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- 250 entries from 44 countries, ranging from sustainable packaging to healthy snacks, free-from to plant-based products, signal worldwide industry transformation following challenging 12 months
- Winners span Middle East, India, Eastern & Central Europe, USA, and Central America
Pioneering F&B producers from eight countries spanning the Middle East, India, Eastern and Central Europe, USA and Central America, have emerged victorious from a fiercely contested, future-focused 2021 edition of the Gulfood Innovation Awards.
The accolades were awarded at Gulfood 2021, the 26th edition of the most competitive global sourcing platform and the world’s first in-person F&B event since Gulfood in February 2020. Demonstrating worldwide confidence in the show as the platform to begin the year with confidence and conviction, this year’s Awards attracted 250 entries from 44 countries.
“The challenges of the past 12 months have initiated numerous opportunities and F&B producers worldwide have responded with determination and imagination. The Gulfood Innovation Awards is clear evidence of that as we received some bold, original and inspired entries from visionary industry professionals,” said Mark Napier, Show Director, Gulfood 2021. “It is clear that what has emerged from the pandemic is massive transformation now impacting the worldwide industry with healthy, organic and environmentally sustainable solutions topping innovation agendas.”, he added.
The UAE led the way in the sustainability categories with Dubai-based Hunter Foods LLC taking the ‘Best Packaging Design Impact’ award for its 100% recyclable packaging for its gourmet organic Superfoods range. The accolade for the ‘Most Impactful Sustainable Product’ was awarded to UAE’s Agthia Group PJSC for its 100% plastic-free, plant-based, disposable 500ml Al Ain water bottles, which are completely biodegradable and compostable within 80 days.
Meanwhile, forward-thinking Indian companies earned honours for innovation, with Healthy snacks producer Wingreens Farms Pvt. Ltd scooping the award for the ‘Most Innovative Baked Product’ for its Butter Garlic Naan Chips with Makhani Dip combo, while Eastern Condiments snapped up the accolade for the ‘Most Innovative Health & Wellness Product’ for its Jackfruit 365 flour made from 100% mature green unripe Jackfruits, said to be a convenient way to control blood sugar through food without changing eating habits.
“Associating with Gulfood year-on-year gives us great exposure and more business, helping to highlight us and make us more visible to the community and whole world. It is a great moment, and we are extremely thrilled to receive the award,” said Aswin Saseendran, Deputy Manager Brand, Eastern Condiments Middle East and North Africa.
Demonstrating the Awards’ strong global appeal, Costa Rica’s Tertulia Brugge S.A. secured the ‘Most Innovative Beverage’ honour for its chocolate powder sweetened with the natural-sugar alternative Monk fruit, said to be up to 200 times sweeter than normal table sugar.
Eastern Europe demonstrated its pioneering F&B work when the ‘Most Innovative Dairy Product’ was judged to be the dairy-free cottage cheese from Hungarian producer Fino Food Kft. The ‘Most Innovative Frozen or Chilled Food’ award was taken by the Ukraine’s Ovostar Union Ltd for its liquid egg products presented in its new Pure Pak recyclable packaging line made from certified wood board sources.
“As a company, we always strive to be one step ahead, which means being closer to the consumer. Our product is fresh with the egg itself, but in many destinations, there are requirements for more sanitary controls, which is why we go through the pasteurisation, chilling, cleaning and now packaging in in Pure Pak packaging. This award represents a reward for a lot of hard work and it feels really good,” said Kurt Rossi, Export Director, Ovostar.
Poland’s Jogurty Magda Sp. z o.o. was crowned winner of the ‘Most Innovative Organic Product’ with its clean-label, low fat coconut-based yoghurt.
“It is our first time in Dubai and at Gulfood. We are delighted to win this award as we worked very hard for it. Participating at the show gave us a great opportunity to promote our product. We feel extremely inspired,” said Sylwia Koscielniak, Project Specialist, Jogurty Magda.
Austrian drinks brand P.O.S.C.A. GmbH, which champions a non-alcoholic lifestyle, was honoured with the ‘Most Innovative Halal Product’ for its Roman antiquity inspired Posca Romana beverage range, which is based on all-natural ingredients and is marketed as having restorative and rejuvenating properties. The award for the ‘Most Innovative Meat or Poultry Product’ meanwhile, was scooped up by the USA’s Beyond Meat for its pre-formed, plant-based, and ready to cook ‘Beyond Meatballs.’
The Gulfood Innovation Awards 2021 were assessed by a panel of prestigious industry leaders: TV presenter and author Ariana Bundy; Sunjeh Raja, Director and CEO of the International Center for Cultural Arts Dubai; Chef David Arnold, General Manager of JMM Meat LLC; Vineeth R. Karal, General Manager of TrueBell; Kirti Meghnani, Head of Retail Procurement for supermarket retailer Choithrams; Greg Wright, Managing Director of the Food People; and Nikola Kosutic, Senior Research Manager of Gulfood Knowledge Partner Euromonitor International.
Safety at Gulfood
Gulfood 2021, which runs until Thursday 25th February, is being held under stringent safety and hygiene protocols. DWTC has proved its capability to curate the safest face-to-face business environment and deliver world-class events with the highest safety protocols, as evidenced by the recent GITEX Technology Week – the only live in-person tech event in 2020. Held in December, the event welcomed tens of thousands of visitors with 96% of local and international attendees recording a ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ experience.
With product sampling and handling such a vital interaction at a global F&B event, DWTC’s proven protocols have been further intensified for Gulfood 2021, under strict guidance and coordination with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Dubai Municipality, to ensure the safest possible business conditions. Wearing of masks is mandatory, with social distancing in place to ensure the wellbeing of all delegates. On-site registration will not be available; registration must be completed in advance via www.gulfood.com
Furthermore, the show is co-located with GulfHost, the ultimate trading platform for the hospitality equipment & foodservice Industry. For more information, please visit https://www.gulfhost.ae/
More information on the event safety guidelines can be found here https://www.gulfood.com/useful-info/safety-guidelines


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On November 4, South Korean chemical giant LG Chem and GS Caltex signed a joint development agreement (JDA) for 3HP mass production technology development and trial production at Magok LG Science Park.
3HP (3-hydroxypropionic acid) is the raw material of biodegradable plastic PLH (polylactic acid 3-hydroxypropionate). It is a bio-based material produced by microbial fermentation. The source is glucose and unrefined glycerin (from vegetable oil). ) And other biomass resources.
As the next-generation platform chemicals, 3HP's applications include not only biodegradable plastics, but also diapers, coatings, adhesives and glues, coating materials, carbon fibers, etc. 3HP is an isomer of lactic acid (2-hydroxypropionic acid), and the biological route has not yet achieved large-scale industrial production.
LG Chem used its exclusive 3HP fermentation technology to successfully develop PLH (polylactic acid 3-hydroxypropionate), a new type of biodegradable material, for the first time last year. This material can exhibit the same mechanical properties and transparency as synthetic resins, and its flexibility is more than 20 times higher than that of existing biodegradable materials, and it can still maintain transparency after processing.
The German DIN CERTCO has confirmed that according to the European industrial biodegradability certification standard, the material can be biodegraded by more than 90% within 120 days.
The goal is to produce trial products by 2023, and plans to review the additional investment in mass production through the evaluation of the client company in the future.
LG Chem has the world’s leading 3HP fermentation technology, and GS Caltex has advanced processing equipment. Therefore, the two companies are leveraging the synergy of LG Chem’s fermentation production technology and GS Caltex’s process facility technology to achieve 3HP mass production and commercialization. There is a common interest in the goal of transformation.
The two companies plan to accelerate their entry into the biodegradable material and various bioplastic markets through mass production of 3HP from 2023. In addition, they will also actively discuss future cooperation plans in the field of white biotechnology and plans to realize a sustainable biological ecosystem.
In response, Xu Shihong, general manager of GS Caltex, said: “The two companies will cooperate to develop environmentally friendly raw materials to contribute to the net economy and carbon reduction, strengthen ESG capabilities, and create economic value through high value-added products.”
LG Chem President Shin Hak-cheol also said: "We will devote ourselves to the research and development of environmentally friendly materials and lead future technologies that protect the environment and society."
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IBM today announced that supermarket chain Raley's expects to save $3 million over the next five years by standardizing its next generation applications on IBM's e-infrastructure technology.
The company also migrated its data warehouse operations from an NCR Teradata system to IBM's DB2 database.
The decision to implement IBM's technology was based on Raley's need to create a powerful, cost effective technological platform that could easily be enhanced for future e-business initiatives. The company also collaborated with IBM Global Services to migrate to DB2 to consolidate its data warehouse applications across 148 stores to monitor and track customer buying trends.
The decision to migrate to DB2 running on the IBM eServer zSeries platform was triggered when Raley's original data warehouse reached full capacity, hindering its ability to manage and report insights on its point of sale data. Since implementing DB2 to power its data warehouse, Raley's is changing merchandising efforts by providing more up-to-date, accurate reports enabling the supermarket's decision makers to be better prepared when dealing with vendors and suppliers. Today, its DB2 data warehouse holds more than 500 gigabytes of raw data and provides daily, online updates to vital product and sales data that was previously distributed in weekly, hardcopy reports. The company expects to save an additional $200,000 per year in database administrator (DBA) salaries by training and leveraging DB2 skills across the enterprise.
"The reporting capabilities of the DB2 data warehouse running on the IBM eServer zSeries platform are so powerful that it is changing the way we merchandise, the way we buy and the way we interact with our vendors and suppliers. Now we can respond more quickly to market activity," said Tom Jones, Chief Information Officer, Raley's. "Implementing IBM's infrastructure technology will become even more of an advantage as we evolve our e-business initiatives."
Each day, customer buying data from Raley's 148 stores is compiled, analyzed and published to IBM's DB2 database. When product category analysts and buyers arrive each morning, they can immediately get a jumpstart on the day with timely views of product movements, can evaluate promotional activity and stock shelves accordingly based on regional buying patterns.
Raley's data warehouse also relies on the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server (code named "Shark") and Tivoli Storage Manager for storage and disaster recovery of all its enterprise databases. The company also chose IBM's WebSphere Application Server as its development tool based on its powerful user interface tool and version control capabilities.
IBM Eases Migration, Lays Foundation for Future
IBM Global Services (IGS), collaborating with the IBM DB2 Migration Team, guided Raley's data warehouse migration, which was completed in just three months. IBM's Teraplex Integration Center provided a proof of concept that brought together experts in hardware, software, and business intelligence to test Raley's applications with real-life data. IGS will continue to provide consulting assistance to Raley's for the project, which was funded by IBM Global Financing.
In the future, Raley's plans to integrate PeopleSoft applications running on DB2 into its intranet and plans to incorporate ERP systems. The company also foresees making its data warehouse information available to select business partners who are interested in analyzing and applying sales data to refine their marketing programs.
Headquartered in West Sacramento, CA, Raley's owns 148 supermarkets across four chains --Raley's, Food Source, Nob Hill and Bel Air Markets -- and is ranked 20th largest US supermarket chain. The chain employs 17,000 and has revenues of $3 billion. Raley's has 97 Superstores in Northern California, Nevada and New Mexico. Raley's owns Bel Air Markets, a chain of 18 supermarkets in the greater Sacramento area; Food Source, a chain of 7 warehouse format stores; and Nob Hill Foods, a chain of 26 supermarkets in south San Jose, Central Coast, and greater Bay Area in Northern California.
About IBM's DB2 Universal Database
As the foundation for e-business, DB2 Universal Database is the industry's first multimedia, Web-ready relational database management system, strong enough to meet the demands of large corporations and flexible enough to serve medium-sized and small e-businesses. DB2 Universal Database combines integrated power for business intelligence, content management, enterprise information portals and e-business with industry-leading performance and reliability to drive the most demanding industry solutions. DB2 Universal Database together with Internet technology makes information easily accessible, available and secure. There are more than 60 million DB2 users from over 300,000 companies worldwide relying on IBM data management solutions. For more information, please visit www.software.ibm.com/data or www.ibm.com/bi.
IBM Software Group
Fax: (212) 745-2034


