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Elizabethtown, KY (PRWEB) November 23, 2012
The International Youth Conditioning Association has just launched its latest product, the Complete Athlete Development 2.0. The product is available right now for a “Black Friday” $100 discount off the retail price.
In recent years, the International Youth Conditioning Association has assumed a role in the fitness industry as the world’s leading youth fitness organization. It has done so as a result of its dedication to promoting the current best practices in youth fitness.
“Many trainers these days don’t know that youth fitness isn’t just an imitation version of training adults,” says Pat Rigsby, co-owner and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association.
“Complete Athlete Development 2.0 is the IYCA’s biggest attempt yet to spread the best practices in the youth fitness industry to make sure that kids get the training they need to grow as athletes,” Rigsby continues. “The information in the product comes from the world’s foremost youth fitness specialists.”
Rigsby, a former college baseball coach, notes that the IYCA has built its reputation on promoting the principles of comprehensive young athlete development. Like all of their products, Complete Athlete Development 2.0 is designed with the goal of improving kids’ fitness.
The new product has been designed to give trainers modules led by the world’s leading experts in youth fitness. The modules range in content from assessment and corrective work with Bill Hartman to mobility training with Mike Robertson of Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training.
“What Complete Athlete Development 2.0 offers is an extensive education in all of the major concepts in youth fitness today,” Rigsby’s business partner and IYCA co-owner Nick Berry says. “It contains a proven system for making young athletes better.”
Among other youth fitness training topics covered in the modules are power training, speed training, conditioning, nutrition, team play, young athlete development, youth resistance band training workouts, and kettlebell training for kids.
“Complete Athlete Development 2.0 teaches trainers about the best current trends in athletic development and how to safely train athletes to get better as they get older,” Berry says. “It will help you become the go-to resource for youth training.”
In addition to the assorted modules available on 14 DVDs, Complete Athlete Development 2.0 also includes a 228 page manual containing insights from the industry’s top youth fitness specialists, over 100 programs, and a syllabus with course assignments.
“The IYCA firmly believes in a model of young athlete development that emphasizes long term growth and improvement,” Rigsby says.
“On this Black Friday, I hope trainers take the opportunity for great savings on this product to get on the road to becoming a great youth fitness specialist,” Rigsby explains.
The IYCA is currently offering “Black Friday” savings on Complete Athlete Development 2.0. Through Sunday, November 25th at Midnight, the product is available for a $100 discount off the retail price.
For more information on Complete Athlete Development, visit: http://completeathletedevelopment.com/
About Pat Rigsby and Nick Berry: Pat Rigsby and Nick Berry are the co-owners of Fitness Consulting Group, a leading business development consulting firm within the fitness industry.
The IYCA is part of the Fitness Consulting Group family of companies. It is the world’s leading authority in the fields of youth fitness, youth conditioning, and youth athletic development.
To learn more about the IYCA, visit http://iyca.org


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The new window display at The Kitchen Range in West Wickham is “causing lots of interest,” says Lucy Richards, partner at the cookshop. She explains: “We have created a worktop that looks like a really messy cookery class, with broken eggs, a pasta machine and pasta spilling over from a saucepan.”
The window announces the imminent launch of The Kitchen Range’s Cookery School, situated on the floor above the shop. During lockdowns, the upper floor was converted from a stock room to space for classes and workshops, with an outdoor area growing herbs and vegetables that can be used for fresh ingredients.
The Cookery School starts its daytime classes from June 14.
Top: The Kitchen Range in West Wickham shows a pasta making class in action, with ingredients and kitchenware.

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RAD is one of those companies that runs under the radar, but has quietly influenced much of the modern games industry. If you’ve played any video game that was made in the last 21 years or so, there’s a good chance the game was using RAD’s Bink tool to encode its video files. Bink, a specialized codec, has been used in more than 25,000 games on 14 different platforms, dating back to the end of the 1990s. RAD launched a follow-up codec, Bink 2, in 2013.
RAD also makes Oodle, a data compression utility that’s used to make games’ files smaller, for faster loading times and lower bandwidth costs. Oodle was recently licensed by Sony for use with the PlayStation 5, in a specialized edition called Oodle Kraken that — to use RAD’s term — “supercharges” the PS5’s data loading.
“Together, Epic and RAD plan to integrate RAD’s powerful technology into Unreal Engine to benefit the developer community and gamers alike,” Epic said in its initial announcement. RAD’s tools, notably, are already in use in current builds of Fortnite.
“We know first-hand how impressive RAD’s compression technology is,” said Kim Libreri, Epic Games CTO, in a statement. “The RAD team includes some of the world’s leading compression, video and game dev tooling experts, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the Epic family.”
Under the terms of the acquisition, RAD plans to continue supporting its current partners in games, film, and television production. None of its tools will become exclusive to games or products that use Epic’s Unreal Engine. Based on the announcement, RAD’s ownership is simply changing hands, and it’s otherwise business as usual. Further details of the deal, such as the cost of the acquisition, have yet to be officially disclosed.
“Our work with Epic goes back decades, and joining forces is a natural next step given our alignment on products, mission, and culture,” Jeff Roberts, founder and CEO of RAD, said in a statement. “We both believe that solid technologies enable developers to build beautiful, performant, and reliable experiences. We’re excited and humbled to join the amazing Epic team.”
Other major RAD products include Granny 3D, a toolkit for building 3D games; Telemetry, a profiler for real-time application performance; and Miles, a middleware sound system named after its primary developer.
Epic bills its Unreal Engine as “the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool.” Many companies from all over the world license versions of Unreal from Epic to make mainstream video games, including high-profile recent projects like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Gears 5, Minecraft: Dungeons, the forthcoming Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and of course, Fortnite.
The original acquisition announcement by Epic notes that given the increasing trends towards photorealism in games’ graphics, one of the major upcoming challenges will be producing compression software that can handle it. Put simply: 4K graphics look good, but use up a lot of space, and delivering those graphics in a timely fashion without saddling the player with increasingly aggravating loading times is a significant development hurdle.
With Unreal Engine 5 planned for a release later this year, complete with planned support for ninth-generation consoles, the time’s apparently right to bring aboard a company that’s known throughout the games industry for its talent with data compression.
Epic Games was founded in 1991, and was initially run out of CEO Tim Sweeney’s parents’ house in Maryland. It made several successful games for MS-DOS over the next few years before scoring a big hit in 1998 with the first Unreal, a dark scifi-themed first-person shooter. Epic subsequently moved its headquarters to Cary, N.C., and made part of its business out of licensing Unreal‘s engine to other studios. (Under the current terms of Unreal licensing, the engine is free to use until a product makes $1 million or more in gross revenue; after that point, Epic takes a 5% cut.)
Its other notable games as a developer include the Gears of War series for Microsoft, the mobile hit Infinity Blade, subsequent games in the Unreal franchise including the Unreal Tournament multiplayer shooters, and naturally, Fortnite. In addition to its home office in Cary, Epic maintains satellite studios in Berlin, Shanghai, Cologne, Yokohama, Seoul, Montreal, Stockholm, and Bellevue, Wash. It recently purchased the 980,000-square-foot Cary Towne Center, planning to gradually convert the space into Epic’s new home campus in North Carolina by 2024.
[Errata, 1/8/21: Removed poorly labeled speculation regarding licensing for Bink.]


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North American 3DS eShop to Get Pokemon Picross This Month
As per announced in a recent Nintendo Direct presentation, the West is confirmed to be getting their version of Pokemon Picross, with the official Pokemon Twitter account further confirming an official release date. According to the tweet, the game will be hitting the Nintendo 3DS eShop in North America and Europe on December 3.
You can see the actual tweet below, in super duper cool embedded format:
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) November 25, 2015
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Not many people predicted the extent and impact of Australia's mining boom. China's incredibly fast growth and development, Australia's mineral riches and our openness to trade and investment all contributed to a quarter-century of unbroken economic growth, our making it through the Global Financial Crisis without slipping into recession or worse, and the raising of our standard of living to its highest level. But the story is not over yet – in fact, it's only just begun.
These days barely a week goes by without someone lamenting the end of the mining boom and/or the slowdown of the Chinese economy. But if the old mistake was to underestimate China's rise, the new mistake is to overestimate China's "slowdown" and its impact on Australia.
At the Australia China Business Council we've been saying for some time that Australia's trade and investment relationship with China will change. But we think it can change for the better. That's why, in partnership with ShineWing and the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, we have this week released a report entitled The Long Boom: What China's Rebalancing Means for Australia's Future. This is a forward-looking report: we wanted to know what the Australia-China relationship might look like 10 years into the future.
The first thing to note is that while the rate of China's growth is slowing, its base is much, much bigger. The absolute size of the Chinese economy has doubled in the last 10 years. This means a percentage point of growth now represents more than double what it did then. In 2006, when China's growth rate was at its highest at 12.6 per cent, $US460 billion of nominal growth was added to its economy. Last year, when growth had fallen to a "low" of 6.7 per cent, $US552 billion was added. China is creating a new economy the size of New Zealand's every 90 to 100 days. So "slowdown" is a relative term.
But the real story in China today is the rise of the middle class. This is unprecedented in scale and speed. By one conservative estimate there are now 109 million middle class adults in China, and ANZ predicts that by 2030, 93 per cent of China's population will fall into this category.
What does this mean for Australia? It means a growing demand for the goods and especially the services that Australia, if we're smart about it, can supply. As Chinese incomes rise, so does demand for high quality health care and education, protein-rich food, tourism and financial services. We are as rich in these areas as we are in resources – and in fact the benefits of a boom in the service sector will be spread far more evenly throughout our economy than was the case in the mining boom.
Our report suggests that over the next 10 years, under a relatively conservative scenario for Chinese growth, tourism employment in Australia could increase by more than 50 per cent; more than 100,000 new jobs could be created in financial services; more than 200,000 in education and training; and almost half a million in healthcare and social assistance. And we must not forget the construction sector: 177,000 new jobs could be created by 2026 thanks to a growing need for new hotels and tourism infrastructure, new educational facilities, and more – all resulting from new Chinese demand.
But there is no room for complacency. Australia is hugely sensitive to changes in China's growth profile – we're in the top 20 countries worldwide when ranked by export exposure to China. The last nation we were exposed to in this way was Britain in the 1950s. China now accounts for nearly 25 per cent of our two-way trade, which is nearly double that with Japan, our next biggest trading partner. But we can't assume we're ready to take advantage of China's rebalancing.
Governments must make sure their policy settings are right. Our ability to respond to a changing China will depend in part on visa rules, foreign investment screening thresholds, export finance and investment, and the implementation of the China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA).
Businesses supplying the China of tomorrow will need to realise that while the old "rocks and crops" trade did not need to adapt much according to its export destination, services are different. Selling to China means understanding China, and businesses need strategies to cater to specific new customer tastes and requirements.
Our report asks a simple question: are we prepared for the day when 25 per cent or more of Australia's services exports will be destined for China? If we get the answer right, one million new jobs can be created in Australia in the next 10 years, and we may find ourselves talking in years to come about another China boom – one that is smarter and cleaner than the last, and with the benefits spread right across Australia.


