisions on the spot.


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QR codes can do just about anything these days, from sharing clever videos and advertisements to offering consumers the ability to connect to companies on social media sites and even to win prizes or order a pizza. But what if a QR code could help in the fight against breast cancer? Thanks to Canadian mobile payment giant Mobio, they are being used to do just that.
Mobio Technologies recently announced that they have created a unique mobile donation campaign that utilizes QR codes to help gather donations for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s Run for the Cure 2011. The codes will be located in newspapers, posters, websites, and more, and scanning them will take users directly to the donation payment gateway.
Because Mobio is already a trusted name in mobile payments, consumers are apt to feel comfortable providing the site with their payment information. The codes will work on a wide range of smartphones, allowing users to donate money instantly, something that has not been done before using these codes. It’s certainly a unique way to get more people to use and understand QR, and it is a campaign that has a very strong and positive message. It’s always refreshing to see new uses for QR codes, and watching the way the codes can be used to gather money to help fight such a terrible disease is certainly remarkable in many ways.


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By Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) – For decades, each generation of computer chips got faster and more power-efficient because their most basic building blocks, called transistors, got smaller.
The pace of those improvements has slowed, but International Business Machines Corp on Thursday said that silicon has at least one more generational advance in store.
IBM introduced what it says is the world’s first 2-nanonmeter chipmaking technology. The technology could be as much as 45% faster than the mainstream 7-nanometer chips in many of today’s laptops and phones and up to 75% more power efficient, the company said.
The technology likely will take several years to come to market. Once a major manufacturer of chips, IBM now outsources its high-volume chip production to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd but maintains a chip manufacturing research center in Albany, New York that produces test runs of chips and has joint technology development deals with Samsung and Intel Corp to use IBM’s chipmaking technology.
The 2-nanometer chips will be smaller and faster than today’s leading edge 5-nanonmeter chips, which are just now showing up in premium smartphones like Apple Inc’s iPhone 12 models, and the 3-nanometer chips expected to come after 5-nanometer.
The technology IBM showed Thursday is the most basic building block of a chip: a transistor, which acts like an electrical on-off switch to form the 1s and 0s of binary digits at that foundation of all modern computing.
Making the switches very tiny makes them faster and more power efficient, but it also creates problems with electrons leaking when the switches are supposed to be off. Darío Gil, senior vice president and director of IBM Research, told Reuters in an interview that scientists were able to drape sheets of insulating material just a few nanometers thick to stop leaks.
“In the end, there’s transistors, and everything else (in computing) relies on whether that transistor gets better or not. And it’s not a guarantee that there will be a transistor advance generation to generation anymore. So it’s a big deal every time we get a chance to say there will be another,” Gil said.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Anil D’Silva)


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It's no surprise that tequila reigns supreme for Cinco de Mayo, with on-premise sales nearly tripling around the Mexican celebration. Despite current coronavirus-related restrictions on bars and social gatherings, tequila is also consumers' spirit of choice during lockdowns, with sales of the libation growing 54.2% for the latest four-week period, according to Nielsen.
The recent sales surge for tequila underscores how brands like Patrón would be remiss to pass up marketing around this year's Cinco de Mayo even though it comes with a new set of challenges. In the past, the brand's marketing plan typically centered on in-person events and sponsorships, reflecting how people typically celebrate at bars or restaurants. While at-home consumption made up a smaller portion of messaging in past years, it's now the focal point.
"Tequila and Cinco are both very social, and I think for us, the biggest pivot was knowing that even though consumer behavior might have shifted a bit, they still want to connect and engage while social distancing," Patrón's VP of Marketing Adrian Parker recently told Marketing Dive.
This year, the 31-year-old tequila company is opening up the bar — albeit virtually — to connect consumers with bartenders across the nation for a night of conversation and tutorials about margaritas.
"It's going to be a simple Cinco, but one that still has an element of celebration," said Parker, who calls Cinco de Mayo "the Super Bowl of tequila."
The brand will go live on Instagram Tuesday, May 5, at 5 p.m. ET, featuring 20 bartenders taking virtual gigs from their home bar or kitchen to chat with tequila fans and demonstrate how to make margaritas, pair the beverage with food and celebrate Cinco de Mayo at home. Patrón's effort includes partnerships with delivery companies like Drizly and local restaurants for ready-made cocktail pickup.
Leaning into purpose
Promotion of the five-hour virtual cocktail-making event includes paid media on TV and social, with everything pointing users back to the brand's Instagram account, where the livestream takes place on Tuesday. Leveraging Instagram as its campaign hub aligns with the brand's past efforts on the social platform, including integrating an ordering capability in Stories, and may allow Patrón to extend the campaign's reach and adapt its messaging in near real time based on consumers' reactions.
Patrón since mid-April has hired bartenders — many of whom are out of work due to coronavirus-related shutdowns — for similar virtual gigs every day on topics such as how to run a home bar and how to make complicated drinks. The Cinco de Mayo campaign evolved into an extension of supporting the tequila brand's partners during the economic downturn.
"The biggest opportunity is to just be there for our fellow humans and serve the people who have served us."
Patrón, VP of marketing
"Our first response is, how do we support our bartenders, our trade partners and their families to make sure they have relief to get through, but also have jobs to come back to?" Parker said. "Thanks to Cinco we can empower bartenders across the country to work their craft to make a meaningful income and inspire consumers to do the same."
While the brand's activities will pivot to a virtual format this year, the intent and motivation to support its bartending community remains the same, he added.
"Our focus is now to be much more empathetic, and I think many brands will have that moment where they realize you can still support your business, but in ways where the consumer truly is at the heart of your actions and how you're thinking about how you support them," Parker said about how the pandemic is shifting marketers' mindsets.
Historically, marketers' mission is to promote product. And while that's still the case, Parker argues the coronavirus pandemic is changing the creative process and accelerating purpose-driven initiatives to facilitate human connection.
"The biggest opportunity is to just be there for our fellow humans and serve the people who have served us," he said. For Patrón, that means hiring the bartender community for virtual gigs while supporting consumers with tutorials, recipes and booze that's accessible from home.
Laying the foundation
The Bacardi tequila brand's Cinco de Mayo celebrations this year may set the stage for more virtual events down the road. In the past, Patrón has leveraged mobile tech like its Amazon Alexa "Ask Patrón" skill for cocktail recipes and tequila facts, and a "Bot-Tender" chatbot on Twitter.
Some of the nimbleness and adaptability Patrón has been forced to learn amid the pandemic will guide the tequila label's marketing team after the world returns to "business as usual," with its renewed focus on being empathetic and really listening to consumers, Parker said.
"Amid so many unknowns, I think we're all learning together as marketers, as peers in the industry, but also just as people. When it comes to the Cinco-specific conversation, a lot of brands are using words in their briefs we don't typically focus on — you know, empathy, comfort, connection and hope," he said."This pandemic has given us the opportunity to really lean on our brand purpose on a significant way."


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HTC One Mini Pricing & Availability In The U.K.
On Thursday last week, HTC officially unveiled its latest HTC One variant, the One Mini, which effectively is a scaled down model of its current flagship device, and now networks together with retailers in the U.K. are preparing for its release.
Over the last couple of days O2 and Vodafone have both confirmed on Twitter that they will be offering the HTC One Mini on and off contract. An O2 representative claims that the device is “coming soon,” whilst Vodafone promises an August release. A public relations representative for EE also confirmed that it will be offering the device on the U.K.’s only 4G LTE network, but gave no indication of either the pricing or release date information.
Independent retailer Phones4U have posted an official pre-order page on its website for the silver version of HTC’s One Mini, and pledges to provide a £50 Google Play credit for all pre-orders on EE, or alternatively a £25 credit for pre-orders on all other networks.
If you’re in the market for a sim-free version of this handset, you’re in luck… Handtec is the first British retailer to publish a pre-order price for the One Mini of £379.99, which is £109.96 cheaper than its big brother; which retails at £489.95. Car phone Warehouse is the only other U.K. retailer offering a similar price of £379.95, with an August 9 release date.
According to HTC, the Mini will hit “selected markets” from August, whereas a global roll-out is scheduled to take place a little later, in September.
As of yet, we have no information with regards to the U.S. availability of the HTC One Mini, but we will be sure to let you know when we do.


