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Google has acquired Green Throttle Games – or at least what was left of the company after it essentially shut down late last year, according to a new report by PandoDaily. The startup followed Ouya,
I just returned from the most exciting Consumer Electronics Show I've ever covered. Thanks to extraordinary demand for gadgets that make us healthier, stronger, and smarter, the technology industry is
If there's one lesson to be learned at this year's CES, it's that everybody and their mothers are going nuts for wearables. More than a few of these peculiar gadgets are meant to make sure you're gett
Everywhere you turned last week, there was another story about iOS 6 Maps. Some feel like it's a great new direction for Apple, but people like me feel like we're left with an ugly experience that sho
A trio of entrepreneurs who led online advertising technology company Accipiter to an <a href="http://www.imediac
We all know the crisis in the venture capital community is starting to have real word effect
The holidays are fast approaching and if you’re looking for great stocking-stuffer ideas, don’t forget about this $3,500 atlas that weighs almost 70 pounds. It’s simply called "
Online advertising firm Eyeblaster has registered for a $115 million initial public offering on the NASDAQ. Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank Securities are serving as joint bookrunners with UBS Secur


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Electric vehicle (EV) market pioneer Tesla (TSLA) is facing competition from traditional automakers like General Motors (GM), Ford (F), Volkswagen (VWAGY), and Toyota (TM), which are invading the electric market. These automakers have the manufacturing knowledge and the distribution networks to scale up EV production and reach the “tipping point” of bringing EVs to the masses. They could end up reaping most of the benefits of the EV market without taking the risks of pioneering it.
Pioneers and Colonizers
In every new market, there are two types of companies: pioneers and colonizers. Pioneers are the companies that discover the latest market and come up with the right products to exploit it. Colonizers are the companies that arrive in the new market late and, in some cases, end up dominating it.
The American market for Greek yogurt is a case in point. Back in the 1990s, FAGE, a Greek company, was the first company to discover that Americans had a taste for strained yogurt: yogurt that didn’t have the watery taste of traditional yogurt sold in supermarkets in those days.
In the beginning, FAGE catered its product to Greek American customers, and sold mainly in Greek and Mediterranean food stores in Queens, New York. Mainstream Americans didn’t know about this product, and the high price of Greek yogurt was a significant issue. Yet sales grew by leaps and bounds.
Despite that, it wasn’t FAGE, the pioneer, that helped Greek yogurt reach the tipping point. Instead, it was Chobani, a late-comer.
The success story of Greek yogurt is neither new nor unique. In almost every industry, market niches are developed by start-ups and turned into mass markets by merchandisers. Merchandisers are larger established companies with the production scale, and the sales and distribution networks, that most start-ups are lacking.
For example, large established companies like Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb use their scale advantage and sales networks to commercialize products from small biotech companies in the pharmaceutical sector. Moreover, large companies like P&G use their scale and marketing advantage to promote the products of smaller companies they acquire in the consumer sector.
Will history repeat itself in the EV market? Wall Street seems to think so, recently. (See Tesla stock charts on TipRanks)
Colonizers Are Racing Past Tesla on Wall Street
The shares of traditional automakers like Ford, GM, Volkswagen, and Toyota have been heading north on Wall Street this year, outperforming Tesla’s shares, which have been heading south over the same period.
Meanwhile, investor sentiment, technicals, and fundamentals are turning less positive for Tesla’s stock, according to TipRanks’ Smart Score, which assigns an overall score of 6, or Neutral, to this EV market pioneer.
Meanwhile, the analyst rating consensus on Tesla is a Hold, with 10 Buy, 6 Hold, and 7 Sell ratings. The average analyst Tesla price target is $642, signifying a -.65% downside.
The reversal of fortunes between traditional automakers and Tesla on Wall Street comes when traditional automakers have been rolling out their EV models and building scores of EV factories. Apparently, markets think that conventional automakers have a chance to scale up production, and reduce costs and prices of EVs. They have the potential to turn the market Tesla pioneered into a mass market.
Why Now for Tesla?
Pioneering new markets is a risky proposition, especially when competing technologies solve a problem like environmental pollution. That’s why business strategists downplayed Tesla’s prospects to turn the electric vehicle market into a mass market almost a decade ago. For example, a Harvard Business report argued that Tesla isn’t as disruptive as Wall Street believes it to be.
“Think of it this way: all-electric vehicles accounted for just 119,710 of the 16.5 million sold in the U.S. in 2014—seven-tenths of one percent of the market,” noted the authors of the report.
Apparently, that was a too-small market to draw the attention of traditional automakers.
“Established carmakers are paying little attention to EVs not because they are clueless but because few people want EVs. (And they aren’t completely ignoring EVs; consider the all-electric Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, each of which outsold Tesla in 2014). However, Tesla is betting that preferences will change—that someday millions of people will want electric vehicles.”
As it turned out, Tesla was right. Consumer preferences changed, as evidenced by its strong sales record. However, that has been drawing the attention of traditional automakers, something Tesla should watch closely, as the EV market is ready to turn from a niche market to a mass market.
Summary and Conclusions
For years, Tesla had little competition in the EV market it pioneered. However, the situation is changing rapidly, as traditional automakers are coming out with their own EVs. Those companies have the experience and distribution networks to scale up the market, meaning that Tesla may not accrue all the benefits of the market it pioneered.
Disclosure: The writer has no position in Tesla stock.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
The post For Tesla, Colonizing Carmakers Becoming a Threat appeared first on TipRanks Financial Blog.

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By Kendall Downing
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Oct. 30, 2014) – FOX59 is bringing you a new warning about your keys. Duplicating one is easier than ever. All you need is a picture, and anyone can get a new key cut online. Police warn criminals could snap photos of a key and show up in your home!
They are direct access to your home, business, even your car. Our keys offer security and protection. If you need a new one, you typically go to a hardware store, like Akard True Value in Zionsville.
Toni Peart can cut your key in a jiffy for a couple bucks.
“We’ll try to make sure that if we know the key has been worn a lot and used a lot, that we sand it down to try and make sure that it’ll fit when it gets to your house,” she said.
But nowadays you can trade the in-person service for convenience and go online. Keys Duplicated is a prime example. The business cuts keys from a picture, then mails them to you.
“At its core, what we’re doing is not much different than what locksmiths have been doing for years,” said Jordan Meyer, COO of Keys Duplicated.
Police tell FOX59 online key cutting opens the door to sneaky crooks with more sinister motives. A cell phone camera and access to a key are all they need to strike.
“To me, with this, it would be for the more dangerous type of criminal,” said Matthew Fillenwarth, assistant chief with the Greenwood Police Department.
Fillenwarth said a routine burglar would not be the kind to snag a copy of your key. Instead, he points out the possibility is there for an inside job–someone you trust using you to their advantage.
“An employee who wants to come back later and burglarize your business will, has that access to keys during work and can take a picture of it,” he said. “I also worry about estranged husbands or boyfriends.”
Jordan Meyer points to safeguards with Keys Duplicated’s online copying.
“We feel that we’re offering a safe and convenient service,” he said.
Meyer said there is a manual review. Staff email people back if the photos look doctored or strangely shot. A front and back picture are required, and Keys Duplicated only works with a valid credit card, so he said it cannot be done anonymously.
“It needs some identity there which is traceable back to the person who submitted the key,” said Meyer.
FOX59 wanted to test the service out. Would it deliver a precisely cut key? How easy is it to get one?
FOX59’s Kendall Downing asked a co-worker Kim to provide pictures of a key to her home.
He uploaded the images to the website right from his phone, and then five days later the envelope with keys came right to his mailbox.
He went to Kim’s home and tested the key out. It worked.
“Oh my gosh, that is scary,” she said, as the door opened.
FOX59 took action and went back to the company with the results. They said to this point, they’ve heard of no criminal use.
“We have not heard directly from any law enforcement agencies,” said Meyer.
Meyer insists the company’s safety measures are growing, though he didn’t provide specifics.
“We’re always improving our security. We have a lot of things, usually we don’t go too much into the details because we don’t want people to know the types of things we are looking for,” he said.
Tim Maniscalo is president of the Better Business Bureau of Central Indiana.
“Great convenience, but you’ve got to be very careful,” said Maniscalo.
He said services like online key copying may have security measures in place, but they are not absolute. A credit card could be stolen and used.
“Something like this is fraught with all kinds of security problems, so you’ve got to be very, very careful when you engage in anything like this,” said Maniscalo.
The bottom line: know who’s copying your keys, because nowadays, those old school systems can be cracked with new world technology, he said.
“It’s new, and I can understand people being concerned about it. What we’re trying to get out there is the message that people should be concerned about the security of their keys whether or not we are around,” said Meyer.
Keys Duplicated does not copy car keys, but they soon will.
If you use their service, the first key copied online is $6; additional ones are $4. You can usually get key copies at a hardware store for $2.