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The counterfeit goods trade around the world is worth almost half a trillion dollars a year, according to a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office.
The value of imported fake goods worldwide stood at $461bn (£325bn) in 2013, 2.5 per cent of the total imports in world trade of $17.9 trillion.
The report found that most of the counterfeits originate in middle income or emerging countries, with China the top producer accounting for a whopping 63.2 per cent of customs seizures between 2011 and 2013.
The second-biggest producer of fake goods is Turkey, accounting for 3.3 per cent of customs seizure, followed by Singapore with 1.9 per cent, Thailand at 1.6 per cent, India making up 1.2 per cent, and Morocco with 0.6 per cent, to complete the top five.
As much as five per cent of goods imported into the European Union are fakes, with US, Italian and French brands the hardest hit. Footwear was revealed to be the most copied item.
Just before Christmas last year the UK was hit by a plague of fake so-called hoverboards, that were found to be highly dangerous and at risk of exploding.
Doug Frantz, OECD deputy secretary general, said:
The findings of this new report contradict the image that counterfeiters only hurt big companies and luxury goods manufacturers. They take advantage of our trust in trademarks and brand names to undermine economies and endanger lives.
The US is home to most brands or patents affected by knock-offs, with 20 per cent of items seized infringing on intellectual property rights of American brands.
Italian companies were victims of 15 per cent of infringements, while France and Switzerland made up 12 per cent each. Japan and Germany stood at eight per cent of the total followed by the UK and Luxembourg.
It was found that postal parcels are the top method of shipping bogus goods, accounting for 62 per cent of seizures over 2011-13.
The OECD and the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office put this down to the growing use of online shopping to buy fakes as shoppers abandon the high street.
The traffic goes through complex routes via major trade hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore and free trade zones such as those in the United Arab Emirates.
Other transit points include countries with weak governance and widespread organised crime such as Afghanistan and Syria. The report shows trade routes change greatly from year to year as counterfeit gangs spot new weak points.
Jeremy Newman, managing partner of specialist IP law firm Rouse, said:
The report concludes that in 2013 up to five per cent of imports into the EU were counterfeit or pirated. This percentage is likely to have increased further since then, with the growing importance of e-commerce and the delivery of counterfeits to consumers by parcel post. This is a shockingly high percentage for such an economically and legally advanced region – suggesting that the solution is not to be found in one country or region alone, but in a joined up global approach.


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After “nearly missing” the mobile revolution, Facebook saved itself in 2011 by making a company-wide pivot away from desktop and toward mobile use of its products. Now, as the “social network on which Facebook built its empire is reaching a plateau” with slowing user growth on its core social network, Facebook is facing another era of pivoting. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already announced a shift toward more private, encrypted, or ephemeral messaging services like its WhatsApp and Instagram apps, but the future of Facebook may also lie in other bets: virtual and augmented reality. As Kurt Wagner writes, “Facebook’s core social network isn’t going away anytime soon, but there’s a good chance — probably a great chance — that the way you use Facebook’s products in 10 years will look and feel very different from the way you use them today.”
[Kurt Wagner / Recode]
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Apple has been removing apps that fight app addiction. The company has “removed or restricted at least 11 of the 17 most downloaded screen-time and parental-control apps,” according to analysis from the New York Times together with app-data firm Sensor Tower. Many of these app makers are saying Apple’s sudden restrictions have devastated their businesses, and that the changes came soon after Apple built its own competing screen-time tracker. Apple has stood by their decision, saying that it comes down to a user privacy issue. The company has said they’ve only restricted apps that “abuse” the device’s mobile device management system. Philip W. Schiller, Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing, wrote that Apple “acted extremely responsibly in this matter, helping to protect our children from technologies that could be used to violate their privacy and security.”
[Jack Nicas / The New York Times]
Some Uber drivers don’t know what they make, according to a new study from Georgetown University. The report, put out by the university’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, released a two-year report on the working conditions of 40 Uber drivers in the Washington, DC, area. It found that while most Uber drivers knew the overall percentage the company takes from fares, over a third didn’t know how Uber determined the amount they make on a single trip. Other findings showed that 33 percent of drivers “took on debt relating to the job” and 30 percent “reported physical assaults or safety concerns.” Still, 50 percent of drivers would recommend it to a friend and 45 percent planned to keep working for the company for at least six months.
[Alison Griswold / Oversharing]
Mass shootings are increasingly being broadcast and cultivated on the internet. On Saturday, one person died at a shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue outside San Diego, after a 19-year-old man with an assault weapon stormed the house of worship. Just hours before the attack, a user who identified as the shooter posted a manifesto on far-right message board site 8chan. It’s not the first time recently that a mass shooter has found an audience for horror online. The shooter behind the recent Christchurch mosque massacre in March posted a similar post before he killed 49. As Charlie Warzel writes, “[l]ike the Christchurch massacre, the Poway shooting is not only tailored for the internet but also sickeningly standardized.” Warzel makes a case that mass shootings like these have become a kind of “sickening meme,” making the internet “an amplification system for an ideology of white supremacy that only recently was relegated to the shadows.”
[Charlie Warzel / New York Times]
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What the hell happened at The Markup? Part 1: Former editor-in-chief Julia Angwin on Recode Decode. And Part 2: Co-founders Sue Gardner and Jeff Larson respond to Julia Angwin’s Recode Decode interview.
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This is Cool
Correction: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated the death toll at the recent synagogue shooting in Poway. One person died in the shooting.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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Even though whiteboards are becoming common in the majority of classrooms, many have to run its content through a PC or laptop. However, a new whiteboard has been adapted so it can be used with tablets such as the iPad.
San Diego based technology firm Splashtop has made a series of whiteboards that can be used in conjunction with an iPad to help use the technology universally around the classroom. As the whiteboard software will now be mobile throughout the classroom which means that it can be used throughout the lesson rather than at certain periods.
The new whiteboards will be initially trialled in San Francisco and 800 will be used within the Val Verde Unified School District over the next academic year. Michael McCormick, assistant superintendant for the school district, believes that the new technology will be effective in their schools. In a statement, he said that “placing this technology into the hands of our teachers and then letting them be creative and explore with it is critical to promote learning.”
The Splashtop app is currently available on The App Store for $19.99


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Increasing use of Electronic Cigarettes: An alarming trend
Keywords:Smoking, Electronic Cigarettes, Pakistan
AbstractAnicotine delivery systems (ENDS) is a handheld electronic device that delivers nicotine via a vaporised liquid consisting of proylene glycol, glycerol and nicotine. The popularity of e-cigarettes continues to rise worldwide with 6.7% of adults and 11.3% of high school students in the United States reporting current e-cigarette use. In Pakistan, a study reported use of electronic cigarettes in 6.2% of medical students. The notion of e-cigarettes being less harmful than conventional cigarettes has propelled their popularity.


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Greggs Chief Executive Ken McMeikan has urged Treasury ministers to rethink the planned VAT rise their products.
In his budget, Chancellor George Osborne proposed introducing a 20% tax rate on hot takeaway foods.
Mr McMeikan says Greggs' pasties, pies and sausage rolls should not be subject to VAT because the customer cannot be guaranteed a hot product.
More top news
A look ahead at the forecast for the Border region.
As shoppers gear up for one of the biggest challenges in the bargain hunter's calender, Ashleigh Swan shares her top Black Friday tips.
This autumn is on course to become the third mildest on record.


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Bigpoint, the German online gaming outfit, is pointing to some big numbers today, claiming its 200 millionth registered user. This, says the company, puts it on par with Twitter, which is a bit like comparing apples with oranges but whatever.
That said, 200 million users is no mean feat and to put it into context, Bigpoint says that 18 months ago it could only boast 100 million users and is attracting 250,000 new users every day on average. Again, not too shabby at all.
More big numbers from Bigpoint:
- The company says that it integrates over 180 payment solutions worldwide.
- 100% of revenue is generated through in-game sales of digital items – otherwise all of its titles are free to play.
- It has over 1,000 media partners, including MTV, Myspace, AOL and Mail.ru (see our coverage)
- Bigpoint’s hit online game, Battlestar Galactica Online, generated over 2 million registrations in just 3 months.
- The company processes over one billion transactions every day.
So there you have it. Big numbers to back up Bigpoint’s big talk after it took a $350m majority share investment from Summit Partners and TA Associates in late April. At the time, co-CEO Heiko Hubertz said: (yes, the company has two people in the top job) “I see the potential in Bigpoint to exceed a value of one billion dollars and become the top online gaming company in the world.”
Could Bigpoint be next to join the Billion dollar club?