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South African athleisure clothing brand Siko Republik celebrated a key milestone in style with a sensational Body Beat Party which took place at Soweto’s mini beach outlet on vilakazi street, on the 28th of November 2020, taking the brand back to eKasi for a fun, engaging and educational experience for the fitness lovers.
Hosted by popular TV personality Kayise Ngqula, the event saw celebrities, lifestyle and fitness influencers including actress Lunathi Mampofu, model & actress Sikelelwa Vuyeleni, actor Sphamandla Dhludhlu, influencer and radio presenter Tulz Madala, world renowned choreographer Paul Modjadji and radio presenter Mthaux to mention but a few convene in celebration of the proudly South African brand.
They were treated to a great afternoon of experiencing Siko Republik, with an insightful panel discussion from Dark & Lovely sharing some tips and tricks on how to take care of natural hair and an exclusive fashion show, officially revealing some new Siko additions including an exciting swimwear range, a print launch and cute items for the summer season which blew the guests away.
The Body Beat Party was a birthday celebration fit for a young and dynamic athleisure wear urbanite, a culmination of fashion and entertainment, one for the books. The guests, including some of Siko’s most trusted clientele, closed the afternoon on a high with her majesty Busiswa taking center stage for an epic, magical performance.
“What a time it has been, two years of growth and cementing our brand identity… we have come a long way and are very excited to have launched our new range on such a momentous day,” said founder Jabulile Gwala. “We are truly looking forward to many more years of promoting a well-balanced lifestyle through our clothing, while ensuring that our consumers are looking good and staying true to their culture, she added.
Siko Republik’s new range is all about celebrating culture, exploring more vibrant colours and making African women feel gorgeous this summer.


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High-end products such as meat and alcohol have been the main targets of rising shoplifting cases across Auckland retail stores, Stuff reports. Police data reveals the number of recorded thefts from retail premises across the Supercity has risen by almost 2000 in the past six months, compared with the previous six. Recorded retail thefts jumped from 3348 between March and August 2020 to 5306 between September and February.
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Apple sent out invites Tuesday to a product launch called “Scary Fast” on October 30, where it will reportedly announce new Mac computers or a M3 Mac chip for improved computer performance, according to Bloomberg.
- The product event is at 8 p.m. EDT, and can be viewed on Apple’s website and on YouTube.
- The animated invitation shows the Apple logo changing into the Mac Finder icon, which is another hint the event is centered on new Macs.
- Apple’s inventory of MacBook Pros and the iMac desktop computer is reportedly low, prompting rumors of new Macs.
- Bloomberg reported buyers trying to order these models are being told deliveries won’t happen until mid-November.
- The event’s “Scary Fast” title could also be a nod to the M3 chip, which will provide faster performance for new computers, multiple outlets said.
- MacBook Air computers with the M3 chip aren’t expected to launch until next year.
Last week, Apple revealed a new, cheaper Apple Pencil will be available in early November. Before the Pencil reveal, Apple was rumored to be releasing a new iPad Air, iPad mini, and a regular iPad. Notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously predicted Apple wouldn’t release any new iPads before the end of the year. Bloomberg has reported Apple is preparing a new iMac with the faster M3 chip, and M3 Pro and M3 Max chips for its MacBook Pro computers.
This article was first published on forbes.com


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Speaking bluntly, tampons, pads and other menstrual hygiene products are a health necessity for nearly all women.
And no, contrary to a misconception — at least among a few men and boys — a Tacoma high school student informed a state Senate hearing on Monday that women and girls can not hold in their periods.
“I know; it’s 2020,” Nora McCarthy, a senior at Annie Wright High School, said to some stifled giggles among state senators on the Ways and Means Committee and others in the audience.
Yet, unlike other necessities in Washington state, such as most groceries and medical supplies, those products are taxed at the checkout stand; 6.5 percent goes to the state and between 0.5 percent and 3.9 percent goes to city or county governments.
That’s a tax, of course, that is not paid by men, but it’s one that imposes a particular disadvantage on lower-income women and families and adds to the already regressive nature of the state’s package of taxes.
A survey of low-income women in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2018, found that at least two-thirds could not afford menstrual hygiene products at least once during the year, and more than 1 in 5 said it was a problem affording the products at least once a month, the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology reported. Nearly half the women in the study said they were unable to buy both food and feminine hygiene products at times throughout the year, Reuters reported last year.
A tax that can add more than 10 percent to the product’s price makes those products all the less affordable.
The cost for low-income women and families, the journal reported, meant that some women attempt to make do by using rags, tissues or paper towels, which can pose a risk of infection and toxic shock.
The sales tax for menstruation products, however, would be eliminated under legislation in the state Senate. Senate Bill 5147 would exempt those products from state and local sales taxes and make that exemption permanent. Similar bills have been proposed for several years in the Legislature, seeking to leave the list of some 17 states that still tax those products. Among the bill’s sponsors is Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro-Woolley.
It’s an easy case to make that taxing these products is unfair and can discourage good health practices. The bill’s language is clear: “Feminine hygiene products are not a discretionary purchase, they are a necessity for which there is no alternative for females to maintain proper health and hygiene.”
The exemption would mean the state’s consumers could save about $4.5 million each year — perhaps about $300 or more per household — but that’s also $4.5 million less available each year to pay for programs and services in the state. Local governments, too, would see less revenue. City, county and other local governments — who already face tight budgets and unfunded mandates from the state — would lose about $2 million each year, combined, according to a fiscal note prepared by the state Department of Commerce.
But an unfair tax is an unfair tax. Revenue needs alone can’t justify a tax that treats state residents unequally.
Lawmakers should exempt menstrual products from the sales tax, but should look for opportunities to replace the lost revenue for the state as well as for local governments.
Beyond the tax issue, lawmakers and other public officials can also seek out ways to increase the accessibility of period products in public spaces, particularly for students in public schools and colleges.
Among those pushing for that accessibility and a reduction in the stigma surrounding menstruation are the members of an ASB club at Kamiak High School, a chapter of national organization called Period. The Menstrual Movement. The young women in the club have performed public education and service projects, such as assembling “period packs” of menstrual supplies that are distributed to homeless women in shelters and on the streets.
They have also advocated for school officials to provide free pads and tampons in school restrooms. That would be an added expense for school districts, but it would also promote the interests of student health and could encourage less tardiness and better attendance for those without easy access to tampons and pads.
Admittedly, this is not the most comfortable of discussion subjects; the good-natured titters during the Senate committee hearing made that point. But at its core this is about simple hygiene and basic fairness, a discussion common to all, regardless of gender.
It is 2020, after all.


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To kick off the launch of the BevFluence Collaborations platform, BevFluence partnered with the Ryland Peters & Small publishing house to promote several cocktail books. However, the campaign focused on one book: Negroni: More than 30 Classic and Modern Recipes for Italy’s Iconic Cocktail. We are in the process of completing the campaign for the other books.
Ten BevFluence community members participated in the campaign, sharing their thoughts on the books through various social media and provider platforms. Through several years of participating in online tastings and media excursions, the BevFluence team has developed a methodology to share and amplify content across multiple platforms. The participants utilized this methodology throughout the campaign, which included two Zoom sessions with Negroni authors David T. Smith and Keli Rivers. In these sessions, campaign participants interacted with the authors and shared their favorite cocktails from the book, along with any enhancements they made.


