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AMHPAC Prepares for Ninth Annual Convention; To Provide Unique Opportunities for Horticultural Industry
CANCUN, MX - With August just on the horizon and Mexico continuing to grow its global presence in the fresh produce arena, AMHPAC is gearing up for its 9th Annual Convention on August 25-26, in Cancun, Mexico. Nestled in this tropical locale, the event will take place at the Fiesta Americana Condesa Hotel where businesspersons and decision makers alike will learn, listen, share experiences, and build relationships in a venue that ensures quality, adventure, and unique opportunities.
“For this 2016 event, we are looking to bring new energy and insights to national and international conversations,” CEO Alfredo Diaz, tells me. “Leaders of the horticultural industry, including growers, government officials, representatives of the supply chain, researchers and consultants, will gather to celebrate the diverse agricultural regions of Mexico and further the discussion on important topics that include food safety, advancing agriculture through technology and innovation, as well as adapting to a changing political climate.”
In addition, the show will allow American and Canadian retailers and wholesale executives the chance to meet with major Mexican growers to inspire those business opportunities and discussions.
Still haven’t registered, well now is the time, just click through here.
Stats from last year’s event:
- 64% of 2015 Convention attendees were AMHPAC members.
- 50% of members who attended last year's Convention came from the West, 21% from the Northwest, 20% from the Northeast and 9% from the Central area of Mexico.
- 80% of participating companies were tomato growers, while the remaining 20% produced other crops (cucumber, pepper and eggplant, among others).
- 100% of attending members export their products to the United States and Canada.
Along with a host of esteemed speakers and presenters, will be an exclusive General Assembly for AMHPAC members, where owners of agricultural companies and representatives of different input supplying and service companies will be participating.
“This year should offer an amazing event and even better opportunities. One of the many reasons why we gather at this event each year is to discuss the issues affecting our industry and make decisions about the future of the organization and the industry,” Alfredo adds. “With participants across 20 different Mexican states, it is sure to be an exciting, educational, and must-attend event.”
For those of you looking to get your sweat on before those tequila shots, the AMHPAC race is your ticket – sign up now by contacting Susana Figueroa [email protected].
Speakers and topics at this year’s event include:
- Dan Fone, NSF Internation, “Competing in the Global Food Safety Platform: A Review of International Requirements.”
- Federico Reyes Heroles, Renowned Writer and Political Anchor, “2016: Political Noise and Slow Construction of the Future.”
- Peter Ravensbergen, Leader of the Food Safety Program at Wageningen University UR Food & Biobased Research, “Innovative Developments in the Agrifood Supply Chain.”
- Juan Antonio Águila Marín, PhD on Human Development Sciences with Major in Organizational Development, “Positive Attitude Towards Change.”
- Dr. Estelle Cheret Bittelin, Director of the R & D department at RKW, Agriculture Division, “The Impact of Plastics in Protected Agriculture.”
- José Luis Solleiro Rebolledo, a Head Researcher “B” at the Center of Applied Sciences and Technological Development (UNAM), “The Importance of Technological Innovation in the Agriculture Sector.”
“Each year we listen to the feedback of our attendees and members to ensure that we meet the needs of convention participants,” Alfredo adds.
Time is winding down to register for this annual event, so take a pen to your calendar, get your sunglasses ready, and we will see you at the show!


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New data from IDC indicates that Apple’s iPad continues to best the competition, with its market share rising from 54.7% in the last quarter to 68% in the current quarter. And as Apple’s iPad continues to surge, Android tablet sales are trending downward with the Kindle Fire in particular seeing a drop in shipments from 4.8 million units in the holiday quarter of 2011 to just about 750,000 units in the Q1 of 2012.
Now if only Amazon was confident enough to release official Kindle Fire sales we could have a better grasp on things.
“Apple reasserted its dominance in the market this quarter, driving huge shipment totals at a time when all but a few Android vendors saw their numbers drop precipitously after posting big gains during the holiday buying season,” said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC. “Apple’s move to position the iPad as an all-purpose tablet, instead of just a content consumption device, is resonating with consumers as well as educational and commercial buyers. And its decision to keep a lower-priced iPad 2 in the market after it launched the new iPad in March seems to be paying off as well.”
Notably, there have been rumblings that Apple has plans to release a 7.85-inch tablet to compete with the Kindle Fire, or at the very least, stunt its momentum. Perhaps the market took care of that on its own. The most recent reports point to a release in third quarter of this year in a price range of $ 249 to $ 299 and an initial supply of 6 million units.
Also, remember that John Gruber not too long ago confirmed in a podcast that Apple was tinkering with a smaller version of the iPad.
What I do know is that they have one in the lab…a 7.85 inch iPad that runs at 1024×768… it’s just like the 9.7″ iPad shrunk down a little bit. Apps wouldn’t need to be recompiled or redesigned to work optimally on it. It’s just the iPad smaller.

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Ponko Chicken taking over Steel City Pops space in Decatur
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This story has been updated.
Ponko Chicken will be the new tenant in the Steel City Pops space in downtown Decatur.
Broker Steve Josovitz confirmed the news to Decaturish on Nov. 12.
The franchisee is Johnny Esposito, a native Atlantan who also owns a Ponko Chicken in Midtown. Ponko is an Asian Fusion chain specializing in fried chicken.
Esposito said, “We’re excited about Ponko Chicken. We think it’s going to be great for the community.”
Ponko also has locations in Chamblee, Buckhead and at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Esposito said he hopes to open the Decatur store in early 2020.
Steel City Pops opened at 312 Church Street Decatur in 2017. The business included a kitchen to fuel the company’s expansion into the Atlanta market. In August, news broke that the space was up for lease and Steel City was pulling out of the Atlanta market. That move appears to be part of a larger contraction by the company. Steel City Pops on Nov. 1. announced 11 store closures. Most of the closures are in Texas and the list included the Decatur store.
“As sad as we are to close these locations, we know in order to keep a healthy, growing business we need to scale back the number of stores we’re operating,” the company said in its announcement.
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We have the lowdown on the business trends in 2024 that will impact everything from the digital experience to brand strategy and design. Hint: artificial intelligence (AI) still looms large.
Whether it’s information we’ve gleaned from our clients, priorities we’re seeing across industries, or general market trends, this year is shaping up to be more disruptive than past years.
Let’s kick off 2024 with some bold predictions that can change fortunes.
1. Executives Are under Pressure to Navigate Change
Hyper-change is no longer a buzzword. As technological innovation and market shifts occur at an ever-faster pace, 40% of global CEOs are under pressure, wondering if their businesses will survive the next decade.1 The pressure is on, and this could be the year many executives face a wake-up call in their industry.
Making the right decisions will be critical. Three-quarters of business leaders have seen the daily volume of decisions they need to make increase tenfold over the last three years.2 Not only will you be making more decisions this year, but they’ll be more impactful than ever before.
2. Tech Debt Takes on New Proportions
Becoming a digital-first company may be harder than you think. Workers worldwide aren’t equipped with the resources to learn the digital skills they need to succeed. And workers aren’t the only ones feeling left out of the digital economy. That skills gap could result in $8.5 trillion being left on the table by companies globally.3
The ever-expanding sea of digital tools presents both an opportunity and a challenge. 2024 should be earmarked as the year for rationalization, with a focus on reducing core products, eliminating peripheral ones, and maximizing the use of existing platforms.
3. You’ll Need a Product Mindset
In 2024, to compete you’ll need to develop user experiences and technologies like a product-driven organization. That means you should be looking to turn your projects into products and to focus on technological innovation as if you were a digital native.
It’s no longer just about building stuff. It’s about building the right stuff. Shifting a company culture from laying bricks to creating experiences that are customer-centered, usable, and delightful, requires a product mindset. Start by evaluating where investments are being made and get ready to transform departments, like IT and marketing, from cost centers into innovation factories.
4. Success Will Be Measured Differently
The era of reporting on dozens of key performance indicators (KPIs) divorced from company goals is rapidly ending. Businesses can no longer afford to get lost in the metrics.
Our clients are becoming laser-focused on results, and the interconnectedness of the outcomes they drive is the real game-changer. Decision-makers need to escape their metrics and silos to gain an enterprise-wide view of outcomes across stakeholders, while focusing less on self-serving KPIs and more on working in concert to generate business outcomes.
5. Generative AI Grows Up
Generative AI initiatives will experience an existential crisis as part of evolving business trends in 2024. Sequoia Capital, one of the premier US venture capital firms, revealed some insider information: they’re drowning in start-up pitches about cool AI stuff that is not particularly useful.4 Which means organizations looking to capitalize on generative AI will have to establish proof of value if they want to turn experiments into market demand.
Proof of value is made up of a trio of components—proof of opportunity, proof of concept, and proof of readiness—signaling a shift to a customer-back approach. In other words, put the customer first and extend a critical eye towards generative AI solutions that solve problems nobody has (take this excuse generator, for example).
Also, make sure to assess your timeline. Knowing whether you can prototype your generative AI product, and if the market is ready for it, will help determine how viable it is.
6. Generative AI Transforms Marketing
Unlike some areas of the business where generative AI is being met with uncertainty, marketing presents immediate use cases. Content development, campaign planning, and a growing list of practical applications are transforming the marketing landscape. The challenge lies in mitigating brand risks and addressing data privacy concerns associated with off-the-shelf generative AI tools.
The explosive growth of content, fueled by generative AI, poses a dual challenge for brands—an overwhelming quantity and a decline in quality. To cut through the noise, emphasis must be placed on authentic storytelling. Compelling narratives, visually interactive content, and a return to brand essentials become crucial tools for companies seeking to differentiate in a saturated content landscape.
7. Business Trends in 2024 Will Force You off the Sidelines
The goal posts are moving, and you can’t afford to sit on the sidelines waiting for them to return to where they were in 2023. Whether it’s generative AI or general investment in growth, 2024 is the year to get off those sidelines and actively seek the next big thing.
If relevance in the next decade is on your agenda, being a fast follower won’t cut it anymore. As interest rates settle and companies reassess their brand presence, many will be jumping back in to claim their share. The time to act is now, so go find those goal posts and bring it home.
1 “An alarming share of CEOs say their companies won’t be viable in 10 years if they stick to the ‘current path’,” Alain Murray and Claire Zillman, Fortune, January 17, 2023.
2 “How AI Can Help Leaders Make Better Decisions Under Pressure,” Mark Purdy and A. Mark Williams, Harvard Business Review, October 26, 2023.
3 “The $8.5 Trillion Talent Shortage,” Michael Franzino, Alan Guarino, and Yannick Binvel, Korn Ferry.
4 “Generative AI’s Act Two,” Sonya Huang, Pat Grady, and GPT-4, Sequoia Capital, September 20, 2023.