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THE Yorkshire and Humberside economy is suffering more than anywhere else in the country from the boom in air travel, a report said today.
Friends of the Earth said that the availability of cheap flights meant people from the region were spending their money abroad rather than locally.
This region's people spent 6.4 times more money abroad than foreign visitors flying in to the area.
The report estimates that the Yorkshire and Humberside economy could lose out to the tune of £40bn by the year 2020 if airports expand as planned.
The report said that UK air travellers as a whole were spending £15bn more abroad each year than overseas tourists were spending in Britain.
All regions of the UK except London receive far less in revenue from foreign residents than the amounts spent abroad by Britons, the report said.
Friends of the Earth say some areas are losing five times more money than they gain.
Further expansion of UK airports will lead to an annual deficit of £30bn by 2020, it said.
Britons from the north were `exporting' more than five times the cash that foreign tourists were `importing'.
FoE's aviation campaigner Richard Dyer said: "We know airport expansion is bad for the environment.
"These figures show it is bad for the economy, too.
"UK businesses are missing out on billions of pounds every year and airport expansion will make this worse by encouraging people to take more and more short trips abroad."


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Perdue gets $20 billion blank check for ag aid in GOP bill
Senate Republicans proposed $20 billion in additional aid to agriculture in their new coronavirus package on Monday, leaving it to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to allot the money. The proposed increase in farm aid came as the USDA released figures showing that it has only spent a little more than 40 percent of the $16 billion that was earmarked previously for farmers and ranchers.
Dicamba-resistant weeds established in western Tennessee
The fast-growing weed Palmer amaranth has developed a tolerance for dicamba herbicide in at least five counties in western Tennessee and likely several others, said University of Tennessee weed specialist Larry Steckel on Monday.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Lawsuit to limit runoff into Lake Erie: Accusing state and federal regulators of inaction, Lucas County commissioners and environmental groups seek a federal court order to set a “total maximum daily load” schedule to reduce algae-causing farm runoff into Lake Erie. (Toledo Blade)
Meatpackers want coronavirus immunity: Smithfield Foods and Mountaire Farms, two large U.S. meat processors facing potential legal risks for allegedly failing to protect workers from coronavirus, donated to groups that are lobbying Congress to grant special immunity to businesses from employee lawsuits. (The Intercept)
California limits consumer use of carbaryl: Beginning on Aug. 1, only licensed pesticide applicators will be allowed to use the insecticide carbaryl, sold under the brand name Sevin, to control insects in lawns and gardens; carbaryl also is widely used in agriculture. (California Department of Pesticide Regulation)
China buys more U.S. soybeans: After chalking up sales of 1.1 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China last week, private exporters reported on Monday the sale of 132,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans for delivery to China during the 2020/21 marketing year, which opens on Sept 1. (USDA)
British anti-obesity campaign: Britain would ban junk-food advertisements before 9 p.m., forbid stores from displaying sweets and snacks at the checkout register, and require menus to carry calorie counts under an anti-obesity campaign. But it would not expands its soda tax to other products. (Guardian)


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Amazon studios have just spent a sizeable amount of money on the rights to a The Lord of The Rings TV series.
For a few weeks now, talk has been doing the rounds online about a potential LOTR series, with the Tolkien estate said to be shopping around studios.
Considering the phenomenal success the movies have had on the big screen, combined with a Game-of-Thrones-sized-hole appearing on TV schedules very soon, a lot of big studios were said to be keen to snap up the rights.
Despite Netflix, HBO, and several other large studios having said to be interested, the rights have gone to Amazon, according to Deadline.
The sum agreed on the rights to a TV series is said to be close to $250 million.
It should be well noted here that Amazon spent almost $250 million on rights to the series and nothing more.
This means that the company have a huge bill for the rights to an idea, and nothing more.
Deadline estimates that a TV show of this magnitude will also cost $100-150 million per season to make.
Speaking of the acquisition, Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series at Amazon Studios said:
“The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen.
“We are honoured to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.”
Amazon is said to be exploring the idea of starting their tale before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, diving into Tolkien's lore before touching the story we know and love.


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Tough CO2 targets for auto industry in difficult economic times
Brussels, 11 July 2012 – Following the adoption today of the European Commission’s proposals to reduce CO2 emissions from cars and vans, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) will now work with its members to conduct a full analysis of how the proposed targets should be reached as well as their feasibility, and what this means in practice for the industry as a whole.
The auto industry shares concerns about global warming and is contributing actively to find sustainable solutions. In 2011, the average fleet emissions were 136.6 gCO2/km compared to 186 gCO2/km in 1995, which is a 26.6% decrease over the period.
“It is clear that CO2 levels from vehicles have to continue on their downward trend and the industry is committed to deliver on this,” stated Ivan Hodac, ACEA Secretary General. However, the proposal to reach a fleet-average target of 95 gCO2/km for cars and 147 gCO2/km for vans by 2020 will remain extremely challenging. “These are tough targets – the toughest in the world,” went on Hodac.
Indeed, contrary to some claims, the proposed targets for the European fleet are far more stringent than those in the US, China or Japan. This will increase manufacturing costs in Europe, creating a competitive disadvantage for the region and further slowing the renewal of the fleet. In the context of declining car sales for the past five years running, the proposed targets would place an extra strain on manufacturers. The outlook for the industry as a whole is also pessimistic. In 2012 new car registrations are expected to decrease by about 7% compared to 2011, and sales are set to drop from 13.1 million to 12.2 million. This is a record low since 1995. “Considering that most manufacturers are losing money in Europe at the moment, the industry needs as competitive a framework as possible. Targets – while ambitious – must be feasible. The overall regulatory framework and market environment must be supportive, as also agreed in the recently concluded CARS 21 process,” explained Mr Hodac. “The industry is diverse; the CO2-legislation is complex, and the cost implications are huge. ACEA and its members will now take the time they need to investigate the details of these proposals and their envisaged consequences.”
About the EU automobile industry
- 12.9 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 8.3% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €392.2 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total


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Members of the European Commission’s working group on pig meat forecast that pig supplies are set to tighten further in 2014.
Reporting the numbers in Pig Market Weekly, BPEX says the group’s figures suggest another 1% decline in slaughterings this year compared with 2013, although the rate of decline may slow down in the second half of the year.
This is supported by figures from January that show a 4% year-on-year decline, with provisional figures from selected countries showing falls continued into February and March.
Most of the major producing member states are forecasting a decline in production. There are expected to be rises in piglet production in Denmark and the Netherlands, but these will be more than offset by further growth in weaner exports. This will help to support slaughterings in Germany and Poland, among others, which would otherwise decline noticeably.
The group also suggested a relatively optimistic outlook for EU pig prices, which have been depressed in late 2013 and early 2014. Even without the Russian market re-opening, prices are expected to increase in the second and third quarter of the year, although not reaching last year’s heights.
This is partly a seasonal development, as EU consumer demand increases and supplies tighten. However, it also reflects confidence about increased exports to Asian markets, given the likely shortage of US pork at competitive prices.
Prices are expected to remain firm in the fourth quarter, with no repeat of last year’s decline. With demand already robust, if the EU does start to export pork to Russia again, prices could easily rise by a further 10-15%.


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April 10, 2015
InfinityQS to Host Infusion 2015 Manufacturing Intelligence Conference in the U.K.
Global quality leader brings popular conference to Europe as it celebrates exponential growth across the region
LONDON – April 9, 2015 – InfinityQS International, Inc., the global authority on real-time quality and Manufacturing Intelligence, today announced that its 10th Manufacturing Intelligence conference will be held for the first time in the U.K. The event, Infusion 2015, will take place at the Stratford Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, on May 12-13, 2015. The event will present attendees from across EMEA with the latest techniques, trends and best practices in quality management and process control.
Martyn Gill, general manager of Europe, InfinityQS, said, “Hosting our popular Manufacturing Intelligence conference, Infusion, in Europe in 2015 is a landmark for InfinityQS and reflects our growth in the region. Each year we strive to share our knowledge and experiences with manufacturers around the world and this year’s event will build upon that tradition for an even broader audience.”
Many manufacturers struggle to understand and utilize data, even within flourishing manufacturing industries throughout the EMEA. Infusion 2015 will present businesses across many industries with the opportunity to discuss their specific quality needs with global manufacturing experts and learn how to reap the benefits of implementing a quality system. Attendees at Infusion 2015 will also hear client presentations, learn to give metrics meaning, identify areas for quality and process improvement, and turn manufacturing data into actionable intelligence.
Those unable to attend the event in Europe can tune in to InfinityQS’ Infusion Online Series, a year-long programme of fortnightly webinars focusing on quality management and manufacturing best practices. Included in this series will be “Tips and Tricks Live” webinars and Client Seminars.
For more information, please see:
Infusion 2015 highlights include:
- Expert Panel: Global manufacturing experts discuss how they use analytics to get ahead of quality problems.
- ProFicient Product Tour: Join InfinityQS experts for a deep dive into ProFicient’s newest functionality.
- Discussion Groups: Attendees will share their thoughts and experiences on common quality challenges and how they have overcome these challenges to reap the benefits of a quality system.
- Ask an Expert: Spend one-on-one time with quality experts who can answer questions about specific quality needs.
- The Innovation Centre: Infusion's demonstration hub, where attendees get hands-on interaction with quality management software and receive guidance from InfinityQS engineers and statisticians.
For more information on Infusion 2015 and registration, please visit the event website: www.infinityqs.com/InfusionEurope2015.