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Dream Doors brings dated kitchen into this century
Dream Doors has shared how it took one customer’s kitchen from drab to fab with its specialist renovation services.
Dream Doors has shared one of its latest success stories from a New Zealand franchisee, who helped transform one home’s kitchen from bland and dated to chic and modern.
The satisfied customer was Gerry Rodgers, who liked the structural layout of his kitchen but had grown to loathe the bold colour scheme. Commenting on his kitchen before its makeover, Rodgers said:
"The thing was built in the late 1990s and it had that horrible olive-green colour that was popular at the time everywhere. The layout suited me. It was literally just the colour."
Kitchen franchise Dream Doors was able to give Rodgers a more neutral kitchen, by replacing the offensive green with white. It installed a speckled laminate bench and replaced all the cupboards and doors with soft close options. Rodgers purchased a new stove to finish the kitchen makeover, which came in at $11,000 NZD (around £5,900).
Managing Director of Dream Doors, Adrian Kay, explained that the low cost of a Dream Doors kitchen makeover makes it very appealing to customers across the world, as budgets are usually the biggest limiting factor when it comes to home renovations. He estimates that Dream Doors’ services cost just 60 percent of the price of standard kitchen makeovers.
However, Kay said that the speediness of Dream Doors’ services is also a major reason why people choose the franchise.
"Less disruption matters to some people. You don't necessarily have to change flooring. Even painting of walls doesn't have to be done. [Our services are] generally less invasive."
Dream Doors has more than 70 showrooms across the UK and has grown into the UK’s largest kitchen facelift franchise.
Sophie Cole, Point Franchise ©
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Dream Doors has made the finals of the highly respected Franchise Marketing Awards [...]News published on 30/08/2019 08:00
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The home services brand, Neighborly, has bought Dream Doors in its latest acquisition [...]News published on 04/04/2019 08:00
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Dream Doors has recruited a motivated married couple as its latest franchisees and [...]News published on 29/11/2018 16:00
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Dream Doors has been making customers aware of how easy a Dream Doors kitchen makeover [...]News published on 30/07/2018 08:00
For first-time franchisees, there can be a substantial amount of ambiguity and [...]Article published on 18/02/2020 11:33
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U.S. Congress embraces Twitter - 100% of Senate members signed up
News from Twitter reveals that all U.S. Senate members can now be Followed on Twitter, a significant rise from two years ago.
Earlier this month, the Digital Policy Council revealed that the world's leaders were taking to Twitter. Of the world's 164 country leaders 123, or 75% of the total, now have accounts on Twitter, set up either in their own name or via an official government office.
"The data we have been tracking for the last three years shows an amazing 93% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in adoption of Twitter by Heads of State," concludes the Digital Policy Council's report.
New figures from Twitter reveal that the U.S. Congress is also embracing the micro-blogging platform. In fact, 100% of U.S. Senate members, and 90% of U.S. House members, now have a Twitter account.
According to Twitter's stats, 29 states have their whole Senate and House delegations signed up. However, participation levels drop off in the mid-west and southern states.
Back in 2011, just 44% of the Senate and 38% of the House had active Twitter accounts.
Just over a week ago, the First Lady, Michelle Obama, joined Twitter with a second account @FLOTUS.
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KR, you know who he is and if you don't then don't worry about it ;^), says Nikon will introduce the D500X with the same 24mp sensor as the D3X. It will be a smaller lighter body than the current D700?!? He says it'll shoot at 3fps in FX and 5fps in DX (at 10 megapixels in 1.5 crop mode)and have the same 51pt AF but with 95% viewfinder coverage. ISO will be 50-6400 with low and Hi modes. Apparently it will NOT shoot video so all you Nikon 720p haters can keep on hate'n.
Although he says the price will be close to $3000USD these specs seem more like the rumored "affordable" full frame camera. Sony already has the a850 with 24mp priced at $2000 so why not Nikon? Or perhaps this "prediction" is just KR F**king around with us and just an attempt to get traffic to his site. That would certily not be the first time right? ;^)
Let's not turn this into a KR love/hate fest and keep the comments on the BS, I mean, rumored camera and specs.
We'll know soon as he says it'll be announced July 1st 2010 and in stores in September. Oh and he also says there is a D700X coming too with practically the same specs. Ha Ha


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Athleisure trend works out for JD Sports with chain reporting booming profits
The boss of JD Sports Fashion rubbished claims the so-called athleisure trend was dwindling after reporting booming profits.
Peter Cowgill said the fashion for stylish trainers and tracksuits was showing no sign of fading yet.
The 64-year-old executive chairman was speaking after the sportswear group – which owns Blacks, Millets, Size and Go Outdoors as well as the JD Sports chain – shrugged off the High Street consumer spending squeeze and revealed revenues were up by more than 40 per cent.
In vogue: JD Sports fashion boss Peter Cowgill said the fashion for stylish trainers and tracksuits was showing no sign of fading yet
He said: ‘I’ve read all the articles saying athleisure is on the wane and I find it difficult to reconcile in my mind. I don’t think it’s going anywhere but for growth.’
JD Sports Fashion yesterday said profits for the six months to July 29 were up 33 per cent on the same period last year, to £102.7million.
Revenues also soared 41 per cent to £1.4billion, up from £970.6million the previous year.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said the results ‘show there is plenty more running in the JD legs yet’.
Shares in the company surged 9 per cent, or 30.8p higher to 373.4p after the bullish results – which were even better than analysts had predicted.
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On 10 July, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to reduce customs duty on several products, but raised excise duty on others.
Cheaper products: Cosmetics, soaps, certain drugs, apparels, computers and laptops, imported electronic gadgets, mobile SIM cards, LCD television sets below 19 inches, several ornamental stones and footwear.
Expensive products: Tobacco products, carbonated and sugary drinks, besides imported steel items.
The Hindu pointed out the tax structure of tobacco products in India.
"Since longer cigarettes attract more tax, consumers shift from longer cigarettes to shorter ones to escape higher taxes," The Hindu quoted IIT Jodhpur Assistant Professor Dr Rio John.
"Increase in tax is not uniform across lengths. Because of that, all kinds of product substitution take place," he added.
On Thursday, shares of ITC surged as Jaitley announced to hike excise duty on cigarettes by 11 to 72 percent. Price of ITC stock was recorded at ₹342.15 with profit of 0.19 percent.
Besides, real estate stocks gained on Thursday's trading, after proposal of reducing the minimum paid up capital requirement of subsidiaries from $10 million to $5 million.
"Various incentives that have been provided will enhance the growth prospects of the real estate sector, even further. To begin with, REITs being awarded a pass through status will attract significant investments into the sector which is the need of the hour," First Post quoted Shishir Baijal, chairman of Knight Frank India
An allocation of ₹7,060 crore indicates that equal attention has been paid to infrastructure growth which is often inter-linked with demand for real estate. Various other monetary incentives such an allocation of ₹4,000 crore towards affordable housing backs the present government's vision of providing housing to all by 2022," he added.
On Thursday, among 13 BSE Realty stocks, only two fell while the rest surged. Stock price of BSE Realty was recorded at 2009.72 points with an increase of 95.03 points and 4.96 percent.
However, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar tweeted that:
Good directional stuff but no bold reforms announced by FM in #Budget2014 so far. Infact script sounds same as before! Hope Part 2 is better
— Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) July 10, 2014
Whereas, the Sensex and Nifty fell during closing hours on Thursday. BSE Sensex was recorded at 25372.75 points with plunge of 72.06 points, while NSE Nifty fell by 17.25 points at 7567.75 points.
''I believe the current scenario is different from the past and the Indian economy is on the verge of revival," The Economic Times quoted Right Horizons Financial Services equity strategist Tushar Pendharkar, "Therefore, I don't see any significant fall after the first Budget of the new government. However, I believe that it would remain stable in the long run,''
On other hand, Jaitley's proposal of FDI in e-commerce had the following response from industrial sector:
"Liberalisation of FDI in e-commerce sector will provide the much-needed certainty to foreign players and to a sector that has the promise to provide increased commerce and generate employment in the country," Hindu Business Line quoted Sandeep Ladda, technology leader at PwC India.
"This will also provide boost to the sector and create healthy competition so as to benefit all - consumers, government, e-commerce players, and retailers in general," he added.
Read Twitter responses from individuals and organisations on Budget 2014:
Broadband connectivity, online classrooms in rural areas while there are no girl toilets, no infrastructure &abysmal facilities. #Budget2014
— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) July 10, 2014
— Stella Paul (@stellasglobe) July 10, 2014
@igoy_k I agree this is shit. Now the bjp is doing in gujrat. Why giving money to state government when it is a state project.
— Rachit Gupta (@rachitattweet) July 10, 2014
#Budget2014 focuses on agriculture sector. It has made TVs cheaper, so u can watch Kisan TV in high definition
— Raghav Chopra (@AarSee) July 10, 2014


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Wouldn’t you like to make as much as $10,000 in the next 30 days by becoming a power seller on Amazon?
That’s one of the promises made by two brothers who ran a website pushing products and seminars that claimed to be able to teach you to make a fortune with very little effort.
Amazon, attorney general sue get rick quick e-commerce scammers
The attorney general of Washington State says in a new lawsuit that Massachusetts-based FBA Stores LLC duped unsuspecting victims into paying anywhere from $1,495 for an Amazon Riches Home Study System to “as much as $35,000 with promises of inside information on how to make money selling on Amazon.”
Oh, and did we mention that by signing up for the $1,500 home study system, users agreed to be auto-billed for an additional $40/month recurring membership fee?!
(Editor’s note: That’s just more fodder for us automatic bill pay haters here at Clark.com!)
The folks behind FBA Stores are brothers Adam and Chris Bowser.
The attorney general alleges that the brothers’ system of selling involved a whole host of bad products that would at times cause Amazon to shut down consumers’ accounts.
Separately, Amazon has also filed its own suit against the Bowser brothers.
Seminars taught bogus techniques
Even though the brothers based their business in Massachusetts, they were very active in Washington State where they held seminars in at least eight cities.
The use of multiple Amazon trademarks in presentations and promotional materials caused consumers to believe the brothers were affiliated with Amazon, though that wasn’t the case.
In fact, those seminars were used to pressure attendees to apply for financing to get started or to apply for multiple credit cards or take out mortgages on their property to cover startup costs, the lawsuit alleges.
Such questionable practices would often cause the accounts of people who did what the Bowsers said to do to be shut down.
But that didn’t concern the duo; they could just pretend to ride to the rescue with a pay service they operated. This particular service asked members to fork over even more money for help in getting their account suspension lifted!
The attorney generals’ complaint asks the court to order the Bowsers and FBA Stores to cease their deceptive practices and compensate affected consumers. It also seeks penalties of up to $2,000 per violation.
Here’s the bottom line
The road to riches by selling on Amazon is a long one, and it’s not something that can be neatly taught in a hotel ballroom seminar.
In the past on Clark.com, we’ve profiled the likes of one man who spends up to 20 hours a week combing through sneaker inventory at discount stores and then reselling it online through both Amazon and eBay. By doing that, he’s managed to pay off $50,000 of debt!
In another case, we told you about a couple with a young child who replaced both of their incomes by selling on Amazon.
So it’s not that selling on Amazon or eBay can’t be a viable business that could pay you more than your day job. But the reality is this is not easy; this stuff takes hard work and entrepreneurial spirit.
If anyone tells you otherwise, just remember this: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is!
Amazon 101: How to reorder an item with Alexa
[anvplayer video=”4215075″ station=”998267″]