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Downtown Tacoma’s Fresh Rolls, a cafe specializing in Vietnamese food, will open at 10 a.m. Friday.
The restaurant at 823 Pacific Ave. is in the former home of a Herfy’s and India Mahal.
This is the second location for the restaurant, which opened its first restaurant in January 2014 in University Place.
The restaurant is a casual cafe focused on speedy service and healthy food. Fresh rolls — rice wrappers wound tightly around noodles, herbs, vegetables and a choice of meat — are the real focus here. The rolls, also called “spring rolls” or “salad rolls,” come in a variety of flavors: tofu and vegetable; salmon; beef, barbecue pork; shrimp and grilled chicken rolls. All are sold in pairs for $4.99
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The menu also lists banh mi sandwiches; cold noodle bowls ($5.90-$8.99); rice bowls ($6.99-$7.99) and four choices of pho ($4.95-$5.49). There also is bubble tea and Vietnamese iced coffee.


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Kendall and Kylie Jenner have responded to the copyright infringement lawsuit lodged on Friday by photographer Michael Miller, the man who captured the iconic – and copyrighted – images of Tupac that the women so happily desecrated in their latest clothing line.
Or at least their clothing company, Kendall + Kylie, have.
In a statement, the company argue that there was “no infringement or violation of anyone’s rights“, as they had purchased the images from a company who been authorised to license them:
“The allegations made are completely false, and the lawsuit is baseless.”
“Canada Inc, the licensee manufacturer of the K + K brand, purchased a very small quantity of vintage T-shirts with performer images already on them. Only two Tupac T-shirts were sold before being pulled from distribution.
“Canada Inc did not copy anyone’s image, remove any copyright notice from any image or attempt to exploit Mr. Miller’s claimed right of publicity.”
The duo are being sued by Miller for the use of his copyrighted images of Tupac on their misguided let’s-superimpose-ourselves-on-top-of-retro-artists-that-is-a-great-idea-this-will-not-end-badly T-shirts, priced at $165. Steep.
In the complaint, Miller said that the Jenners “misappropriated and wrongfully exploited” his work. He is seeking any profits made while the shirts were on sale.
His lawyer Scott Alan Burroughs said that the Jenners could end up paying statutory damages of almost $200K per pic.
In their original apology, posted after threats of legal action from the The Doors and Notorious B.I.G. estates led the duo to kibosh the entire line and to remove its imagery from the internet, the sisters said that were “very sorry“:
“These designs were not well thought out and we deeply apologise to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists. We are huge fans of their music and it was not our intention to disrespect these cultural icons in any way.”
The Jenners have not yet had anything to say about Kendall’s face being splashed on Arcade Fire‘s London tour merch last week, the proceeds of which went to Boston-based global health org, Partners In Health.
Source: Rolling Stone.
Photo: Gabriel Olsen / Getty.