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Facebook Messenger is expanding itself as a games platform with the addition of augmented reality games.
The current crop of games are based around filters, which players can activate during real-time video chats with friends. Up to six people can play games at once.
Two titles have been released so far. Don’t Smile challenges players to keep a straight face or else their face will turn into an enormous grin. In Asteroids Attack meanwhile, users must protect the spaceship perched on their nose from falling asteroids.
More games are set to arrive in the coming months, including beach ball title Beach Bump and matching cat game Kitten Kraze.
Messenger games platform
AR filters were actually first introduced to Messenger video chat last year, though not as games. Facebook claims that their introduction helped surge the number of video chats in the app in 2017 to 17 billion, double that of 2016.
Earlier this year Facebook introduced in-app purchases to its Instant Games platform, available on Messenger.
With the addition of AR Games, it’s clear Facebook sees a lot of potential for gaming through a chat app that has 1.3 billion monthly active users.
It’s not currently clear if or when AR Games will be opened to developers to start making and releasing games.


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- Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal: These 2 Rakesh Jhunjhunwala portfolio's gaming stocks to benefit maximum from US biggest tec
- Will Nifty hit fresh record highs? Experts see these 5 triggers in Budget 2022
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- Dalal Street Voice: Focus on IT and Pharma as they are immunised from lockdowns: Somnath Mukherjee of ASK Wealth Advisors
Bajaj Electrical, WISeKey tie-up to create first ever IoT Digital platform
Swiss-based WISeKey International and Bajaj Electricals in a meeting held on Friday, entered into partnership for creating the first ever IoT Trusted Platform.
This platform is expected to connect a secure cloud approximately 100 million consumer & industrial products in the first phase of WISeLight IoT Platform.
Through this partnership, BEL will not only be considered a differentiated player in Indian market but will also bag a stand out position in the global arena as well.
"Our cooperation with WISeKey will allow BEL to become a major IoT platform in India,” said Anant Bajaj, Joint Managing Director of Bajaj Electricals Limited.
Adding further Bajaj said,“Through the Smart Indoor and Connected Outdoor products, BEL would enable its customers to embrace the latest technology in LED range and smart products, providing complete solutions for all lighting needs of our customers and markets – Commercial, Industrial, Cityscape, Sensors, Solar or IBMS.”
The move will support WISeKey to create approximately 100 million Digital Identities of the SKUs that Bajaj Electricals has market leadership in the Lighting segment in India.
Carlos Moreira, CEO of WISeKey said, “The WISeLight IoT Platform will shift this sector from a hardware-centric model, as the world moves, to delivering IoT lighting secured with sensors and embedded microchips, detecting and interacting with its environment in real-time."
"These digitally certified and connected appliances or objects, will be a step amongst many, that one of the oldest business conglomerates of India will embark upon in the journey of Digitization of the Core of Business and in spirit of the Digital India Campaign of the Government of India," it said in release.
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Surf legend Kelly Slater blew everyone away with the world’s first barreling artificial wave back in 2015 and then doubled down on the buzz last month by announcing he would open his own public wave pool in Florida. Now it’s the city of Perth’s turn as it recently announced an innovative new wave park coming to Alfred Cove in Perth, Australia for between 2018 and 2019. Though the announcement came with a short video, the company behind the pool — WaveGarden — just released a sneak preview of the much anticipated, highly covert wave pool dubbed, The Cove.
Designers behind the WaveGarden 2.0 prototype kept the details tightly sealed during their ongoing testing in Spain’s Basque Country, releasing little info about the architecture or features of the pool. However, the company now released a photo which effectively set the surf scene on fire with chatter. Although it’s hard to glean much from the photo, WaveGarden’s Austin, Texas pool produces perfectly curling left and right waves capable of making surfers of any skill level salivate.
The entire Perth surf lagoon does look a little different from the WaveGarden’s Austin design, however, which featured peeling waves towards a central pier — to WaveGarden’s dismay, this design received generally mixed reviews. For Perth’s installation, the company intends to lean on a new baseball diamond-shaped pool which supposedly cranks out 1,000 waves per hour. If this statistic holds true, it would mean the facility would produce one wave every four seconds. Concerning its height, the preview photo appears to show a roughly four or five-foot curling wave.
Scheduled to open sometime between 2018 and 2019, WaveGarden hasn’t released much additional information outside of its initial teaser video and now this published photo. According to URBNsurf, however, it’s likely WaveGarden’s 2.0 pops up in other Australian cities like Sydney and Melbourne in the coming years, as well.
- Kelly Slater’s ‘Surf Ranch’ will make waves by hosting its first competition
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- Could Acura’s True Touchpad technology signal the end of in-car touch screens?


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When Teabox founder Kausshal Dugarr and his soon-to-be investor, Neelesh Bhatnagar met for the first time in March, not surprisingly the beverage of choice at the meeting was tea. The order was an Assam tea and an English Breakfast one by a popular multinational tea brand. Dugarr called for some hot water, steeped in the ‘TeaPacs,’ and offered the cup to Bhatnagar to contrast the quality.
“My tea did the job for me,” Dugarr said as he discussed the funding by NB Ventures, the family office of Neelesh Bhatnagar. He did not disclose the amount invested by Bhatnagar, who is an old hand in retail, having held senior positions at the Landmark Group, more commonly known as the parent company behind retail chains like Lifestyle, Home Centre and Crossword.
In the days that followed the initial meeting, Dugarr sent over more teas for Bhatnagar and his family to sample. A tea chest, that includes some Kashmiri Kahwa, Mountain Rose, Darjeeling Muscatel. Nilgiri White, Darjeeling Oolong and Assam Masala.
And since wooing must be done right, Bhatnagar was also sent one of the most expensive offerings from the brand - the Badamtam Heritage Moonlight spring white tea. This white tea retails for over Rs 2 lakh per kilogram. A 25 gram packet, costing about Rs 5,000 would make 12 to 13 cups of tea.
“This was mainly to give him a sense of what we do, a taste of our products,” Dugarr said, adding that Bhatnagar with vast retail experience will help the brand to realise its own ambitions in the space, as Teabox looks at expanding it offline presence.
Zomato's revenue rose 123% to Rs 4,109 crore in the 2021-22 financial year. The company's loss widened by 24% to Rs 1,098 crore. The company in its annual report said its average monthly transacting customer base grew by 116% in the year. The online food delivery platform went public last year.