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Alabama’s AerBetic demonstrates diabetes management device at top consumer tech event
An Alabama company is developing an innovative device to help diabetics better manage their blood sugar, and it is being shown this week at the world’s largest consumer technology event.
Birmingham-based AerBetic Inc. will demonstrate its non-invasive, wearable diabetes alert system at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which showcases more than 4,500 manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content and delivery systems. CES 2019 is expected to draw more than 180,000 attendees.
The device contains nano-sensors that detect gases, given off through breath or skin, that are symptoms of high or low blood sugar. It will pair with smartphone apps, aiding the ability to push alerts to patients and caregivers.
AerBetic CEO and entrepreneur Arnar Thors said his family pet, a yellow Lab that came from a place that trains alert animals, inspired the device.
“Many diabetics rely on the keen smell of specially trained dogs to detect increases of volatile organic compounds in the exhaled breath of their subjects with diabetes,” Thors said. “We have developed a wearable solution that will detect these same gas patterns.
“The ability to determine a patient’s status without the need for invasive and costly sensors will enable a higher quality of life for diabetes patients and their caregivers worldwide.”
‘Game-changer’ for diabetics
The sensors will use patient data and feedback to improve and fine tune over time, Thors said, using machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase fidelity at the individual user level and network-wide.
“The more a patient uses it, the more attuned to that patient it becomes,” he said.
The tiny sensors used in the device are designed and manufactured by California-based AerNos, which is sharing a booth with AerBetic at CES.
The device is in the final stages of development, with testing to begin early in the first quarter of this year. The first production units are expected to ship late this year or early next year.
It’s being hailed as a “game changer” for diabetics.
“Type 1 diabetics – and caregivers of Type 1 diabetics – have been asking for a non-invasive monitoring solution for some time,” said Kristen Noles, DNP, RN, CNL and nurse leader at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “AerBetic’s vision of incorporating a gas sensor that improves and gets smarter over time will be a game changer. The ability to reliably monitor patients remotely will drastically improve the quality of life for people with diabetes and their caregivers.”
Thors is the co-founder of Bessemer-based Fitz-Thors Engineering Inc., which started in 2007 and specializes in design-build engineering projects, automation and high-precision manufacturing services.
He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama and worked in several industries before deciding to become an entrepreneur. He has a broad range of experience in areas including crude oil refining, medical product development, race car design and development, and the manufacturing of cast iron pipe, steel pipe and electronics.
Alabama has a healthy pipeline of innovative products that solve problems and offer new alternatives in a number of industries, said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“There’s a vibrant network of entrepreneurs and support programs in communities across Alabama, and we’re excited to see what they come up with next,” Canfield said. “We congratulate AerBetic on the development of this device, and we look forward to the benefits it will provide for people around the world.”
This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.
(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)


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Christopher & Banks loss widens in Q3
San Francisco — Christopher & Banks Corp. reported Thursday a loss of $28.2 million for the quarter ended Nov. 26, widened from a loss of $9.2 million in the year-ago period and reflecting a one-time charge.
Sales rose to $123.9 million, from $120.9 million a year ago, matching Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales for the quarter were flat.
“We were clearly disappointed in the results for the quarter,” said Larry Barenbaum, CEO. “Looking ahead, we remain focused on completing our previously announced store closing plan, disciplined inventory management and expense controls, and improved product execution.”
As recently announced, the company has named retail veteran Joel Waller as its new president.
Target looks ahead to after Christmas
MINNEAPOLIS — While many retailers are scrambling to attract last minute Christmas shoppers, some, including Target, are already looking ahead to Dec. 26.
Target announced that beginning next Monday, customers can save up to 50% off on such items as women’s and kids’ apparel, as well as home and holiday decor, in stores and online at Target.com. Doors will open at Target stores nationwide at 7 a.m. on Monday.
What’s more, Target gift card holders also can find deep discounts on items. For example, guests who want to redeem their gift cards on Target.com on Christmas Day will receive $10 off purchases of $50 or more via a promotional code. The deals can be found in the Sunday weekly advertisement and on Target.com beginning Christmas Day.
“Target gift cards are a popular Christmas gift, and with a sale of this magnitude, there’s no better time to use them than on Dec. 26,” Target EVP merchandising Kathee Tesija said.
Personal spending rose less than forecast in November
Washington, D.C. — A report released Friday by the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer spending edged up 0.1% in November, less than forecast and reflecting an economy that continues to struggle.
Incomes also grew 0.1% in November, the weakest in three months, after a 0.4% rise in October. The median estimate for spending in a Bloomberg News survey of economists called for a 0.3% advance.
“In the absence of a significant pickup in income, we won’t see a big boost in spending,” Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York, told Bloomberg. “The momentum will slow in the fourth quarter, but the economy is still growing.”
Projections among the 79 economists in the Bloomberg survey for spending ranged from increases of 0.2% to 0.6%.
Wages and salaries decreased 0.1% after a 0.6% gain.


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Fujifilm has released its software for the Mac that allows the use of its X-series mirrorless cameras as a high-quality webcam on the Mac.
The company had released its Fujifilm X Webcam tool for Windows PCs in May and later announced that it would offer a Mac version in mid-July due to the “overwhelming response” of its customers when it released the app for PC.
Fujifilm joins Canon and Panasonic in developing software to add webcam functionality to their cameras. Users can connect the cameras to their Mac via a USB cable and use them as a high-quality webcam, allowing for much better quality during video calls.
The Fujifilm X Webcam software works with the X-T200 and X-A7, X-H1, X-Pro2, X-Pro3, X-T2, X-T3, and X-T4 cameras. Fujifilm X Webcam also works with all three GFX medium format cameras.
Fujifilm says the X Webcam software is compatible with Chrome and Edge browsers and offers support for Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype, and Messenger Rooms.


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From Gov. Northam’s office…good to see!
Governor Northam Signs Legislation Cutting Sales Tax on Essential Personal Hygiene Products
RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam has signed legislation that reduces the Retail Sales and Use Tax rate on essential personal hygiene products, including feminine hygiene products and nondurable incontinence products.
Senate Bill 1715, sponsored by Senator Jennifer Boysko, and House Bill 2540, sponsored by Delegate Kathy Byron apply a reduced Retail Sales and Use Tax rate of 2.5 percent to essential personal hygiene products, including feminine hygiene products and nondurable incontinence products such as diapers. These products are currently subject to the full Retail Sales and Use Tax rate, which is 6 percent in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, 7 percent in the Historic Triangle, and 5.3 percent everywhere else in the Commonwealth.
“I am pleased to sign this commonsense legislation that makes these necessities more accessible and affordable,” said Governor Northam. “The essential nature of personal health care products is not up for debate and I commend the General Assembly for coming together to ensure these savings for Virginians.”
“I am thrilled to see passage of the Dignity Act,” said Senator Jennifer Boysko. “We know that menstrual supplies and diapers are necessary to leave home for work, school, and social activities. Lowering the tax on these necessities is the right thing to do. I am so glad we have made progress on the issue of menstrual equity and at long last will have tax relief for these products that women and families have to purchase. I appreciate that the Governor understands how important this issue is for so many Virginians. We are working together to get things done!”
“This legislation won widespread bipartisan support because it provides tax relief on necessities used by women and men young and old,” said Delegate Kathy Byron. “For the young family buying diapers to those purchasing other essentials for their health, the savings because of this bill will add up and be appreciated.”