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This Heinz customer got 57 varieties of something he really didn’t want
One man got a risqué surprise from his ketchup bottle.
German man Daniel Korell scanned a QR code on his Heinz bottle expecting that it to take him to a promotional website for the company’s contest. But instead, he was taken to an adult website. That’s because Heinz’ domain has since expired since the campaign ran from 2012 to 2014, The Verge reports — so the lesson here for brands is to always keep your domains up to date.
Korell told Heinz about the issue via Facebook and said that the ketchup “probably isn’t for minors.” Heinz replied, “We really regret the event very much and we’re happy to take your suggestions for how we implement future campaigns on board.”
Fundorado, the adult site, reportedly offered Korell a free subscription for a year.
The news comes months after Heinz and Kraft announced plans to merge, featuring 3G Capital and Warren Buffett to help make the deal a reality. Heinz reportedly is buying 51% of Kraft in the major food deal.


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Dod Entertainment released a new update Quest to Escape, with version number 1.18. The new update added many new features, fix some bugs, and improve the gaming experience. The new update size is different according to devices.
- Some text display problem has been resolved
|Release Date||April 24, 2022|


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A Wisconsin judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit filed against General Motors over claims that its 5.3L LC9 V8 engine consumes excessive amounts of oil and experiences other problems that can eventually lead to total engine failure.
Plaintiffs in this class action suit, which is one in a number of separate lawsuits filed against GM over oil consumption problems in certain versions of its 5.3L V8, claimed their vehicles consume too much oil, causing the engine to knock and eventually fail. This problem can allegedly be traced back to the piston rings, which can wear prematurely and fail to keep oil in the crankcase. The plaintiffs also say GM breached its warranty conditions, although they never sought warranty repairs for their vehicles, and knowingly sold vehicles with defective engines. The lawsuit involved three separate plaintiffs, one of which owns a 2012 Chevy Avalanche and two others that owned 2011 GMC Sierras.
The judge presiding over the case, Judge Lynn Adelman, dismissed the case this week, as first reported by Car Complaints. In his ruling, Adelman said the plaintiffs never provided GM with notice that it had allegedly broken its warranty conditions, which is required by Wisconsin law in order to sue a company for breach of implied warranty. Plaintiffs also never approached GM about remedying the issue during the vehicle’s warranty period.
“The purpose of giving such notice is to eliminate an element of unfair surprise where a seller has not been informed that a situation is troublesome and, therefore, cannot take steps to correct it but only later has a lawsuit filed against him,” Adelman said in the ruling.
Additionally, GM successfully argued that its express warranty only applies to defects in materials and workmanship. The oil consumption issue in the 5.3L LC9 V8 engines, which was been widely documented, is related to a design defect, so it’s not covered by warranty.
Last year, a judge in Ohio tossed out a similar lawsuit filed against GM over oil consumption problems in its 5.3L V8 engines. Similarly, that suit was thrown out in part because GM’s warranty does not cover design defects like the one that affects these engines.


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Export boom fires profits for manufacturer Morgan Crucible
The email telling everyone to be gloomy about the economy obviously didn’t arrive at the offices of Morgan Crucible, an advanced manufacturer with a 156-year history.
Resistant: Morgan produces body and vehicle armour used by British servicemen and women in Afghanistan
It was the biggest gainer in the FTSE 250, with shares rising 27p to 354p after it posted a 64.5 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £111.4million and increased its dividend by a fifth to 6p.
The company, named after five entrepreneurial Morgan brothers, began life as the Patent Plumbago Crucible company in the 19th century.
Their factory in Battersea manufactured clay and graphite containers designed to withstand high temperatures.
Its products now include ceramic hip replacements and body and vehicle armour used by British servicemen and women in Afghanistan as well as ‘Superwool’, a high-tech insulation and fire protection product being used as part of the new flood defences for Venice.
Morgan, which employs 1,600 in the UK, took on 100 staff last year.
Revenues from high growth markets such as China and India rose by 23 per cent
and are now a quarter of total sales.
One cloud on the horizon is that the group pension deficit rose by £31.2million to £135.1million and the UK shortfall increased by £20.8million to £47.4million.
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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – July 27, 2022 – The globally-based and fully-licensed cryptocurrency exchange Multibix has launched the crypto industry’s first fully spot crypto ETF purchasing platform at Multibix.com.
Multibix Crypto ETFs feature a basket of up to five different cryptocurrencies, which are selected based on a number of factors including historical performance and growth potential. Users can invest in a variety of ETFs, each of which is built with a common theme, much like a stock ETF.
The selected cryptocurrencies are chosen using advanced algorithms and big data, and are designed to ensure that user investments are protected from the volatility of any single cryptocurrency. Some are designed for stable, steady growth while others carry more risk but have higher profit potential.
Multibix Crypto ETFs do not require a sizable investment or in-depth knowledge of the cryptocurrency landscape. Users can choose how much or how little to invest in each ETF, and feel confident knowing that they are created using advanced data analytics by Multibix’s team of cryptocurrency experts. Multibix Crypto ETFs take the complexity out of the cryptocurrency industry, which allows investors of all kinds to enjoy the benefits of crypto exposure.
For more independent and experienced traders, Multibix also features a Create-Your-Own ETF platform, which allows users to select and purchase their own crypto ETF bundles. Users can choose from over 160 of the industry’s most influential cryptocurrencies, select the weighting of each coin and how much they wish to invest in their own created ETF.
The number of spot crypto ETF offerings from Multibix will increase on a monthly basis, and will continue to be updated as market conditions change.
“Multibix believes that opportunities in the crypto space are framed by companies and individuals that are innovative, creative, have vision and do not fear risks,” said Dr. David C. Watts, the founder and CEO of Multibix. “We envision this platform evolving into an ever-expanding digital currency marketplace with a wide breadth of financial products for clients to profit from, and our Crypto ETFs are the first step towards the future,” he added.
Multibix also launched a traditional spot cryptocurrency exchange alongside the crypto ETF platform. Users can now trade their favorite individual cryptocurrencies in the Multibix ecosystem with industry-standard security and some of the industry’s lowest fees.
Company Name: Multibix
Contact Person: William Dubiel
Email: Send Email
Country: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - The dollar jumped higher early Wednesday, following news that U.S. retail sales surged 2.3% in January, sharply exceeding expectations for a 0.9% increase set by economists polled by MarketWatch. The strong data reinforced concerns that the Federal Reserve will need to keep lifting rates, a development the fixed-income market would not welcome. The dollar last was up 0.1% at 117.69 yen, as the euro fell 0.4% to $1.1865.
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The coming week will see a clutch of Swiss blue chip companies releasing their annual results for 1999. Among them are the food group, Nestlé, the industrial group, Georg Fischer, and the chemicals company, Ciba.This content was published on February 20, 2000 - 09:49
The coming week will see a clutch of Swiss blue chip companies releasing their annual results for 1999. Among them are the food group, Nestlé, the industrial group, Georg Fischer, and the chemicals company, Ciba.
The Schaffhausen-based comany, Georg Fischer, will be first to reveal its figures on Tuesday. A survey of analyst forecasts predicts net profits for 1999 down 17 per cent at SFr119 million, with sales up 3 per cent at SFr3.1 billion.
Last Thursday the group announced that it had received an order from Germany's Volkswagen worth more than SFr200 million. The order is the largest received by Georg Fischer's automotive products group and covers the production and delivery of cast iron chassis.
The speciality chemicals group, Ciba, will disclose its latest figures for last year on Wednesday. The Basel-based company has had a difficult year, but business picked up at the end of 1999.
"Asia is picking up very well and in the United States we have continued growth," Ciba's chairman and chief executive officer, Rolf Meyer, said last November. "In Europe, demand is stagnating, but if it picks up we could have a nice growth push."
The staff has also seen the situation improving. After having an annual outing cancelled due to cost considerations, Ciba agreed to boost overall salaries for Swiss workers by 1.8 per cent, and to make a one-off payment of SFr500 for each member of staff.
At the end of the week, the world's largest food group, Nestlé, will release figures for last year. Analysts say the company's prospects are improving, and the the investment banking group Dresdner Kleinwort Benson has upgraded Nestlé's shares from 'hold' to 'buy'.
The market will also be looking to Swisscom on Monday as it starts its Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) service, bringing the Internet to mobile phone users.
Subscribers will be able to access the Internet and e-mail services via their Swisscom mobile phones. This service is expected to revolutionise the mobile communications market.
By Tom O'Brien.
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J. has partnered with Turkish stars from the Diriliş: Ertuğrul series for its new fragrances and, according to its marketing head, Ahmed Ali, the two stars are going to be invited to visit Pakistan soon.
Cengiz Coşkun, who played Turgut Alp in the show, and Nurettin Sönmez, who played Bamsı Beyrek, are the new brand ambassadors for J.'s new fragrance line that was launched on Saturday.
The brand has launched two fragrances — Warrior (Savasci) for Coşkun and Defender for Sönmez.
Coşkun also shared the TVC for his fragrances on his Instagram account.
The Warrior perfume is priced at Rs13,800 while Defender is being sold for Rs6,500.
The brand has described Warrior as an intense oriental musky fragrance, while Defender is a "fougère that brings together cardamom, bergamot and violet leaf at the top".
This isn't the first (or last) time Pakistani brands have partnered with Turkish stars for advertisement campaigns. Esra Bilgiç has been the face of Peshawar Zalmi, Gülsim Ali modelled for Maria B and Engin Altan had a short lived partnership with TikTok star Kashif Zameer Chaudhry — though that didn't end well.