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Fabrizio Fiaschi is the owner of Amaretto Delicatessen in Norwich – said to be one of the nation’s best-loved Italian independents. With the deli celebrating its 15th birthday this month, he explains how the deli has managed to thrive, despite an ‘intense’ past few years
It’s fair to say that it’s been a challenging few years for small businesses. Which is why any success stories are worth celebrating. Fabrizio Fiaschi from Tuscany bought Amaretto Delicatessen, formerly known as The General Store, in May 2008, transforming the deli-kitchen into one of the nation’s best-loved Italian independents. Situated opposite St Andrew’s Hall, and just down from the Norwich University of the Arts, the deli won runner-up Best Deli in the national English Italian Awards in 2017 – the judges praising the deli’s authenticity and delicious Italian food which remains a staple of the business. Fabrizio also stocks plenty of local produce, saying that sourcing the best local food is vital to any Italian deli’s success.
Amaretto Delicatessen celebrates its fifteenth birthday this month, which is quite an achievement, given the last three years or so. Fabrizio says: ‘We would really like to thank our customers and everyone who has supported us over the last few years in particular.’
Famous for its fast-moving lunch time queue, and the array of cakes, pastries, sandwiches, fresh pizza and hot food on display every day, Amaretto has focussed on keeping quality high, as well as innovating over the years, bringing in much more vegan and gluten-free food – and they now offer loyalty cards and student discounts. The pandemic also provoked changes, as he explains: ‘We had to move quickly during the lockdowns; that’s when we started selling online food and hampers. It’s great as now the hampers have become a really special part of the business: people choose what they want online and we deliver across NR1-7 – they’re really popular presents, particularly at Christmas time.’
People also really enjoy using the outdoor tables these days, and Fabrizio says that, in recent years, they’ve really expanded their customer base, now reaching people who’d never heard of them before. He loves how buzzy it is in the shop: ‘It’s been an intense few years but we’re thriving thanks to our loyal customers, brilliant staff, and those local organisations that have helped us out including St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich City Council and the Norwich University of the Arts and their students. People really stuck with us during the pandemic, and we do appreciate that. Our staff and customers are what make this job worth doing, the feeling of community you get here in Norwich: that’s what gets me up in the morning.’
Asa Wetherell, who leads the Amaretto kitchen and has been working in Amaretto for over 13 years, agrees, saying: ‘I really enjoy working in Amaretto as there’s an amusing, happy environment in the shop. It’s busy, it’s staffed full of characters and the shop itself is in a lovely part of Norwich. You’re right around the corner from Elm Hill opposite a Medieval church (St Andrew’s Hall). We love it here.’


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The breach allows hackers to access people’s phone content despite the introduction of fingerprint technology that claims to be the safest smartphone security system on the market. The problem appears to only be an issue with the iPhone 4S and 5 handsets.
Loads of eager tech fans immidiately complained of messages telling them: ‘An error occurred whilst downloading iOS 7.0’.
Aware of this issue, a fix in a future software update is certain. The new look OS had already earned a muddy name as users complained about difficulties downloading it. Users took to social media such as Twitter to express their frustration at the setback as ‘iOS 7.0’became a trending topic. Once able to download the high-tech new software users then complained of it not being user friendly.
Even though Sir Jonathan Ive introduced iOS 7 as an ‘important new direction’, ‘Android-like menus’, ‘cheap and unfamiliar’ were common words amongst apple patrons along with updated app issues.


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People have been debating how to lose weight fast for years today. In fact, there is still an ongoing debate regarding the real meaning of rapid weight reduction. Some folks believe the rapid loss of carbs isn't healthy and causes a deterioration in one's health. 1 study published in the journal Science indicated that there are certain foods that hasten the burning of calories.
The analysis published in Science suggests that eating wholemeal may assist in speeding up weight loss. The entire grain was found to contain a kind of monounsaturated fat which may help in burning fat. The investigators used a lab machine to check the consequences of consuming the entire grain. It was found that the intake of these grain could help lessen fat from the belly area of evaluation subjects. This may help them shed weight in a manner that is faster.
There's no claiming that snacks and favorite foods are great if consumed regularly. But if you are seeking to shed weight fast, then cutting out your favourite foods would be a excellent way to begin. The main reason some folks consider skipping breakfast is


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Jumia is bringing the flash sales game in Nigeria to a new height. Come 27th, there’ll be pretty many flash sales and many exciting black friday deals, but that’s not what we are talking about today. Innjoo and Jumia will be offering loads of Innjoo tablets for half their price in an exciting flash sale going to hold today by 10:00A.M.
To participate, simply visit Jumia.com.ng search for your preferred Innjoo tablet and buy. Remember, it’s a fastest finger win sort of flash sale. Happy shopping!


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2nd Largest Bookstore Chain, Borders to Go Out of Business
The second largest bookstore chain in the country, Borders, is going out of business. The move will put 11-thousand people out of a job nationwide, including some right here in Southern New England.
Borders tried various ways to avoid going out of business, such as closing down some of the chain's stores, and looking for a buyer, but the company could approach the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, and ask that the company be allowed to sold to liquidators.
There are various Borders stores in Southern New England, 3 stores in Rhode Island, located in Cranston, the Providence Place Mall, and at the T.F. Green Airport. In Massachusetts, stores are located in North Attleboro, Mansfield, Taunton, and Swansea.
The closures will cause 151 people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to lose their jobs.
ABC6 Reporter John Guice has more on this story…


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Heard the latest juicy gossip? Using cost-effective and eco-friendly solutions, a new Portuguese company is aiming to revolutionize the fruit business by bringing innovative improvements to its supply chain.
Instead of being thrown away, industrial fruit waste can be upcycled and transformed into functional food ingredients, which are separated by means of a game-changing patent technology.
Potential gains include natural enzymes, vitamin extracts, fruit flours and dehydrated juices. The startup offers their solution to companies facing food waste issues.
It’s an initiative that could both generate additional revenue streams and cut down on pollution as waste can be transformed by 100%.
A project, in other words, that is certain to bear fruit.


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Disney video game executive to leave post
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Media company Walt Disney Co said on Monday it had reorganized its interactive unit, which houses video games and online properties, and that Co-President John Pleasants will leave his current post.
Disney said it consolidated the unit's video game and media groups under Jimmy Pitaro, the division's other co-president. Pleasants will serve as a consultant to the business.
The two were appointed co-presidents in October 2010 to turn around the money-losing unit.
The interactive unit reported a profit for the quarter that ended in September, earning $16 million after losing $76 million a year ago, partially on sales of its ambitious new Disney Infinity console game. The company said it has sold more than 1 million Infinity starter packs.
Disney shares slipped 0.4 percent to $68.31 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
- Israel rejects ceasefire plan, source says, as death toll nears 850 |
- Obama tells Central American leaders most children will go home
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- EU edges to economic sanctions on Russia but narrows scope |


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Sony Ericsson Refused to Build Nexus One
The CEO of Sony Ericisson, Burt Nordberg, is raising some eyebrows with a statement he made concerning the Nexus One recently to the Swedish publication Sydsvenskan. According to the folks over at Engadget, Nordberg stated in an interview that Sony Ericsson was originally offered the chance to build the Nexus One for the Big G, but refused.
Nordberg states that Sony Ericsson is committed to building only its own-branded hardware and will not be a subcontractor to anyone. Tough words Burt, tough words. Oh well, it isn’t like Sony Ericsson is losing business, they don’t need anything from Google, or do they? Now it’s time for your thoughts Android fans. Was this a good decision by Sony Ericsson or not?
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There were a handful of phones on display at last week’s Google I/O which have yet to cross our radar. As good of a job as we think we do
Google has announced the latest app to get updated to Material Design, and Google Calendar is next on the train. Today we take a look at a some new features
Welcome back to another round of Android stuff worth mentioning that might not make make its own post. Many of these bullet points come from you guys through twitter, Facebook, and email and make for interesting reads. Some work better for developers or heavy enthusiast while others are more general interest.