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Get Tools and Information in our Coronavirus Webportal>>
WEST CHESTER, PA – Fastener Systems Incorporated (FSI) announced it will be sold to the company’s employees as founder John Sipple retires. This will allow FSI to continue to provide unparalleled product offerings and services to their customers. John will remain engaged with the business as an advisor to ensure a smooth transition as the change in ownership is completed.
FSI’s employee owners will continue to maintain the product quality, inventory, service and technical experience the industry has grown to expect. Since its inception, FSI has been associated with the knowledge and ability to provide quality products for a fair price in a timely fashion. The culture will remain intact, a priority that both John and the new employee owners share.
The corporate headquarters will remain in West Chester, PA. Tom Berot has been named the President of Fastener Systems, Inc. and will manage the day-to-day operations. Additionally, Chris Parmele, will join the team at Fastener Systems as Sales Manager bringing over 25 years of sales experience in the construction industry.
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THE Peacocks shopping centre in Woking town centre has been bought out of administration by the Arora Group, a Hounslow-based private company with interests in property, construction and hotels.
Global financial giant Grant Thornton was appointed administrator last April when four Moyallen companies were placed in administration, including Moyallen Woking Limited and Peacocks Centre.
Moyallen originally acquired the centre in 2008 for £116million.
The council is the freeholder of the Peacocks Centre site, set on almost nine acres, and that remains the case after the sale. The council played no part in the sale.
Last summer, Grant Thornton appointed upmarket estate agents Savills to market the Peacocks, which comprises 542,528 sq ft with 80 units.
“The centre also comprises a 137,000 sq ft former Debenhams store, and is adjacent to the recently completed Victoria Place development that includes about 400 residential units, a 189-bedroom Hilton hotel and a 50,000 sq ft M&S,” noted the Savills details.
Mark Garmon-Jones, the head of shopping centre investment and repurposing at Savills, said at the time: “The Peacocks Centre provides an opportunity to acquire a quality scheme, recently refurbished, in an affluent South East town with significant asset management potential to increase the income to circa £4.5m.”
Savills invited offers in excess of £25 million, although the selling price has not been revealed.
Cllr Ann-Marie Barker, the Liberal Democrat leader of Woking Borough Council, said: “For more than a decade, Woking Borough Council has invested significantly in transforming the town centre into a welcoming, prosperous and vibrant shopping destination.
“The Peacocks is integral to our vision of a modern Woking town centre. As the freeholder of the site, and a major stakeholder in the town centre, I welcome the investment Arora has made in Woking and the certainty it brings to retailers, their employees and visitors to the town.
“We look forward to a dynamic and productive partnership with Arora over many years to come.”
Sanjay Arora, chief operating officer and head of property for the Arora Group, added: “We continue our expansion into the retail sector and look forward to working closely with Woking Borough Council to make this centre a true success again, neighboured by their incredible Victoria Place development.”
Toby Ogilvie Smals, retail investment director at Savills London, said: “It was encouraging to see significant interest in the asset, despite the current headwinds facing the UK investment market.”
Although another part of Moyallen is a significant partner in Victoria Square, Cllr Barker added: “A different arm of Moyallen is in development. That is the partner in Victoria Square and this part of the business is not in administration.”
Cllr Barker continued: “Peacocks having a new owner is a positive for the town.
“Although it is has been business as usual under the administrators we would hope to see some progress under new owners.
“Getting the Debenhams site back into use will be really beneficial to Woking.”
What, however, the sale has not clarified is the fate of a £6 million loan by the council to a subsidiary of Moyallen Woking Limited to make improvements, including new escalators and lifts, in the Peacocks.
Although the matter was widely flagged at the time of administration by the Liberal Democrats, councillors were unable to confirm whether the loan would be repaid.


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According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of active fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in Europe was 2.0 million in Q4-2010.
Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.7 percent, this number is expected to reach 5.0 million by 2015.
The market is recovering from the economic downturn and it is clear that 2011 will be more positive than the previous year for the industry, even though uncertainties remain especially in Southern Europe. Some players such as TomTom Business Solutions achieved strong organic growth in 2010. Others such as Masternaut, Trimble and Digicore also added new clients through important merger and acquisition activities in the past 12 months. They have all four joined the exclusive group of fleet management providers in Europe having more than 100,000 active devices in the field and Masternaut recently became the first vendor to surpass 200,000 subscribers.
“The consolidation trend is accelerating among the vendors of fleet management systems”, said Johan Fagerberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight. “In the past 18 months we have seen nine major mergers and acquisitions on the European fleet management market forming a new vendor landscape”.
Mr. Fagerberg anticipates that the market consolidation of the still overcrowded industry will continue and take place both within the industry and through acquisitions by external players. With fewer larger companies left on the market he predicts that the intense price competition will relax somewhat and create room for more sustainable profit margins.


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The Southern Swine Farmer Association has urged authorities to allow for the adjustment of pork prices in line with market mechanisms.
Preecha Kijthaworn, president of the association, reiterated that last year’s outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) forced more than half of swine farmers to exit the market, leaving only about 100,000 raisers to produce pork to the entire nation.
He added that the ongoing fluctuating weather conditions and the rising costs of animal feed further exacerbating the shortage issue.
Prices for maize, corn meal, palm oil and other animal food products, as well as fuel, have spiked by 30-40% since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Preecha nevertheless stressed that swine farmers have so far abided by the government’s plea to maintain product prices, in order to help people weather the economic downturn.
Swine farmer associations nationwide have meanwhile been organizing workshops to improve operations and increase output to meet national demand.
Preecha proposed that the government temporarily increase its import quota from 54,700 metric tons to 600,000 tons from May to July. (NNT)


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Thousands of Central New York business owners might get to reopen their doors tomorrow. Or maybe not.
With less than 24 hours to go before the region is expected to move into phase two of reopening, small business owners are left scratching their heads about whether they can reopen — and, what will be required of them if they do.
Local officials have signaled to CNY businesses they can get ready for phase two, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a radio interview today announced the state needs more time to evaluate coronavirus data before allowing regions to move into the next phase.
READ MORE: What we know right now about the sloppy march toward phase 2
READ MORE: Across state, Cuomo’s comments on reopening spark frustration
That leaves local retail, salon and office business owners, who have been told they can reopen in phase two, with conflicting information. And it puts personal trainers, massage therapist and tattoo artists, who were banking on the state’s guidance for phase two, with no idea about when they might be able to schedule appointments again.
Some are forging ahead, confident that their plans for reopening include the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Others have already begun pushing back appointments and plans into next week and beyond.
They are all stuck in a holding pattern. Here’s what they had to say about the chaos and confusion:
Tori Shires, chief development officer for the Rescue Mission, was watching the news and public officials’ press conferences closely today.
Her organization operates 18 Thrifty Shopper and 3fifteen secondhand clothing stores in Central New York. They are a critical part of the Rescue Mission’s business, and supply low-cost clothes to people who need them, so Shires and her staff are eager to get the doors open again.
Shires said the Rescue Mission plans to go ahead with reopening the stores tomorrow.
“We’re comfortable with the guidelines we have in place that we can reopen safely,” Shires said.
Shires listened to Cuomo’s interview with WAMC Radio and found it to be confusing. She has questions about what he meant by the role of international experts.
“It was just super vague,” she said. " We’re still feeling confident based on what Ryan McMahon said."
That said, Shires said the Rescue Mission would roll with the punches.
“We’re perfectly ready, willing and able to pivot as needed,” she said. “We’re just eager to get our stores open.”
Paul Roe, tattooist and owner of James Street Parlour in Syracuse, has painstakingly developed a plan to reopen his tattoo shop on Monday as part of phase two.
He has appointments scheduled for next week and doesn’t plan to cancel them.
“We are smart, educated and capable of doing this safely,” he said.
Pumping the brakes
Jordan Michel, owner of Jordy’s Barbershop in Marcellus, was unaware of the governor’s announcement until a reporter informed her of it around 5:30 p.m.
“That’s so annoying,” she said. “It’s like so back-and-forth, you know?”
She was fully booked into next week, with back-to-back appointments from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow. She will begin calling her customers to reschedule, she said.
“At this point, I just want to open,” she said.
A few days more of lost income will hurt, she said, even though she finally got unemployment assistance and some flexibility from her landlord. She worries about her customers and can’t believe the state hasn’t offered any guidance about how to reopen safely, which would help her open on an even playing field with other shops.
“Now my feelings turn more to my customers, like, there’s no answers,” she said. “I don’t understand it. The government should have a plan in place.”
Doug Spangenberg, owner of the Westcott Barber Shop in Syracuse, planned a soft opening for Friday if Central New York entered the second phase of reopening, but he did not have his heart set on opening so soon, he said.
“I was ready to kinda dip my toe in and get off to a slow start,” he said. “That’s kind of been the chatter, was, ‘Hopefully Friday, but more than likely Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.’”
He would have been able to scrounge together customers tomorrow, plus accept some walk-in customers Saturday, he said. But that’s all now on hold.
Still, he doesn’t mind waiting a bit longer, he said.
“They’re not being 100 percent forthright with the information. There’s a lot of moving parts, though,” he said. “….Being that New York is kinda the epicenter of this thing, cautiousness is not a bad thing.”
Left in limbo
Kyle Hierholzer, owner of Hand in Health massage therapy, and secretary for the CNY chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association, thought that by now, the state would have offered some clarity on phase two.
For him and his peers, that would mean finally knowing where they fit into the reopening plan.
Instead, it’s just been more confusion.
“It’s been really, really frustrating,” he said. Hierholzer notes that many clients rely on massage for pain management and as part of their healthcare routine.
But massage therapists, unlike chiropractors, for example, have not been allowed to operate even in a limited capacity. Hierholzer says that’s frustrating because his industry is typically considered a healthcare business.
“We get calls, emails and texts daily from clients who want to come in,” he said. “They’re in pain. It’s really disheartening.”
While Hierholzer has not started scheduling appointments for phase two, he said he knew of several massage therapists who had. For now, Hierholzer is aiming for a June 6 opening for his North Syracuse location. He is still unsure about opening a new location in downtown Syracuse, which was originally planned for mid-June.
“We’re really left in limbo,” he said. “We don’t know what to do.”
Beth Ann Dice, owner of MISSION: midlife Wellness Studio in Fulton, is in a similar position. She hopes that personal training will be allowed in phase two, and has begun installing plastic partitions between workout stations in preparation for reopening.
Dice said the whole reopening process has been confusing and even surprising.
She recently learned personal trainers don’t have their own North American Industry Classification code, the codes the state has been using to sort out which businesses can open and those that can’t.
Dice even has some experience with these terms and classification systems. She’s the former executive director of the Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce.
“We don’t seem to fall anywhere,” she said. “It’s very strange.”
Dice said she is not ready to reopen tomorrow, even if she was told she could. She is surveying her clients, and preparing to reopen when her they say they are comfortable. She has drafted a written plan that accounts for everything she can think of. Still, she said, it would still be helpful to have a date or at least a phase to start planning in accordance with specific state guidance.
“... It’s just been so nebulous,” she said. “But I need to have a plan in place. It would be nice to have two to three days to get a plan together.”
Small business owners: Have a question or a story to share about how you’re coping through the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdown? We want to hear from you. Contact Back in Business reporter Julie McMahon: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992.
CNY BACK IN BUSINESS
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Great news for PS4 lovers..The pre booking for the farpoint and PSVR aim controller has started.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that Impulse Gear’s PlayStation VR exclusive title, FarpointFarpoint, is releasing on May 16 in North America and May 17 in Europe..
1) The natural feel and precise controls of the PlayStation VR Aim Controller creates a strong physical connection to the virtual world.
2) Traverse the vast planet to discover video logs as you track down the scientists and find a way off the planet.
3) Master various weapons – from charged plasma rifles to railguns – in the fight through packs of hostile alien life.