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opinion/analysis by Renai LeMay
6 February 2014
The Federal Government’s decision to reject a $25 million plea for financial assistance for SPC Ardmona’s troubled fruit processing plant in Shepparton should be seen in the context of the long-term and very necessary war to lessen the reliance of Australia’s economy on legacy industries and to push it towards the next-generation of knowledge-based smart businesses.
Like many Australian technologists, I’ve watched, aghast, over the past several weeks as the nation’s political and business elite engaged in an intensely fought debate over an area of the economy which most Australians rarely think about, if they think about it at all: Fruit canning.
If you have at least a moderate pulse beating through your veins and you have any access to the media, you could have hardly missed the fact that a rather large commotion has arisen over the Abbott Government’s decision to reject a $25 million assistance request from Coca-Cola Amatil-owned Victorian fruit manufacturer SPC Ardmona for its processing plant in Shepparton.
There are many angles to this story. There is the fact that if the plant shuts down, some 700 jobs will certainly be lost immediately, and likely thousands more from the flow on effect to the entire region, including local farms. There is the fact that the Coalition’s stance on the issue is somewhat hypocritical, given the $16 million the Cadbury factory in Hobart is getting to promote tourism to its facility. There is the associated hypocrisy of a massive, profitable Australian company like Coca-Cola Amatil (itself a third owned by global conglomerate Coca-Cola) seeking a government handout which will support those profits.
And, of course, there is the political angle: Local Liberal MP Sharman Stone’s claim that Abbott has “lied” about the employment circumstances of the plant’s workers is getting plenty of airtime.
But what appears to have been completely missed in all this sound and fury (as usual, signifying very little) is the fact that Australia needs to have a much larger debate about the future composition of the economy as a total sum; a debate that extends far beyond the boundaries of a tiny fruit processing plant in Victoria and spreads across the next quarter century of sustainable economic growth across trillions of dollars and millions of jobs. A debate that wiser heads have been trying to have for years.
A debate that, if we truly had it, would likely lead to the inevitable conclusion that the Federal Government shouldn’t be propping up traditional industries such as food processing, which grow very slowly, if at all, but stimulating the rapidly growing technology and digital content industries, which have remained virtually stillborn in Australia due to a lack of anything near the same support which SPC Ardmona had virtually taken for granted.
Like it or not, one component of the Federal Government’s responsibility for stewarding Australia is to actively manage the country’s economy.
A critical and extremely complicated aspect of this task is deciding which areas of the economy need assistance. Although it’s attractive from an ideological perspective, the classic liberalist idea of providing no assistance to any area of the economy (and letting businesses fend for themselves) is unrealistic in today’s global environment.
The reality is that every other country — from megaliths such as the United States and China to the tiniest third-world nations — all subsidise critical industries in some way, whether it’s through direct assistance in the form that SPC Ardmona is seeking, low interest loans, tax relief, or export and import controls and taxes. If Australia does not engage in this game, then many of our industries will not be able to compete on an even footing with those of other countries. It’s a bad deal at times, but often it’s the only deal on the table.
The role of the Federal Government, and to a certain extent, State Governments, is to pick and choose which industries to support and which to leave to fend for themselves, and to what extent.
If you could take a macro view of the situation, this usually boils down to trying to keep Australia’s existing strong industries (chiefly resources, agriculture and services) more or less on an even keel of reliable growth (without beggaring the Government’s coffers to do so) while stimulating other industries to grow up alongside them and provide additional planks to the national economic strategy.
Viewed in a certain light, this process has been proceeding more or less to plan over the past century. Although some industries which were once dominant have fallen away (manufacturing, which once took up 30 percent of Australia’s gross domestic product, has shrunk to around 10 percent), others have been stimulated and have taken their place. The resources industry has grown hugely, with states such as Western Australia and Queensland supporting such growth to the hilt. Agriculture continues to be an old reliable for the nation, and other industries such as tourism, finance and services in general have grown substantially.
As a sum total, our economy is still strong because of these reasons; certainly we’re in much better shape than most European economies, and we’ve weathered the United States’ recent financial traumas almost completely intact.
However, it’s also important to note that Australia has almost completely missed out on other substantial growth drivers which other economies have invested heavily in, with the two largest examples clearly being the media and technology industries. To make the case that these industries are much more worthy of government support than the food processing scene is, I’ll take you through a few basic top-level figures about them.
The Motion Picture Association of America maintains a list of the largest countries by film consumption in terms of box office figures. Australia was 10th on that list in 2012, spending US$1.2 billion at the cinema. That figure, despite our significantly lower population, was still proportionally high when you consider that Canada and the United States combined (the biggest spender) only spent US$10.8 billion. Despite only having a population of 22.7 million compared with China’s 1.35 billion, Australia spent about a third as much on watching films as China in that period.
And yet when you look at UNESCO’s list of countries which produce films, Australia isn’t even in the top 20. India tops the list with 1,170 films produced on average per year, while the United States produces around 550 and Japan above 400.
As a country, India has invested heavily in and supported its Bollywood scene. Japan has invested heavily in and supported its anime and live action scene. And the US has invested heavily in and supported Hollywood and its cable TV networks. All of these industries produce content which is heavily consumed both in their home country as well as exported overseas.
In stark contrast, Australia has almost completely ignored the content production industry; as a consequence, we tend to import most of our content from overseas; when we’re not watching sport, that is. The Government provides only very small amounts of subsidies to Australia’s film and TV production industry; chiefly through supporting the ABC and SBS, as well as small investments in major film projects and mandating a certain level of Australian content produced by the TV networks.
The exact same situation is true of the associated video game technology sector, which shares many of the fundamental dynamics of the film and TV production industries.
Australians consume video games in record numbers. In February 2013, the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association announced that the local interactive entertainment industry recorded a record $1.16 billion in traditional retail sales in 2012. And that wasn’t even including the burgeoning digital channels.
Local technology analyst firm Telsyte expected at that stage that Australians would spend over $730 million on digital games subscriptions, virtual goods and mobile games in 2013 – an increase of 18% from the estimated $620 million generated in 2012. “The growth in digital gaming is driven by mobile app gaming on smartphones and tablets, which is offsetting the decline in physical purchases and even pushing the overall games market into growth” says Sam Yip, Senior Research Manager for Telsyte.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook 2012 – 2016 forecasted that the local interactive games sector would grow by a compounded annual growth rate of 7.4 per cent over the succeeding 4 years. Furthermore, the interactive games sector was expected to demonstrate the biggest growth area in consumer spending with the exception of the Internet, out-stripping the forecasted growth of Music, Film and Subscription Television.
So game development should be big business, right? No. Not really in Australia. Our national video game industry has received even less support than the poorly developed film industry, according to this insightful article by Sebastian Darchen, lecturer in planning at the University of Queensland. Most local game development firms have shut down over the past half-decade.
And again the same issues surrounding the lack of Government support arise. Darchen cites the fact that the Quebec Government in Canada subsisides 37.5 percent of video game studios’ payrolls as a stark example of how far other jurisdictions are willing to go to support the industry. And the results have been similarly stark; Ubisoft’s popular Assassin’s Creed series — one of the most lucrative franchises in existence — is partially developed in Quebec, and Quebec is actively taking video game development jobs away from the United States.
Now, there’s an argument to be made that cases such as the SPC Ardmona issue are immediate and need to be dealt with right now. Developing industries such as content and technology requires a long-term time frame. And to a certain extent, this is a valid argument. However, if we don’t make these kinds of investments now, those long-term changes will never happen. The video game example in Quebec is a good example of how things can pay off in the long term. Reuters reported in 2011:
“Last year, Quebec spent $100 million on the program, up from $83 million in 2009 and significantly more than some U.S. states with similar programs such as Texas and Louisiana. The province first set aside money for video games in 1996 after starting a program to jumpstart the film industry a year earlier. According to Jolicoeur, the aim was to move Quebec from a manufacturing economy to a “new economy” by creating artistic jobs for young people.
Fifteen years later, the bet appears to have paid off. “The incentives the government provided helped plant the seed, and now it’s big and everyone is hiring,” said Yanick Roy, studio director of Bioware, an Electronic Arts outfit.”
The other great example is the technology sector.
It’s true that countries such as the United States, Japan, Israel and Germany, which have strong and thriving technology sectors — each counts some of the world’s most valuable technology giants among their national company roster — each have certain inherent structural advantages that have stimulated the development of a strong technology sector. Typically, these structural advantages tend to consist of a strong military, strong local telecommunications infrastructure and a larger financial sector which is less risk averse and thus open to funding the kind of high-risk bets which early stage technology companies to represent.
However, it’s also true that each has provided a welcoming environment for their cadre of technology companies. In Germany, enterprise IT giant SAP is a household name and national icon. Japan has Nintendo, Sony, NEC, Fujitsu. The United States has Apple, IBM,, Google, Microsoft, Oracle. Israel’s companies are less well-known but still legion. Some of the better known ones are RAD Data and Check Point. All of these companies are in constant and frequent discussions with the governments of their respective countries about how their industry can be better supported.
Australia has developed its own cadre of rapidly growing tech companies over the past several years (companies such as Atlassian, Freelancer, Technology One, MYOB and more), but they’re not well-known, and they certainly receive almost no support or even interest from our Federal Government. In fact, they continually have to fight the Government to get basic rights.
Witness Atlassian’s decision late last year to shift its formal company headquarters to the UK instead of keeping it in Australia. In countries such as the US, Germany or Japan, such a move by a large tech company would be unheard of. In Australia, the issue passed by almost without a blip.
“I think the local tax laws are a struggle, and I think equity-raising laws are a struggle, too. I’d like to see more of the policy changes to make the startup scene better,” Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar said in an interview with ZDNet in February last year. Most people, including myself, would recommend to startups to incorporate their companies overseas. I think the government can do a lot more with startups, and I’ll keep pounding on that until we see some meaningful traction.”
Last month, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull played down the issue as being “rather exaggerated”, as it was “more of a corporate move” that did not involve moving Atlassian’s staff or their business to the UK. However, the truth is that Atlassian wouldn’t have considered shifting its headquarters on paper to the UK in the first place if there wasn’t some issue with respect to the way Australia treats technology companies.
Another example is the way that the Federal Government has provided an extremely hostile environment for the local IT startup ecosystem.
There are ongoing concerns — which have been an issue for at least half a decade — over the ability of Australian IT startups to easily allocate equity to their staff without those staff being slugged with an immediate tax liability on capital which may not turn out to be worth anything. The last set of key changes made to taxation law in the area took place back in 2009, when Labor sought to rein in the ability of some employees to achieve better rates of taxation by placing some of their remuneration in company stock.
In an interview with Business Review Weekly as early as July 2013, then-Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey described Labor’s approach to the issue as “a massive handbrake on start-ups in Australia” and “an obvious area for change”. “So many start-ups have remunerated their senior employees with share options and the Australian Tax Office is now hitting them with a tax liability for what they may receive, rather than actually what they have received,” the Liberal MP added at the time. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull — currently in the US meeting with technology companies and policy makers — has also publicly noted that he supports a review of the scheme.
The issue appears to represent a clear case where the Federal Government has overreached in trying to keep executives at major companies accountable.
On the flip side, the Federal Government also appears to tacitly support international technology giants when they operate in Australia. Massive US companies such as Apple and Google, for instance, pay only minimum corporate tax on the billions in revenues which they are siphoning out of Australia, while locally registered companies providing very similar products and services are taxed at a massively different rate. The recent establishment by Australian online retailer Kogan of a Hong Kong subsidiary, which formally deals with many of the company’s Australian customers, is an obvious attempt to mimic the practices of the international tech giants in escaping Australian tax structures.
The sums involved in all of these examples, dwarf the amount of money being discussed with respect to cases such as the SPC Armona example, and consequently should be much more important.
The Coca-Cola Amatil subsidiary is only looking for around $50 million in total subsidies — half each from the Victorian and Federal Governments. In comparison, the amount of tax likely to be paid by companies such as Google and Apple, if they were being taxed differently, would likely range into the hundreds of millions of dollars, each. Tens of thousands of Australians are involved in Australia’s IT startup industry and would likely benefit substantially from a better startup equity regime. And, as the billion dollar listing of Freelancer last year showed, taking these technology companies public on Australian shores, as opposed to overseas, would create a huge impact.
Then too, the amount of employees involved in similar IT industry job loss situations as may happen at SPC Ardmona typically exceeds that case. It’s not uncommon at all for the Australian divisions of companies such as IBM and HP to go through restructuring rounds to lay off several thousand staff at a go; likewise at Telstra and Optus. Yet none of these examples raise even the slightest controversy on a national level; likely because the tech sector is very lightly unionised and does not enjoy a strong political connection with the Australian Labor Party.
We’re never going to see an end to government support of certain industries in Australia. As economics commentator Peter Martin wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald today, the amounts the Federal Government is funnelling towards industry range into the billions. However, what we need to be pushing for is a re-focusing of the discussion; removing subsidies from low-growth industries and shifting them into high-growth areas that would smarten the overall economy.
In areas such as technology and content production, this can be done in an extremely easy way to start with. Foreign multinationals operating in Australia need to be taxed correctly. Local firms need to receive tax incentives, and support to set up shop in rural areas. Employee share schemes need to be re-jigged to be competitive globally, and the Government also needs to provide tax relief on venture capitalists and angel investors who fuel growth in these sectors. Lastly, and perhaps most important, we need both sides of politics to agree on a sustainable plan to deal with the upgrade of our national broadband infrastructure.
The technology and content industries, along with other sectors such as education, are rapidly growing sectors which have the potential to employ hundreds of thousands more Australians in much more satisfying and highly paid work than would be possible when you work for a fruit processing plant in rural Victoria. The rapid development of broadband infrastructure means that much of this work can be conducted remotely in similar locations, and it’s hard to imagine that any government investment in these sectors wouldn’t be repaid substantially. If there is one thing the tech and content sectors are good at, it’s making money. They’re far better at it than the food processing industry.
The fact that, as a country, we’re not having debates about how to better grow these industries shows our national immaturity and lack of understanding of their potential. The fact that we’re hotly discussing the fate of a rural fruit processing factory instead turns the whole situation into a farce. Nobody ever got rich overnight from canning peaches. But success stories like that of Freelancer or Atlassian are all too common in high-tech and should be supported and exploited on a national level.


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Coinbase has revealed that it will integrate the Lightning Network, a layer-2 payment protocol, into its platform.
Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, said that the Lightning Network is one of the most vital assets in the crypto industry and that the integration will allow its users to enjoy faster transactions.
Lightning Network development
The Lightning Network is a solution that seeks to solve the scalability problems of the Bitcoin network. In the Bitcoin network, every node has to process and verify every transaction, which can be slow and inefficient.
The Lightning Network works as a layer-2 off-chain solution, meaning that transactions occur through a separate network of payment channels connected to the Bitcoin blockchain. The network allows users to send or receive Bitcoin or satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) with lower fees and faster confirmation times. The more capacity the Lightning Network has, the higher the liquidity, allowing for more significant transactions and quicker payments.
Since its launch in 2018, the Lightning Network has grown in popularity and has been adopted in various regions. It reached a capacity of 4,000 Bitcoin in June, with Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, and El Salvador being notable adopters.
The recent adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador has helped to scale the Lightning Network. However, the Lightning Network has also faced some challenges from some Bitcoin influencers, who claim it is a failure due to low usage.