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Swedish premium car maker Saab continued its phenomenal UK sales growth in March, with an all-time record for the month of 4,265 sales, an increase of 37 per cent against March 2004, making the UK Saab’s largest global market for the first time ever, overtaking the United States and Sweden to steal this accolade.
Saab’s cumulative British sales year-to-date reached 6,603 cars, another all-time high for the first quarter sales period. This means that Saab remains the nation’s fastest growing premium car brand, as it has done for the past 10 months, with first quarter sales up 39 per cent against 2004. Overall British new car sales remain in decline, down 7.2 per cent for the year to date, whilst sales of premium cars have fallen by an even greater amount compared to last year.
Sales of all models across the range are driving Saab’s rapid growth rate. Demand for the low-emission 9-3 1.9 TiD Sport Saloons comfortably exceeds supply, and during the first-quarter, demand for this popular model range rose by 59 per cent. Despite recent mixed weather, demand for the four-seasons 9-3 Convertible remains reassuringly sunny, with the UK’s most stylish soft-top increasing sales by 25 per cent. The enduringly popular Saab 9-5 saloon and estate models also continue to retain their appeal to the discerning UK driver, with sales growing by 15 per cent to date.
Commenting on the impressive sales results, Jonathan Nash, Managing Director of Saab Great Britain remarked: “For the UK to have surpassed Saab’s sales in both the world’s largest new car market, the USA, along with the brand’s home market of Sweden, where drivers are fiercely loyal to the Saab brand, is a huge achievement and testament to the fact that Saab is designing and building the type of accessible premium cars that British drivers desire. The combination of Saab’s celebrated Swedish design ethic and its enviable aircraft heritage is clearly hitting the sweet spot in what is widely regarded as one of the world’s most cut-throat car markets. Long may it continue!”
This is a 17-year+ news article, from our Saab archive, which dates back to the year 2000.
If in doubt check with your local Saab dealer as car prices and technical data will have changed since 2005.
Although our car news is published in good faith, we cannot guarantee it to be error free or complete or up-to-date.
Saab 9-5 Images may not be UK specification cars. Colours and exterior and/or interior elements may differ from actual models.
The car news and images remain the copyright of the rights holder and may not be used without their consent.


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iPhone 8 will have killer features at the expense of High Price
2017 is getting interesting already, so much fun for tech lovers, Samsung is cooking what is said to be the phone of the year, Apple is quiet but surely it gonna come with one big surprise, it’s already in the news that both Apple and Samsung are getting rid on the home button, while Samsung already revealed where the home button will be, iPhone fingerprint sensor is still unknown to no one at the moment.
Latest rumors suggest Apple will announce three devices in 2017, including an OLED screen-packing iPhone 8 with no physical buttons on the front.
This particular model will have a 5.8” OLED with 5.15” display area, while the other part is going to be reserved for ‘function area which will probably cost over $1000.
According to the KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next iPhone “will come with other biometric technologies that replace the current fingerprint recognition technology”. There’s no word to what other technology could be used by the Cupertino Company.


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MIDLAND, Mich. There are few places where one can see a Ferrari, John Deere farm machinery, smart cars, 18-wheelers and recreational vehicles all in one setting.
The 47th Annual 2010 Northwood University International Auto Show, which ran from Oct. 15-17, featured all those vehicles and more. The show, organized solely by Northwood students, was visited by an estimated 55,000 people. The event is billed as the largest new car, outdoor auto show in North America. More than 500 students participated in the show, which was chaired by student Brandon Postema and vice-chaired by James Hannah.
The theme for this year’s show was “Electrify the Drive, Sparking a Global Revolution.”
Marcell Chandler, of Gaylord, Mich., co-captain of the Unique Auto Team, said he enjoyed the planning process, which happened year-round. “You get to see it all come together,” the junior, double-majoring in international business and management said, “It’s awesome. You get to meet new people, see new cars.”
Chandler’s team featured modified cars, mostly Camaros.
“In our case, some of these cars are so rare, they had drivers bring them in,” Chandler said. In other cases, students are allowed to drive the cars to the campus, between sun-up and sun-down.
Students work with dealerships around the state or with collectors to secure vehicles for the show. “Some dealerships can only give you so many cars,” he said. “After this show is over, we’ll start planning all over again for next year’s.”
Students also are responsible for all aspects of the display of the vehicles. They clean up their respective vehicle area, rake leaves and wax cars the mornings of the show.
Andrea Tahmovch and Michael Grant, both of Livonia, Mich., were part of Team Mazda. Tahmovch is double-majoring in entrepreneurship and management; Grant is majoring in accounting.
In Team Mazda’s case, they also set up a video game featuring Mazda race cars for attendees to play.
Team Mazda had a bit of difficulty tracking down an RX-8. There was only new one in the state at a dealership, Grant said. So the team requested permission from the dealership it was paired up with to secure an RX-8 at another dealership. The dealership gave the OK and the team brought the RX-8 to the show.
One show-stopping vehicle that garnered much attention from attendees was a 1996 Buick dubbed an “OffRoadMaster,” a car on a monster truck platform where the vehicle body was lifted about seven feet off the ground.
The event included a classic car show on Oct. 17.


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Department is pleased to note that Dr. Sutradhar's book `Dynamic Mixed Models for Familial Longitudinal Data' continues to be very popular in Econometrics and Epidemiology.
This week of April 15, 2013, Dr. Sutradhar's book makes Amazon Canada's top 7 list in Econometrics and top 15 list in Epidemiology. Last time on February 22nd, 2012, it was listed as top 10 book in Econometrics and Epidemiology. The book was published on February 3, 2011 by Springer, New York. It is indeed a pride for the department.


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The completion date of work which is currently underway at Tesco Manor Avenue in Sale has been revealed.
We have the official completion date which will be November 23rd.
Tesco Manor Avenue will soon have an extra pump and an extended canopy.
The oil containers under the ground of the Tesco store have all been replaced with beand new heavy containers.
Having another pump at this store will help drivers during the rush hour and will speed things up.
The Tesco store itself remains open although if you need to go on Coppice Avenue you will have to go around rather than cut through.


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By JULIA MAEDA/ Staff Writer
June 11, 2020 at 15:54 JST
A photo of a woman's arm that became swollen due to the use of a hair removal product, forcing her to complain to the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (Provided by the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan)
Older male teenagers are overwhelmingly facing a consumer problem that is making them want to tear their hair out.
Depilatory complaints resulted in the highest counseling cases reported among male older teens for the first time, based on the number brought to consumer centers across Japan last year.
Consumers registered many complaints such as, “I saw an ad for a hair removal product on my mobile phone and bought it, but it gave me symptoms like itchiness and redness. And the product was delivered to me again, but I didn’t know that I had signed a purchase contract on a regular basis.”
The data was disclosed in the White Paper on Consumer Affairs approved by the government at a Cabinet meeting on June 9.
While many men and women are interested in beauty care products, an increasing number of young people are reporting consumer-related problems.
It was the first time that problems with these products ranked in the top 10 among those registered by men.
By counseling requests, problems with hair removal products totaled 2,600 cases among males aged between 15 and 29.
Among older male teens between 15 and 19, depilatory complaints totaled 1,406, the highest among all cases. The complaints had ranked 15th or under the previous year, but the number soared last year, amounting to about eight times the 184 cases of females in the same age group.
The second most complaints among the same male age group were related to online games, 553, while the third were cosmetic and related items, 361.
There were also 246 complaints about health foods and 184 for lotions. Many consumers complained about them, citing “they disagreed with me” and “products were repeatedly delivered.”
Visit this page for the latest news on Japan’s battle with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
Haruki Murakami and other writers read from books before selected audiences at the new Haruki Murakami Library.
The Asahi Shimbun aims “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” through its Gender Equality Declaration.
Let’s explore the Japanese capital from the viewpoint of wheelchair users and people with disabilities with Barry Joshua Grisdale.


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Mills will stick on their selective hand-to-mouth buying strategy
NY futures closed slightly higher this week, with December advancing 75 points to close at 60.86 cents today.
With the help of strong outside markets, cotton futures were able to rebound after last week's sharp correction. In doing so, the December contract managed to stay about two cents clear of the technically important long-term uptrend line that dates back to early March.
When the market traded limit up on Monday it even seemed like it was on its way to challenge the recent high near 65 cents, but as in previous occasions physical prices stayed behind, as mills were not in a hurry to pay higher prices. With crops around the globe still showing a lot of promise, mills seem to be confident that prices will not run away anytime soon and are adhering to their selective hand-to-mouth buying strategy.
With the exception of Monday's flurry of activity, during which a little over 13'000 futures changed hands, daily trading volume remained very subdued at somewhere between 4'600 and 7'200 contracts, which was telling us that this latest rally attempt lacked momentum and would sooner or later have to stall out as well. The fact that open interest barely changed this week, moving up just slightly from 124'998 to 126'651 contracts, was another sign that this latest flash in the pan that was probably due to a lack of short selling rather than new longs piling in.
Export sales picked up a little during last week's price brake, amounting to a combined 138'400 running bales for Upland and Pima. Thanks to strong shipments of 311'800 running bales last week, the final export number for the 2008/09 season will be around 13.2 to 13.3 million bales, which is right at the latest USDA estimate. Although the overall export number will be shy of last year's 13.65 million statistical bales, it is interesting to note that Upland shipments surpassed those of last season by about 250'000 bales, while Pima shipments lagged by nearly 600'000 bales.
Last week we hypothesized that the pace of global cotton consumption may be stronger than expected. There is no doubt that consumer spending has slowed in the developed world, but thanks to the very steep discounts stores have been offering since last fall, the amount of goods sold has not fallen as much as initially feared. Retail sales statistics may be a bit misleading at times because they focus on dollar volume rather than pieces sold.
Also, governments of export oriented economies have been trying to counterbalance waning export demand by aggressively boosting domestic off-take with the help of stimulus programs, with China being a prime example. It has always been China's policy to expand its domestic market and thereby reduce its dependency on exports, but the financial crisis has forced it to pursue this goal at a faster pace.
While this 'less bad' scenario on demand may have helped to pull the market out of the abyss and we are now trading again at 60cents instead of 40 cents, there is currently nothing to suggest that prices should keep on rising from here. The global balance sheet looks fairly balanced at this point, with most analysts seeing production and consumption very close to one another. The USDA has been the most optimistic, predicting a 6.7 million bales output gap in its July estimate, but we expect that to narrow in subsequent reports. The ICAC on the other hand is of the view that we will see an output surplus of 0.5 million bales in 2009/10.