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Nimble companies help keep supply chain running during pandemic
Even as the global COVID-19 pandemic redefines “normal”, the Puget Sound gateway supply chain finds ways to continue business as usual.
It’s hardly easy.
"It takes a village,” said Dustin Stoker, The Northwest Seaport Alliance’s chief operating officer. But creativity, planning and teamwork is paying off.
“In situations like this, we come together and partner across lines, across organizations, and we are willing to think outside the box,” Stoker said. “New ideas or items from a vendor get shared quickly.
“It’s that collaborative partnership that sets our gateway apart and allows us to continue to operate at a very high level.”
A 55-gallon barrel at the Port of Tacoma is a good example of how a small, nimble company can have an unexpected positive impact on the supply chain.
Shortly after the pandemic began, Chambers Bay Distillery shipped a barrel to the Port. The barrel wasn’t full of what the University Place business is best known for – bourbon, vodka and whiskey – but rather its newest product: hand sanitizer.
Alan Davis, co-owner of the distillery with Jeff Robinette, realized his company could lend a squeaky-clean helping hand by making alcohol-based cleaners. Now the distillery is providing hand sanitizers to hospitals, first responders, senior living facilities, grocery store workers and other essential businesses.
“I think it just shows why local businesses are important,” Davis said. “We can pivot on a moment’s notice to help.”
Davis said the Port of Tacoma was one of Chambers Bay Distillery’s first big customers. Not only did the Port’s sanitizer order help the company keep its lights on, but it also allowed them to order ethanol on a wholesale basis to increase hand sanitizer production.
Stoker says he hears regularly from vendors who have shifted production to help meet demand during the pandemic. He’s quick to relay the information to terminal operators, longshore partners, the trucking community and warehouse operators who might need cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment.
Each week, Stoker checks in with these partners to see how they are doing in terms of personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies. These supplies can go fast. New protocol at the Port calls for all equipment to be disinfected between shifts.
“For the most part, they’ve been able to stay 2 to 3 weeks ahead of inventory,” Stoker said.
This is due in part to the fact that small organizations are more able to adapt and respond to demand in a time when widespread shortages make cleaning and protective supplies hard to come by. “And some are servicing different areas than they did in the past,” Stoker said. “That’s really cool.”
As The Northwest Seaport Alliance — which manages the marine cargo operations at the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma — looks beyond the COVID-19 crisis, Stoker says some of the changes it is making to combat the virus might be permanent. “Some of the protocol for cleaning and washing hands just might be the new normal.”
If so, they won’t have to look far for its giant barrels of hand sanitizer. Chambers Bay Distillery plans to return to bourbon production soon, but Davis says sanitizer production will likely be a permanent part of its new normal too.


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"Instead of seeing the world with your eyes, you're seeing it through your phone."
The premise of YouTuber Casey Neistat's new social sharing app, Beme, is a familiar one: You're at a concert, focused on trying to capture the moment so you can post it on Facebook and Instagram. But in doing so, you're completely taken out of the moment.
Now, he can add "budding app developer" to his resumé.
"Social media is supposed to be a digital or virtual version of who we are as people," Neistat says in an announcement video for the app. "Instead it's this highly sculpted, calculated, calibrated version of who we are, told through filters that make our eyes bluer and carefully selected images to portray a version of who we are that doesn't really resemble the reality of things."
One of the main features of Beme is that users don't need to look at their screens to record video. Just press it against your chest; the app uses the iPhone's proximity sensor as a record button. (The app is currently only for iOS.)
To take a selfie or vlog, you can press your iPhone up against the wall. It's a strange, awkward behavior — how many people are willing to press their phone's screen against a wall in the middle of a concert? — but it's the only way for the proximity sensor to activate.
To watch a video, hold down a person's username — like Snapchat before it eliminated the need to hold down. And just like Snapchats, moments (known as Bemes) are ephemeral; they disappear right after you view them.
"Everything you see, you see for the first time and the last time," Neistat says in the video.
Instead of giving likes or hearts, though, like on Periscope, you can send selfies on Beme by tapping the screen — the most genuine of reactions, according to Neistat.
"Getting reactions is my favorite part of the app. Being able to capture without being forced to starre at your phone is one of the most liberating interactions I've done since getting [my phone]."
You can download the Beme app from the App Store, but you'll need to get an unlock code from someone who is already set up to go.


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OpenSurvey: A Look at the Fragmentation of Google’s Android Operating System
Google’s Android operating system is installed on devices of all shapes and sizes. These devices run one of more than a half-dozen active versions of the mobile operating system.
On Wednesday, OpenSignal released a survey which shows the diversity of Google’s Android. The report calls this diversity is both a blessing and a curse.
The fragmentation of Android gives developers a wide audience to build apps for, which is larger than Apple’s iOS. However, trying to develop an app that runs on the entire range of Android devices is very hard and time consuming.
The report notes that over 1,000 Android device manufacturers seen this year were not present in OpenSignal’s first survey three years ago. Here are some numbers from the report:
– 24,093: Distinct Android devices seen this year.
– 18,796: Distinct Android devices seen last year.
– 682,000; Devices surveyed for this report.
– 37.8%: Samsung’s share of those devices.
– 1,294: Device manufacturers seen this year.
Here is an image which showcases the fragmentation of Android by manufacturer:
Nearly 1,300 companies make devices that run a version of Android, however, Apple’s iOS only runs on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.