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CIP4 Updates Free Publication on JDF
The International Cooperation of Integration of the Process in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) published the Spring 2011 edition of its JDF Marketplace book. The publication is 162 pages and includes 151 detailed product and service listings. The last edition was released in May last year for the IPEX show.
“For printers looking to integrate systems and manage an automation program, this is a ‘must have’ reference,” said CIP4 Education and Marketing Officer, Tim Daisy of Prism. “It is one of our most popular downloads from the website.”
In addition to the basic listings, the JDF Marketplace includes JDF/integration support information for many manufacturers, as well as an eight-page, plain-English introduction to JDF. The publication can be downloaded here.
Printer Gateway ClosesPrinter Gateway, a printing operation based in the Greater Toronto…
Cenveo Files for Chapter 11Cenveo Inc. released a statement that it is voluntarily filing…
Heidelberg Begins Subscription Pricing ModelHeidelberg introduced one of its first customers to invest in…
Coquitlam Packaging Printer Adds Indigo 20000Associated Labels and Packaging of Coquitlam, British Columbia, a premium…
PrintForum Trade Show & Conference
June 6, 2018
June 14, 2018


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Facial Recognition is a 2017 Trend
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Panasonic Innovation Center, and facial recognition was a key element of its work. This often-heard about but elusive technology is being further developed to play a role in helping marketers understand the demographics of who is looking at what products and how consumers shop a store’s department, as well as how operators can better understand traffic patterns. According to TechCrunch, KFC in China is working on a new “smart restaurant” that will use facial recognition and factors such as age, gender and facial expression to suggest items a customer may order.
How does it work? The image recognition scans a customer’s face, looking specifically for information it can use to generate a food recommendation. It’s interesting because it goes well beyond the typical demographics – age, gender, race, etc – and will infer one’s mood and detect repeat customers to provide suggestions based on their order history.
According to KFC’s tech partner, Baidu, a young adult male may be recommended a “crispy chicken hamburger, roasted chicken wings and Coke” for lunch, while a female in her 50s might be suggested “porridge and soybean milk for breakfast.”
It’s time for supermarkets to look at the innovations taking place in fast food, and other sectors around the world, and bring them to every supermarket in the country.


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'Amazon Primed' is a short recap of the larger stories that dominated the headlines
this (sorry, behind!) last week surrounding Amazon. If you want the full, deep look at what Amazon is doing every week, subscribe to 'What Did Amazon Do This Week ' newsletter (called 'Obsessive...in the very best way.").
The dust was settling with NY regarding the HQ2 fiasco until NY Governer Cuomo printed a full-page letter in the New York Times which opened with some strong numbers and subsequently garnered a lot of additional praise and support:
New Yorkers do not want to give up on the 25,000 permanent jobs, 11,000 union construction and maintenance jobs, and $28 billion in new tax revenues that Amazon was prepared to bring to our state. A clear majority of New Yorkers support this project and were disappointed by your decision not to proceed. We understand that becoming home to the world’s industry leader in e-commerce, logistics and web services would be a tremendous boost for our state’s technology industry, which is our fastest growing-generator of new jobs. As representatives of a wide range of government, business, labor and community interests, we urge you to reconsider, so that we can move forward together.
Despite the media rhetoric and hot-take columns, Amazon is by no-way abandoning New York. The company has over 5,000 employees there already and has vowed to continue to grow that numbers. This plea is unlikely to swing Bezos back but does get Cuomo political ammunition in the future.
Amazon also decided to stop selling Dash buttons this week in a move that is clearly to push people towards using Alexa more to re-order simple goods. Speaking to Cnet, Amazon’s VP of Smart Home Daniel Rausch said;
We never imagined a future where customers had 500 buttons in their home. We imagined a future where the home was taking care of itself, including replenishing everyday items that customers would rather not worry about.
The big news of the week was 'Amazon Day', Amazon's beautiful win-win move that means Prime members can designate an 'Amazon Day' as a way to minimise the amount of cardboard that Amazon uses. Operationally, this is a smart move for Amazon, the move not only makes them look like the company cares about the environment, but they also get to make more economically sensible deliveries rather than the planet killing 'whenever you like' ones. Inc.com called it 'brilliant or very sneaky', either way, there may be a downside;
Then again, about those porch pirates. I have a feeling many embrace piracy as a regular thing. What if they work out exactly which day is your Amazon Day? Won't they then be more enthused to pay you a visit on that day, given that their haul might be all the greater?
To give Amazon the credit it deserves is has a 'goal' of making 50% of all shipments net zero by 2030. The move is also a beautiful example of branding a thing that is important to a person - 'Daddy, it's Amazon day!'.
If you weren't watching closely you also missed Amazon; announcing 'Project Zero' (huge news for brands), announcing a new apprenticeship scheme, suffering a leak that shows Amazon might be plotting to launch a new grocery chain in the US (i.e. not use Whole Foods) and +50 other Amazon moves. Subscribe to 'What Did Amazon Do This Week ' if you want the full, deep look at what Amazon is doing every week, called 'Obsessive...in the very best way.'


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(BU) HONDA MOTOR CO. LTD. of Tokyo on Tuesday unveiled a new passenger car named the Legend, marking the company`s entry into the luxury-car market. The sedan will be the largest Honda car. It will go on sale in Japan in late November at a retail price the equivalent of between $11,530 to $14,560. Its debut in the United States is set for April. The U.S. price of the Legend, which will be sold through the newly formed Acura Automobile Division of American Honda, has not been determined, Honda officials said.
(BU) GENERAL MOTORS` third-quarter profits soared 24 percent above year-ago levels on booming sales, but low-cost deals to clear out old models cut into earnings, the nation`s largest automaker said Tuesday. Profit for the first nine months of the year was down 24 percent from the same period last year, GM said. It said net income in the three months ended Sept. 30 totaled $516.5 million, or $1.46 per share of common stock, compared with $416.8 million, or $1.31 per share, a year earlier. GM is the first of the major U.S. auto firms to release third-quarter earnings.
(BU) CHASE MANHATTAN CORP.`S plan to enter the Maryland banking market by buying three ailing thrifts was approved by the General Assembly on Tuesday after six grueling days of negotiations and an impassioned plea from Gov. Harry Hughes. The deal will free up about $500 million in frozen deposits and relieve the state of millions of dollars in potential losses it would have faced if it had to liquidate the savings and loan associations.
(BU) NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP., frustrated by congressional inaction on its bid for Conrail, threatened Tuesday to abandon buying the government-owned freight railroad. ``Time for talking about Conrail is over,`` declared Robert B. Claytor, chairman and chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern. A memorandum outlining Norfolk Southern`s intent to acquire the government`s 85 percent stake in Conrail was endorsed by Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole last February and sent to Congress for approval. The $1.2 billion offer expires at the end of the year.
(BU) THE BOEING CO. of Seattle said Tuesday it has received a $2 billion Northwest Airlines order to launch development of the longest-range commercial jetliner to date -- the 747-400. The new jumbo jet has a range of more than 8,000 miles and seating for 450 passengers in Northwest`s configuration. The order is expected to strengthen the airline`s position in the trans-Pacific in the face of a proposed buyout by United Airlines of Pan American World Airways` Pacific division, which could create a more formidable competitor. The Northwest order, besides 10 747s, includes 10 smaller 757-200s. In Hartford, Conn., United Technologies` Pratt & Whitney Division Tuesday said it would supply Northwest with 68 installed and spare engines worth about $360 million to power the new planes.
(BU) GASOLINE PRICES dropped a penny per gallon in October from September, the AAA Clubs of Florida said Tuesday. The new figures were before several counties either imposed new taxes or increased their local-option gasoline taxes. Current gasoline prices are equal to what they were in May.
(BU) RYDER SYSTEMS INC. of Miami Tuesday acquired Municipal Issuers Service Corp., of White Plains, N.Y., which provides financial analyses, marketing, administration and operational services to the Municipal Bond Insurance Association, the nation`s largest municipal bond financial guarantor. It is a consortium of five insurance companies. Ryder has acquired about 40 companies in the last four years. Chairman Anthony Burns said this week that Ryder has spent about $200 million on acquisitions this year and plans about the same next year. The price for the latest acquisition was not disclosed.
(BU) INTERNATIONAL CONTROLS CORP. of Boca Raton said Tuesday that it made a profit for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 of about $1.35 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with about $1.92 million, or 55 cents a share for the same period a year ago. The company said the latest quarter results included a one-time charge after taxes of $1,012,000, or 30 cents per share, resulting from the termination of an employment agreement with the company`s former chief executive officer. Without that item, the company said, quarterly earnings would have been a record high. The quarter last year included an extraordinary item that added 9 cents a share. The company manufactures and markets internationally products for aerospace, electronics and energy markets.


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Markaaz, which connects small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with suppliers, is working with Mastercard to bring the credit card company’s products and services, particularly for payments and security, to SMBs, according to a press release.
SMBs will be able to save “critical time and money in identifying and working with their partners” by working with the companies’ products, the release stated. They can quickly verify themselves for loans, insurance and more.
Mastercard’s suite includes the Mastercard Track Business Payments plan, which assesses cyber risks and vulnerabilities, and Fincity’s tech to offer financial data and insights, according to the release.
When SMBs integrate with Markaaz’s dashboard, they can access “a pre-verified community of businesses, educational resources, digital tools and best-in-class payment capabilities,” the release stated.
“This partnership with Mastercard is a very significant one for Markaaz,” said Markaaz Founder and CEO Hany Fam in the release. “We are thrilled that Mastercard is able to bring its capabilities, know-how and team to bear to develop unique assets and resources for this partnership.”
Mastercard North America Small Business Lead Ginger Siegel said in the release that the company is “committed to supporting the needs of small businesses” as digitization continues to be a trend. She said the company wants to “bring the power of Mastercard’s open banking, cyber risk and ID-verification tools to Markaaz to create a richer value proposition for small businesses.”
The release noted that there’s a need for more flexibility and simplicity in SMB payments. Markaaz, with its numerous partners, is trying to cover many needs, including cash flow, customer and supplier management, accounting and cybersecurity.
Mastercard is also continuing work with Dubai Asset Management to help keep payments current in the United Arab Emirates.
The partnership will assist residential communities with better tech, offering more sustainable cities and adding access to “smart, secure and innovative” new services.