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The price of food around the world rose to its highest point in a decade, states a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The FAO Food Price Index measures the monthly change in international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, including vegetable oils, cereals, dairy, meat and sugar. In January, the Food Price Index stood at 135.7 points, the highest since April 2011.
The rising prices are driven by supply-chain constraints, labor shortages and bad weather, says the FAO. It also warns that the higher prices will hurt low-income populations and countries that depend on imports. Food import prices are forecast to jump by 20% this year.
Some experts say the real price of food is the highest it’s been since the oil crisis of the 1970s. “Based on real prices, it is currently harder to buy food on the international market than in almost every other year since UN record keeping began in 1961,” said Alastair Smith, a senior teaching fellow in Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick.


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Read the news or browse any social media site and you’re sure to find disheartening stories or mentions of poor customer service and companies that just don’t seem to care about the people who buy from them. But that’s not always the case.
Plenty of companies are willing to go above and beyond, providing a superior customer experience to customers in need. These 12 companies that stood up for customers might seem like they’re doing something out of the ordinary, but that’s far from the truth.
Expectant mother Natalee Fadden was at home in December 2018 when the crib she ordered from Target was delivered. Unfortunately, the UPS driver didn’t knock or ring her doorbell to alert her, and the crib was stolen off her porch an hour later.
Once Fadden received notification from Target that the crib had been delivered, she checked her porch, but the box wasn’t there. She then checked the surveillance video from her doorbell camera and saw a thief stealing her package.
After sharing the video with her local Minneapolis news station KARE11, who aired her story, Minnesota-based Target contacted McFadden and told her they were replacing the crib at no charge — no questions asked.
In 2018, outdoor company Patagonia pledged to donate millions to environmental programs, citing President Donald Trump’s refusal to recognize climate change as a serious issue as the catalyst for the decision.
CEO Rose Marcario posted a letter on LinkedIn stating that the $10 million the company saved in tax cuts would go toward, “groups committed to protecting air, land and water and finding solutions to the climate crisis.” “Our home planet is facing its greatest crisis because of human-caused climate disruption,” she wrote.
Other companies who received tax cuts chose to pass on some of the savings to their employees as bonuses and many companies choose to invest the money in dividend increases and share buybacks. Not Patagonia. Instead, the company chose to invest in our most important resource for the benefit of all humankind.
While attending a playoff game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, on Jan. 7, 2018, Kelsey Evans Rivera’s father lost his Mignon Faget vintage money clip.
Rivera posted a picture of a similar-looking money clip on Facebook and explained what had happened to it and how much it meant to her father, “Mom gave him the clip decades ago and it’s very sentimental to him. For those that don’t know, Mom died almost 2 years ago after 50 years of marriage.”
The post went viral with more than 5,000 shares in response to the touching story.
Soon after, a marketing manager at Mignon Faget wrote that even though company policy prohibits the recreation of archived items, they wanted to replace the clip free of charge, “We would like to offer this refurbished piece complementary since your family has clearly been Mignon Faget collectors for many years…While I do hope your father finds the original money clip we hope this one will serve as an adequate replacement.”
First Oklahoma Bank
During the government shutdown that began at the end of 2018 and carried over into the new year, First Oklahoma Bank responded to federal employees and those serving in the military by enacting a policy it created during the last government shutdown.
Tulsa news station KRJH2 posted a copy of the letter the bank sent out that stated customers who receive a regular federal government check and have a depository account will be treated as if they are receiving their checks as usual. The bank pledged to cover checks written on affected customers’ accounts up to the amount of their regularly recurring check with no charges for a “reasonable amount of time.”
In the letter, bank chairman Tom Bennett wrote, “We believe this is what we would want the bank to do if we were the affected customers. It’s the right thing to do.”
Fazoli’s nationwide restaurant chain also stepped up to assist furloughed government workers. Through Jan. 13, 2019, federal government employees suffering from the shutdown were eligible to receive a free pizza baked spaghetti with a small drink purchase at participating locations.
Considering hundreds of thousands of affected government workers would have qualified for this deal, Fazoli’s required proof of employment to keep customers honest.
In 2017, 29-year-old Iraq war veteran Taylor Winston risked his life to transport shooting victims who were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert in Las Vegas when gunfire broke out.
Instead of fleeing the scene, Winston started looking in nearby vehicles to find one that had the keys inside. He then used one of the vehicles to drive injured victims to the hospital.
Shane Beus, who owns B5 Motors in Gilbert, Ariz., was so impressed by Winston’s efforts that he offered him a free truck. All Winston had to do was drive to Arizona and pick it up. “It’s very, very courageous what he did,” Beus said. “He was willing to risk his life and run back into the storm and help out.”
On the morning of Jan. 24, 2013, San Francisco resident Kerry Drake got word that his ill mother in Lubbock, Texas, was dying. To reach her, Drake booked a flight from San Francisco to Houston where he would have only 40 minutes to connect to the last flight to Lubbock that day.
Unfortunately, Drake’s first flight was delayed and he became distraught, believing he would never be able to make it to Lubbock in time to see his mother alive. After flight attendants learned of his situation, they notified the captain who radioed ahead to Houston. In response, the Lubbock flight crew chose to delay the flight so that Drake would be able to make it to see his mother that same day.
Delayed flights can cost airlines big bucks. For example, United Airlines has a policy that states that customers who are booked on flights delayed two hours or more are eligible for a full refund. The delay was worth it though because Drake did make it to Lubbock and was able to spend some time with his mom before she passed away the next morning.
In 2013, J. Crew went above and beyond for a customer who made a mistake when ordering. The customer used a one-time coupon when ordering merchandise from the store’s Factory page, which sells items in limited amounts. Unfortunately, after placing the order, the customer accidentally canceled it.
The customer emailed J. Crew and was told the company would hold the order and honor the coupon as long as he called in to confirm the order. The customer wasn’t able to call in until the next day, and by then, the merchandise he wanted was no longer available.
In response, a J. Crew representative contacted the customer and helped him pick out similar items from the regular J. Crew website. Plus, at checkout, the representative applied the one-time-use coupon and Factory prices, even though the original prices were higher.
A daughter bought six pairs of shoes from Zappos for her elderly mother who suffered from sensitive feet. Once her mother tried on the shoes, she decided to keep two.
The daughter called Zappos to return the unwanted shoes, and the representative was very sympathetic because her father had similar foot issues. After hanging up with Zappos, the customer probably didn’t expect what happened next.
The Zappos representative who helped with the return sent a large bouquet of lilies and roses to the elderly mother with a note letting her know she was thinking of her. In response, the woman’s other daughter chose to contact Zappos and offer thanks for the kindness to her mom.
Zappos responded with kindness once again by making all three ladies Zappos V.I.P. members, which entitles them to expedited free shipping all year long — for life — on the company.
Gaylord Opryland Hotel
Christina McMenemy had become a regular guest at the Gaylord Opryland hotel, staying there for three years in a row during an annual conference she attended. During her stays, she became enamored with The Sharper Image brand clock radio in her hotel room, which featured spa sounds. She claimed she never slept better than while using it.
McMenemy searched high and low to find a clock just like the one at the Gaylord but couldn’t find the exact model. Once, while attending the annual conference, she contacted the company’s Twitter page to find out where she could get one. The company informed her that their version wasn’t available to the public, so McMenemy was under the impression she was out of luck.
After returning to her room that day, however, she found that the Gaylord had kindly gifted her not one, but two of its exclusive spa clocks — which they likely had to pay to replace — a gesture which made McMenemy a lifelong fan of the hotel.
During the 2010 holiday season, an 89-year-old Pennsylvania resident became snowed in at his home. The man’s daughter began to worry that her father wasn’t going to have enough to eat and started contacting stores in the area to arrange for grocery delivery.
After several failed attempts, she reached someone at Trader Joe’s who told her that although they didn’t normally make deliveries, they would make an exception due to the extreme circumstances.
Not only did the store agree to deliver the groceries to the man’s home, but the store also took the time to personalize the order by suggesting Trader Joe’s grocery items that would fit well into the man’s low-sodium diet. After the concerned daughter hung up with the store, the personalized grocery order was delivered to her father’s home in less than 30 minutes — for free.
Seven-year-old Lego fan Luka Apps made a mistake when he ignored his father’s advice. Instead of leaving his treasured Ninjago named Jay ZX behind as his father suggested, he took it on a shopping trip and lost it.
Upset at losing the toy he spent all of his Christmas money on, Luka wrote Lego and explained what had happened. He requested that Lego send him a free replacement and promised not to take the toy shopping again.
The Lego customer support representative who received Luka’s letter took the time to craft a very creative response, claiming that he spoke to Sensei Wu, another Ninjago character, about Luka’s predicament. In the end, Lego not only replaced Jay XZ, but it also sent Luka some extras free of charge, including an adversary for Jay ZX to defeat.
Click through to read more about how to be an awesome human being — without spending a dime.
More on Business