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1) Guardian (U.K.) Story 3) Chicago Tribune Story
Look at those articles. How amazing is this illustration of Toyota's “respect for people” principle? You can treat people as expendable costs or an asset to train and invest in. Even as Toyota's truck sales have plummeted, are they resorting to layoffs? Nope!!
“Even though full-sized Tundra pickup trucks won't be rolling off the production line of Toyota Motor Corp's factory here next month, the world's biggest automaker is keeping 2,000 plant workers on the payroll while it waits out a downturn in demand for its biggest gas-guzzling models.”
While its Big Three U.S. rivals are shutting down truck plants and laying off workers, Toyota is hunkering down to keep its foothold in the heart of U.S. truck country.
Toyota will suspend Tundra production at its sprawling San Antonio factory in early August for three months due to slow sales, which are down nearly 50 percent for the first six months of 2008 versus a year earlier. Record U.S. gasoline prices over $4 a gallon have sent consumers scrambling for smaller, more efficient models.
But that doesn't mean the plant's workers won't be busy.
“Team members will continue to report to work and will continue to work as a two-shift operation, and they will continue to be paid 100 percent of wages,” said Toyota spokesman Mike de la Garza.
But instead of building trucks, workers will spend their time in “training and development, to continue quality improvement activities, and to perform community service work,” Toyota said.
The Tribune article points out that over 4,000 workers in Indiana won't be laid off while that plant is retooled from trucks to smaller SUVs.
From a Business Week article:
“This is not an inexpensive proposition to pay them for no production,” Toyota spokesman Michael Goss said Thursday, but the company wants workers ready when production resumes. “We have a long-term optimistic view of the truck. It's going to take some time to get through this economic downturn.” (The Guardian)
Many people would look at this story and think Toyota's being stupid, right? Not the “Lean thinkers” out there, though. Bravo to Toyota.
Note: Toyota *did* layoff 200 temporary workers. But that's different, right?
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The federal agency in charge of helping consumers better protect their finances has tackled a number of issues that have been able to aid Americans, but it has also not taken its eye off one of its first priorities, which has yet to be fully worked out.
One of the first orders of business for the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was to increase the amount and quality of borrower protections when it comes to dealing with credit cards, and perhaps one of the biggest keys for doing so was in introducing new disclosure forms for agreements on these accounts. And while in recent months, the CFPB has taken a number of steps to introduce more significant protections for other types of consumer credit, and a few of the industries based around lending, such as mortgage servicing, the agency recently reaffirmed its commitment to clearer credit card disclosures, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires.
Soon after gaining full regulatory control of the lending industry, the CFPB released an early version of a planned simpler credit card agreement disclosure form which laid out the terms of the new card in clear language for a potential borrower to understand, the report said. And while it did not make use of this form mandatory, it will soon test the form with the Pentagon Federal Credit Union to get feedback from the lender on the viability of such a disclosure going forward.
"My view continues to be that the consumer ought to be able to read the contract and we can … create a document that is [binding]," said Marla Blow, assistant director of card markets for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, during a recent presentation, according to the news agency. "I'd love to get to a first-order outcome, which is a better, more legible, more understandable document that is actually in terms a consumer can understand and still offer legal protections, and addresses the concerns of the issuer."
Pushback from lenders
Perhaps understandably, the credit card lending industry has not been enthusiastic about the prospect of making these disclosure forms for their various lines of credit, and has suggested to the CFPB a number of alternative options, the report said. For instance, the CFPB's disclosure forms do not include certain legal responsibilities lenders might have to their borrowers, which they say makes them more vulnerable to lawsuits from consumers disputing their statements.
When applying for any credit card, consumers should first make sure to order copies of their credit reports to determine that their credit standings are as good as they should be. Often, there can be unfair markings on their credit reports that lower their ratings and cut off access to the lines of credit they may otherwise deserve. Working with a credit repair company can help to clear up these problematic entries.


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After recently gaining permission to initiate a truly revolutionary project, the UK is soon to have a drone superhighway which will connect cities and towns across the country.
Project ‘Skyway’, will be the first drone superhighway of its kind, and is set to transform procurement as we know it - and until teleportation technology takes a hold at some point in the probably-distant future - will be the most revolutionary means of procurement and marks the birth of new and extended links in the supply chain.
The project has been enabled by an association led by Unified Traffic Management (UTM) and the solutions provider Altitude Angel, alongside BT, EE and numerous other UK tech start-ups, who in the next two years, will develop 165 miles of drone superhighways connecting airspaces above Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Rugby and Coventry.
Proposed as part of the Department for Business, Energy & Strategy (BEIS) InnovateUK programme, Skyway will stretch 165 miles (266km) across England, forming the world’s longest dedicated drone corridor.
Richard Parker, Altitude Angel CEO has said Skyway will “revolutionise the way we transport goods”.
The drone market is expected to reshape procurement and beyond.
New procurement strategies for the commercial use of drones were reported in Procurement Magazine earlier this year as the Indian government announced plans to become the world’s leading drone manufacturer in early 2022.
China-based company DJI was the world’s leading drone manufacturer with a market share of 76%, but the market is set to invite fierce competition as a new niche opens up major implications for industries across the planet.
Leading health and beauty retailer in the UK, Boots, announced earlier this year that it has become the first community pharmacy to transport prescription-only medicine supply via drones.
The potential uses of drone technology are rapidly taking off.
From disaster relief to crowd control, mapping to the maintenance of power lines, drones have many practical and commercial uses across various sectors.
With the devastation that hit communities and businesses across the globe following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the drone logistics market soared as the demand for unmanned aircraft technology was realised.
The drone market continues to face cybersecurity issues and some technological barriers. But with Chinese, Indian and now UK markets on board, it’s likely that other countries will soon follow suit and similarly invest in the development of drone technology, for the benefit of non-profit and commercial sectors including the manufacturing supply chain.


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Conventional capitalism has devolved to perceive that it is virtually impossible to put public shareholders, customers and employees on the same pedestal. Owners should come first, the thinking goes, and other constituents exist mostly to serve them. Costco provides a refreshing exception to the flawed theory.
Start with stockholders. The $63 billion U.S. warehouse retailer on Friday said it is returning $2.2 billion of surplus cash to them by way of a special dividend, the second in four years. This bucks the corporate trend of buying back stock to financially engineer a boost in earnings per share. Over the last decade, repurchases made up 60 percent of the total cash flow to stockholders by U.S. public companies, according to Thomson Reuters.
While there may be tax arguments to support share repurchases, Costco’s handing back some of the $7.7 billion on its balance sheet directly to investors is a purer method. It gives investors the choice of what to do with the money their company has generated. It also better aligns the incentives of shareholders and managers than do metrics that can be fiddled using buybacks.
It’s the sort of equanimity of interests that Costco has shown an exceptional ability at managing. The company already says it pays workers an average wage of around $21 an hour, nearly triple the federally-mandated rate, which Costco Chief Executive Craig Jelinek says needs to be increased. Wal-Mart, by contrast, says it pays about $12 an hour. What’s more, Costco provides nearly 90 percent of its workers healthcare coverage, compared to just over half at Wal-Mart.
And none of this would be possible without Costco delivering something its customers desire. It does this by effectively forgoing much of a margin in its cavernous warehouses, offering brand-name products, and many under its own Kirkland label, in bulk at low prices. The loyalty this engenders allows it to charge membership fees, which accounted for a whopping 76 percent of Costco’s operating income in its first fiscal quarter.
The model genuflects toward a corporate holy trinity of sorts, where customers, owners and employees benefit, not equally perhaps, but in ways that are self-sustaining. For investors, who have seen Costco shares appreciate 26 percent in the past year – besting a 16 percent gain for Wal-Mart and a 14 percent decline at Amazon – it’s a model worth celebrating and replicating.