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On May 20, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted the list of deemed new tobacco products for which a premarket application was submitted to FDA via the Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) pathway by Sept. 9, 2020. The list includes over 6 million products.
In February, FDA posted the list of deemed new tobacco products with timely applications submitted to FDA via the Substantial Equivalence (SE) and Exemption from SE Request (EX REQ) pathways. At the time, the PMTA list was still being compiled due to the large number of applications, size of applications, and other factors.
FDA also had to ensure that the development and posting of the list was done in accordance with applicable laws; for example, FDA needed to contact each individual applicant to request the dates of initial marketing and current marketing status of each product for which an application was submitted by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline.
The process is now complete for the deemed new tobacco products with timely applications submitted through the PMTA pathway, and updates to the SE and EX REQ lists have been made to reflect final actions taken since their initial posting. Now, all lists of deemed new tobacco products with timely submitted applications are available. The agency will be updating these lists regularly as positive or negative actions are issued on these products.
Per a court order, for deemed new tobacco products on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016, applications for premarket review were required to be submitted to FDA by Sept. 9, 2020. The court order also stated that FDA may defer enforcement of premarket requirements for certain deemed new tobacco products.
Generally, FDA intends to prioritize enforcement of those tobacco products described in Agency guidance. However, for up to one year – or until Sept. 9, 2021 – FDA generally intends to defer enforcement of products that were on the market as of Aug. 8, 2016, and for which applications were submitted by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline. If a negative action is taken by the FDA on an application during that year, the product(s) must be removed from the market or risk FDA enforcement.
FDA is making the lists available to the public to be transparent and increase stakeholder knowledge of these products. However, the lists are only one source of information. Retailers should discuss with their suppliers the current status of any particular tobacco product’s application and marketing authorization.
It is important to note that these are not comprehensive lists intended to cover all currently marketed deemed new tobacco products that a firm generally might manufacture, distribute or sell without risking FDA enforcement.
For example, the lists do not include products from companies that did not provide their information in time to be included, products that are subject to a positive marketing order from FDA before April 5, 2021, or products that were commercially marketed in the United States as of Feb. 15, 2007, and have not been modified. The lists also do not include products that are subject to negative actions from FDA before April 5, 2021, or products with a pending submission that was not submitted by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline.
Progress on Tobacco Product Application Review
The FDA continues to review tobacco product applications received by the Sept. 9, 2020, deadline through all three pathways and provide updates on its progress through the Tobacco Product Applications: Metrics And Reporting webpage.
FDA is also posting the latest metrics charts related to the review of all tobacco products applications. The charts now include data as of April 1, 2021, for the applications submitted through the SE, EX REQ, and PMTA pathways. However, there are a number of important factors and context that need to be considered when reviewing this data.
Due to the extremely large volume of the applications received by the Sept. 9 deadline, and real-time changes to status taking place as applications move through the review process, FDA is seeing constant changes in the month-to-month data over time. Although the data may be accurate at the point in time when it’s exported from the data tracking systems, there are corrections and adjustments that often need to be made retroactively.


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Middle Class Death Spiral: Consumers Have Never Been In More Debt, And Bankruptcies Are Surging
Middle Class Death Spiral: Consumers Have Never Been In More Debt, And Bankruptcies Are Surging by Michael Snyder for The Economic Collapse Blog
This wasn’t supposed to happen. During the relative economic stability of the past few years, the middle class was supposed to experience a resurgence, but instead it has just continued to be hollowed out. The cost of living has risen much faster than wages have, and as a result hard working families all over America are being stretched financially like never before. Even though most of us are working, 59 percent of all Americans are currently living paycheck to paycheck, and almost 50 million Americans are living in poverty. In a desperate attempt to continue their middle class lifestyles, many Americans have been piling up mountains of debt, and it has gotten to the point where we have a major crisis on our hands.
According to the New York Post, the total amount of debt that U.S. households have accumulated is about to cross the 14 trillion dollar mark for the first time ever…
Meanwhile, record American household debt, near $14 trillion including mortgages and student loans, is some $1 trillion higher than during the Great Recession of 2008. Credit card debt of $1 trillion also exceeds the 2008 peak.
Americans are spending heavily, again — and often recklessly, say analysts.
This is the exact opposite of what U.S. consumers should be doing. We can see signs of a fresh economic slowdown all around us, and consumers should be feverishly trying to get out of debt as fast as they can.
But instead, debt levels just keep setting record after record. In fact, total student loan debt just hit a brand new record high of 1.605 trillion dollars, and auto loan debt just hit a brand new record high of 1.174 trillion dollars.
It would be one thing if we could handle all of this debt, but that isn’t the case. Bankruptcies have been steadily rising, and according to the latest figures the number of bankruptcy filings shot up another 5 percent in the month of July…
Bankruptcy petitions for consumers and businesses are on the rise. There was a 5% increase in total bankruptcy filings in July 2019 from the previous month, the American Bankruptcy Institute said this week. There were 64,283 bankruptcy filings, up from 62,241 for the same period last year.
Unfortunately, this is probably just the beginning.
Right now, most of the country is living on the edge financially, and so a major economic slowdown would inevitably cause another enormous tsunami of consumer bankruptcies like we saw in 2008.


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Since reaching a high-water mark in March 2015, the U.S. has lost 68,000 durable manufacturing jobs, including losses in machinery (46,000), fabricated metal products (36,000) and primary metals (22,000). Manufacturing lost 29,000 jobs in March 2016 alone, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These numbers are felt deeply throughout traditional manufacturing hubs across the country. They touch families and communities – many of which are built around these jobs.
At the same time, American employers cannot find the talent they need to run modern shop floors – a challenge that’s only growing as output of American manufacturing continues to accelerate. According to a recent Deloitte study, by 2020 America will be the most competitive manufacturing economy in the world, surpassing China.
Therein lies a paradox: While America is shedding manufacturing jobs, American manufactures cannot find the workforce needed to keep up with the growing demand for their services.
One of the driving forces behind all this is the transition to digital manufacturing. This digitization of manufacturing processes is breathing new life into traditional manufacturing companies and increasing the productivity of employees in their labor force. Because of advances in digital manufacturing, America is producing everything from shoe soles to drone propeller blades more efficiently and affordably.
Most acute is a shift in the skill requirements of our labor force. The increased use of robotics and the automation in manufacturing demand higher-skilled employees who are able to write and manage the software and hardware that control manufacturing equipment. There is greater demand for researchers who can push innovation and productivity even further. And software developers who can weave automation into assembly lines, production cost estimates and product design are a precious and rare resource in digital manufacturing.
To grow the next manufacturing labor force, the industry needs to focus on three areas of improvement. We need to:
- Debunk myths about manufacturing jobs.
- Get the word out about high-paying jobs.
- Improve job readiness.
Debunk Myths About Manufacturing Jobs
To stimulate a new fascination with the industry and attract workers with those skills needed to manage modern shop floors, we need to debunk long-held myths about manufacturing jobs. Perceptions of dirty, smoky work environments are not the reality of the digital-manufacturing industry. Modern manufacturing floors are as easy to picture in a Silicon Valley-based office park as they are in a rural Midwestern town.
There’s a sense of purpose among the software developers, production techs and product designers who collaborate in airy, new office spaces. They feel inspired that they provide the digital thread that enables 3D CAD files to be sent to an injection molding, CNC machining or 3D printing machine – all with the click of a mouse. They’re invigorated by the idea of helping companies produce tomorrow’s next big thing.
Get the Word Out About High-Paying Jobs
With increased skills comes higher pay, so it’s not surprising that digital manufacturing is shifting the pay curve for manufacturing employees in the U.S.
Mold techs are a good example of this in practice. Before every production run on an injection-molding press, a highly skilled mold tech has to prep and tune the press. This front-end work is custom to every job and is part art, part science. Because digital manufacturers provide their customers with options for shorter production runs – for example, 100 runs of 1,000 parts rather than a single run of 1 million parts – they need 10 times more mold techs than traditional manufacturers do. This is driving up demand for these highly skilled workers, and today an entry-level mold tech can expect to make as much as $70,000 per year right out of school.
Mold techs are just one example of high-paying jobs that digital manufacturing is creating. As an industry, we need to be better at informing job seekers about the opportunities in these high-potential career paths.
Improve Job Readiness
Developing America’s next-generation workforce starts with expanding and accelerating STEM education. We need more computer and materials engineers. We also need a bigger bench of highly skilled trade workers like the mold techs mentioned above.
The industry needs to work directly with high schools, trade colleges and universities to enhance vocational training programs. Greater curricular emphasis is needed in data analysis, CAD and analytics, because data is the “oil” powering digital manufacturing. Furthermore, we need to be more explicit with educators about the skills we want in our new hires.
We also need to think about all those traditional manufacturing jobs being lost and determine how to re-engage and re-train those workers so they can be even more productive in the digital-manufacturing environment.
To that end, manufactures play an important role by expanding their new-employee onboarding and training programs. For example, Proto Labs, which has been growing 20% to 25% per year, launched Proto Labs University to boost new employees’ skills and to position them to drive the company’s continued growth. The robust training program also helps new hires understand the nuances of our company’s unique culture and expectations.
Manufacturing has advanced rapidly, and the software developers writing the code and the production techs on the shop floor need to advance just as fast. According to Deloitte’s recent analysis of the manufacturing space, the top driver of manufacturing competiveness is talent. If America wants to dominate manufacturing in the 21st century as it did for most of the 20th, the industry must work to change the perception of manufacturing jobs; re-examine how we incentivize highly skilled employees; and evolve how we onboard and nurture the next generation of manufacturing talent.
Victoria M. Holt has been president and CEO of Proto Labs since February 2014. She served as president and CEO of Spartech Corp., a leading producer of plastic sheet, compounds and packaging products, from September 2010 until Spartech was purchased by PolyOne Corp. in March 2013. Prior to Spartech, Holt worked at PPG Industries.