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What a Difference a Decade Makes: The Rise of Indonesia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
An interview with Aldi Haryopratomo by Jackie Carmel, Managing Director, Endeavor Catalyst
With recent investments from Google, Facebook, and Microsoft making headlines, Indonesia’s tech scene has exploded onto the world stage in 2020. Meanwhile, the country’s digital economy is taking off with 40 million new internet users last year alone, leading many — including us — to predict that international attraction to Southeast Asia’s largest economy is only just getting started.
Whether or not the rumors of an $18B Gojek and Tokopedia merger become reality, we believe 2021 is the year that more US investors “discover” what is happening in Southeast Asia’s digital economy — and particularly in Indonesia. Following in the footsteps of SEA Group (NYSE:SE) — currently the only Southeast Asian tech company listed on a US exchange — we predict at least 2–3 Indonesian tech companies will seek to go public in the US within the next 12 months, including the first dual-listing IPOs between the US and Indonesia.
That “something big” is underway in Indonesia’s tech ecosystem is not surprising; but it is a remarkably different reality than only ten years ago.
One entrepreneur who has been there every step of Indonesia’s tech transformation is Aldi Haryopratomo, who was among the first Endeavor Entrepreneurs in Indonesia. Aldi built his first startup, Mapan, in 2009. In 2017, Mapan was acquired by Gojek, where he became the CEO of Gopay, and built Indonesia’s leading fintech unicorn.
Aldi left Gopay earlier this year, and is now on sabbatical mentoring a new breed of entrepreneurs. We had a chance to talk to him about his experiences.
“Unlike today, venture capital was non-existent in Indonesia in 2009,” says Aldi Haryopratomo, founder and CEO of Gopay, and a serial entrepreneur in Indonesia. “Trying to get advice on how to build a startup was impossible.” It makes sense — only 7% of the population in Indonesia was online in 2009, compared to the 70% internet penetration today. This 10x growth has opened up a world of possibilities for hopeful entrepreneurs and technology investors alike.
Despite Indonesia’s nascent entrepreneurship ecosystem at the time, Aldi’s is a success story. Aldi’s first venture, Mapan, focused on providing lower income communities better access to valuable products and services through technology and the power of networks.
We first met Aldi in 2009, the same year he founded Mapan, when he cold-emailed Endeavor’s expansion team to inquire about opening an office in Indonesia — looking for support. As a graduate student at Harvard, he had read a case study about Endeavor’s success in Latin America, where entrepreneurs such as Wences Casares, Marcos Galperin, and others had spurred the growth of an entrepreneurial ecosystem beginning to rival that of Silicon Valley.
“My curiosity spiked,” said Aldi. “I was jealous of the startup support system my fellow founders had in San Francisco. I assumed that most founders in Nigeria, Argentina, or Brazil faced a similar problem.”
Aldi graduated with a degree in computer engineering in 2004 from Purdue University, and worked two years as an IT security consultant for Ernst & Young in San Francisco before joining the star microfinance organization, Kiva. Aldi left Kiva to work at BCG where he had an opportunity to create the initial design for a mobile banking system in Pakistan, ultimately realizing the vast commercial potential of enabling a network of rural shopkeepers with the ability to accept mobile payments.
In late 2008, inspired by this revelation, Aldi created the pilot project that would ultimately become Mapan. Mapan was founded on the belief that in any village or community, there is a natural community leader, who is best positioned to provide goods and services for his or her neighbors. The company started by offering prepaid cell phone minutes and bill payment services. Since then, Mapan’s main product line has evolved to be Arisan Mapan (“mapan” means financially self-sufficient in Bahasa Indonesian), which utilizes the traditional rotation-based savings and loan model at the village level to offer affordable goods — ranging from clothing to refrigerators — to its members. Mapan has helped over three million families finance goods using the arisan model.
When asked about his greatest role models over the years, Aldi mentioned his father, who built roads and bridges all through Indonesia and often took his children to work with him. This exposure motivated Aldi to pursue building companies that gave access to basic services to those who need them the most.
As Mapan scaled, Aldi looked for mentors in the ecosystem who could give him advice. He continued to email Endeavor, asking when an office in Indonesia might open.
“I would call every month or so just to check in,” Aldi said.
In 2012, to his excitement, Endeavor Indonesia launched and began a proactive search for potential Endeavor Entrepreneurs. Aldi immediately put his name in the ring, and became the first Indonesian entrepreneur to go through Endeavor’s selection process.
“I stumbled through the local selection panel,” recounted Aldi. “The panelists were people who I had only seen in magazines. They grilled me for hours about my revenue, team, and growth.”
But he passed unanimously and soon after boarded a plane to Dubai for an International Selection Panel (ISP), the final step in Endeavor’s selection process. The ISP was equally as challenging — and exhilarating. Stakes were high since, if selected, he would become Indonesia’s first Endeavor Entrepreneur.
“The grilling continued in Dubai. Panelists paired together to assault me with questions and shower me with wisdom. I walked out of the three sessions exhausted,” he said.
But, when it came time for the decision, Aldi was ultimately rejected. He was crushed.
The following year, Sati Rasuanto, the Managing Director of Endeavor Indonesia, invited him to go through the process again. This time, it was Sati’s turn to be persistent. Despite initial hesitation, Aldi agreed to attend another ISP, and this time he was selected.
Once in the Endeavor network, Aldi had access to the mentorship and guidance he had only dreamed of years prior. One of Aldi’s early mentors was Pak Husodo, the founding Chairman of Endeavor Indonesia, and a well-respected entrepreneur in the country. Pak Husodo helped Aldi navigate doing business in Jakarta, and became an early investor in Mapan. Another important mentor for Aldi was the Argentinian serial entrepreneur Wences Casares, who was part of Aldi’s first selection panel.
“I made a point to meet Wences every time I traveled to California,” said Aldi. “I sought his counsel on every career-changing moment I had.”
In addition to his cherished mentors, Aldi forged strong relationships with Endeavor’s staff. Over the years, he felt immensely supported by Allen Taylor who oversaw Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor’s investment fund. Aldi recalls Allen guiding him through the “obscure terms and pitfalls he had seen many entrepreneurs face.” In 2014, Endeavor Catalyst joined Mapan’s Series B financing round alongside Omidyar Network.
Two years later, Mapan, along with two other Indonesian fintech companies, was acquired by Gojek, an Indonesian ride hailing unicorn. Gojek was on its way to becoming a superapp, and wanted to build a payments and financial services arm. As part of the acquisition, Aldi became CEO of Gopay.
“When we started, Gopay was mainly known as a payment method for Gojek; there were only a few thousand transactions happening outside of Gojek each day. We launched our QR payments offline, and within less than a year, we were processing over a million transactions per day,” Aldi shared.
Under Aldi’s leadership, Gopay continued to grow exponentially. In 2019, Gopay was reported to have processed $6.3 billion dollars of transactions, and expanded from a purely domestic business to establishing a regional presence. Gopay’s rise helped attract strategic investments from global tech companies into Gojek including Paypal, Facebook, Google, and Tencent.
“I feel privileged to have had a team that, in such a short time, was able to change how millions of people accessed payments and financial services. We learned so many lessons along the way, and I wanted to find ways to share them with other entrepreneurs in the region,” Aldi recalled.
Aldi embodied the Endeavor spirit of “paying it forward” and began mentoring entrepreneurs himself, devoting much of his time to cultivating the ecosystem he didn’t have as an aspiring entrepreneur. For years, Aldi has served as a mentor to Gibran Huzaifah, Founder of eFishery, where he has recently been appointed to the board. Aldi recounts, “When it was about fish, Gibran was the teacher, and I was the student. Learning about fish, my favorite protein, was a reprieve from the world of fintech.” Aldi further noted, “Often, I learned more from mentoring other entrepreneurs than when I was a mentee. Gibran was one such example.”
After informally advising the company for six years, Aldi also formally joined the board of Halodoc, a fast-growing health technology company in Indonesia. Kitabisa, Indonesia’s largest donations app, also counts Aldi as one of its board members.
As internet penetration grows, and capital and geography continue to decouple, the once nearly insurmountable barriers to entrepreneurship in places like Indonesia are beginning to come down. It has been over a decade since Aldi first learned of Endeavor as a graduate student and aspiring entrepreneur in Indonesia. In many ways, Aldi’s journey as an entrepreneur parallels that of the Indonesia ecosystem itself. What began as an aspiring entrepreneur in a fledgling entrepreneurial ecosystem, became an entrepreneur to aspire to in a thriving one. And we think Indonesia is a market to watch.
Organizations like Endeavor are helping to establish the support systems globally that Aldi craved back in 2009. Today, Aldi encourages every entrepreneur he meets to join Endeavor — “if only for the friendships you will make along the journey,” he says.


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The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has proposed a number of updates to the Food Chemical Codex (FCC), including the first example of a new type of resource, the FCC Identity Standard, designed to help food scientists verify the identity of complex food ingredients. The updates are posted in the latest FCC Forum and open for public comment until September 30.
The newly introduced identity standards will provide tests to confirm that a product is what it purports to be, as well as tests for substances that should not be found in an authentic product, according to the USP. The first proposed FCC Identity Standard is for pomegranate juice.
“Unfortunately, there have been numerous cases in the past where a purple-colored liquid labeled as pomegranate juice was found to be pomegranate juice adulterated with various other fruit juices and, in extreme cases, manufactured from only sugars, colorants and other ingredients without containing any fruit juice at all,” says Markus Lipp, PhD, senior director of food standards for USP.
The FCC contains approximately 1,100 monographs providing standards criteria for the purity and identity of food ingredients that are single chemical components, such as glucose. Dr. Lipp notes, however, that some food ingredients are more complex chemically and exhibit natural variations in composition.
“Pomegranate juice is one of those complex food ingredients that may vary significantly in its composition depending on climatic and geographic factors under which the pomegranate fruit are grown,” he says. “For those ingredients, USP developed FCC Identity Standards, which contain a multitude of tests and criteria that users can employ to verify the authenticity of such food ingredients.”
Tests included in the identity standards will verify the absence of markers for adulteration, such as sorbitol or tartaric acid in pomegranate juice. The USP will continue to develop monographs for food ingredients, but when necessary because of the complexity and variability of an ingredient, identity standards will be developed instead, Dr. Lipp says.
This issue of the FCC Forum coincides with the 50th anniversary of the FCC, which was acquired by USP in 2006. The free online resource has been updated with improved search options and other functions to provide greater ease of use.
“USP’s commitment to making the FCC a better, more complete tool with each new edition, and making it a more interactive compendium, adds value to its successful five decades of being the go-to publication for food ingredients standards,” Dr. Lipp says.


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New research predicts that China will be the most popular holiday spot in the world, with the largest number of both inbound and outbound travellers
China will overtake France as the world’s number one tourist destination by 2030, a new report from global research company Euromonitor International predicts. As well as receiving more visitors than any other country in the world, it will also have the largest number of outbound travellers, overtaking the US and Germany, with 260 million outbound tourist trips by 2030.
Speaking at World Travel Market in London this week, Wouter Geerts, consultant at Euromonitor and author of the report, said tourism was now one of the key pillars of the Chinese economy. According to his research, China will be largest inbound market by 2030, with many tourists coming from other Asian countries, including Hong Kong and Taiwan.