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What is a small digital company to do when Google enters their market? Well, URL shortener Bit.ly isn’t planning to take new competition from Google lying down.
This week, the search giant announced that it was introducing a URL shortener Goo.gl. But before anyone could properly mourn Bit.ly’s loss of business, the leading URL shortener came out with a new product that just might fend off Google’s intrusion into its marketplace.
Google’s digital ambitions seem limitless, and more than a few companies have been taught the pain of free when Google goes after their business. This fall, Google introduced a free GPS product that has shifted the entire GPS business model closer towards free. Former market leaders have had to slash their prices to compete with Google’s product. And there’s no indication that such moves will really stop the bleeding.
But Bit.ly was prepared for Google’s
competition. Last night, the company revealed Bit.ly Pro, which will allow companies to
use custom urls for their links. The company also introduced a real-time
dashboard to let publishers track how and where their content is being
According to the Bit.ly blog:
“Users and publishers benefit from the additional transparency that this
private-label service provides. When you see a short URL like nyti.ms,
you know the destination web site before clicking on the link. The
service includes all the bit.ly features users and publishers have come
to expect. Placing a simple “+” at the end of any bit.ly link
(including these white-label, bit.ly-powered links) takes you to
real-time information about that page and how it is being shared: how
many people clicked on that particular link, where they came from, and
more. For publishers, the new service allows them to keep their brand
visible while maintaining access to bit.ly statistics.”
While this is a prime product to grow Bit.ly’s revenue stream, the company is not yet charging for Pro accounts. Like its deal with Twitter, this is meant to further cement its dominance over the URL shortening business. In November, the company shortened 2.1 billion links. That’s up from 11.8 million the year before.
As Twitter’s default shortening company, Bit.ly currently accounts for about three quarters of all short links on Twitter. Sites from AOL to Bing, Foursquare and The Wall Street Journal are among those in the private beta of the Bit.ly Pro program.
Meanwhile, both Google and Facebook’s new shortening service fb.me are ways for those companies to control data that passes through their sites. Facebook is using fb.me to shorten links on its own site and will also allow users to create their own links. Google will also allow users to create links to their own content. Both products have analytics tools that allow the companies to track online movement.
But Bit.ly’s product allows other people access to analytics. And lets them create their own branded links.
The secondary benefit of this is that it helps alleviate some of the security concerns involving short links. As PC World points out, shorteners make tweeting and other things easier online, but it’s impossible to know where short links point to, meaning that spam and malware are major concerns when using the things. Some services, like TinyURL, allow link previews.
Bit.ly’s customized links will now serve as a screening process for
websites. If you know that The New York Times uses the branded short
link ny.tms, you can feel safer clicking on links with that stem.
Another benefit is that Bit.ly will be able to sustain far more permutations of web addresses if it uses different stems for different companies. Now if the company can start getting brands to pay for the service, they’ll really have a winning strategy on their hands.


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The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Competition Market’s Authority (CMA) have published asetting out a blueprint for their cooperation in regulating the digital economy.
The ICO and CMA affirmed there are “strong synergies” between their respective data protection and competition policy agendas and have committed to working together to achieve positive outcomes in both areas.
“Data plays a vital role in the– from suggesting new music or films that we may enjoy to helping us find relevant information when searching online. A well-functioning needs to preserve privacy and offer competitive online services, empowering consumers,” said CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli.
“This statement clearly shows robust data protection can support vigorous competition in digital markets, and digital firms should not useas an excuse for anticompetitive behavior. We look forward to continuing to work with the Information Commissioner’s Office to support the development of innovative that put consumers in control of their data.”
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham added that currenteconomy: “In our increasingly digital world, the links between data protection, competition, and consumer rights regulation make our joint work timely and essential.
“We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the CMA to ensure people’s data is safeguarded, and digital innovation and competition is supported,” she said.
The statement said the synergies between the two regulators could be broken down into three main categories:, standards and regulations to protect privacy, and data-related interventions to promote competition.
For example, in the context of user choice and control, the regulators said it was fundamental to both policy agendas, with effectiveprotections and weak competition undermining them.
“In its recent market study, the CMA identified a significant concern where social media platforms offered users no choice over whether to have their,” said the statement.
“It concluded that concerns around such ‘take it or leave it’ terms regarding the use ofwere particularly acute where the platform has market power, such that the user has no meaningful choice but to accept the terms.
“Effective data protection can also support competition as rival companies seek totrust and confidence in the way that their data is used, and by helping to ensure that competitive pressures help drive innovations that genuinely benefit users.”
In the context of data-related interventions, it further added that differentialcould distort competition, meaning the regulators will work together to assess what actions will be necessary and appropriate.
Highlighting examples of potential intervention, the statement said it could take the form of, for example, restrictingtheir ability to combine and integrate datasets.
“One example of such an intervention that was considered in the CMA’s market study is the potential for imposingon platforms with market power to restrict their ability to combine datasets to target and measure digital advertising,” it said.


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New home sales took a dive in June, falling by more than 8 percent nationwide. That’s according to a report out this week from the Commerce Department. But that national trend doesn’t hold as true in the Boise area, which accounts for a large number of Idaho’s new home sales.
According to data from the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service, 120 new homes were sold in Ada County in June, a 9 percent decrease from May, when 131 new homes sold. Neighboring Canyon County saw an increase in new home sales in the same period — from 21 to 28 — which compensated for most of Ada County’s drop. Taken together, the counties saw a much less consequential 2.5 percent decrease in new home sales.
“I don’t think we’re hitting a stagnation point,” says Marc Lebowitz, of the Ada County Association of Realtors. “The limited availability is what is causing that slowdown.”
In other words, Lebowitz says, there aren’t enough new homes to go around, which means there are fewer available to sell. As evidence, Lebowitz points to the number of available distressed homes, which has been cut in half over the last year. What’s more, prices are rising. Ada County’s median home price was up by 13 percent in June compared to June 2011.
“I’ve heard there have been some good solid purchases of available lots,” Lebowitz says, “but we have more demand than availability.”


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Why Padman alone can’t end the taboo in India
From the whispered request for sanitary pads to the quietly handed over black bag in cities, here's why menstruation still remains a taboo in our country.
Menstrual hygiene makers like Aakar Innovations, Saral Designs signal emergence of local brands
In India, 80% women come under house arrest f...
Affordable sanitary napkin makers like Aakar Innovations create a niche in market dominated by MNCs
The market, currently valued at Rs 4500 c...
Venture capital firms: On a mission to make money and change the world
Venture capital firms were pouring money into ideas in the e-commerce space, but they decided not to follow the crowd.
The perils of not protecting intellectual property for new ventures
Soothe Healthcare’s big dilemma ahead of the launch of its affordable sanitary napkin was whether or not to patent the technology and design.


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Featuring Jemimah Rodrigues and MS Dhoni, #PowerHasNoGender inspires next generation of women sports enthusiasts during ICC T20 Women Cricket World Cup
New Delhi, 21st February 2020: To solidify its commitment to the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup, Powerade
has launched '#PowerHasNoGender', a digital campaign which reiterates that the power to dream big, train hard to realize dreams and earn the spotlight has no gender. The campaign aims to celebrate young female cricket players putting in hours of practice, every single day at academies and grounds across the country, to achieve their dream of representing India at Women’s Cricket World Cup. Indian cricket team’s all-rounder Jemimah Rodrigues, and Powerade brand ambassador MS Dhoni kickstarted the campaign inspiring young women to power through and never give up on their dreams.
Powerade is also the official beverage partner of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. #PowerHasNoGender campaign will be supported by on-ground presence of the sports drink where young women cricketers of all participating countries will be seen consuming Powerade during training and matches. To be a role model to aspiring cricketers, Jemimah Rodrigues will reach out to the next generation of women sports enthusiasts through a series of digital films.
Talking about the campaign, Anoop Manohar, Director-Emerging Categories,
Speaking about her association with the campaign, cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues said, “All high-performance athletes need a fuel to boost endurance, hydrate and fight exhaustion. Powerade is an ideal drink for sportspersons who want to go beyond the boundaries and strive for constant improvement. Its special ION4 formulation gives you the extra push required during training and matches. I am especially delighted to be associated with its new campaign, #PowerHasNoGender as it celebrates young female cricket players putting in hours of practice, every single day at academies and grounds around the country”.
Powerade was launched by
Powerade is a global brand of the
Coca-Cola in India is one of the country’s leading beverage companies, offering a range of healthy, safe, high quality, refreshing beverage options to consumers. Since its re-entry in 1993, the company has been refreshing consumers with its beverage products – Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Thums Up Charged, Thums Up Charged No Sugar, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Maaza, VIO flavoured milk, Minute Maid range of juices, Minute Maid Smoothie and Minute Maid Vitingo, Georgia range of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Aquarius and Aquarius Glucocharge, Schweppes, smartwater, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. The Company along with its owned bottling operation and other bottling partners, through a strong network of over 2.6 million retail outlets, touches the lives of millions of consumers, at a rate of more than 500 servings per second. Its brands are some of the most preferred and most sold beverages in the country – Thums Up and Sprite – being the top two selling sparkling beverage
The Coca-Cola India system provides direct employment to 25,000 people and indirect employment to more than 150,000 people. The Coca-Cola system in India is contributing in its own small way to building sustainable communities through community initiatives like Support My School, VEER, Parivartan and Unnati and by reducing its own environmental footprint.
For further information on the company's India operations and its products, please visit: www.coca-colaindia.com and www.hindustancoca-cola.com. Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/CocaCola_Ind, or on facebook.