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Announcing new measures for home-based entrepreneurs, business minister Matthew Hancock said there had never been a better time to start a company.
It's this spirit of personal endeavour and self-determination that is driving our economic recovery.
But home businesses don't just fire up the economic engines and create jobs, they turn dormitory towns into living communities, they keep our streets safer, and by driving down car emissions, cleaner too.
We'll give people the confidence they need to run a business from a rented home, making sure that the majority of home businesses are exempt from business rates and our aspiring entrepreneurs have the information they need to start up and grow.
More top news
Police in San Diego have released two sets of video footage showing the shooting of an unarmed black man by officers.
Mostly dry across the north of the UK today, with spells of sunshine and isolated heavy showers for some.
Huntingdon's, autism and congenital heart conditions are among those likely to be exempt from reassessment.


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Valve has decided to axe the ability for PC and PS3 players to compete head-to-head in the upcoming game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, just weeks after it said the feature would be one of the defining parts of the game. The problem, according to the company, is that allowing cross-platform play would mean the PC version wouldn’t be able to get continuous patches and updates.
If the two platforms had to talk with one another, they’d both need to always be running the same version of the game. The problem with that is that if Valve needs to release a game update, it can push it to PC servers immediately, but on the PS3 it has to go through a lot of Sony bureaucracy. As a result, Valve said it just wasn’t worth the inconvenience it would have to place on PC gamers.
Cross-platform play between console and PC sounds great on the surface, but the technical details have always made it a challenging proposition. In addition to the update problems cited by Valve, there’s also the issue of players on a PC having a distinct advantage since they have a keyboard and mouse and can perform maneuvers and controls more quickly. Cross-platform play between the Xbox 360 and PS3 would be a much more digestable process, but Microsoft has banned any developer from ever allowing that feature.


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Mobile World Congress kicked off in style on Monday with Microsoft unveiling their latest mobile operating system – Windows 7. The OS looks really slick with some really nice features including contact syncing with social networks and Xbox integration.
But is this all too little too late? The new iPhone (4.0) is set to hit in the summer and Microsoft don’t expect any Windows 7 phones to reach consumers until the end of the year.
It’s all about the apps
I’m a big iPhone fan, but I really like the Windows 7 UI – enough to make me consider moving, but there is one thing holding me back – the apps.
And this neatly brings me to one of the other big MWC announcements; a number of the leading mobile manufacturers have teamed together to try and bring about the standardisation of mobile applications.
This seems to be a movement that is gaining momentum. The BBC today announced that it is going to be launching mobile apps for parts of its website in the next few month, but launched an attack on mobile manufacturers who are making life too hard for publishers keen to get their content on mobile devices, by forcing them to create separate versions for different operating systems.
Are apps just a stop gap?
Apple leads the way at the moment with the sheer number of apps that are available for the iPhone. And for an iPhone user, this means the temptation to move to another handset manufacturer is fairly low. Sure UIs are great, but in a world where mobile handsets are now more like mini-computers, applications really do make the difference.
But the standardisation of apps could really shake things up. And it would make a lot of sense for the consumer, if not for Apple.
Of course, standalone applications themselves could soon be a thing of the past themselves – how will HTML5 change this space? I had a good tweet-chat with Matt Hopkins on Friday evening about how HTML5 web apps could in fact overtake – take the new mobile web app for Google Buzz as an example of HTML5 at work. This would render the whole compatibility issue a moot point.
So for now, I’ll be sticking with the iPhone, but I’ve still got my eye on Microsoft et al., as the mobile landscape could soon be very different…


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(CNN) - New research shows coffee may help ward off basal cell carcinoma - the most common type of skin cancer.
The findings, presented in Boston this week, follow a study of more than 110,000 adults over more than 20 years.
The study found women drinking more than three cups of coffee per day have a 20 percent lower risk of developing BCC than those who drink less than a cup per month.
Men who drink that much coffee saw a nine percent lower risk than men who rarely drink coffee.
The study found drinking coffee did not affect the risk of developing the two other forms of skin cancer.


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In an uncommon way of online fraud, a man was cheated of INR 1 lakh while transacting through popular online payment portals Paytm and Google Pay. The incident has been reported from the Thane district of Maharashtra.
As per reports, the man (who lost the money) posted an advertisement on Facebook for selling his furniture. In response to his advertisement, a person named Rajendra Sharma contacted him and showed interest in purchasing the furniture.
Sharma said to transfer an amount for INR 1.01 lakhs through payment gateways — Paytm and Google Pay for the purchase of the furniture. However, as per the complainant, 1.01 lakh was debited from his account during three transactions on the two payment gateways.
On realizing that he has been cheated the complainant contacted Sharma and also reported the police about the incident. However, Sharma assured that he would return the money and asked the complainant for another account number.
Police have registered an offense against the unidentified accused under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act and further investigations are underway.


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The European Central Bank (ECB) said on Tuesday that cryptocurrencies are largely unsuitable as an investment or a store of value.
The bank said if the current growth and market integration of cryptocurrencies persists, they could pose a bigger threat to the economy. But it still sees their popularity growing, especially among retail investors.
So far, despite volatility in the crypto market this year, it has not resulted in any major contagion to the real economy. But the ECB thinks this could change.
The ECB’s comments, which were released in a report, come shortly after President Christine Lagarde said crypto is “worth nothing.” The central bank has also previously derided crypto for its volatility and risks to investors.
ECB thinks crypto regulation lacking, investors vulnerable
A recent survey ECB shows that at least 10% of European households own crypto assets. Retail investors also make up a significant portion of crypto holders, according to the bank.
But it is on this notion that the bank states that crypto assets are lacking in consumer protection risks. Investors in the space are more vulnerable to fraud, regulatory relief mechanisms and market manipulation.
While major crypto projects are growing, the ECB says they lack “internal shock absorbers” for extreme market events. A recent example of this is the Terra crash, which occurred largely due to the blockchain’s inability to keep up with the selling of its stablecoin.
More crypto regulation ahead?
The ECB now appears to be targeting DeFi. The bank said that web3 platforms offering services similar to banks would likely need to comply with traditional regulations to avoid legal issues.
The bank cited the need for leverage in DeFi protocols, which would ensure their operation even during times of market duress.
Currently, the crypto-asset deposit/lending industry is still quite small compared with traditional banking, although it could continue to grow rapidly.
Beyond DeFi, the bank once again called for lawmakers to bring crypto under their regulatory fold. Current efforts are already being made to subject crypto to European money laundering practices.
But the ECB also sees a lack of clear data on cryptocurrencies as a major hurdle for more regulation.
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UK: Piper-Heidsieck gets Magners treatment
Maxxium UK has lined up an innovative approach to the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne brand in the UK.
The Rémy Cointreau brand, represented in the UK by Maxxium, will be offered in the country as Piper-Heidsieck Piscine, and will contain ice cubes. The move to include ice cubes in a serving has revitalised the cider category in the UK in the last two years, thanks to C&C marketing its Magners brand over ice.
In partnership with Matthew Clark, Maxxium UK will be offering limited edition, red Piper-Heidsieck Piscine stemmed glasses, as well as red Champagne ice coolers and ice buckets. The new glasses are can hold four or five ice cubes and a regular measure of Champagne.
"This exciting new way of enjoying Piper-Heidsieck Champagne over ice is an impressively simple serve and adds a new dimension of luxurious indulgence," said Lindsay Brown, marketing manager for Piper-Heidsieck Champagne at Maxxium UK. "Our marketing campaign will target a wide range of consumers at high profile events this Summer."
Speaking to just-drinks today (23 April), Gordon Muir, marketing manager for luxury brands at Maxxium UK, said: "The aim is to extend the usage of Piper-Heidsieck in the UK to more informal occasions.
"The Champagne category in the UK is buoyant and is still growing," Muir noted.
The new marketing move will be applied to "trendy nightclubs and smart style bars", he concluded.
Rémy Cointreau has posted a healthy lift in first-half sales, driven by growth in Asia and Europe....
Maxxium has added Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum to its portfolio and will distribute the brand across the UK market for the first time....
Private equity firm EQT has voiced its desire to buy Vin & Sprit from the Swedish government, according to reports....
The Swedish government is keen to progress with its privatisation of state-owned Vin & Sprit, despite the resignation of two key officials in the process earlier this week....
Vin & Sprit has updated the look of the bottle for its Plymouth Gin Navy Strength brand in the UK....
The Edrington Group has lined up a limited edition version of The Famous Grouse for the UK off-trade....
Rémy Cointreau has confirmed that it is looking for new deals in readiness for its exit from Maxxium....
Vin & Sprit has declined to comment on claims that it may have to pay up to SEK6bn (US$893m) to extract itself from two distribution agreements, should it be sold by the Swedish government....
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Xolo has announced that the company has partnered with Broadcom to launched the Xolo Q1000 Opus powered by Broadcom BCM23550 later this month. Broadcom signed up for ARMv7 and ARMv8 Architecture licenses earlier this year and announced the chip back in June, which has four ARM Cortex A7 Cores. The chip has support for Broadcom’s BCM4334 connectivity combo chip with 3G HSPA+ (HSPDA: 21Mbps; HSUPA 5.8 Mbps) connectivity and and BCM4752 multi-constellation GNSS location chip. It also has support for NFC, up to 12MP imaging, Dual SIM support and 1080p HD video capture and playback.
It also lets user stream content over Wi-Fi and simultaneously share and project HD video, photos and gaming applications on a larger screen via Miracast. It is likely to come with a 8MP or a 12MP rear camera and run on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).
Regarding the upcoming smartphone, Sunil Raina, Business Head at XOLO said,
XOLO has differentiated itself on delivering performance driven smartphone experience to its users. This tie up with Broadcom Corporation is another big step in the same direction. Our upcoming product – XOLO Q1000 OPUS will deliver high-end multimedia experience and GPS/GLONASS search location technology on a large 5 inch screen at an attractive price point
Rafael Sotomayor, Broadcom Vice President, Mobile Platform Solutions, said
Driving affordability is the key to tapping into the explosive demand for smartphones in India. Our complete smartphone platform offers a turnkey solution that allows OEMs to expedite production of full-featured, high-performance Android smartphones while significantly lowering development costs. By combining our powerful quad-core solution with our leading connectivity suite, we’re changing the landscape of India’s smartphone market.
We still don’t have the complete specifications of the device, here are the key features of the upcoming Xolo Q1000 Opus smartphone
- 5-inch display
- 1.2 GHz Quad-core Broadcom BCM23550 ARM Cortex A7 processor
- VideoCore IV GPU for enhanced 3D gaming and other graphics-rich applications
- 21 Mbps HSPA+ downstream connectivity, 5.8 Mbps of upstream connectivity
- GPS/GLONASS, WLAN, MEMs and Cell ID for the best indoor/outdoor location
- Dual HD display support with 720p LCD and external HD panel via Wi-Fi Miracast-capable displays
Xolo Q1000 Opus smartphone would go on sale by the end of November 2013.