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Now That The Novelty's Worn Off...
It has been a few days since Steve Jobs took the lid off the iPhone. Now that Apple's stock price has come back to earth, and the millions of the Mac faithful have had their chance to drool over the highly anticipated device, is it really that great?
PERSPECTIVE Everyone saw it coming. Following the disaster of the Motorola iTunes phone, it was all but a certainty that Apple would come back and prove that it could indeed produce a phone with the beauty of the iPod.
Months and months of rumors were finally confirmed in Tuesday's announcements. For myself, the phone was everything I could have possibly wanted in an Apple "smartphone" and more. Even my Microsoft-centric friends marveled at the device's simplicity and innovation.
One even said the iPhone set the bar so high for Microsoft that it might take years for the company to catch up, something I don't necessarily disagree with.
But it became one gigantic disappointment not soon after. And I think I speak for several others with what I'm about to write. It's not the device itself so much as the way that Apple has decided to go with it.
First off is Apple's deal with Cingular. I understand some of Jobs' reasoning in initially offering the device through a single carrier, but a multi-year deal? It seems like the folks at Cingular -- or come Monday, AT&T -- took the ever-confident CEO for a ride.
Why hamstring yourself like that? It seems almost odd to me. Apple picks a global standard, GSM, and then seems to forget the 25 million or so consumers here in the states that are also GSM customers, and possibly equally eager to get their hands on the device.
Is visual voicemail that hard to implement? I just don't buy it. The stuff about needing a superior network? Nonsense. Even the Windows Treo only had a six-month exclusivity period. Cingular's EDGE network is no better than say, T-Mobile's.
Steve, if you want to change the mobile phone world, you need to work with everybody.
What happens to people like me, who are happy with their current provider (T-Mobile)? I am essentially shut out. And I'm not paying $800+USD for a phone I'm not even sure I can unlock, and that in the end would be partially working. I am sincerely hoping that Jobs doesn't make the same mistake elsewhere. Because if he expects to sell 10 million phones in the first year, you aren't going to do it with exclusive contracts.
That brings me to the second problem: price. Like the Macintoshes of yore, this thing is significantly more expensive than other devices in its category. At $499 for a two-year contract, it puts the iPhone at the top of the heap.
A couple of years ago, such a price point for a smartphone wouldn't be too far-fetched. But in today's market, that price is way too high. Apple has always had a bad habit of putting prices at a premium, and I'm afraid this is a bit too high for all but the most avid of Apple supporters.
Finally, the closed nature of the device bothers me as well. Being based on Mac OS X, this should have a similar platform for developers to create programs on. But no, no, no says Jobs.
"You don't want your phone to be an open platform. You need it to work when you need it to work. Cingular doesn't want to see their West Coast network go down because some application messed up," he told Steven Levy of Newsweek.
Again, Jobs shows his naivete in mobile phones. Name me one application on the Windows Mobile or Palm platforms that has ever brought down somebody's network, much less degrade service. That's a cop-out.
It's like Jobs is making the same mistakes he made initially with the Macintosh with the iPhone. I'm not disagreeing that this is a game-changing device, because in many ways it is. But Jobs and crew are just not starting off on the right foot here, and they're giving others (think Microsoft) time to come in and steal Apple's thunder once again.


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One Model's Quote Nails the Problem With How We Treat "Sexy" Plus-Size Women
Ashley Graham is not shy about how much she loves her curves — and how much she wants other women to love theirs. Indeed, the 5'9" "plus-size" model has built a career on championing the message that curvier women can be sexy, no matter their dress size.
Unfortunately, as the fashion world embraces plus-size women, that embrace tends to one extreme, leading to the sexualization of plus-size women in media.
"Curvy bodies have always been the sexier bodies in fashion," Graham told Details in a new interview, and that can be a problem:
"Curvy bodies have always been the sexier bodies in fashion. Any model who is strictly a lingerie model, she has fuller breasts and fuller hips. Girls who are much thinner, who might be a size zero with no T&A, are not the Victoria's Secret model. And it just goes to show that a curvier body is considered sexier. So if you get an even curvier body, like mine, we're automatically sexualized. If I was cast in a role in a movie, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I would be the sexy girl, I would have a sex scene, I would probably have to show a little nipple. That would just be the case, because of the way my body is."
Body-positive activists have long argued for more representation of plus-size models in media, but that representation often comes in a one-dimensional format.
Model Tess Holliday has been heralded, but she's often styled with a classic, bouncy hair and red-lipped pinup look (or like Venus). Candice Huffine's biggest mainstream gig to date was becoming the first plus-size model to star in the Pirelli calendar, in which she wore latex lingerie that exposed her breasts.
Graham made history as the first plus-size model to be featured in an ad in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, a notable breakthrough but yet another in which the achievement was one of sex appeal. She was, after all, wearing teensy bikini like so many of the other models in the issue.
The over-sexing of plus-size bodies in fashion is indicative of a wider societal tendency. Earlier this year, a high school student in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was suspended after she showed up at her high school prom wearing a long-sleeved, floor-length gown that school officials deemed inappropriate. The teenager's mom told the local press that the reaction was most likely due to the fact that her daughter is plus-size and not flat-chested, PennLive.com reported.
That inclination to oversex is also visible in Hollywood. "I think any woman who is curvy and wears a gown to an event is, like, super-sexualised," Scarlett Johansson told Elle UK in 2012. "Throw on an evening frock and it's like all of a sudden you have boobs and everyone is like, 'Bombshell!'"
Yes, curves are great. And yes, they can be sexy. But that's not the only way curvy bodies can — or should — be presented. As Graham said in her now-famous Ted talk, "My body, like my confidence, has been picked apart, manipulated, and controlled by others who didn't necessarily understand it.
Once I reclaimed ownership over my body, I discovered a greater purpose as a woman who was defying preconceived standards of feminine beauty."


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Paisley’s MSP George Adam has today welcomed new figures which show that the number of empty shops in Scotland dropped to 8.7 per cent in October – the lowest retail vacancy rate for four years.
The figures, published by the Scottish Retail Consortium, also show that this rate is lower than the UK rate of 9.1 per cent. There has also been a slight improvement in retail footfall compared to last month.
Commenting, George said:
“These encouraging figures show that the proportion of empty shops in Scotland is now lower than at any time over the last four years and lower than in the UK as a whole – a welcome sign that ahead of the busy Christmas season Scotland’s high streets are getting back to business.
“The SNP government is serious about revitalising our town centres – that’s why a new £1.7 million fund to regenerate town centres was launched in August and local authorities have been given more powers over local business rates.
‘The Scottish Government has also invested heavily in Paisley Town Centre over recent years, by funding the refurbishment of the Russell Institute, the new flats at the Arnott’s site and the make-over of Paisley Gilmour Street Station. I meet with local business people every day and have heard just how much they value the small business bonus, many of whom may not have taken the decision to open up a business if not for the rate relief.
“These new figures are also another sign that the SNP government’s work to support entrepreneurs is bearing fruit – the number of businesses now benefiting from the Small Business Bonus Scheme in Renfrewshire has reached 2566 contributing to the highest number of businesses in Scotland since devolution.
“The SNP is determined that Scotland remains the most competitive place to do business in the UK and that our high streets flourish – creating jobs, boosting local growth and supporting local communities.”


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ULSTER COUNTY BUSINESS RECOGNITION AWARDS: Schneider’s Jewelers, Small Business of the Year
Schneider’s Jewelers has been a part of the Ulster County community since 1928.
Thomas Jacobi, who owns the business with his wife, Deborah, said Deborah’s grandfather, Gustav Schneider, started the jewelry store in Kingston. Schneider’s son, George, later joined the business, and then he and his wife took over and opened the store on Wall Street in Uptown Kingston in 1950.
Jacobi said he went to work for Schneider’s Jewelers in 1978 and took over in 1985. He said the store currently has 12 full-time employees and two part-timers.
Jacobi said several of the employees have been with the business for more than 20 years and that they have helped the company stay in business, as has being part of the community.
“I really think being part of a community is very important,” Jacobi said. “I think that gives you some staying power.” He said Schneider’s gets a lot of repeat customers and tries to offer unique items that customers cannot easily get elsewhere. Customers travel a distance to buy those items, Jacobi said.
Jacobi said he was “shocked” that Schneider’s was named Small Business of the Year. He said there are a number of other businesses in the county to chose from and it is an honor just to be listed with them.
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It has been a few months now since Apple launched the latest version of the iPhone. Many believe that this year the next version will be a total redesign like what was seen when the iPhone 4 was first released. Now experts are offering iPhone 5 advice and suggesting what it will mean for the company.
According to Shaw Wu, analyst at Sterne Agee, the next version of the iPhone will fuel Apple’s stock growth the most in 2012. An article on The Mac Observer is stating that the analyst believes the iPhone 5 will feature a “more radical refresh”, which will also include 4G LTE compatibility.
Alleged checks from supply chain and other sources has led Wu to believe that the next iPhone will also have a sleeker feel to it, and have a slightly larger screen. Wu along with a number of Wall Street analysts feel that Apple’s business model offers them a competitive advantage over their rivals.
He also believes that Apple will give consumers a better experience that the Android 4G devices currently available give. Sources are claiming that the company will provide a handset with better battery life and software, and Wu suggests the iPhone 5 will be released either late summer or in the fall.
Meanwhile Cnet are reporting that Tavis McCourt of Morgan Keegan also believes the iPhone 5 will be available in the fall. McCourt also thinks the iPhone will account for around half of Apple’s revenue for the next reported quarter.
He stated that both the iPhone 5 and the proposed Apple TV will significantly push Apple’s revenues later in the year. There has been talk before that Apple delayed the release of the iPhone 5 because of LTE technology, and with the release of smaller and less power hungry chips this year a device would be released with the technology.
Are you waiting for the iPhone 5?
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Online shopping site Shopee has become the title sponsor of Malaysia’s FA Cup, and will also serve as the ticketing platform for the tournament through a partnership with Football Malaysia (FMLLP).
The Malaysian-based e-commerce site will allow fans to purchase match tickets and other related merchandise during the football tournament.
FMLLP has signed a deal with Shopee for the firm to become the title sponsor for the 2018 FA Cup, which kicks off today (Friday).
Under the agreement, the tournament will be rebranded as the 2018 Shopee Malaysia FA Cup.
Shopee’s store page already lists eight matches from the FA Cup and Super League that have already sold out.
In addition, football fans in the country have taken advantage of the new partnership’s promotional offer of buy-one-get-one-free tickets.
Shopee is also giving their users a chance to win VIP and normal tickets to the FA Cup final when they purchase match tickets.