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Denned - Fotolia
In unusual telecom news this week, T-Mobile filed suit against Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. for allegations of robot theft. The German mobile provider claims Huawei stole parts, software and designs of a smartphone-testing robot.
Meanwhile, 5G wireless gets less abstract as Nokia prepares to launch 5G wireless trials in 2015 that will eventually bring users much faster data speeds and increased capacity. While most operators are still working on 4G wireless rollouts, global efforts are moving ahead to have 5G ready to deploy by 2020.
Then, in an effort to make voice over Wi-Fi a go-to option for users whose in-home cell service is below par, Taqua LLC snapped up Kineto Wireless last week so the two companies can use their cellular and smartphone software to persuade more operators to launch voice over Wi-Fi services. Finally, while we're often used to "the sky is falling" projections when it comes to wireline telecom growth, this time the noises are positive, as increased consumer broadband is expected, but the global oil and gas industry needs wireline for almost all of its operations.
T-Mobile lawsuit accuses Huawei of industrial espionage
In a lawsuit filed last week, T-Mobile said Chinese networking equipment vendor Huawei stole parts of a smartphone-testing robot and copied its operating software and design details. T-Mobile alleges that Huawei used this technology stolen from the provider's Bellevue, Wash., headquarters to build its own smartphone-testing robot.
T-Mobile alleges that Huawei, which is no longer one of its suppliers, committed the acts of theft in 2012 and 2013, and violated a confidentiality agreement.
Huawei Spokesman William Plummer said two Huawei employees had acted inappropriately and were fired. "There is some truth to the complaint," Plummer said in a statement. " … Huawei respects T-Mobile's right to file suit and we will cooperate fully with any investigation or court proceeding to protect our rights and interests."
T-Mobile did not specify what damages it is seeking, but said in the suit that the cost of switching away from Huawei's handsets would reach "at least tens of millions of dollars."
This is not the first time Huawei has landed in legal hot water. In 2012, a U.S. congressional panel recommended that mobile and telecom providers avoid doing business with Huawei due to security concerns with its link to the Chinese government. -- Katherine Finnell
Nokia 5G wireless trials to include open network APIs
Nokia plans to start trialing its 5G network in early 2015 in Finland, although formal approval on how to build the network is still being reviewed. Nokia will partner with the University of Oulu, the City of Oulu and the Finnish Technical Research Centre for the trials, according to IT PRO. Nokia said it plans to share its network-based APIs with partners and competitors for the 5G trial, as well as any discovery that makes the technology work.
5G proponents expect that the developing standards will be more efficient than 4G, saving up to 90% more energy. Nokia expects to see large increases in speed and capacity when 5G is rolled out commercially, by which it means data transfer speeds 10 to 100 times faster than current wireless speeds, with capacity of up to 1,000 times what users are used to today.
Other vendors and operators experimenting with 5G technologies include Huawei and Samsung. Huawei expects 5G mobile networks to offer peak data rates of more than 10 Gbps and expects it to be ready to deploy commercially by 2020. Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc. is also preparing for 5G trials.
Problems that need to be resolved to make 5G a reality: the availability of the spectrum and the challenges of how to engineer network architectures to handle higher data volumes and transmission speeds, capable of accommodating an estimated 6.5 billion users worldwide and an estimated 100 billion "things" (as in Internet of Things), including meters, medical devices, home appliance and vehicles.
Taqua grabs Kineto Wireless for Voice over Wi-Fi effort
Not even close to classifying voice services as old-school, telecom vendor Taqua is embracing the idea of network operators offering voice over Wi-Fi (also known as Voice over WLAN or VoWi-Fi) to customers, and last week acquired Kineto Wireless to underscore the point and move into position. Taqua provides software that supports cellular networks, and Kineto provides software for smartphones that enable VoWi-Fi support.
Taqua Chief Marketing Officer Ken Kolderup told Telecompetitor that pieces are now in place for the VoWi-Fi market to take off, especially now that the latest version of iOS now includes VoWiFi support, as Android smartphones did previously. Sprint and T-Mobile have started supporting VoWi-Fi, and he expects other operators to follow.
Taqua provides virtual mobile-core software that takes the place of an IP Multimedia Subsystem core and makes it possible for operators to delay the expenses of deploying an IMS core without delaying VoWi-Fi.
For carriers, the point of offering VoWi-Fi is to provide service for 20-30% who can't use their phones for voice calls in their homes due to cellular network coverage issues. Taqua believes VoWi-Fi is also a service opportunity for Tier 2 and Tier 3 landline network operators who don't have their own wireless operations.
Wireline growth drivers reflect oil and gas industry needs
Good times are ahead for wireline services, according to US Telecom, the trade association that represents telecom operators and suppliers. The optimism comes in part from a new report from Transparency Market Research. Data-enabled devices and broadband use by consumers accounts for part of the rosy view, but a wide array of applications and increasing network utilization by other industries is a major driver. Wireline services and applications are used to run oil and gas equipment at all stages of the operations. As a result, global pressure to discover new oil and gas fields is increasing, which in turn fuels the need for global broadband services.
The report projects that the global wireline services market will grow from $19 billion this year to almost $35 billion in 2020. Oil and natural gas company exploration and production will be largely responsible for the growth, because wireline services are needed throughout the lifecycle of their activities.
Market research from the Dell'Oro Group projects that telecom equipment sales will grow to $30 billion by 2018, with a compound annual growth rate of 2% per year. An estimated 70% of growth will come from wireline infrastructure spending.


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Kim Kardashian’s New Lamborghini Aventador. Gift From Kanye?
Kim Kardashian has recently taken delivery of a brand spanking new Lamborghini Aventador, and surprisingly it’s in a shiny glossy black as opposed to the matte black most people seem to be opting for. There are rumours it’s a gift from lover boy Kanye West, which we think is pretty accurate as she’s definitely not with him for his personality.
Here’s a pic from Kim’s recent Esquire shoot for good measure.


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Both Perth and the Peel regions in Western Australia are headed back into a lockdown for three days over the state’s long weekend, Premier Mark McGowan has announced.
Starting at midnight on Friday, the two regions will go into strict lockdown until midnight on Monday, after it’s believed that a new coronavirus case in Victoria may have been infectious for five days in Perth.
Premier McGowan made the announcement at a press conference on Friday afternoon, confirming that the man was released from hotel quarantine in Perth on April 17. He then spent five days in Perth before travelling home to Melbourne, where he returned a positive test on April 23.
While in Perth, the man visited a friend, who has also returned a positive result from a rapid COVID test.
McGowan then detailed a list of other locations the man had travelled to during his five day stint in Perth, which is now listed on the WA’s health department website. He also confirmed this is why the Perth and Peel regions are to enter lockdown from midnight on Friday, with face masks being made mandatory from 6pm.
To reiterate, Perth and Peel regions will be entering a three-day lockdown from midnight tonight, with masks being made mandatory from 6pm.
There are four reasons for people in these regions to leave their homes, which are
- Work, if working from home is not an option.
- Shopping for essentials, like groceries, medicine, and supplies.
- Medical or healthcare needs, including compassionate care and looking after vulnerable people.
- Exercise, for a maximum of one hour per day, with a maximum of four people.
In line with the lockdown, all retail except supermarkets, pharmacies, and other essential stores will close, and restaurants and cafés will pivot to takeaway only.


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- SpartanNash has unveiled a new online system that offers a broadened selection of specialty and local foods to independent retailers, the grocery distributor and retailer announced in a press release on Monday.
- The company developed the ordering and payment platform, known as SpartanNash SpecialtyDirect, through a strategic partnership with technology firm Specialty Food Partners.
- SpartanNash is stepping up the technology it uses to serve retailers against a backdrop of intense pressure from activist investors critical of its financial performance.
The new fulfillment system is designed to make it more convenient for the 2,100 independent grocers that source products from SpartanNash to peruse available items, place orders, handle invoices and manage deliveries, according to the announcement.
The company said it wanted to speed the ordering process for retailers and offer them a wider selection of specialty products at a time when consumers are increasingly looking for “new, unique and local” options when shopping for groceries.
“We’re here to ensure independent grocers have everything they need to respond to their customers’ tastes and preferences, without taking away from their valuable time spent managing their grocery stores, servicing their shoppers and supporting their in-store team members,” Bennett Morgan, SpartanNash’s senior vice president and chief merchandising officer, said in the announcement.
Specialty Food Partners indicated in the announcement that it opted to work with SpartanNash because the grocer serves retailers outside major metropolitan areas.
“SpartanNash is an ideal partner for us because the company’s expansive distribution network to many independent grocery stores across America’s heartland means shoppers don’t have to live in a major city to satisfy their newest flavor exploration or try the latest startup brand,” Specialty Food Partners founder and CEO Tony Lee said in a statement.
SpartanNash’s efforts to increase its appeal to the independent retailers that comprise a large segment of its revenue base come as it resists efforts by investors to force it to change course.
SpartanNash, which runs 145 supermarkets under several banners in addition to distributing groceries to retailers, has been taking steps to revamp its leadership ranks as part of a multi-year effort to strengthen its business.
Since early 2021, the company has named new chief marketing, legal, supply chain and financial officers, appointments that followed the arrival in 2020 of CEO Tony Sarsem. Earlier in April, SpartanNash brought on two vice presidents to occupy newly established roles in its corporate strategy and information technology departments.


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Apple, Samsung Support Digital Key for Unlocking Cars with Phones
The Car Connectivity Consortium this week announced release 1.0 of its Digital Key specification, which will let people use their phone to unlock their car. The spec supports the ability to lock, unlock, start, and share access to cars from smartphones and other devices. The underlying technology makes it possible for carmakers to securely transmit a digital key to a mobile device, which then makes use of NFC and a secure element to provide vehicle access. The Car Connectivity Consortium says it has lots of support from both phone and car makers. Some of the member companies include Apple, Audi, BMW, Continental, Gemalto, GM, LG, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Volkswagen. The CCC is already working on release 2.0, which it expects will arrive during the first quarter of 2019. The group didn't say how long before consumers can expect to see the technology gracing their local automobile showroom.
Android Auto to Benefit from Android N Features
May 18, 2016
Google offered a few details on what the future holds for Android Auto. The platform will be expanded thanks to Android N.
Volvo, Kenwood Rev Up Android Auto with New Integrations
May 9, 2018
Support for Google's Android Auto expanded this week thanks to new efforts taken by Volvo and Kenwood. Volvo plans to adopt Android Auto within its infotainment center.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Offer Refined Hardware, Improved Camera, AR Emoji
Feb 25, 2018
Samsung today announced the Galaxy S9 and S9+ phones, updates to last year's S8 models. The devices bear a striking resemblance to their predecessors and make only modest changes to the hardware.
Apple Reveals iOS 10 Features
Jun 13, 2016
Apple today showed off iOS 10, what it calls the biggest release of iOS ever for both end users and developers. To start, the platform changes up the lock screen, making it easier to access the camera, notifications, Control Center, and widgets.
Snapdragon 855 Aims to Be the Best At Everything for 5G Phones
Dec 5, 2018
Qualcomm today fully revealed the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform, its top-tier system-on-a-chip heading into 2019. Qualcomm focus on a number of pillars when developing this SoC, including performance, connectivity, AI, camera, and entertainment.