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He may be Time magazine’s Person of the Year but Kiwis think Donald Trump would be the worst Santa Claus, according to Colmar Brunton’s 2016 Christmas survey.
The annual survey this year asked Kiwis who they thought would make the best and worst Santa, as well as what makes for the best and worst stocking fillers and when Christmas advertising should start and when you should stop believing in Father Christmas.
US President-elect Trump was a clear choice in the worst Santa category on 38%, ahead of Kanye West (13%), who has threatened to run for the US presidency in 2020, and New Zealand’s own popular-but-polarising media personality, Paul Henry, is in third place on 11%.
Colmar Brunton account manager Jessica Balbas says women clearly were much less keen than men on the idea of The Donald as Santa, with 47% of female respondents nominating him as the worst Santa compared to 28% of males.
And the best Santa?
She says while those results may not surprise anybody, the choice for best Santa was a bit less predictable.
All Blacks record-breaking captain Richie McCaw, who has recently spent time helping out in the aftermath of the South Island earthquakes, could do no better than 4th place on 10%, with Prince Harry (11%) and George Clooney (13%) seen as more desirable in a Santa suit.
But the overall winner was Sir Ian McKellen with 25% of the vote.
“I guess when Kiwis think of Sir Ian they see him as Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings, complete with white hair and white beard, which makes him a natural fit,” Balbas said.
And when asked up to what age it is acceptable for children to believe in Santa, a solid two thirds of Kiwis said it was acceptable to believe at any age.
“I think kids these days have caught on to the ‘if you continue to believe you will continue to receive’ theory and are happy to play along well into their teens,” Balbas said.
Xmas ad restrictions?
The Christmas survey also saw Kiwis come out against the recent trend of Christmas advertising launching earlier and earlier in the year.
A whopping 87% were in favour of restricting Christmas advertising to November and December.
When it comes to stocking fillers, the advice, based on the survey results, is stock up on lollies, chocolate, gift cards, books and magazines but avoid the likes of socks, undies and fruit.
“Clearly Christmas is still seen as a time for treats rather than prioritising the healthier 5+ a day ethos,” Balbas says.
A representative sample of 500 New Zealanders were surveyed and the survey has a maximum margin of error of + or – 4.4%.
About Colmar Brunton
Colmar Brunton was started in 1981 by two Kiwis with a passion for taking research from the backroom into the boardroom. It is now New Zealand’s best known and most trusted market and social research company, with offices in Auckland and Wellington, and employing more than 100 research and business consultants. Colmar Brunton is part of the global Millward Brown network covering more than 51 countries around the world, and Kantar, WPP’s insight, information and consultancy group.
Colmar Brunton produces the monthly NZ TVC Top 10 – published exclusively on M+AD.
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Buy a Smile Cookie from September 19th to 25th at a local Tim Hortons® Restaurant and support the HGH Foundation!
We’re very excited that the Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Week is taking place from September 19th – 25th this year! During this week, Tim Hortons chocolate chunk cookies will transform into something incredibly special: Smile Cookies – hand-decorated treats that raise money for local charities across the country.
The Smile Cookie program started in 1996, raising funds for Hamilton Children’s Hospital in Ontario. Twenty-six years later, 100% of proceeds from each Smile Cookie is still donated to charities from coast-to-coast-to-coast, supporting the communities in which the restaurants operate. In 2022, more than 625 different charities will benefit from the weeklong campaign.
This year, local Tim Hortons restaurant owner, Mr. Paul Burke, has chosen to once again support the HGH Foundation’s current fundraising campaign, There’s No Place Like Home.
This campaign will support the purchase of essential medical equipment needed to bring new services to HGH like advanced 3D mammography, and will enable access to more specialty care, closer to home. The focus is on enhancing services in orthopedic surgery, urology, ophthalmology, endoscopy, and advanced mammography. For more information on this campaign, please visit There’s No Place Like Home.
Our restaurant team members and I are happy to support the HGH Foundation. We are so lucky to have such an amazing hospital, close to home, and we are proud to have contributed to its expansion and the development of its services over the past 11 years. We invite our guests to purchase delicious Smile Cookies in support of our hospital! – Paul Burke, Tim Hortons Restaurant Owner
The full $1 from every freshly baked chocolate chunk Smile Cookie purchased September 19th to 25th from the Tim Hortons restaurants in Hawkesbury, L’Orignal, and Vankleek Hill will be donated to the HGH Foundation.
We are so grateful to be the recipient of the funds from the Smile Cookie campaign once again this year. What a great initiative and gesture from local Tim Hortons owner, Mr. Paul Burke, and his team members! This is just another amazing example of our community making a difference for our hospital, its patients, their families, and the entire region. – Erin Tabakman, Executive Director, HGH Foundation
How can you show your support during the Smile Cookie campaign?
There are two ways you can participate in Smile Cookie week:
1) Visit your local participating Tim Hortons between September 19th – 25th and buy a Smile Cookie for $1 (plus tax).
2) Or, you can pre-order a box of Smile Cookies by downloading and filling out an order form in advance, and dropping it off at your local Tims. Pre-orders must be made 48 hours in advance. Download the Smile Cookies order form.
Why is Smile Cookie so important?
The Smile Cookie campaign is a great way for Tims guests and restaurant owners to give back to their communities. 100% of funds raised through the sale of Smile Cookies go directly to local charities selected by restaurant owners, including the HGH Foundation. Your support will help ensure that your loved ones can receive specialty medical care at HGH without the need to travel elsewhere!
Every Smile Cookie is as unique as the people, charities, and communities they help.
Tim Hortons has been raising funds for local charities for 26 years. Last year, Tim Hortons restaurants raised a record breaking $12.2 million for over 600 local charities and community groups – an incredible accomplishment contributing to the Smile Cookie legacy of over $75 million raised since the program’s inception.
About TIM HORTONS®
In 1964, the first Tim Hortons® restaurant in Hamilton, Ontario opened its doors and Canadians have been ordering Tim Hortons iconic Original Blend coffee, Double-Double ™ coffees, Donuts and Timbits® in the years since. Over the last 55 years, Tim Hortons has captured the hearts and taste buds of Canadians. Tim Hortons is Canada’s largest restaurant chain operating in the quick service industry serving over 5 million cups of coffee every day with 80% of Canadians visiting one of nearly 4,000 Tim Hortons in Canada at least once a month. More than a coffee and bake shop, Tim Hortons is part of the Canadian fabric and guests can enjoy hot and cold specialty beverages – including lattes, cappuccinos and espressos, teas and our famous Iced Capps™ – alongside delicious breakfast, sandwiches, wraps, soups and more. Tim Hortons has more than 4,800 restaurants in Canada, the United States and around the world. For more information visit TimHortons.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Christine Gray St-Denis
Philanthropic Projects Coordinator, HGH Foundation
613-632-1111, ext. 21108


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MEDINA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Police are searching for two men caught on camera stealing from Spin Bike Shop on Thursday.
It happened overnight while the business was closed.
Owner Ray Wagner said he received an alert from his alarm system and was able to watch the suspects in action from his phone.
“It’s a really uncomfortable feeling to see,” he said.
The suspects were shown breaking in and stealing three top of the line mountain bikes collectively worth $12,000.
They also took a thousand dollars worth of merchandise from the display cases and a tub of instant hand warmers.
“We believe the guys were cyclists themselves or knew what was the good stuff,” said Wagner.
He thinks he may have seen them earlier in the store earlier in the day as well.
Anyone who may have information on the suspects is asked to call Medina Township Police.