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ACT’s preliminary November numbers showed combined North American Classes 5-8 intake falling 15% month-over-month and 38% year-over-year in November. Preliminary North America Class 8 net order data show the industry booked 17,500 units in November, down 20% from October, while Classes 5-7 orders fell 8% m/m, to 15,300 units.
“Preliminary November data show that Class 8 net orders failed to sustain October’s encouraging start to the order season,” said Tim Denoyer, ACT’s vice president and senior analyst. “The freight market downturn worsened in the past month and uncertainty surrounding trade and tariffs continue to weigh on truck buyers’ psyches. With rising pressure on carrier profits from the combined impact of lower rates and the recent, rather sudden jump in insurance premia, recent events have not developed in the industry’s favor. While private fleets continue to add capacity on the retail end, the market is increasingly heeding for-hire price signals and the stage is being set to right-size the fleet, bringing it closer to equilibrium with the work to be done.”
Regarding the medium-duty segment, Denoyer added, “This marks an eighth consecutive month of below-trend net order activity, likely reflecting souring investment sentiment amid ongoing trade uncertainty and adding pressure to the 2020 production outlook.”
FTR’s numbers had Class 8 orders at 17,300 units, which the firm called “disappointing.” The numbers is down 21% from October, down 39% from November 2018 and represents the lowest November total since 2015.
“The fall order season has gotten off to a slow start,” said Don Ake, FTR’s vice president of commercial vehicles. “Freight growth has stalled from the high rates of last year. This is causing fleets to be much more measured in their ordering for 2020. There still will be plenty of freight to haul, so we expect fleets will continue to be profitable and to replace older equipment. However, there won’t be a need for much additional equipment on the roads.”


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"i don't want all those girls with pale skin who look the same. my family is italian - i am inspired by a womanly aesthetic."
- antonio berardi
it is no secret that the global economic meltdown has had a profound impact on the fashion industry over this last year but now it is unleashing its fury and wrath on the model front. earlier this month, naomi campbell voiced to the sunday telegraph, "this year, we have gone back all the way that we had advanced. i don't see any black woman, or of any other race, in big advertising campaigns." top agencies and designers are also revealing that the runway shift is towards a curvier, more "girl-next-door" and, therefore, accessible (ie. commercial) look. "when the economy is booming, we experiment a little more with complicated looks and extravagant makeup and hairstyles," ivan bart, senior vice president at img models, told the wall street journal. "now the key for advertisers is to bring people into the store." with fashion "month" commencing on thursday, the proof will be in the pudding. watch this space.


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Following the success of Talking Pictures TV and more recently Rok TV, Sony is to launch a classic movie channel.
Tag "Sony Movie Channel"
Christmas comes early this year as Sony Movies Christmas launches on 10th September.
Sony Pictures Television has announced that its flagship movie channel Sony Movie Channel will launch across Freeview and Virgin on 10th January 2017.
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is to launch Sony Movie Channel this Thursday.


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You Can Now Shop Affordable for Books at BookSale Online
There's a lot of things we miss about the outside world. One of them is mindlessly looking through books at BookSale. Whether it be finding a book at a great value or picking up magazine back issues, pretty much everyone has a BookSale story.
We've got good news for you: BookSale is finally online through Shopee. So, add that to your weekly (daily?) scroll on the online marketplace. Early this month, BookSale announced it was accepting orders online, but now everything's easier as its just a few clicks away.
The news came from Twitter, which was excited about the whole thing. One user posted a tweet of the shop on Shopee, and it just snowballed from there, with BookSale ending up on the list of trending topics.
The news was also confirmed by award-winning writer Shakira Sison whose father owns the store. She tweeted, "Yes it's true that BookSale is online, and my dear father is asking for your support to help keep his employees afloat, most of whom have been with him for decades. They are struggling like everyone else."
So, there you have it. You'll be getting books at a discount, while helping keep BookSale and its employees afloat during the pandemic. Check out BookSale on Shopee here.


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Director of athletics Lee De Leon surprised most people when he unveiled a new five-year contract between the Department of Athletics and Nike that will put Wildcats in the Oregon-based company’s gear well into 2021.
The partnership goes into effect on July 1, 2016. De Leon did not disclose the value of the contract.
Rewind a few months however, and De Leon and the athletics office would tell you that Nike was not a part of ACU’s immediate future.
“Originally we started contract negotiations with Adidas, and then Under Armour came into the picture and made us an offer, but in the end, we couldn’t turn down Nike,” De Leon said. “We have nothing against Adidas, they have done a great job the past three years, but in the end, we have to do what’s best for us and for where we want to be in the future.”
When negotiations began, it appeared that ACU’s next sponsor would be from Baltimore, Maryland.
“About three months ago I went to a conference and met some representatives from Under Armour, and they started coming after us pretty hard,” De Leon said. “They told me that they had 16 schools that they sponsored and they wanted ACU to be the 17th. So at that time, I started going back and forth between Adidas and Under Armour, who both had given us great deals, but I really wasn’t sure which one to choose.”
One afternoon changed all that for De Leon and the Wildcats.
“I was meeting with our student body president Beau Carter one afternoon and he saw some Adidas and Under Armour stuff in my office,” De Leon said. “I told him we were negotiating between the two and he asked me ‘Why aren’t we Nike?’
“I know there are a lot of students on campus that want ACU to be a Nike sponsored school,” Carter said. “I honestly was just curious as to whether or not ACU joining Nike would be realistic.”
That single question would be the beginning of the negotiation process with the largest sportswear manufacturer in the world.
“I told him that Nike wasn’t really interested in ACU, we didn’t have a big enough program and that it probably wasn’t going to happen,” De Leon said.
In July, Nike signed Michigan to a 10-year, $169 million deal and Tennessee to an eight-year, $35 million deal. The company also already partnered with four other universities from Texas, in Baylor, Texas Christian, Texas and Southern Methodist, making it unlikely that the sports apparel juggernaut would find interest in ACU.
“Beau looked at me and said, ‘Well have you asked them?’,” De Leon said.
He had not. But as only a politician can do, Carter convinced De Leon to do just that.
“After he said that, I found the phone number for the director of collegiate athletic wear for Nike and called him up, put him on speaker with Beau, and we discussed if there was any possible future where ACU and Nike are partners,” De Leon said. “The three of us talked and eventually it was through his connection with (ACU alum) Lance Barrow that got us through the door and talking about a possible deal.”
To be a part of that phone call, with the director of athletics of a Div. I university and a director with Nike, was something Carter was not expecting.
“Originally, I was coming in to talk to him about the Student Association’ Tailgate Initiative that we have going on this fall,” Carter said. “I had no idea that this would happen and that I would at all be involved in the process.”
In the week’s that followed, De Leon continued to negotiate with Nike, but received little response.
“At the board meeting a few weeks later, Lee pulled me aside and told me that Adidas and Under Armour had both given us incredible deals but we hadn’t gotten anything from Nike yet,” Carter said.
Eventually, Nike did get back with De Leon and offered the Wildcats a deal they couldn’t refuse.
“Things got busy and we followed up about a week later and I told him what we were looking for and he came back with an offer that was exactly what we wanted,” De Leon said. “I hung up the phone and let out the biggest yell that everyone could hear in the office. I had to apologize but at the same time, I got to tell my staff that we just hit a home run.”
The move to Nike opens up several doors for ACU. The new deal gives the Wildcats more flexibility financially, a huge recruiting tool and another step in becoming an established Div. I university.
“I hope this will primarily impact athletics’ recruiting over the next few years, as it is definitely a selling point to be wearing the top athletic brand in the world on your jersey,” Carter said. “I also firmly believe that this will accelerate our transition into becoming a name in college sports regarding our Div. I transition.
“One of the big points we talked about in the office the day of the phone call was how big this would be for putting the Wildcats on the map. We hope that this, paired with student involvement in sporting events through tailgates and game attendance, will fuel our transition and bring our school together behind our athletics department.”