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Earlier this year, boohoo said it would stop selling clothing and items made from the fabric on ethical grounds, but later U-turned following pressure from the wool industry.
Now PETA says it has bought shares in the brand so its representatives can attend the annual general meeting later this year, speak to other shareholders and executives, and 'call for the retailer to commit to finally banning wool'.
"It's time boohoo group proved that it's a real leader in global retail by standing by its compassionate initial decision to ban wool," PETA Director of Corporate Projects, Yvonne Taylor, said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.
"As a shareholder, PETA US will be able to push the retailer's management to do the responsible thing for shareholders and animals alike by showing that no jumper or scarf is worth kicking, punching, and killing gentle sheep on the shearing floor."
PETA's footage shows sheep being abused
The charity adds that since 2014, it has released 11 exposés of 99 wool industry facilities on four continents, including in the UK. "Systemic abuse was found in every one," it said.
"On farms across England and Scotland, shearers were found punching sheep in the face, stamping and standing on their heads and necks, and beating them with electric clippers.
"Several sheep died of apparent stress during and following shearing, and one farmer was recorded dragging two ailing sheep into a shed, where he left them to suffer and die."
Responding to PETA's UK investigation, British Wool said it was 'shocked and saddened'.
"As a farmer-owned organization, British Wool collects and sells the wool on behalf of British farmers," it added. "We are passionate and committed to continuously seeking to improve shearing skills and good practice in the UK.
"Every year we train more than 1,000 people in all parts of the UK on two-day training courses that are tailored to their existing level of experience and skill.
"We would like to point out that the vast majority of the thousands of shearers in the UK operate to the highest standards of animal welfare, which is an integral part of all our shearing courses."
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are prepared in the author's capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Plant Based News itself.Reuse this content
Maria is the Editor of Plant Based News. A former magazine editor, newspaper reporter, and features writer, her work has been published by The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and various regional newspapers. She was previously the editor of Vegan Life magazine and Vegan Trade Journal. She has interviewed a huge range of people, from Prime Ministers to authors, activists, pop stars and actors, and enjoys the varied range of topics writing for PBN allows her to tackle. You can follow her on Twitter @MariaChiorando and Instagram @mariachiorando.
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Consumers have been eating more chocolate at home, but it wasn’t enough to offset big declines on the high street for Lindt as shops were forced to shut their doors multiple times during the Covid pandemic.
Group revenues slumped 6.1% to CHF 4bn (£3.3bn) in 2020 as a result of lockdown restrictions across the world and a fall in out-of-home consumption. The fall was in line with guidance the Swiss chocolatier gave at the half year, with expected declines between -5% and -7%.
Closures of its retail network hit particularly hard during the important Easter and Christmas periods, and reduced footfall harmed sales when shops were allowed to open. Restrictions on the food service segment in North America and the traditional specialty stores in Italy also had a major impact on sales, the group said.
The travel retail business also recorded a significant decline in sales due to restricted air traffic.
However, the growth of ecommerce saw online sales double to represent 5% of group revenues.
Lindt’s range of chocolate bars helped offset part of the declines as shoppers ate more sweet treats at home. And the group’s main product lines, Lindor and Excellence, in particular contributed to the positive development in retail trade.
In Europe, organic sales declined 2.9% as growth in the UK, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands was offset by falls in Austria, Italy and Switzerland, which have more exposure to the retail network and rely more on tourism.
The North America region reported a 6.8% fall in sales compared with 2019 and the rest of the world slumped 16.1% as a result of the exposure to the travel retail business.
Lindt said in the 2020 trading update that it would hit its operating profit margin target of about 10%.
“Lindt remains convinced that the positive growth of the chocolate markets and in particular the premium segment will continue in the future,” the group added
“In addition, in 2020, Lindt has laid the foundation for further market share gains with continued consumer focus, increased advertising spends, and various product innovations.”
For the coming years, Lindt confirmed its existing medium to long-term organic sales growth target of 5-7% a year.
Assuming a significant improvement in the situation relating to the pandemic, Lindt expected the operating profit margin to return to a level of around 15% in 2022.


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Ukrainian current affairs publication Novoye Vremya has released its annual survey of the country’s most valuable brands, with mineral water producer Morshinska ranked as the number one Ukrainian brand for 2018.
The second and third places in the top ten went to delivery service Nova Poshta and e-commerce company Rozetka, which has been dubbed “the Amazon of Ukraine”. Rozetka also took the title for biggest gains among the ranking’s leaders with an estimated 36% increase in brand value over the past year, reflecting the rapid growth of the internet commerce sector in Ukraine.
Vodka brands Khortytsa and Nemiroff occupied sixth and eighth positions respectively, while President Poroshenko’s Roshen confectionary brand ranked seventh nationally.
The top ten in full:
2. Nova Poshta


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Christie’s has bolstered its online operations with the purchase of a platform that allows art buyers to manage collections on digital devices as it attempts to strengthen ties to wealthy investors.
The auction house’s purchase of online art collection management tool Collectrium is the first under its newly installed chief executive Patricia Barbizet, the former chairman who took over after the resignation of Steven Murphy in December.
Mr Murphy, who had spearheaded the Collectrium acquisition, resigned amid speculation of spiralling costs and a fallout with the auctioneer’s owner François Pinault.
The sale price was $16m, people familiar with the situation said. Christie’s, a private company, refused to confirm the figure.
Under Mr Murphy’s four year tenure, Christie’s invested heavily in consolidating its online position ahead of rivals such as Sotheby’s, spending as much as $50m on its online sales platforms to reach new customers in emerging markets.
Last summer, Sotheby’s announced a partnership with eBay to distribute its live auctions to eBay’s 150m buyers.
Christie’s acquisition of Collectrium, a subscription-based service that offers its 25,000 registered collectors a highly secure, cloud-based platform on which to manage art collections, is a move to strengthen online inventory management.
People familiar with the situation said Christie’s had struggled to build that part of its business, spending as much as $100m to develop efficient technology solutions.
Collectrium, founded in 2009 by Boris Pevzner, was created with the world’s wealthiest art investors in mind, offering “ironclad security and encryption”, data retrieval on scanned art works and valuations in multiple languages and currencies alongside the ability to manage their collections.
“Collectrium is the leading product of its kind,” said Ken Citron, Christie’s chief information officer.
Sale price of online art collection management tool Collectrium
“Today’s art ecosystem can be complex and Christie’s wants to support solutions that help collectors navigate this environment. We found no other technology solution that can offer the art collecting community this kind of instant utility and in such a secure, creative way”.
The company added that Collectrium would remain independently operated under its existing management and team, suggesting that Christie’s would be unable to access its customer data. The auctioneer said it saw the deal as a means of adding a new arm to its range of wider services such as education and real estate, and would remain available to collectors who were not its own clients.
“Christie’s is committed to enhancing the digital market for art, which will continue to be a significant growth area for the industry in the near term,” said Stephen Brooks, Christie’s global chief operating officer.
Last month, Christie’s full year results hit record levels, with sales of £5.1bn in 2014 propelled by a surge in first time buyers. Online sales grew 54 per cent to reach £21.4m.
Get alerts on Luxury goods when a new story is published


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The Food and Drug Administration’s urgent warning about a romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak left many Americans wondering how the problem spread so quickly and what they could do to protect themselves.
Unfortunately, viewers who tuned into a Sunday CNN segment on the crisis—which featured a blogger who bills herself as Food Babe, instead of a scientist or doctor—got the wrong answers.
Anchor Ana Cabrera kicked things off by describing self-appointed food investigator Vani Hari as someone who has “studied where our food comes from quite a bit” before asking how the outbreak happened. .
“[W]hat's the worst part of this situation is that we do not have a supply chain check-and-balance in place,” Hari said. “Once your romaine is grown and harvested, it has so many different touch points of contamination possible. You know, that romaine is taken to one factory to get washed. Then another factory to get bagged, put into different bags of lettuce and then combined with other kinds of lettuce. And every single time it gets cut or washed it touches different machinery so there's so many different points of contamination that can happen. And if we don't know where our food is coming from, we can't really trust it.”
Hari’s advice? Buy whole heads of lettuce instead of the bagged or boxed types, to avoid these “touch points of contamination.”
“[W]hen I go out and I buy romaine lettuce or any type of lettuce, I avoid the bag and box lettuces and I really go for, like, the whole head of lettuce,” she said.
Cabrera asked for a clarification: “So you go for the head versus bagged, and that's because it's less processed?”
“Absolutely,” Hari responded, “and the touch points are definitely less. You know, one of the things that we have a problem with in this country is we have things grown in one place and processed in another … [T]hat's why it takes so long for the CDC and other government officials to figure out where these contaminations are coming from and how to contain it without sickening more people.”
But that’s not really how the spread of foodborne illness works—and a head of lettuce isn’t any safer than a boxed or bagged version, an FDA spokesperson told The Daily Beast this week.
“It’s true that there are more points of contamination,” the spokesperson said. “But just because a whole head of lettuce is going through less steps between consumers and where it’s grown does not make it necessarily safer than a bag of chopped up lettuce.”
That’s because E. coli can contaminate lettuce in the field, making the number of touch points irrelevant in such a case. “To say the romaine that went directly to a farmer’s market from the field is safer than a bag of lettuce—that’s not true,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier this week, the FDA reached an agreement with major distributors to put labels on romaine lettuce so customers would know where their lettuce was from, helping them avoid any from the areas where the outbreak was centered.
Hari’s head vs. bag of lettuce analysis wasn’t the only thing that peeved bona fide food scientists. She also suggested that antibiotics were to blame for the outbreak.
“What's happening is the overuse of antibiotics is creating superbugs that can't be treated with antibiotics,” she told Cabrera.
But Laura Gieraltowski, who leads the Foodborne Outbreak Response team at the CDC that is investigating the romaine contamination, told The Daily Beast that’s not true. “This outbreak strain of E. coli does not appear to be resistant to antibiotics,” she said via email.
In fact, she said, antibiotics are not recommended for patients suffering from E. coli O157 infections, “as it might increase their risk of developing a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.”
The FDA spokesperson added that “these pathogens have existed for millions of years and are not new superbugs.”
“Our goal is to reduce the number of people who are sick in every outbreak,” they told The Daily Beast. “Pathogens have existed sometimes longer than people have been here.”
Neither CNN nor Hari responded to requests for comment about her mystifying on-air remarks or why they didn’t use a credentialed expert to explain the outbreak.
But the blogger has drawn criticism in the past for her campaigns about chemicals in commercial food products. She pressured Subway to stop including azodicarbonamide (a safe chemical used to maintain bread’s “foaminess”) after comparing it to eating a yoga mat and for yellow-5 (a safe coloring additive) removed from Kraft macaroni and cheese.
Some scientists have said Hari’s hatred of additives is rooted in anti-science and perpetuates myths.
“[Azodicarbonamide] was a perfectly safe food additive for years until she came along and decided that Subway bread was essentially a yoga mat,” one scientist told The Atlantic in 2015.
Federal investigators believe the romaine E. coli outbreak began in California and are looking at six counties. Still, the source or sources could remain a mystery.
“Sometimes it’s multiple farms,” the FDA spokesperson said. “We can’t speculate as to whether the source of this E. coli got into our food from cattle or fertilizer. There’s a variety of ways. It’s variable.”
Gieraltowski said frequent consumption of salads in the American diet is an obstacle in tracing the root of outbreaks.
“We are getting better at detecting these outbreaks through interviewing and advanced laboratory technology called whole genome sequencing,” she told the Daily Beast. “Leafy green outbreaks have been notoriously difficult to solve because people eat leafy greens many times before they get sick so it’s difficult to determine which exposure is the one that made them sick.”
While there have been several multi-state foodborne outbreaks this year, she said “it is too early to tell whether these are real increases in outbreaks or just better detection.”
The CDC is stepping up state and local health department capacity to address outbreaks before they get too big, and researchers are actively updating whole genome sequencing to give investigators “greater confidence that illnesses are related to a common source and make it easier to detect outbreaks when they are smaller,” she said.