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Brazil’s federal planning and logistics firm EPL is looking at the possibility of exporting products from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in central-west Brazil through ports in Chile and Argentina. The company said in a press release that it visited ports in both countries, looking at factors including logistical chains, operating costs, customs integration, access to Asian markets and the level of bureaucracy.
Visits to the ports of Iquique, Tocopilla, Mejilones and Antofagasta in northern Chile indicate that use of those ports could reduce logistics costs for exporters by more than 20%. In addition, shipping from Chile to Asia could cut travel time by up to 12 days.
EPL will also visit ports in Salta, Perico, Guemes and Jujuy, in northern Argentina, before presenting results later this year. The study data will be used by the Government of Brazil in planning infrastructure investments.


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3 Years agoIndia is organising a two-day event in Stockholm, with the aim of exploring further synergies between Indian and Swedish companies. In the run up, take a closer look at collaborations in the auto sector.
This year, as India and Sweden mark over two decades of diplomatic ties, India is organising a two-day event at Stockholm with the aim of exploring synergies and avenues of partnership between Indian and Swedish companies. In the run-up to this event, we take a closer look at the collaborations in the automobile sector.
INDIAN AUTOMOTIVE MARKET OVERVIEW
The Indian automobile market is growing steadily with an impressive growth trajectory in sales, production and exports over the past few years. With an average production of 24 million vehicles annually and generation of employment for over 29 million people, India’s automotive sector is the fourth largest in the world.1
The country’s ‘Make in India’ initiative aims to transform India into a global manufacturing powerhouse. In the case of the auto sector, the Automobile Mission Plan 2016-2026 envisages to elevate India as one of the leading three markets in the world by 2026. The pace of growth for the sector is expected to be catalysed by increasing investment in the form of FDI.2
Production, Domestic Sales, and Export Trends
AUTO COLLABORATION ON A FAST TRACK
Mutual economic cooperation in the automobile sector has been the backbone of Indo – Sweden relations. The sector that has received the maximum share of investments in India is the auto sector, which constitutes 33% of the total share. The Volvo Group, one of the world’s biggest multinational manufacturing companies based in Sweden, was the first to establish their manufacturing plant in India.3
Volvo India Private Limited was established in 1998 at Hoskote near Bangalore, with an investment of USD 70 million. Today, the plant operates over 1,000 units in a one-shift capacity. The company introduced its first truck model in 1998, after which the first bus model was unveiled in 2001. The company also established a Volvo bus factory in 2008 and has expanded its footprint by 100% in 2013.4
The company currently has manufacturing setups in Hosakote, Peenya, Bengaluru in Karnataka, and Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh supported by 3,500 employees in addition to 400 sales and services personnel. It has also diversified its presence in India spanning commercial vehicles, construction equipment and financial services.5
Similarly, in 2013, Scania started its operations in India with a plant in Bengaluru. The facility can produce 2,500 trucks and 1,000 buses annually. The company is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Scania’s heavy trucks, buses and diesel engines are known for their quality and performance. The Sweden-based Corporation aims to make India an export hub as their product range grows stronger in India.6
Recently, Swedish Auto OEM, Clean Motion launched its ‘Zbee’ electric commercial vehicle in India. Though currently imported as a knockdown kit and assembled locally, the option of setting up a manufacturing unit in India is currently being explored. India’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles (FAME) policy envisages support for development of a vibrant hybrid vehicles market and for setting up of a robust manufacturing ecosystem by 2020.7
INDO - SWEDISH TRADE SYNERGIES
India is Sweden’s 19 th largest export market globally and 3 rd largest trade partner after China and Japan in Asia, with bilateral trade passing the USD 1.9 billion mark during 2016-17. Sweden has always been known for innovative technologies, while India is an emerging market and is gradually moving up the ladder. Synergy between the two nations is likely to enhance the cooperation in the sector and broaden the horizon.8
The automobile industry in Sweden is predominantly marked by exports, with more than 85% of the passenger cars and 95% of the heavy vehicles being sold outside of Sweden. To explore a range of developing economies and cater to their rising demand, India can serve as a base for the production and export of these vehicles. This collaboration will help Sweden to spread its wings to other economies, while India will benefit in fulfilling its domestic demand and generating employment.9
Furthermore, India presents a range of opportunities for Swedish automotive suppliers. Through existing relations with Swedish OEMs, the Indian business ecosystem aims to give prospective companies a window of opportunity to make their localisation simpler. Also, through innovations and simplification of production processes, there is an opportunity to offer a distinctive product by offering higher quality and performance.
To know more about Indo-Sweden collaboration in automobiles and beyond, follow the action on social media using #IndiaInStockholm
3 Embassy of India- Sweden & Latvia
7 https://www.autobreakingnews.com/2017/04/swedish-electric- three-wheeler- brand-zbee- enters-india/
8 Embassy of India- Sweden & Latvia
9 The Economist Intelligence Unit


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A past pupil of Holy Trinity College in Cookstown has joined the judging panel of Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture, the premier recycled fashion competition.
Jose Varandas has been announced as one of this year’s student judges.
The competition is back for a seventh year bringing new faces to the judging panel that have plenty of experience in the fashion industry.
Jose has recently graduated from Ulster University with BA Hons in Textile Art, Design and Fashion, in which in he hopes to follow up with Masters.
Jose was a contestant in the 2012 competition with his design ‘Warrior Night’. It was inspired by Avant Garde and The Lord of the Rings movies and the entire outfit was made from recycled coke cans.
The design obviously captured the attention of the judges as he was crowned the Northern Regional winner.
“I will be interested in designs this year that focus on different manipulation techniques of the materials they choose,” he said.
“I would love to see students step outside the box and use a material that hasn’t been seen in the past.
“Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture is a fantastic platform for any creative career; I would really recommend any student in a post primary school with a flair for art and design to get involved. “Without it I don’t think I would’ve had the confidence to pursue the tough career that the fashion industry entails.”
Sara Ryan, Head of Operations at Junk Kouture said, “We are delighted to announce Jose as a judge for the Eastern Regional Final this year. He will bring his unrivalled knowledge of fashion to the competition,
which we feel guarantees an admirable judging panel for teenagers entering the competition this year.”
Liguori Dobbin, Bank of Ireland UK said it was “very inspiring” to see Jose Varandas return as a judge.
Jose will be part of a strong judging panel of fashion experts including womenswear designer Rhys Ellis, Limerick School of Art and Design’s Tracy Fahey and Griffith College Dublin’s Jane Leavey who will help determine the regional finalists that will progress to the extravagant Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture Grand Final, in the 3Arena, Dublin next April. Online registration will open on January 9th and close at midnight on January 27th on www.boijunkkouture.com


text: Amazon.com Inc. /zigman2/quotes/210331248/composite AMZN +1.68% is the second largest U.S. apparel retailer, according to the latest analysis from Morgan Stanley, and athletic brands top the list of most frequently purchased. Nike Inc. /zigman2/quotes/203439053/composite NKE -0.26% , adidas AG /zigman2/quotes/206448829/delayed XE:ADS +0.94% , Hanes /zigman2/quotes/200637580/composite HBI +0.30% and Under Armour Inc. /zigman2/quotes/204420722/composite UAA +0.89% were the most sought-after brands, with at least 20% of respondents naming them. Morgan Stanley AlphaWise polled 1,000 adults aged 18 and over from April 4 to April 12. "We expect consumer expectations around seeing more dressier and formal attire brands to grow as Amazon's private label brands gain traction," analysts wrote in the Friday note. Nearly half of respondents (46%) purchased clothes from Amazon in the last year, second only to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. /zigman2/quotes/207374728/composite WMT -0.87% with 60%. And nearly half (47%) of likely Amazon apparel shoppers said they expect to buy more clothes from the e-commerce giant in the next 12 months and fewer pieces from other retailers. Analysts say Amazon's 2016 share gains came out of department stores and Target Corp. /zigman2/quotes/207799045/composite TGT -0.62% . Clothing sales at Amazon appears to be driven by Prime members, who are 1.5 times more likely than non-prime members to buy clothes from the site. Amazon shares are up 3% in premarket trading, and up 52.6% for the past year. The S&P 500 index /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +0.18% is up 15.1% for the last 12 months.


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Infiniti’s Electric Vehicles Will Have A Range Of At Least 311 Miles | Carscoops
Infiniti recently announced plans to create a new platform for electrified vehicles and now the automaker has revealed additional information about it.
Automotive News reports the platform will eventually underpin all future Infiniti models except the QX80. The platform will also be unique to Infiniti and only “select components” will be shared with Nissan.
As previously announced, the platform has been designed to accommodate electric powertrains as well as e-POWER systems. Vehicles with the latter powertrain will have an electric motor, a battery and a range-extending petrol engine.
Infiniti President Roland Krueger wasn’t ready to go into specifics but he hinted vehicles based on the new platform could have up to 400 hp (298 kW / 405 PS). He also suggested the company’s electric vehicles would have a range of at least 311 miles (500 km).
Infiniti is still finalizing details about its e-Power system but vehicles with the powertrain could feature the new 2.0-liter VC-Turbo engine which recently debuted in the 2019 QX50. The engine features a variable compression ratio and it produces 268 hp (200 kW / 271 PS) and 280 lb-ft (380 Nm) of torque.
Infiniti’s Vice President of Product Strategy, Francois Bancon, also confirmed the platform will be offered with all-wheel drive as it can be equipped with a rear electric motor to power the rear wheels. He went on suggest the company could offer performance variants which have three electric motors.
The decision to develop a unique platform will likely prove expensive but Krueger said “We realized we needed a platform that could hold an EV and e-Power and that made us decide to go for a completely new platform.” He went on to say “We will have our setting of the suspension, go for a double wishbone on the front axle and things like this, which is really something that is different from other vehicles we have in the lineup.”
On – 30 Apr, 2018 By Michael Gauthier