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Major corporations like Wal-Mart, Amazon and eBay have announced plans to implement or test same-day delivery services. This shift is a major change that could lead some smaller companies to follow suit in an effort to retain clients, boost customer service and compete with larger firms. However, the logistics and planning requirements behind such plans may be overwhelming, and will require fleets of all sizes to have the most effective vehicle routing software in place.
Will same-day shipping really catch on?
With consumers seeking instant gratification now more than ever, they may be more likely to choose same-day shipping as an option while making online purchases. Some companies may see this delivery option as just another way to enhance client service and boost their reputations, others may see it as a costly and extremely complex system that adds additional work with little benefit.
Even though larger corporations are currently only testing the system in select markets, it could spread across the country soon. John Donahoe, CEO of eBay, recently told Fortune magazine he predicts same-day shipping will someday be everywhere and most major retailers will provide it. However, it remains to be seen if consumers will be willing to pay the extra charge for same-day service, if companies will be able to make it cost effective for their business plans and how this will impact other shipping options if it does become popular. One thing is certain - companies that choose to test out this trend will need the best possible solutions to ensure operations run as smoothly as possible.
Making the best use of available resources
It used to take quite a bit of time for a fleet manager to plan an effective, logical and fuel-efficient route, but with the introduction of route optimization software, it's now much simpler for companies to determine how to manage their vehicles. Using this technology can help a manager know what resources they have available and how they can be best used to make pickups and deliveries.
This is essential for firms testing out same-day delivery services. Because this option can make it tricky for carriers to guarantee they'll deliver all purchases on time, they must be prepared to invest in the latest solutions and prepare for the challenges it could bring. By using routing software, they can better ensure all vehicles will be used wisely and get merchandise to its intended destination on schedule.


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The idea of a tax on online sales is being examined by the British Retail Consortium as a way of rebalancing the tax burden between online-only retailers and the high street. Bricks-and-mortar retailers pay £7bn in business rates for their high street stores and there is no equivalent for the online platform, prompting chief executives such as J Sainsbury’s Justin King to call for the Treasury to examine the imbalance.
However, in a letter to Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the founders of the online retailer, sofa.com, have warned that a tax on online retailers to address the imbalance would be “bad for consumers, business, and the UK”.
Pat Reeves and Rohan Blacker said: “A tax, if imposed, could be a barrier to entrepreneurship, negatively impact small business, reduce consumer choice and hit at the heart of the UK’s world-leading online retail industry.”
Sofa.com was founded in 2005. It sells and delivers a range of sofas, chairs and beds. In the year to February 2013, sales rose 30pc to £16.8m.
Mr Reeves and Mr Blacker said: “Sofa.com, like all profitable online retailers, already pays significant corporation tax and VAT.
"We employ lots of people who pay national insurance, and all our shareholders also pay tax."
They added: “It is the consumers who decide which retailers are successful – this is market forces at work. "Taxing online retailers won’t change this, but most likely lead to a reduced consumer choice online.
"Retailers should accept cost variances: e.g. traditionally online retailers have larger technology investment and delivery costs, whereas traditional retailers have higher rents and rates.
"Additionally, start-ups don’t have any kind of rent covenant to offer landlords, so large businesses often get the best retail sites anyway.
"Online businesses often fail. Online isn’t some magical way of beating the high street, only the best businesses survive and as such, it’s absurd to imply that online retail has an 'inherent advantage’over traditional shops."
The sofa.com founders said that an online tax would hinder entrepreneurs pushing the UK economy back to sustained growth.
Online retailing in the UK has grown quicker than anywhere in the world, with companies such as fashion retailer Asos emerging. The sofa.com letter said that a tax on online businesses would be an "unusual way to support one of the UK’s success stories".
"The Government is calling on technology companies and entrepreneurs to help the UK economy," it says.
"The internet enables entrepreneurs to start businesses quickly and cheaply – it’s a great place for the 'little guy’ with a good idea to bring a product to market.
"The vast majority of new jobs created in any year in the UK are from small firms. Therefore, an online sales tax will not be helpful."


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Is it (finally) the end for plane food? Heathrow restaurants sell ready-to-fly picnics passengers can take on flights
It's the news many plane food-weary travellers have been waiting for.
Passengers flying via Heathrow Airport now have the option to take on board ready-to-fly picnics.
Instead of often nondescript tray meals, people can now chow down on take-away boxes prepared at one of the airport's 70 restaurants, which include Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food, Caviar House and Strada.
On-the-go: The new three-course picnic from Caviar House sold to Heathrow passengers
The three-course meals, billed as a '15-minute menu' ensuring they'll be ready quickly for busy passengers, cost from around £12.55.
The move from Heathrow comes after figures reveal about 20 per cent of passengers snub plane food, bringing their own airport-bought snacks on board a flight.
The dishes will be served in special cool boxes or thermal packaging to keep the food warm or cold.
Buy and fly: Passengers will now be able to buy meals from Heathrow restaurants on eat on their flight
Passengers will be able to choose from smoked salmon salad, roasted Hereford rump of beef with green salad, and Chantilly cheesecake tart from Ramsay's Plane Food in T5 for £12.95.
While Caviar House’s seafood platter includes Balik smoked salmon, shrimps, herring, king prawn, mussels and oysters for £29.
Strada's plane picnic will include spicy chicken pizza for £12.55. And passengers can also opt for pad thai from Wagamama in T5.
On board picnics: Heathrow passengers can take the three-course meals on their flight
When the airport's Terminal 2 opens in June, passengers will be able to place orders with YO! Sushi as they go through security, picking their take-away box up just before boarding their plane.
Ben Crowley, Head of Food and Beverage said: ‘One in five of our passengers buy something at Heathrow to eat on board their flight.
'We are delighted to announce that every restaurant at the Heathrow now offers an on-board option – our customers can choose from seasonal salads, smoked salmon platters and even pizza!’
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Google-owned YouTube’s acquisition of videogame-streaming company Twitch is not imminent, according to latest reports from the US.
Twitch, which enables gamers to upload live streams of themselves playing games, claims 45 million visitors a month and would give any acquiring company a large presence in the gaming world.
The paper said Twitch may ultimately choose to raise funding from investors rather than sell itself to Google, Microsoft or any of the other gaming companies that have expressed interest.
But if the YouTube deal goes ahead, Google is reportedly expecting a battle with regulators, which might argue that the deal stifles competition with other internet video providers.
More on YouTube
- Nimans turns to YouTube for reseller development
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Talks with Google are expected to centre on how independent the Twitch brand will remain, according to an anonymous source cited by The Verge.
Twitch is said to believe that Google can help it become the definitive platform for watching and streaming live video gaming.
The company raised $20m from investors in 2013, but some market commentators believe capital alone will not enable Twitch to scale its technology and infrastructure to keep pace with its growth.
Twitch reportedly believes that Google may be the right partner to help it handle huge amounts of live and user-generated video on a global scale.
And although YouTube is the largest online video platform, its live-streaming services are not nearly as widely adopted as Twitch's, notes the Business Insider.
The proposed deal has been compared to Facebook's $1bn acquisition of Instagram in 2012, in which an established firm acquired a fast-growing startup that was a potential competitive threat.


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Some question how long the current generics ride will last for wholesalers. Medco Health Solutions, a pharmacy benefits manager, says it expects 2011 to be weaker for generic drug contributions. IStockAnalyst reports that $14 billion of brand-name drugs will turn generic in 2011, a potential distribution bonanza. But that figure includes the $11.4 billion Lipitor, which is scheduled to go off patent in November. So rather than next year, the big generics bump may come in 2012.
For its part, ASB sees good generics potential for 2011. "It's not just about new generics," says Peyton Howell, senior VP. "It's greater use of existing generics, too." Pera says ASB's value proposition is to integrate generics-buying with that of brand drugs. "It all comes in the same order and simplifies the retailer's life."
McKesson is enjoying strong generics gross profit growth in 2010. Its distribution solutions business' operating profit of $505 million was up 17 percent in the first quarter; operating profit margin was 1.9 percent compared with 1.7 percent a year ago.
"We continue to benefit from our generics offering across all of our distribution businesses," says John Hammergren, chairman and CEO, in a statement. Given existing customer offerings and a "focus on execution," he expects continued success.
Cardinal says it is enhancing Source Generics, a pricing and ordering system for generics that includes next-day distribution of newly launched products. A Q1 10 percent increase in generics sales helped offset a 17 percent profit fall in the pharma division caused by price increases on branded drugs.
As Fitch recently noted, Cardinal has renewed its focus on distribution, which is helping its relationships with customers. Generic drug sales are an indicator: its generics business posted 10 percent revenue growth during the quarter, the company reported.