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AHIP, GPhA Applaud Supreme Court Decision to Preserve Inter Partes Review
Contact: Steve Arnoff 202.249.7113
WASHINGTON, DC (June 20, 2016) - America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) President and CEO Marilyn Tavenner and Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) President and CEO Chip Davis released a joint statement praising today's decision by the Supreme Court in Cuozzo v. Lee. AHIP and GPhA's filed a joint amicus brief in the case recognizing the inter partes review (IPR) as a critical consumer protection against abusive patent activity in the prescription drug market.
"Today's decision from the Supreme Court is a significant win for consumers. By protecting and reaffirming the importance of the inter partes review, the Court recognizes the vital need for an efficient patent review process -- one that promotes a competitive, affordable prescription drug market for consumers."
AHIP is the national trade association representing the health insurance industry. AHIP's members provide health insurance benefits and supplemental coverage to nearly 200 million Americans. AHIP advocates for public policies that expand access to affordable health care coverage for all Americans through a competitive marketplace that fosters choice, quality and innovation. For more information, visit www.ahip.org and on Twitter at @AHIPCoverage.
GPhA represents the manufacturers and distributors of finished generic pharmaceuticals, manufacturers and distributors of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, and suppliers of other goods and services to the generic industry. Generic pharmaceuticals fill 88 percent of the prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. but consume just 28 percent of the total drug spending. Additional information is available at gphaonline.org. Follow us on Twitter: @gpha.


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AutoNation Inc., the Fort Lauderdale-based automobile retailer, set June 30 as the date it will spin off its unprofitable car-rental unit.
AutoNation will give each shareholder of record as of June 16 one share of ANC Rental Corp. for every eight shares of AutoNation owned. ANC Rental, which includes Alamo Rent A Car, National Car Rental and CarTemps USA, has applied to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ANCX.
AutoNation is spinning off the rental unit and has abandoned used-car stores as the company focuses on selling new vehicles in stores and online. The rental unit lost $71 million last year on sales of $3.5 billion.
ANC Rental will be the third-largest publicly traded car-rental company after Hertz Corp. and Avis Group Holdings Inc.
$2.2 million decision expected
The Florida Public Service Commission will recommend at next week's meeting that St. Petersburg-based Florida Power Corp. pay Miami-Dade County a settlement of more than $2.2 million.
Florida Power signed a 22-year contract with Miami-Dade officials in 1991 to buy power from a county-run plant that is operated by Montenay-Dade Ltd. In 1994, Florida Power realized it was paying more for power under the contract than the market price so the company adjusted its rates, which the county called a breach of contract.
The commission is also recommending that Florida Power pay Miami-Dade the market price for energy during certain periods and pay the contract price for others.
Web market launches in Brazil
Miami-based Asista.com, a business-to-business marketplace for Latin America, announced Wednesday that it launched operations in Brazil. Asista.com said it plans to invest $30 million to develop its Brazil business and expects to employ 45 people in that Portuguese-speaking nation.
Asista.com recently moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Miami and also has operations in Mexico and Argentina. It has received $8.5 million from investors led by JP Morgan Capital and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
CVS head goes to Kmart
Kmart Corp. said CVS Corp. President Charles Conaway will replace Floyd Hall, who accelerated his retirement after five years as chairman and chief executive at the second-largest U.S. discount chain.
The appointment of Conaway, 39, is effective immediately. Hall, 61, is departing a year before his contract was to expire in April 2001.
Conaway was CVS' financial chief until a year ago, when he became president of the No. 2 drugstore chain and oversaw its 4,100 stores, distribution and Internet expansion.
Lucent moves on optics
Lucent Technologies Inc. agreed to buy Herndon, Va.-based Chromatis Networks Inc., a closely held maker of fiber-optic equipment, for as much as $4.65 billion in stock to keep up with rivals in optical networking.
Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent said the purchase will cut 2 cents per share from earnings this fiscal year and 5 cents in fiscal 2001, not including costs for acquisitions.
Rustic Inn penalty upheld
A federal appeals court in Atlanta has upheld a ruling that ordered a Fort Lauderdale restaurant to pay $750,000 in punitive damages to three waitresses for discriminating against them when they were pregnant.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of waitresses Barbara Nuesse, Debra Sarver and Suzette McDevitt in their claim for punitive damages against the Rustic Inn of Fort Lauderdale.
The court overturned back pay for the waitresses, which totaled $36,257. It also remanded to the lower court whether it would be feasible for the women to be reinstated.
Nuesse, Sarver and McDevitt sued in 1995 after they were kept from waiting on tables.
Palm Inc. to add service firm
Handheld-computer giant Palm Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to purchase Cambridge, Mass.-based AnyDay.com, a provider of Internet-based calendar services, for about $80 million in cash and stock options. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Palm said it is developing a mobile Web portal that includes time- and location-based services for its devices.


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Sony’s latest software update to the PlayStation 4 is now coming to beta users. Unlike the last major update, which added support for remote streaming to Macs and PCs, the 4.00 firmware beta (codenamed Shingen) is mostly focused on tweaking the PS4’s user interface. One of the biggest changes is the ability to create folders to organize your games and apps, instead of relying purely on Sony’s existing organizational tools. Another is that instead of taking over the whole screen, the Share and Quick menus will open as windows that don’t entirely cover your current game or app, and you’ll be able to add and remove items from the Quick menu to customize it.
Sony says the update also adds some new system backgrounds and redesigned icons, along with other tweaks to what you’ll see in various menus. There’s also an offline mode that will let you see your game trophies even when you’re not connected to the internet. The final update will have features that aren’t in the beta, and we don’t know when it will come to all PlayStation 4 users, although Sony says it will release more information in the coming weeks. So far, though, the new changes seem meant to make the console’s interface more customizable and less obtrusive — like we’d expect from a phone or computer operating system.


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The one-year-old Apple iPhone 6s still managed to beat Samsung's latest Galaxy Note7 in an epic speed test. Hit the link to find out more!
Leaked renders of Meizu's new Pro 7 smartphone have appeared online, and lets just say they look very familiar.
Corning has stepped in to clarify on a recent scratch test video done on the Samsung Galaxy Note7 which cast doubts on the durability of the Gorilla Glass 5.
NVIDIA has reportedly roped in Samsung to make 14nm Pascal-based GPUs by the end of the year, marking a further shrink down from TSMC's 16nm process.
Overwhelming pre-order demand for the Galaxy Note 7 has forced Samsung to postpone the launch in some countries such as Russia and Malaysia.
The Korea Times reports that Samsung will be issuing the Android 7.0 Nougat update for the Galaxy Note7 in two to three months.
Tech News The Samsung KS9800 is expensive because it's an 88-inch 4K TV with direct LED backlighting
Unhappy that most of Samsung's 2016 SUHD TVs are edge-lit models? Well, if you can afford it, there's this KS9800 that uses a direct-lit LED backlight system.