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In the aftermath of eruptive news that Equifax seemingly had exposed the intimate data of 143 million Americans, it seems the credit-monitoring firm has also been lax on how it links customers with support.
Earlier this month, Equifax discovered that hackers had gained access to its info on more than 40% of Americans over the summer, so they set up a website where potential victims could check to see if they had been affected: www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. As The Verge pointed out, the page was not part of the greater equifax.com, and therefore posed a risk for users by requiring this voyage out to an external site.
In response, programmer Nick Sweeting decided to highlight the vulnerabilities of the company's new site by exploiting the very same in a seemingly benign if striking way. He set up shop on securityequifax2017.com, a typo on the original site that consumers could easily reach by mistake, and created a faux version of Equifax's site for potential breach victims (but which didn't save any private info they might have entered). A headline on the site also read, “Cybersecurity Incident & Important Consumer Information Which is Totally Fake, Why Did Equifax Use A Domain That’s So Easily Impersonated By Phishing Sites?”
Sweeting explained in an email to the New York Times that using the Linux command "wget" makes it simple for anyone to download the contents of an entire website, “including all images, HTML, CSS, etc,” and impersonate that site.
“It was super easy to just suck their whole site down with wget and throw it on a $5 server,” Sweeting wrote. “It currently has the same type of SSL certificate as the real version, so from a trust perspective, there’s no way for users to authenticate the real one vs. my server.”
And in the past few weeks, Equifax itself was apparently taken in by the simulated website, or at least its typo URL. As the Verge reported, Equifax tweeted the link for Sweeting's securityequifax2017.com four times to potential breach victims who asked the company for assistance on Twitter, reaching as far back at September 9.
According to the Verge, Equifax deleted the tweets shortly after the website published its article about the mix-up yesterday.
By Wednesday evening, the fake Equifax site had been blacklisted by Firefox, Safari, and Chrome browsers, and Sweeting had taken it down. According to the Times, it had already received close to 200,000 hits.
— Nick Sweeting


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Facebook is reportedly teaming with manufacturer HTC on a new social networking-themed smartphone that pre-installs a number of popular Facebook applications.
HTC is searching for a comeback. After selling 43.2 million phones in 2011, according to research firm Gartner, HTC saw sales slide in 2012 down to 32.1 million units amid intense competition from the likes of Samsung Electronics and Apple at the high end and Huawei and ZTE at the lower end of the market. FierceWireless Editor Phil Goldstein talked with Jason Mackenzie, HTC's global president of sales, about the company's brand, the software features of the One and how the company can get its smartphone swagger back.
The numbers are in, and it's time to make sense of the data. ABI Research's Michael Morgan analyzes the world's 12 largest branded cell phone makers in the fourth quarter of 2012, providing sales data as well as insight into their strategy and competitive position in the market.
Were LG, HTC and others wrong to pursue 3D smartphone technology in the first place? I don't think so, but I do think that the strategy was poorly conceived.
HTC reported that its February sales plunged 44 percent from the year-ago period, down to around $381.7 million, as the company awaits the launch of its new One smartphone, which it hopes will help reinvigorate sales. The weak showing is also an indication that the smartphone maker's emphasis on Microsoft's Windows Phone in the fourth quarter and into the early part of 2013 has done little to help stanch the company's bleeding.
Apple has met with audio technology firm Beats Electronics to explore a potential partnership involving Beats' forthcoming Daisy music streaming service, Reuters reports.
BARCELONA, Spain-- Last year at Mobile World Congress I wrote that smartphone and table vendors "need to offer truly differentiated services and not just me-too hardware." A year later I can report that OEMs have made progress but I think there is much more work to be done.
HTC can break out of its sales slump and rank behind Samsung Electronics and Apple as No. 3 in terms of smartphone sales if it executes on an aggressive new marketing strategy for its flagship HTC One smartphone, according to a senior HTC executive.
HTC unveiled its long-rumored new flagship Android smartphone, the HTC One, as it mounts a comeback based on a new user interface, a news hub for the home screen and enhanced camera and sound capabilities. AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA will be among the company's U.S. carrier partners, but Verizon Wireless is noticeably absent.
AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA will launch HTC's forthcoming flagship Android smartphone, codenamed the M7, according to the blog HTC Source , as the Taiwanese smartphone maker seeks to breathe life back into its business, especially in the U.S. market.


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What went down in the consumer sector last week
Last week (May 28–June 1) marked the end of the first-quarter earnings season for the S&P 500 (SPY), which rose 0.49%. Whereas some of the index’s sectors fell last week, others rose.
Consumer staples and discretionary stocks had a mediocre week. The consumer staples sector fell 0.52%, while the consumer discretionary sector rose 0.25% despite some stocks falling after earnings were released. Dollar Tree (DLTR), Michael Kors (KORS), and Dollar General (DG) fell after their earnings releases.
According to a June 1 Factset report, the blended earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 for the second quarter was 18.9%. Consumer sector-based ETFs also had an average performance last week. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) fell slightly, by 0.09% and 0.44%, respectively. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) rose 0.39%. This year, the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary (7.8%) has outperformed the S&P 500 (2.2%) and the S&P 500 Consumer Staples (-13.5%).
Last week, Tyson Foods (TSN) announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell its Sara Lee Frozen Bakery and Van’s businesses to Kohlberg & Company. The stock fell 2.2% last week.
At its annual shareholders’ meeting, Lowe’s (LOW) announced a 17% increase in its quarterly cash dividend to $0.48 per share. The dividend is set to be paid on August 8 to shareholders of record as of July 25.


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Head to the Tartine Bakery in San Francisco’s Mission District on any given morning, and chances are you’ll glimpse an unnervingly long line of people eager to wolf down Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt’s breads, pastries and sandwiches.
The scene is the same a half-dozen blocks away at the couple’s gleaming, 5,000-square-foot follow-up, the Tartine Manufactory, which opened last summer.
By next year, Downtown Los Angeles workers and residents can expect a similar scene. That’s because Tartinerecently signed a lease on a 38,500-square-foot space at the Row DTLA complex at Sixth and Alameda streets. It will serve as the anchor tenant for the massive retail, office and dining project.
It is also a massive partnership of prominent food entities, including L.A. restaurateur Bill Chait, pizza master Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, and coffee producer Califia Farms. Downtown’s Tartine is the first expansion of the brand outside San Francisco.
The space will be divided between four concepts. A bakery will fill 8,200 square feet, with an additional 1,500-square-foot grain mill. The mill will produce the flour for the bakery, which will serve both wholesale clients such as local restaurants and the public in Tartine’s market.
The market and a casual restaurant will occupy 6,500 square feet, serving breads and pastries as well as dishes and items picked by Bianco. Tartine will feature Bianco’s pizza program, plus an array of cheeses, charcuterie, a salad bar and other foods to eat in or take home. A Tartine Cookies & Cream kiosk will serve house-churned ice creams, coffee, doughnuts and more. The market is expected to be open from early morning to late at night.
Coffee will be made on-site in a 6,200-square-foot roastery that will process up to 7 million pounds of beans annually. A 1,250-square-foot “coffee lab” will show off the process to visitors and serve as a working facility for budding coffee experiments.
Finally, an upscale restaurant collaboration between Robertson and Bianco will fill more than 5,000 square feet, including a 1,600-square-foot patio. It will offer about 150 seats, a room to dry-age meat and a wine room.
The partners settled on Row DTLA because of their need for a large raw space suitable for such a diverse project, Chait said in a phone call.
“We’re creating a semi-industrial business with a dining and retail component, essentially,” he said. “There were some very unusual space requirements needed. One consideration was, where can we find a space that can accommodate tens of thousands of pounds of grain and coffee being delivered by trucks?”
The Tartine venture is part of Atlas Capital’s transformation of Row DTLA. The property owner is deep into a reworking of the Industrial District complex known to many as the home of American Apparel. Already Atlas has created a new parking structure and has launched the weekly Sunday morning food and shopping event Smorgasburg. It also hosted a set of pop-up stores during the holiday season.
Tartine’s bakery and coffee operations are slated to debut first, in October, followed by the market and its restaurant a month later. The trattoria would follow in February 2018.


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- Buyer's Guide
- Got A Question?
GREEN, OH — As a destructive fire spread to a detail shop here, workers scrambled to save antique automobiles, fox8.com reported.
The Feb. 14 story stated that the fire started in the box and supply business located in the same building as Car-Tech Collision detailing and auto-body repair.
Car-Tech used space in the shared building to store antique automobiles, and as the fire spread and firefighters from eight nearby departments responded to the fire, workers at Car-Tech worked to save the cars, the story noted.
An old Ford and some large boats were destroyed, but a classic Camaro, Chevelle and Triumph were saved, according to the story.
Both businesses had combustible materials on-site, and this made fighting the fire dangerous. The story stated that firefighters battled the blaze from early in the morning until late at night, but no one was seriously hurt.