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Southern Africa’s largest retailer of building materials and associated products Cashbuild on Tuesday reported an 11% decrease in interim headline earnings per share.
Cashbuild still declared an interim dividend of 435c per ordinary share for the six months to December.
It said revenue for the period increased by 3%, with revenue for stores in existence prior to July 2017 remaining the same while that for 33 new stores since then provided the rise.
"Notwithstanding this, the increase in revenue did not compensate for the increased expenses, resulting in the operating profit decreasing by 12%," Cashbuild said.
Cashbuild said it would continue its store expansion, relocation and refurbishment strategy in a controlled manner.
It said group revenue for the subsequent six weeks after half year end had decreased by 1% on the comparable six week period and that it believed trading conditions would remain extremely challenging.


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“They knew about the company and showed greater confidence in it. Ratan Tata investing in the company has contributed to this change,” said Kushwaha, referring to the investment announced in September by the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons in the Bengaluru based company which is targeting Rs 120 crore in sales this fiscal. Big-name investors are valued by young companies not just for the money they bring in.
When online furniture retailer Urban Ladder announced an investment by Ratan Tata last week, the company’s co-founder Ashish Goel said, “His investment in the company reassures us of the path we have taken towards creating value for customers with great products and exceptional service.”
An investment by a successful entrepreneur or an iconic businessman like Tata, NR Narayana Murthy or Azim Premji lends a greater degree of credibility to a start-up than even a highly respected financial investor.
Tata’s first personal investment in ecommerce was in online marketplace Snapdeal, in which he invested earlier this year. Premji’s family office Premji Invest is also an investor in Delhi based Snapdeal and in online fashion portal Myntra, which was acquired by Flipkart in May. Former Infosys chief Murthy’s fund Catamaran Ventures is an investor in beverages startup Hector Beverages.
For Neeraj Kakkar, the co-founder and chief executive of Hector, which raised funding from Catamaran in 2011, the support and advice are the greatest advantages of having someone like Murthy backing him. “But at the time of the funding, the biggest benefit for me was the impact it had on my family,” said Kakkar, a former general manager at Coca-Cola’s India operations. His father was not happy with his move to start a business. “I clicked a picture with Mr Murthy when he decided to back us and sent it to my father. It put all doubts to rest. That would not have happened with even a large financial investor as my family would not have heard of them before,” he said.
According to experts, the impact of a well-known corporate leader is more complex. “A marquee name gives credibility to the company and to the entrepreneur. It is a huge thumbs-up,” said Raja Lahiri, a partner at financial advisory firm Grant Thornton India.
Credibility and validation are two of the most important perceived benefits. “An investment by a legendary and respected figure like Mr Tata is an excellent validation of our focused strategy on building a long term enterprise,” said co-founder Kunal Bahl, when he announced an investment by Tata in his online marketplace Snapdeal, even as the company already had big-name backers like eBay.
Hector, which sells over two million units of its functional drink brand Tzinga and ethnic beverage brand Paper Boat, needed to get a number of governmental approvals in the early days as it had to set up its own manufacturing unit. “When people in government departments realised that we were backed by Mr Murthy, the files moved faster. His name gave confidence to the retailers we were meeting in the initial days to distribute our products,” said Kakkar. “They realised we were not fly-by-night operators.”
Thursday, 30 Nov, 2023
- Nifty Reclaims Mt 20k
India’s stock benchmarks rose more than 1% on Wednesday with the Nifty closing above 20,000 for the first time since September 13 as receding concerns over further rate hikes in the US revived risk-on sentiment.ED Flags Failure to Submit Papers, Delays by Byju’s
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has alleged a slew of violations under the foreign exchange law, including failure to submit crucial documents in time as well as realize export proceeds, by Byju’s parent Think & Learn, apart from holding founder Byju Raveendran responsible.HCL Inching Close to Chip Unit in K’taka
The HCL Group is moving closer to setting up an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility — also termed as a chip packaging unit — in Karnataka, multiple people aware of the developments told ET.


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Joules to shut 19 stores but Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Birmingham and Cannock will stay open
Troubled fashion brand Joules is to shut 19 stores and cut 133 jobs after it was bought by retail rival Next and founder Tom Joule.
Next said it plans to continue to run around 100 of Joules’ 124 stores and will transfer over around 1,450 members of shop and head office staff.
The stores in Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Birmingham and the store at the Outlet Village in Cannock are among those that will remain open.
The deal will see Next own a 74% stake in the business, with Tom Joule owning the remaining 26% share.
The company drafted in administrators from Interpath Advisory last month after failing to secure emergency funding following a surge in costs and slowdown in customers demand.
Tom Joule said: “After three years away from the operational side, I’m truly looking forward to inspiring teams with clear direction to excite and recapture the imagination of the customer again.
“I’m so pleased that we have been able to strike a deal that protects the future of the company for all its loyal customers, its employees and also for the town of Market Harborough, which have been so central to Joules’ success.”
It comes weeks after Next bought the brand, websites and intellectual property for online furniture business Made.com after it also collapsed.
The administration resulted in 320 redundancies, while a further 79 employees who had resigned and were working their notice were forced to immediately leave.


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Lenovo Yoga 720 (13-inch): Powerful And Flexible 2-in-1
Lenovo has introduced the 13.9-inch variants of its excellent Yoga 910 Windows 10 2-in-1. Now, the tech giant has released the Yoga 720 (13-inch), which is a competition to 13.3-inch options like the HP Spectre x360 13 and the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1. The Lenovo's Yoga 700-Series is slated as a more affordable alternative to Lenovo's top-tier 900.
Lenovo Yoga 720, which has a 13.3-inch screen and can be configured with an Intel Core i5 7500U processor at 2.5 GHz, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB SSD. It includes a fingerprint scanner and two USB-C ports and starts at $859.99, as reported by Digital Trends.
Lenovo Yoga 720 (13-inch) comes with the Windows 10 Home 64-bit. The convertible laptop has 1920 by 1080 pixel (FHD) IPS AntiGlare touchscreen and USB Type-A 3.0 sockets. The laptop has Audio jack, Fingerprint scanner, WiFi 802.11 a/c, Bluetooth 4.1, 4 Cell 48-Watt Hour Li-Cylindrical battery.
At first glance, the Yoga 720 (13-inch) looks like any other clamshell notebook PC. But the hinge of the laptop allows the screen to rotate around 180 degrees, effectively making this into a tablet. While using the tablet mode, the keyboard and trackpad are left exposed behind the screen, as noted by Notebookreview.
This Lenovo 13-inch Yoga 720 is 13% lighter and 17% thinner than its predecessor. From the front side, the laptop measures 12.2 x 8.4 (310 mm by 213 mm). It comes only in Platinum Silver but looks attractive for consumers while still appearing professional for business people. The convertible laptop feels very solid.
The display in this laptop is good, but not outstanding. This is a touchscreen, and its pressure sensitive with the optional Lenovo Active Pen 2. Those who want a tablet that sometimes functions as a laptop, detachable 2-in-1s are best that sometimes functions as a laptop. Convertibles like the Yoga 720 are better suited for those who want a laptop that can very often function as a tablet.
Lenovo Yoga 720 (13-inch) benefits powerfully from its seventh-generation Intel Core i5/i7 processor, as these chips bring good performance and long battery lives. The drawback is that this laptop does not include many built-in ports, which will let users purchase a separate USB-C adapter with video-out, Ethernet, etc.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Latest Leaks: Pre-order Date And Camera Features Revealed
Leaked documentation on Samsung's website has revealed that pre-orders for the device will begin on 25 August.
AMD Radeon RX Vega News: Vega 10, Vega 11, Vega 12 & Vega 20 Confirmed
Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) has confirmed the AMD Vega upcoming lineup.
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New Lawsuit Alleges Fortnite Video Game Is as Addictive as Cocaine
Epic Games, creator of the popular Fortnite video game, has been hit with a new lawsuit that alleges the game is as "addictive as cocaine" and that Epic has targeted children with its marketing. The popular game is played by more than a quarter-billion people.
Netflix is Raising Prices, Here’s How it Now Compares to Other Streaming Services
Once a brand gains the trust and loyalty of its market, it is only logical that it attempts to flex its dominant muscle. Such is the tale that fits the recent price hike coming from the stable of Netflix. Having baited consumers into believing that streaming, and not cable subscription, is the right way to go, Netflix has now decided to drop its own form of a bombshell on consumers in the form of price increment. The news, which was announced earlier this year, detailed that Netflix would be raising prices across all of its plans by 13 to 18 percent.