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MINI has confirmed that in 2024 it will launch the fourth generation of its flagship model, the MINI Hatch, which will be renamed simply as MINI Cooper. Although the thermal versions of the iconic British utility will continue to be made in the UK, the electric ones will be completely different from a technical point of view, so they will be manufactured in China (its Spotlight EV platform has been a joint development between BMW and Great Wall).
“It is the beginning of a new era. MINI’s 100% electric range has to start somewhere; this is a bridge for us to go fully electric”Explain Stefanie Wurstdirector of the brand, in statements to Coach. MINI aims to become a global 100% electric manufacturer by 2030.
The zero-emission MINI Cooper will be released in May of next year, while the combustion engine will wait until July. Our protagonist will have a length close to the current model (it will be around 3.80 meters), but it will be wider, have a shorter front overhang and a longer wheelbase.
The range will initially be structured in two versions: AND (184 hp engine, 40 kWh battery, 386 km autonomy) and HE (218 hp engine, 54 kWh battery). Although Wurst has not confirmed the range of the SE, he has dropped that it will “double” the figures offered by the previous generation (234 km WLTP), so it could be closer to 500 km.
The electric MINI Cooper will be manufactured in China
A high-performance variant will be added in mid-2025 JCW (John Cooper Works) of 250 hp. There will be no all-wheel drive models, and prices are expected to be slightly higher than the currently sold MINI Cooper SE.
Its aesthetic, although continuous, will also evolve. The classic “clamshell” hood used for 20 years will be gone; besides, all chrome on the body will be removed. The main change in the cabin will be the appearance of a huge circular OLED screen – an industry first – for the infotainment system. There will be no box behind the wheel, but there will be a Head-up Display. As it could not be otherwise, numerous exterior and interior customization options will continue to be offered.
While the thermal MINI Cooper will be available with bodies of three and five doors, as well as a convertible, the electric will only be offered with the first optionsince it will be complemented by the crossover Aceman (2025) and the Countryman SUV (2024), with a more familiar character.
Source | Coach


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During 2012, 1.6 billion handsets were shipped, with 700 million from that figure attributed to smartphones.
The figure represents a 2 percent increase when compared to 2011. The market's slow growth was blamed on stricter upgrade policies, changing consumer tastes and economic challenges stemming from North America and Western Europe.
Global smartphone shipments increased by 490.5 million units when compared to 2011, but the subsequent 43 percent growth rate is eclipsed in comparison to 2011's growth rate of 64 percent over 2010. Saturation in North America and Western Europe was cited as the reason for the slower growth.
According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung shipped the most handsets throughout the year with a 30 percent share, with Nokia and Apple following. As for smartphones, Samsung shipped the most units, while Apple followed in second, with Nokia trailing behind at third place. Chinese handset manufacturer ZTE settled for fourth place.
Apple accounted for 19 percent of the market with 135.8 million iPhone units shipped during 2012 (47.8 million in Q4), representing an increase of 46 percent. It benefited from strong demand in North America but failed to establish a presence within several developing markets such as Africa. Nokia, meanwhile, saw its market share drop from 16 percent to 5 percent.
"Fuelled by robust demand for its popular Galaxy models, Samsung was the star performer, shipping a record 396.5 million mobile phones worldwide and capturing 25 percent marketshare to solidify its first-place lead. However, Samsung’s total volumes for the year fell just short of the 400-million threshold," said Strategy Analytics
"Large marketing budgets, extensive distribution channels, and attractive product portfolios have enabled Samsung and Apple to tighten their grip on the smartphone industry," the market researcher added.
That's why you always find new markets. (Most) super computers were dominated by mainframes. Mainframes were dominated by PCs. (most) PCs and standard phones were dominated by smartphones and tablets.
If you watch at least the trailer of "H+: The Digital Series" (all episodes found on Youtube), you'll get an idea of what will replace smartphones and tablets.
Nano-computers injected into human brain, with WiFi connection.
Recycling? Sorry, the free market system does not take in consideration of environmental impacts. Too expensive.
I also forgot to mention that with the trend of making everything thinner, manufacturers like Apple are resorting to recycle-unfriendly engineering methods to squeeze every last 0.1mm, such as gluing batteries or soldering everything (no replaceable electronic components).
Not sure this is such a great thing.
It may seem that everyone you know has a smartphone, but most people just can't afford a smartphone, even the cheap chinese knock offs are too expensive for a lot of chinese citizens


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Get ready for disruption!
May 30, 2021
Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw once said that “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”. It’s a tired rote nowadays – we get it. Change is happening all around us and we need to change with the times.
The post-covid world that we are experiencing is just one example of the change that is taking place around us, and where the ‘new normal’ we keep hearing about is really being bed in. Last week, instead of boarding a plane to our international advisory network conference, we virtually attended via Zoom in our board room here in Whangarei. Just like it would have been BC (Before Covid), we got to listen to some amazing speakers sharing their viewpoint on the future that is ahead of us.
Simon Kuestenmacher, the Co-Founder of The Demographics Group shared fascinating insights, including his projections of population growth by age group in Australia and New Zealand over the next 10 years.
One of these insights that resonated was an example he shared about ‘The McDonalds Effect.’ The example goes like this…imagine a regional post office in a town where, to date, there have been no fast-food outlets. One day, a bright and shiny ‘Fast Food Outlet’ rolls into town. A month goes by and the post office start to get complaints about their wait times! They’ve never had complaints before and there has been no change to their wait times. The post office staff are left scratching their heads and don’t understand what is going on.
What the post office failed to recognise is the changes happening in the consumer expectations around them. While the shiny ‘Fast Food Outlet’ does not operate in the same industry or as a competitor to the post office, it set a new standard for service delivery.
The reason the above example resonated so strongly with me is that business owners are often aware of what moves their competitors may be making. It can be just as vital in today’s global environment to be aware of the disrupters outside of your industry. What is driving change in consumer expectations that you perhaps hadn’t considered?
You could be a tradie, but have you given thought to the fast-moving world of app development? Possibly not, and understandably so. But with consumers now expecting up to the minute updates and information at their fingertips, it’s worth the time investigating how to give your customers a more immersive building experience. One residential building company we came across now offers an app for their clients that includes project updates, on site photos, running updates on the build budget and a messaging function direct to the project manager.
It might feel daunting, but this is the world we now live in. Embrace that change – identify it as an opportunity for you to leap ahead, be a leader and a disrupter in your industry.
If in doubt, remember the words of George Bernard Shaw…and then give us a call!


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The Plaza, In Case You Were Wondering, Is On Sale For About $600 Million
It was all over the news this weekend that Manhattan's iconic Plaza Hotel is about to change hands for the fourth time in almost twenty years. That's a lot of paperwork, and also, a lot of instability for a hotel that, as much star power as it has, still has to compete with all the sleek new hotels popping up all over the place in New York.
The new owner, reports The Real Deal, an Indian-based company known as the Sahara Group, has allegedly paid a 10% advance to the hotel's current owner, Israel-based El Ad (who bought the hotel for $675 million in 2004).
The total price will be $600 million, which includes $400 million for the hotel and $200 million for the retail spaces. While the Plaza must be flattered that it's got billionaires from overseas fighting over it, we can't help but wonder what kind of future this spells for the old girl.
The Sahara Group has reportedly specified that, when they take over, they'll be kicking hotel's current management company to the curb. No word on whether Sahara Group plans to manage the hotel by itself, or bring in yet another third party operator. Now, this could, of course, mean that they have some drastic changes in mind for the hotel (a nightclub? more renovations? who knows?), but we're wondering if that's even a good thing.
With the Oak Room now closed down, and the new Todd English food court having been a success, it does feel a bit like the Plaza is in the midst of a transition. Digital concierges aside, we just think she should stick to her roots and not try to get too flashy in an attempt to stay "modern" (which she isn't).
For now, though, we'll just have to see what changes (if any) the Sahara Group has planned for its new property.


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Related launches lodging for executives’ hybrid work
The Set to open in the fall, offering rentals and community events
Related Companies has a new brand up its sleeve, aimed at top executives splitting time between remote work and the office.
The developer is launching The Set, a rental apartment brand, the Wall Street Journal reported. Instead of focusing on fully remote employees or lower-level freelance staffers, the brand is designed to provide a luxury experience for executives.
The first location will open at 455 10th Avenue in Hudson Yards in the fall. The 270-unit rental building will include furnished units, concierges and amenities. Studio rents start at $5,200, while one-bedroom apartments begin at $7,200 per month; leases are expected to be yearly.
Other features will include wine tastings and speakers, as Related looks to create an experience to sput mingling among high-powered residents.
“People want to know their neighbors,” Jeff Blau, Related’s CEO, told the Journal. Blau plans to take the concept national with outposts potentially slated for Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Austin.
The residences are designed to be more affordable than an upscale hotel, even if executives are only staying there for the few nights a week they need to go into the office or take meetings.
The 45-story building, alternatively addressed at 451 10th Avenue, will also house another new Coterie, another Related brand catering to senior housing.
Related and Spitzer Enterprises in 2020 landed $276 million in building and project loans for the housing development, expected to encompass 526 units across all of the different brands. M&T Bank provided the loans.
Building plans called for a 415,000-square-foot development, including 114,000 square feet of community space and 33,000 square feet of commercial space. The project is part of a larger 1.4 million-square-foot mixed-use development Spitzer and Related are building in Hudson Yards.
Lodging companies are taking notice of opportunities from hybrid work situations. Startup Mint House recently began offering a service targeting hybrid workers who want a pied-a-terre near their office. Airbnb recently launched an option for guests to split week-long stays between two places.
[WSJ] — Holden Walter-Warner


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Bad year this 2022 for the Electronic Entertainment Expo. And it is that, if a few months ago we told that the physical edition of E3 2022 had been canceled, but that the organization had great expectations in repeating the online format that I use in 2021 (compared to 2020, the year that the pandemic hit us, in which the event was completely canceled), today we have news to the contrary, and that is that finally the event would be canceled completely, just like in 2020.
Let us remember that when the face-to-face edition was canceled last January, the organization of E3 2022 declared the following: «Due to the ongoing health risks surrounding COVID-19 and its potential impact on the safety of exhibitors and attendees, E3 will not be held in person in 2022. We remain incredibly excited about the future of E3 and look forward to announcing more details soon.”a statement to which we must add that the organization claimed to be «excited about the possibilities of an online event«.
Now, after these months of waiting, tense waiting, in which it was strange not to have more news about it, it seems that perhaps such enthusiasm was not so great, or at least it was not shared by the parties involved in the decision. And it is that there does not seem to be another explanation to justify the cancellation of E3 2022, which, yes, is not yet official, since it has been made public for a tweet by Will Powers, head of communication at Razer, in which, in addition, claims to have found out by email.
Just got an email… It’s official, E3 digital is official canceled for 2022. Lots of mixed feelings about this…
— Will Powers 🛫 NYC (@WillJPowers) March 31, 2022
A reading of the tweet is enough to realize that the news of the cancellation of the digital edition of E3 2022 he doesn’t like it too much, and even more so having found out this waydespite the fact that Razer is, without a doubt, one of the most important gaming device brands on the market, and therefore it can be assumed that it should have participated in making this decision.
In the absence of an official statement in which the organization explains the reasons for this decision, it does not seem too wise to cancel the digital edition of E3 2022, even more so seeing that this format was already widely used in 2021, and that in this 2022 we are already seeing both digital and physical events. In this particular context, canceling the physical edition is understandable, and I would even say a great show of good sense. However, doing the same with the online edition, thus postponing the presence of the event until 2023, It’s something that I don’t fully understand.