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Despite co-developer Level 5's absence from TGS, we received today a titillating bit of paper from Capcom's booth on the show floor. It's an English-language press release for Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, and while details about the game are still sparse, the release contains some promising hints that all but confirm that the game will see a release outside of Japan. For one, it notes that "English names are TBD," which obviously suggests that there are plans to localize the game for English-speaking territories.
Furthermore, the English-language press release lists the title of the game as Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, which is the first time we've actually seen official documentation that refers to the title of the game using the franchises' English-language names. MSRP is also listed as TBD.
While we wait for a more official confirmation, let's gaze upon the first screenshots just released today.
Sep 15, 2011


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They’re not light and they’re not small, but Salient Energy’s batteries do have two particularly appealing qualities: they store energy cheaply and they have a long lifespan.
In short, they are an attractive option for large-scale renewable energy storage projects.
“If you’re a utility that wants to build a huge battery installation so that you can bring a lot of solar power to your grid and store solar electricity when it’s available and give up the energy at night, ours is going to be the most economical solution,” says Ryan Brown (pictured below), Salient’s co-founder and chief executive officer.
That’s because Salient’s battery tech is built with zinc at its core. Zinc is a highly abundant material that’s known for being far easier to extract from the ground than the lithium used in most rechargeable batteries, meaning it’s cheaper for battery production.
With a unique technology, a business plan and early investors already lined up, the Kitchener-Waterloo company’s future looks bright.
Now, as the young firm plots its next steps, it’ll be doing so from a new home base in Halifax.
“Battery tech is a pretty unique field. It’s not like everywhere in the world has a good community of battery innovators, but Halifax does,” says Brown.
One of those innovators is Chris Burns, president and CEO of Novonix — a company that specializes in high-precision testing and tweaking of new battery technologies. The company, which was spun out of Tesla collaborator Jeff Dahn’s lab at Dalhousie years ago, has amassed a global client base that includes the likes of Panasonic and Bosch.
Reaching the next level
Salient co-founder Brian Adams, who now serves as the startup’s chief technology officer, met Burns years ago when he was working at a battery lab in Washington’s Pacific Northwest National Lab that bought a piece of Novonix gear.
The two reconnected in 2018 after Salient was accepted into the Creative Destruction Lab Atlantic (CDL-Atlantic) program at Dalhousie. This time, with Brown and the growing Salient team in tow.
“It quickly became apparent that there were a lot of ways we could work together, especially as we move through our prototyping,” says Brown.
Salient plans to work closely with Novonix as they work to fine-tune their battery chemistry for customer-ready prototype cells.
While Novonix tends to focus most of its business in working with companies testing and creating lithium-ion batteries (a higher-density chemistry used in smaller electronics) and applications, Burns says its technology works just as well with Salient’s alternative zinc-based chemistry.
“We can use all our equipment here to help them prototype their cells and take them to the next level and they don’t have to spend millions of dollars to buy all the equipment to do it themselves,” he says.
Burns (pictured below), who started Novonix with a fellow researcher in 2013, says Halifax’s status as a hub of battery innovation stems in large part from research going on at Dalhousie. In addition to his former advisor Jeff Dahn’s research group, he cites work being done by Mark Obrovac’s group in the Department of Chemistry and Lukas Swan’s team in the Faculty of Engineering as indicators of university’s leadership in the field.
Novonix is now a co-sponsor (along with NSERC) of Obrovac's Industrial Research Chair in metal-ion batteries at Dal. This connection brings a number of opportunities for young people entering into the sector, including the ability to take battery materials invented in Obrovac's lab and fabricate them into full-sized batteries in Novonix’s facility just minutes away the university. A Mitacs internship facilitated through the lab also offers students that chance to spend half their time at Dal and the other half gaining valuable industrial experience at Novonix.
“The work around those groups is really what’s going to enable more activity to take place here,” he says, noting the university’s first-class facilities.
The whole package
Burns was also part of the team that helped set up a Tesla R&D facility in Halifax in 2015, which is still up and running today. And he says the provincial government has now taken an interest in promoting the sector and attracting more battery companies to Halifax.
“We’re starting to build a little bit of a cluster here. Once we can build a little momentum around this, it’s about to become really attractive for other companies to look at the opportunity of being here,” he says.
It was through CDL-Atlantic that Salient got a taste of all the city has to offer.
“We got to meet a lot of really great mentors and advisors, including ones that work in the energy space, and our investors are mainly based out of Halifax. We also got to meet with many professors at Dal who are really supportive of our work and are really keen to collaborate,” says Brown.
“It’s really the whole package.”
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Microsoft confirmed it will shutter its in-game ad network Massive in the next two months, and says it now plans to repurpose the unit’s technology to serve its first-party gaming offerings, such as Xbox LIVE and MSN Games. News of the company’s demise was first reported earlier this month, but the company declined to comment at the time.
Writing on the company’s blog today, Microsoft’s VP of advertiser and publisher solutions Rik van der Kooi said Massive’s technology will be aligned with its Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB), focusing initially on gaming, but eventually expanding to parts of Microsoft’s ad business.
“Microsoft will wind-down Massive’s third-party in-game ad business and sunset the Massive brand name at year-end,” van der Kooi wrote, adding that it will retain a small staff to help existing clients wind down their activity with the network. He did not indicate what will happen to the rest of Massive’s staff, or whether they too will be redistributed across Microsoft’s other businesses.
In one of its most high profile campaigns, Massive sold dynamic display inventory to the Obama campaign back in 2008, and ads were served into EA’s Xbox-based NBA basketball game.
Having purchased Massive for over $200 million in 2006, the unit seemingly struggled to gain sufficient investment from advertisers and inventory from game publishers. Electronic Arts (EA) announced in March that it was effectively ending its relationship with Massive by taking ad sales for its newly released titles in-house. The firm was still responsible for selling inventory into EA’s legacy titles, but with dwindling audiences for outdated games, that opportunity is likely contracting daily.
Fellow in-game network IGA Worldwide could also be struggling to generate revenue, having secured further investment in August.
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Gasgoo.com/Reuters, 29th April, 2010
SAIC Motor Corp., China’s biggest automaker, posted a more than quadrupling in first-quarter net profit, as Beijing’s policy support continues to draw buyers into showrooms in the world’s largest car market.
SAIC Motor, which runs vehicle manufacturing ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen, is a major beneficiary of Beijing’s stimulus measures, including tax incentives for small cars.
Analysts are upbeat about SAIC Motor’s outlook on continued solid demand, especially in China’s smaller cities, which could drive up industry-wide car sales by one-fifth in the Chinese market this year.
“At the begining of the year, many people expected car sales to slow after breakneck growth in 2009, but there is no sign the momentum is losing steam,” said Zhang Xin, a Beijing-based analyst with Guotai Junan Securities.
“China car sales in the third quarter and second half won’t match the 76 percent growth in Q1 as the year-ago comparative base gets higher, but they will still be solid.”
SAIC Motor did not give earnings guidance for the second quarter or full year in a brief stock exchange filing on Wednesday. January-March net profit was 2.88 billion yuan ($421.7 million), its biggest quarterly earnings ever. The result was largely in line with an average forecast of 3.1 billion yuan from three analysts surveyed by Reuters.
The automaker had said earlier this month its first-quarter profit had more than quadrupled from 626.9 million yuan in the same quarter last year. Before the results, SAIC Motor shares closed up 2.9 percent, better than a 0.3 percent fall in the benchmark index .SSEC. The stock has dropped 26.9 percent so far this year versus an 11.5 percent fall in the wider market.
[Editor’s Note: Click here for a graphic on China car sales]
- Concepts and prototypes : MG ZT-T 4WD – what might have been… - 6 December 2017
- History : Brand ownership - 21 November 2016
- Blog : Will MG’s slow boat to Europe hit Hinkley Point or the Brexit rock? - 29 August 2016


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What comes to mind when you hear the word “influencer”? A photogenic person sipping rosé in an infinity pool, maybe, or squinting heroically across a vineyard at dusk?
No matter who or what you picture, chances are you have a strong reaction. One wine publication went so far as to call them an “Incurable Plague” in a January 2021 headline. That article referenced a 2020 piece by wine critic Robert Joseph, titled, tellingly, “In Defence of Wine Influencers.” Not since natural wine has such a loosely defined concept become this divisive.
While the wine industry wrings its hands over how to capture millennials’ and Generation Z’s dollars, it could only help to meet potential customers where they are: social media.
So, what does an influencer do, exactly? A 2019 Wired magazine article declared that the term is virtually meaningless, so “it is simultaneously an insult and an aspiration, the scourge of small business owners and the future of marketing.” In reality, influencers create social media content that aims to affect consumer spending. They get results, too. In 2018, 49% of consumers made purchases based on influencer marketing, according to the Digital Marketing Institute. Statista, a research-driven provider of market and consumer data, reported that the global Instagram influencer market doubled from 2018 to 2020.
For my #twocents, I think influencers are an underutilized asset in wine. They can help struggling brands reposition themselves, engage new consumers and diversify the wine business. While the industry wrings its hands over how to capture millennials’ and Generation Z’s dollars amid competition from craft beer, spirits and cannabis, it could only help to meet potential customers where they are: social media.
Influencers could do wonders to make wine more inclusive. If you partner with people from communities commonly ignored by or omitted from many wine advertisements, you’ll be blown away by the untapped potential. Much like how LeBron James’ Instagram is currently the primary source of fine wine messaging to nearly 80 million basketball fans, there are so many potential consumers as yet untouched by mainstream wine marketing.
To a relentlessly optimistic person like myself, influencer marketing seems like a win-win for wine. Why, then, does it rouse such passion from established professionals who write think pieces? It might just be late adoption. Those with deep roots sometimes hesitate to embrace fresh shoots.
There are so many potential consumers as yet untouched by mainstream wine marketing.
Or, there could be deeper resentments. That January 2021 takedown of the “plague” called one female influencer “gormless” with “vacuous friends.” I’ve never read such language lobbed at models in traditional wine advertisements. Is the only difference that influencers own their images and self-direct their incomes? Do people begrudge the misconception that “anyone with a phone” can be an influencer, even as that perceived relatability is precisely what makes influencers so compelling to their followers?
Whatever our feelings, social media isn’t going anywhere. If we dismiss influencers now, we are putting corks in our ears and heads in the soil. I’d rather give influencers, and wine, a chance.
Published: April 6, 2021