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Nigeria has continued to outpace other African countries in export to India with $9.949 billion in exports last year.
This represents 31.4 per cent of the total export to India from Africa.
Head of Chancery at the High Commission of Indian, Lagos, Mr. Jagdeep Kapoor, who stated this at the Indian products and services exhibition held in Lagos, called on Indians to invest in Nigeria adding that relations between both countries has existed for decades.
He stated that the recent visit of the Indian Vice President to Nigeria has also given a boost to Nigeria, Indian bilateral relations.
According to him, “India as we know is Nigeria’s largest trading partner. Total trade between the two countries in the financial year 2015-16 was $643.3 Billion. Crude oil is the largest item exported from Nigeria to India, while Vehicles, Pharmaceutical products and Machinery have been the largest items exported from India to Nigeria. India exported about 419 million dollar worth of vehicles including parts and accessories to Nigeria during the financial year 2015-16. Similarly about 393million dollar worth of Pharmaceuticals were exported from India to Nigeria and roughly 267 Million dollar worth of machinery and appliances.
“You will notice that these are the three main products we have tried to highlight in the present exhibition through the individual companies participating today. Telecom, Hospitals, Education, Insurance and Banking occupy the leading positions in the services sector, which again are visible in this Exhibition. This year the plan is to consolidate on what we are already exporting to Nigeria and maybe next year we will diversify into other fields like software, hospitality, construction and entertainment. A large Nigerian delegation led by Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment visited India to attend the 11th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave held in New Delhi on 14-15 March, 2016 as a partner country.”
While calling on more Indian companies to come to Nigeria to do business, he said: “The High Commission can only pave the way. It is for the companies participating today to consolidate on the opportunities presented through this Exhibition and move forward. Gains made at such exhibitions are not generally tangible in the beginning, but believe me; they definitely translate into showcasing your capabilities and with time and perseverance help in reaching the objective of increased trade and business. I have said this at different fora that it is the Indian exhibitors who are the true Ambassadors. Guests will view India through the products and services you display here today and form an opinion about India based on what you present. My humble request is to keep the Indian flag flying high and make us all Indians proud.”
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola had while speaking at the West Africa-Indian Trade and Economic Forum recently revealed the possibility of increase market access opportunities between India and countries within the sub-region, in terms of improved terms of trade, would be imperative to increase production efficiency and competitiveness through infrastructural development.
He said it was important and necessary to address market access constraints and Non- Tariff Barriers (NTB) that hinder the free movement of goods and services across the region’s frontiers, as particular attention should be paid to the inherent supply side constraints in the West African Community in the course of the business forum.
“There is no doubt that there would be challenges to the implementation of the resolutions that may be reached at the end of this forum on issues such as finance, technical assistance and capacity building of the private sector. “We therefore enlist the support and cooperation as well as assistance of our development partners to governments and the private sectors of West Africa in this regard, “he added.


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November’s global airfreight data showed some strange behaviour, says industry analyst, CLIVE Data Services. November’s flown volumes were down 1.2%, compared with October, an unusual trend in itself in the build-up to Christmas, but capacity remained the same while rates went up, said CLIVE’s managing director, Niall van de Wouw.
He put the paradox of rising rates and lower volumes down to airport congestion, which was preventing carriers from flying all the cargo presented to them. Anecdotal reports suggest that many of the world’s air gateways and handlers are currently grappling with congestions, shortages of equipment and staff. “The industry as a whole is less effective because of airport congestion,” he said, adding that many of the problems were deep-seated and due to a long term lack of investment in cargo handling facilities.
“The logistics chain is becoming fragile; the industry as a whole has had a lack of attention to ground handling,” he said. “This unexpected month-over-month shift is not due to a lack of demand, it is almost certainly because cargo cannot be pushed efficiently through the system. This is also what we’ve seen reported in the oceanfreight market at US west coast ports. Labour shortages are a factor in all sectors, but this is especially having an impact on such a labour-intensive industry as airfreight, especially on the ground.
“Airport congestion seems to be the price the industry has to pay for the lack of investment in, and appreciation of, cargo handling. The current inefficiencies on the ground must have opportunity costs for airlines, forwarders and shippers alike, because cargo will be missing flights. Two months ago, we described the air cargo market as ‘fragile’ heading into the traditional peak season, and this fragility is being visualised on social media through airport movies showing countless pallets and containers waiting on the tarmac.”
CLIVE’s Europe to North America market data for the last week of October versus the third week of November, prior to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, showed capacity down 7.3% and load factor up 4% pts to 86% and rates for this market consequently saw a 10% increase.
The analyst’s earlier hypothesis that any opening up of transatlantic passenger services be quickly eradicated by increased volumes of passenger baggage eating into the amount of bellyhold space available for cargo appeared to have been borne out.
Load factors on transatlantic routes went up from 81% in later October to 85% in early November. He added that concerns over the new Omicron virus variant could actually increase cargo capacity again. If fewer people travelled, it was unlikely that the number of flights would be significantly affected and fewer passengers per flight would mean less pressure on bellyhold space.


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In a bid to trade on Nashville’s established identity as the home of country music, radio broadcaster Cumulus Media this week unveiled NASH, a muli-platform entertainment brand based on the country music lifestyle.
The NASH brand will include a monthly magazine, website, concerts and radio stations, the first of which launched Monday in New York City.
The stations will include live shows, some originating from Nashville, Cumulus said in press release announcing the new venture.
The NASH magazine, published by Modern Luxury, will debut later this year.
“Country is more than just music — it’s a lifestyle that is rich with content and marketing opportunities because country is mass appeal and very much underserved in all forms of media,” Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey, said in a statement. “Cumulus is committed to serving this significant lifestyle segment that stretches from coast-to-coast by creating a full complement of content on the radio, in print, online and on TV.”


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Governor Gavin Newsom called on his state’s mayors to “step in” and “hold” a group of shoplifters, targeting retail establishments, including a six-figure robbery.
“I’m not the mayor of California, but I was the mayor, and I know that when things like this happen, the mayors have to step up,” Newsome said Monday at the Vaccine Clinic in the Mission District of San Francisco. “It’s not an indictment. It’s not a cheap shot.”
“These people need to be taken into account,” Newsome added. “We need to investigate these crimes. We need to break these crime rings.
The presence of the California Highway Patrol is likely to increase around the most crowded shopping destinations this holiday season. Patrols increase significantly in the Bay Area on Interstate 680 and State Highway 4.
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Bowdin echoed Newsome and said, “If you come to San Francisco and you commit crimes, there will be consequences.”
Boudin is facing a recall election next year after soft repeated criticism of criminal policies.
San Francisco mayor’s plan to combat flash mob robbery limits access to shops ahead of holidays
“This has nothing to do with my policies and everything that has to do with the challenges we face as a country,” Bowdin said.
The San Francisco area witnessed back-to-back mob robberies over the weekend, targeting Nordstrom, Louis Vuitton, pharmacies, marijuana dispensaries and other retail locations.
In Walnut Creek, 25 miles from SF, approximately 80 looters rushed to Nordstrom and took goods ranging from $ 100,000 to $ 200,000, according to police. Three have been arrested in connection with the robbery.
80 Looters rob California Nordstrom in ski masks with crowbars and weapons: witness
The crimes have extended to San Jose, about 50 miles from San Francisco, where at least four people have paid $ 40,000 from Lululemon for what police described as an “organized robbery.”
Dozens of San Francisco-area shops and dispensaries hit by smash-and-grab looters: ‘We’re all in pain’
Los Angeles Monday night saw a smash and grab robbery at Nordstrom. Police have arrested three people in connection with the crime.
Some cops and retailers pointed to California’s Proposition 47 for an increase in crimes, which reduced shoplifting charges to $ 950 or less from crimes to misdemeanors.
In 2018, state lawmakers passed a temporary law in response to complaints surrounding the law, which established a new offense of organized retail theft. The California Highway Patrol Task Force has also been created to assist areas with higher instances of such crimes. The law expired earlier this year, however, The The San Francisco Chronicle reports.


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After implementing the order of Currency Ban, the general public is facing the problem of cash, so the government is encouraging the people for cashless transactions and digital payment.
The Modi government had initiated two programs aimed to encourage people to promote the digital economy cashless transaction. The name of these programs was Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digidhan Vyapaar Yojana.
The Central Government has selected 3 cities from Punjab state in for digital payment promotion of ‘Lucky Grahak Yojana’ & Digi Dhan Vyapar. The center has selected Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar to promote digital payments in Punjab.
The Central Government has announced Lucky Grahak Yojana and DG Dhan Vyapari Yojana in order to promote transactions. The CEO of Policy Commission Amitabh Kant informed on Thursday that after Christmas, 15,000 winners will be distributed prizes under this scheme.


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Smartphone maker Realme launched Realme Smart TV in India a few months ago. These TVs are available with 32 inch and 43 inch screen sizes. Today the company launched the 55-inch Realme Smart TV SLED 4K in India. The Realm Smart TV SLED 4K, which comes with Chroma Boost technology, has 24 watt speakers with Dolby Audio. You will also find built-in apps like Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video. Realme Smart TV supports Google Assistant on SLED 4K.
Realme Smart TV SLED 4K Price, Availability and Sale Date
Realmy Smart TV SLED 4K is priced at Rs 42,999 in India. This TV will be available in black. Prebooking of this phone will start from Realme.com and Flipkart on October 16 (midnight 00:00). According to the company, the TV will be available at Rs 39,999 with a discount of Rs 3,000 in the first sale. The TV will also be available offline soon.
Realme Smart TV SLED 4K Specification
Realmy Smart TV SLED 4K is the world’s first TV with SLED technology. Coming with Android operating system, this TV has a 139 cm (55 inch) display. It has a resolution of 3640 x 2160 pixels and a screen ratio of 18: 9. Again the screen viewing angle is 18 degrees. According to the company, the TV, which comes with a premium bezel-less design, supports 108 percent NTSC wide color gamut.
Realme Smart Watch – Revolve launched. Click on this link
This TV will have MediaTek 64 bit quad core processor. It will support Google Assistant. Again, as it is an Android TV, the app can be downloaded from the App Store. This TV has 4 speakers of 24 watts, where Dolby will support audio. For connectivity, it has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0. It has three HDMI ports and two USB ports. The gross weight of the TV is 12.6 kg.