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Randi Zuckerberg Rocks on Social Media
Randi Zuckerberg is founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media. She created and ran the marketing programs for her brother Mark’s company, Facebook.
Courtesy of First Commerce Credit Union
Growing up a die-hard New Yorker, Randi Zuckerberg could not imagine a situation that would take her away from her home — much less to California. But that’s where she spent a decade, helping her brother launch and market Facebook.
Today, Zuckerberg, 33, runs her own social media company, Zuckerberg Media, giving advice to high profile clients such as PayPal, Conde Nast and Cirque du Soleil on how to best market themselves in the digital age. She is an angel investor, especially helping other female entrepreneurs, plays in a band, has written a book about her personal journey through the frontlines of Facebook and even starred in Rock of Ages on Broadway for a 42-show run.
“There have been so many forks in the road in my life. If you had told me I would spend a decade of my life living in the suburbs of California and working at a tech company, I would have laughed in your face,” she said. “But life is very funny. I still believe in luck, but a big element of luck is having your eyes open and not being stuck in your ways.”
On Nov. 4 Zuckerberg will be sharing some of her social media know-how with Tallahassee as the next speaker in the Power Forward Series co-presented by First Commerce Credit Union and the Florida State University College of Business. 850 Magazine is proud to be among the sponsors of the event, and Editor Linda Kleindienst had a chat with Zuckerberg to get a preview of the message she plans to deliver.
Business and Social Media
I host a radio show on SiriusXM (Dot Complicated) trying to help businesses adopt the latest trends. It’s about graduating from Social Media 101 to the next level where you are engaging more customers and bringing in substantial new business.
All companies need to view themselves as media companies, even if you’re a mom and pop, a pizza shop, a nail salon, a wedding planner. You need to think about whether you’re sharing interesting content, thinking a month ahead.
Businesses need to understand by using social media they have now become a global business and anyone can access them. So, are they sharing content that is acceptable to people who speak other languages? I often encourage them to share photos a lot more because photos don’t need a translation.
I also really encourage businesses to go look at their last 10 posts and see how many of them were strictly promotional. If all of your posts are about 10 percent discounts or “Come to our sale,” no one is going to be engaged with that. You need to find a better balance. Social media is about having valuable content and adding to the discussion.
Social Media Versus Website
If you manage your social media well, if you don’t mind being part of the dialogue and make your social media site good and current, you can get by in this day and age without having a website.
Coming Changes in Social Media
We’re now at the point where almost all content online is via mobile, so what does that mean for business? Think about how customers are engaging. The new generation of consumers likes to share things more than buy. They don’t buy cars, they prefer experiences over material objects. So these are things businesses need to understand if they are going to be successful. It really is a very new world out there.
I knew that I was part of something that was really going to change the world and change how we communicate. That was very clear in the early days seeing how college students used it. What’s interesting is how Facebook has become a utility, like email. I see stories today about how Facebook is not cool and all the young people are switching to Snapchat. We never set out to be cool. We set out to be a utility that you need in your life. Seeing that 1 billion people in the world, across all age groups and ethnicities, are using Facebook shows me that they really have accomplished that goal.
Don’t let the good stuff go to your head, and don’t let the bad stuff go to your heart.


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AOL-Time Warner faces struggle
The world's biggest-ever merger - the $106bn (£71bn) marriage of media giant Time Warner and leading internet player America Online - has at last gone ahead after winning its final approval.
But the economic environment has drastically reversed since the deal was unveiled a year and a day ago and analysts predict that the two will have their work cut out to integrate and achieve the $1bn of 'synergies' they promised at the height of the internet boom.
The value of the all-share bid by AOL has tumbled by more than a third as scepticism over internet stocks has grown and AOL recently spurred worries by reporting that its advertising backlog was just as large in the third quarter as in the second.
Time Warner also warned last month that its profits were being hit by slowing advertising sales at its cable TV networks and weakness in its Warner music and film empire.
Mark Cavallone, an analyst at Friends Ivory & Sime, which holds AOL shares, said: 'Since we are in what is a pretty drastically slowing economy, you may think the merger will get off to a rocky start. I wouldn't be surprised if they set the bar low for the first year.'
But the new company, AOL Time Warner, stands by its initial estimates for this year of $40bn in sales and £11bn cash flow, including the $1bn in synergy savings - likely to come from drastic job cuts in the internet business - including CNN Internet.
The deal was held up by lengthy anti-trust scrutiny first from America's Federal Trade Commission and then from the Federal Communications Commission, which said the new business will have to open its cable networks to other internet messaging services and internet access providers.
The conditions appear to represent a compromise between Republican and Democrat members of the FCC. Republicans wanted no conditions while one Democrat agreed with AOL competitors that AOL should open its existing internet instant messaging service to rivals.
Jordan Rohan, analyst at Wit/Soundview said: 'We have been presented with a macro-economic environment that is difficult. It makes media companies work with a stiff wind in their faces.'
AOL Time Warner chairman Steve Case said the company would lead the convergence of the media, entertainment, communications and internet industries, and provide wide-ranging, innovative benefits.
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BUCKS STOP HERE: At Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, officials are developing a more extensive mobile ordering system for concessions. (Don Muret / Staff)
When fans return to sports venues, they’ll see more touchless options for ordering and buying Concessions
The global Pandemic of 2020 could finally be the tipping point for greater adoption of mobile payments in sports concessions as part of a new age in contactless food service at arenas and stadiums across North America.
As teams and their food providers push toward a cashless business model in general, the mobile payment piece is a critical part of their overall strategy to protect fans and staff in the post-COVID-19 environment, while expanding data in customer buying habits to generate higher revenue.
“There’s a huge focus on enabling mobile ordering and pushing fans to do that,” said Geoff Johnson, chief innovation officer with Bypass, a mobile point-of-sale supplier. “It could be the only way to do it at some venues to eliminate all points of friction.”
Bypass and competitors like Appetize and Square are front and center in the movement, working closely with clients to upgrade facilities. Appetize, for example, has a system that places QR codes in-venue for fans to scan and directly order food and drink while keeping a safe distance from crowded concession stands.
“The tech guys’ phones are ringing off the hook and maybe this is the event that drives mobile ordering,” said Mike Plutino, founder and CEO of consultancy Food Service Matters. “Some are more bullish about it than others, but clearly it’s driving the notion of getting more people not to wait in a concession line.”
Kevin Anderson, chief strategy officer for Appetize, whose investors include 32 Equity, the NFL’s investment arm, and Oak View Group, owner of VenuesNow, agrees with Plutino’s assessment. The shift to mobile payment is happening with sudden frequency at other food outlets.
“You’re seeing quick-serve restaurants completely changing overnight to an online and mobile ordering model,” Anderson said. “Over the last several weeks, we’ve seen our customers reach out like never before, saying, ‘What do we need to change our model?’ They don’t think people want to wait in congested lines and pass cash and credit cards back and forth.”
Venue managers now spend every waking moment preparing for a major shift in operations, said Milwaukee Bucks President Peter Feigin. Food service is a big part of it, considering it’s typically the second-biggest revenue source behind ticket sales.
The Bucks’ home court is Fiserv Forum, which opened in 2018. Fiserv, their naming-rights partner, and a leader in the financial technology space, recently acquired Bypass, the arena’s point-of-sale provider. The purchase was completed in March, and now they’re working together to build a robust system with emphasis on mobile transactions. Levy runs the arena’s food service.
“We see it headed to a place where it’s completely contactless and more mobile,” Feigin said. “We’re working through an infrastructure where we want to reduce the touch points, from raw food and beverage to delivery and how you do that. Part of that is in the payment system. We’re all exploring what works best.”
Mobile payment options have been in place at arenas and stadiums for about 15 years, but the use of smartphones to pay for food and drink hasn’t gained much traction. The technology stands at 2% to 5% of total transactions at arenas and stadiums, according to concessionaires.
“Mobile ordering has never taken off like it should have,” said Todd Merry, chief marketing officer of Delaware North Sportservice. “It’s an amazing idea and then people don’t use it. Every one of our point-of-sale in sports is enabled for mobile wallets. It’s changing customer behavior that’s the big challenge for us.”
That behavior may change now with greater urgency as part of a new era in the sports food business, experts said.
For the most part, mobile ordering involves downloading an application and navigating three to four steps to find the in-seat menu. Fans may not want to take the time to complete the process for an app they don’t want to keep on their phone, Anderson said. As the technology evolves, point-of-sale vendors have streamlined it with QR codes to make it a better and now safer experience for fans.
“It requires no app to download, and orders can be done in seconds for both pickup and delivery,” Anderson said.
Sportservice research shows that 80% of its patrons have smartphones, and COVID-19 could be the difference-maker for mobile payments, Merry said. As fans return to live events, there will be increased awareness to avoid touch-screen kiosks and self-serve soda fountains, both of which were trending before the coronavirus shut down the world. Some grab-and-go stands offer hot items, but that could change as soda companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi push to limit offerings to prepackaged products, Merry said.
Delaware North Sportservice uses Grab, another mobile ordering system using QR codes, at its airport locations, and plans to expand the technology in sports after venues reopen their doors, spokesman Glen White said. The concessionaire uses a mobile program using text messages at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, as well as Major League Baseball’s mobile application at other stadiums.
Appetize has three newer mobile features tied to QR codes in place at a few venues. The technology originated in business dining campuses before expanding to sports. The system should be part of mobile ordering at five MLB stadiums this season after Appetize won the business, including Dodger Stadium and Globe Life Field, the Texas Rangers’ new home.
The firm’s “virtual hawker,” for example, allows fans to scan a QR code on the seat in front of them. A menu pops up to order concessions filled near their seat location for pickup. The same ordering methods are part of QR code stickers for “virtual waiter” on tables in clubs and suites, and “virtual kiosk,” with codes on walls and posters next to concession stands. The virtual ordering features can be integrated into the teams’ mobile apps, Anderson said.
“If I’m sitting in front of a pizza stand in the venue, for example, I can scan a QR code that takes me directly to a mobile website powered by Appetize to order directly from that stand,” he said. “I don’t have to wait in line. We’re getting a lot of interest (from teams) as they revamp their model for more mobile-driven pickup or delivery in-venue.”
Anderson would not disclose the cost for teams to use Appetize at their venues. Apart from MLB, the vendor has point-of-sale systems in place at U.S. Bank Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Lambeau Field and MetLife Stadium, among others. Appetize recently picked up Moda Center and SAP Center as new clients, he said.
Bypass’ new owner, Fiserv, a payment processing firm, processes four out of every 10 credit card transactions in the U.S. and compiles extensive data on mobile trends, said Brandon Lloyd, Bypass’ founder and CEO. During the shutdown, a major spike has occurred in mobile payments in other businesses as consumers stay at home during the crisis, although Lloyd would not disclose specific figures.
Mastercard has seen a 40% increase in contactless payments, including mobile and tap-and-go tech, compared with a small percentage before the pandemic, according to CNBC.
“We’re seeing demonstrable pickup in mobile wallet use that outstrips any growth prior to the crisis,” Lloyd said.
For Bypass, the cost to install a mobile point-of-sale system runs between $600,000 and $1.2 million, depending on the size of the venue and the system. Some teams spend much less, $20,000 to $40,000, for a temporary fix to go contactless. During the shutdown, Bypass has been flexible with teams to spread those investments over a longer period of time, Lloyd said.
As it stands, there’s no consensus for which platform is the safest approach to mobile ordering technology as teams prepare to reopen their buildings in the coming months. In Bypass’ discussions with teams, the major theme remains contactless with a focus on mobile payment. The key question is fulfillment, which has always been an issue for concessionaires using those systems.
“One customer wants to do kiosks and mobile ordering for the entire venue,” Lloyd said. “In another case, they don’t want any kiosks in the building. They don’t want anybody touching a device. We had one client get into an argument (among) themselves. One person said they would put digital boards up to alert fans when their order is ready. The other person said they shouldn’t do that because it forces everyone to gather around that screen. We’re enabling both methods. Some want to text the guest, which we particularly like (and which was part of Bypass when it launched in 2010), and we can make that happen. It puts people in a spot where they don’t have to congregate as much as they would have before the virus.”
The Bucks, through their deals with Fiserv and Bypass, are in a great position to drive a higher level of mobile adoption at the arena and the Deer District, their entertainment zone across the street in downtown Milwaukee. In the home of Miller Brewing Co., mobile should play a much bigger role apart from the “Beer Button,” which has produced “tens of thousands” of mobile orders since the arena opened two years ago, Feigin said.
“The Bypass purchase was fantastic for us,” he said. “Fiserv was kind of our master system, and now it seamlessly works together. It’s all the same people and they’re pouring a ton of capital into research and development and execution. The thing that everybody has to figure out is the delivery system. For us, it will be reengineering the way we do food and beverage.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been revised since it was originally posted.


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MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he slammed his computer after learning Walmart decided to pull its products from its stores as he continues to falsely claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen to former President Trump.
Lindell told conservative podcast host Stephen Bannon on Thursday that the news was relayed to him by “Walmart’s executive vice president,” who shared that Walmart will no longer stock MyPillow in stores.
In a snippet of the conversation shared on Twitter from “Bannon’s War Room,” Lindell shared that the executive cited a low mark for the decision.
“Suddenly he’s like, ‘We’ll never have MyPillow again. He said, “You don’t make the grade a four. I go, ‘What scoring system?’ I go, ‘What are you talking about?’ “, Lindell said.
He said he told the executive that “bots and trolls” could impact the rating and even offered to lower the price of his company’s products for Walmart. However, he said the executive has confirmed that MyPillow will no longer be available in Walmart stores.
According to Lindell, he told the executive “you’re going to be all over the news tomorrow” and that he “slammed the computer” after saying goodbye.
A Walmart spokesperson confirmed the removal of the brand from stores at The Hill on Thursday after Lindell posted a series of videos on his Facebook page in which he spoke about the decision in interviews with conservative podcasters. The spokesperson said MyPillow products remain available through Walmart.com.
Lindell shared on the podcast that removing MyPillow from the popular retail chain would be a “$10 million hit” to his business.
Lindell has repeatedly shared false allegations of voter fraud about the 2020 presidential election and has been sued by several voting system companies for defamation over his claims.


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Renovations are in progress for the Bath & Body Works location at McIntosh Plaza in Carrollton. Amy Kennedy, a representative from The Shopping Center Group, confirmed that the Carrollton Bath and Body Works is currently closed for renovations.
A Bath and Body Works store manager told The City Menus last month that the building space will be completely renovated and a new section will be added that will specifically sell products from the White Barn Candle Company.
Bath & Body Works is one of the largest retail beauty and fragrance stores in the country and has recently announced the addition of a White Barn Candle Shop to many of its existing locations. The company has more than 1,600 stores throughout the United States.
The renovation project was originally expected to begin on August 13. The company plans to begin similar renovations to its Newnan location in July. Officials have not yet announced when the renovations will be completed or when the Bath and Body Works location is set to reopen.
To learn more about Bath & Body Works, visit their website here.


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The French ocean carrier received confirmation today for its estimated $2.4 billion acquisition of Neptune Orient Lines and its APL container shipping subsidiary by the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Dubai-based DP World Ltd. raised $1.2 billion from the sale of Islamic bonds and said a tender offer to buy back securities received 48 percent more bids than the target.
The third-party logistics provider has partnered with Jinbei Automotive to build a 42,000-square-meter facility in the Shenyang Tiexi district of northeast China, the DB Schenker’s second largest logistics center in the country.
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
However, the International Maritime Organization's Maritime Safety Committee said there should be no delay in the implementation of the verified gross mass rule.
Meanwhile, the European Commission Competition Directorate has set a “provisional deadline” for a decision on CMA CGM's purchase of APL parent Neptune Orient Lines for this Friday, April 29.
Yu joined the Taiwanese shipping company in 1984 and became president in 2013.


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Businesses Consider a Pivot to Compostable Utensils in Wake of New Law
Last updated 3/16/2022 at 11:25am
Businesses in Yelm are considering the use of compostable plastic utensils in the wake of a new law that restricts the availability of disposal items.
The Washington Legislature passed a law last year that restricted the use of plastic utensils supplied by restaurants, which went into effect on Jan. 1.
The law states business owners, including those in meal delivery services, cannot include plastic utensils such as spoons, knives and forks in their meal offerings unless a customer specifically asks for them.
The automatic provision of cold-cup lids and packaging for condiments are also restricted in the law, as well as the bundling of multiple types of utensils together. Customers will have to ask for each utensil individually.
While some businesses could set up self-serve utensil stations, others could opt to wait until a customer asks directly for any given utensil.
The latter of the two options could be the more cost-effective option for local businesses who plan to take the restriction one step further and only offer compostable plastic utensils upon request.
To read more from this article, visit: https://www.yelmonline.com/stories/businesses-consider-a-pivot-to-compostable-utensils-in-wake-of-new-law,281984


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Apple stock has taken yet another step forward on Thursday, April 15, adding another leg to the recent rally. At the end of the trading session, shares of the Cupertino company were worth about $134.50, locking in a solid 1.9% gain for the day.
The Apple Maven reviews the couple of factors contributing to the market-beating rise in the stock – the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbed 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively. AAPL is closing in fast on its all-time highs ahead of the company's earnings day, and the drawdown from the January peak has narrowed to only 6%.
Apple news of the day
Thursday was all about macro-level bullishness sending Apple share price higher. Below are the main catalysts that helped to push the stock forward on April 15:
- Jobless claims for the week fell below consensus estimates to the lowest since the start of the pandemic. The economy seems to be recovering quickly, which is great news for the stock market in general.
- US retail sales for March came in nearly 10% higher year-over-year, supported by the third wave of fiscal stimulus. Apple should be rightfully perceived as a beneficiary of the positive trends in consumer spending.
- Yields will likely continue to be a key driver of stock price performance, particularly for tech and growth names like Apple. On Thursday, the 10-year treasury rate dropped sharply to 1.57%, from a 2021 peak of 1.75%.
Key metrics on Apple stock
Apple stock is now "nine for eleven": 9 days of positive returns within the past 11 trading days. Here is a refresh on some key metrics on the Cupertino company's shares:
- Up 1% for the year vs. the S&P 500's 11% and the Nasdaq's 9% gains.
- Down around 6% from the January peak of $143 per share.
- Worth about $2.25 trillion, beating Microsoft by about $300 billion in market cap to remain the most valuable US-based stock.