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Fine dining is alive and well and living in London, putting the lie to reports that upmarket burger, chicken and rib outlets are hastening its demise.
Des Gunewardena, chairman and chief executive of D&D London, which owns Le Pont de la Tour, Quaglino’s, Skylon, Kensington Place and others, has revealed that the group’ss restaurants’ takings have passed the £100 million mark for the first time.
According to a report in the London Evening Standard Gunewardena said: “It’s not just the new places that are doing well, but it’s also the established places that have been open 20 years. We are seeing growth across the board.”
He added that restaurants were packed and diners were spending more than ever.
D&D London, according to the paper, saw turnover increase 13 per cent from £93.1m to £104.9m in the financial year to March while profits rose 50 per cent, from £5.5 million to £8.2 million.
According to the group, spend per customer was about £65, including VAT and service, and the group during that period served 200,000 oysters, 800,000 cups of coffee and 400,000 glasses of champagne and sparkling wine.
This success has led to a £5 million investment in the German Gymnasium in King’s Cross, which opens in November bringing its total of restaurants in London to 28.
Gunewardena told The Standard there could be possible stock market flotation “within weeks”.
- D&D’s figures confirm a formal dining trend: Gordon Ramsay has 14 restaurants in London including Savoy Grill, Pétrus and Maze, and saw its turnover rise 12 per cent to £46.8 million while Caprice Holdings —The Ivy, 34 and Scott’s — reported turnover up 2.9 per cent at £47.8 million in 2014.


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Cadillac has announced its upcoming flagship sedan, aimed at the likes of the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, will be called the CT6.
Set to launch late next year, Cadillac will position the CT6 above the CTS and XTS sedans, and is aimed at expanding the Cadillac range upwards. The rear-wheel-drive CT6 will be manufactured in Detroit and will use lightweight materials throughout the chassis in a bid to maximize its performance and reduce its fuel consumption as much as possible.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Powertrain details haven’t been announced just yet, but Travis Hester, chief engineer for the CT6, promises it will use the same lessons learned from sharpening the ATS and CTS, and says the CT6 “will employ a mixed material philosophy that combines the best and most efficient components optimized for each area” of the car.
More importantly, however, the CT6 will usher in an entirely new naming strategy for Cadillac. Eventually, Cadillac will drop its existing nameplates — ATS, CTS, XTS, ELR, SRX and Escalade — and replace them with alphanumeric nomenclature. The move, put forth by CEO Johan Des Nysschen, will see names start with the CT prefix and end with a number denoting the size and position in Cadillac’s lineup.
The nameplate changes come just days after Cadillac also announced it will relocate its headquarters from Detroit to New York City. The move was also put forth by Des Nysschen, who relocated Infiniti’s headquarters to Hong Kong and rename the lineup to Q and QX during his time with the company.
Unlike Infiniti, however, Cadillac’s nameplate changes won’t occur instantaneously. We’ll begin to see the changes take effect when each model is redesigned.

domain: news


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K Gold Jewelry Market Booms as Pandemic Restrictions Ease
After a year of pandemic-induced lockdowns, and social distancing measures. People are ready to splurge on something special to mark their emergence from isolation. For many, that something special is replica van cleef arpels perlee bracelet, and other K gold jewelry.
K gold jewelry, which is made from a mix of gold and other metals, has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its affordability and durability. Now, as pandemic restrictions ease, sales of K gold jewelry are booming.
In the United States, retailers are reporting a surge in demand for K gold jewelry, particularly among younger consumers. According to industry experts, this is partly due to the fact that K gold jewelry can be customized to suit individual tastes and styles.
“K gold jewelry allows people to express themselves in a way that other types of jewelry can’t,” said Sarah Lee, a spokesperson for a leading K gold jewelry retailer. “It’s versatile, affordable, and it looks great on everyone.”
In addition to its aesthetic appeal, K gold jewelry is also seen as a sound investment. Unlike other types of jewelry, which can lose value over time, K gold jewelry retains its value due to its gold content.
For small business owners in the fake Cartier nail ring industry, the surge in demand is a welcome relief after a difficult year. It’s been tough, but we’re finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, said Wei Zhang, who owns a K gold jewelry store in New York City. People are eager to treat themselves, and we’re happy to provide them with something beautiful that they can cherish for years to come.
As the world slowly emerges from the pandemic, it’s clear that K gold jewelry will continue to be a popular choice for those looking to celebrate life’s special moments. With its timeless appeal and versatility, K gold jewelry is sure to remain a staple of the jewelry industry for years to come.
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Apparently Facebook tried to buy the microblogging company called Twitter this week. Facebook made an offer amounting to $500 million in Facebook stock. Part of the reason that the purchase offer was turned down is that Twitter questioned the valuation of Facebook.
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Facebook's valuation is based on the $240 million that Microsoft dropped for a mere 1.6% share in 2007. Twitter founders also felt that the site had yet to hit its high point with profitability according to Telegraph.
Whether or not this was a good decision for Twitter in the face of a rapidly worsening economy remains to be seen. The tech world is riddled with withering firms that hit very hard times after turning down nice purchase offers.
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Ant Financial, the Chinese financial services giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, bought London-based payments company WorldFirst in its biggest overseas deal since a U.S. expansion was thwarted.
The acquisition marks the Chinese company’s first big move into the U.K., although its Alipay service is accepted by some merchants there already. That should allow Ant to better serve smaller businesses worldwide, including in the U.S., it said in a statement.
Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. that’s backed by some of the biggest names in global finance and investment, serves hundreds of millions of customers who tap the platform for everything from micro-transactions to wealth management. It’s among the more aggressive of Chinese internet players in seeking to expand abroad, as competition with Tencent Holdings Ltd. heats up at home.
“The products and services of Alipay and WorldFirst are highly complementary,” WorldFirst Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Quin said in a memo dispatched to clients, obtained by Bloomberg. “All your current customer and account information will also remain unchanged.”
WorldFirst remains independent under the terms, according to the letter. It has about 600 staff globally and has helped more than 160,000 individuals and small businesses transfer 70 billion pounds ($90 billion) since its founding in 2004.
Ant Financial made inroads into Europe last year when it won the rights to become the digital wallet for competitions run by UEFA, Europe’s governing body for soccer. Formally known as Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co., it’s leveraged Alipay’s popularity to expand into everything from asset management to insurance, credit scoring, and lending. It raised roughly $14 billion in its last round of funding, to bankroll expansions into Southeast Asia and other markets abroad.
Born out of an online payments system for Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms, the business has grown into a financial behemoth with few equals: its estimated $150 billion valuation dwarfs those of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley. Alipay and its global affiliates have 1 billion users as of February.
Ant was forced to abandon a plan last year to merge with MoneyGram International Inc. after the companies failed to win approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a national-security panel that has become more active in blocking Chinese investments in American companies.


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Action role-playing title Code Vein has sold over 1 million copies worldwide, publisher Bandai Namco has announced. The game, often referred to as 'anime Dark Souls', launched in September last year, and recently it received its first expansion, 'Hellfire Knight'.
It's not a bad result for a game that released during such a busy period -- especially one that was always going to lack mainstream appeal. And with more DLC in the pipeline, Code Vein has the potential to remain reasonably popular over the course of 2020.
Are you a fan of Code Vein? Don't bleed out in the comments section below.


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Catherine has responded to news that Nestle is consulting on the closure of its factory in Fawdon by the end of 2023, putting 475 local jobs at risk, calling the announcement ‘absolutely devastating’.
The factory was opened in 1958 by then owners Rowntree and currently produces some of the country’s most well-known confectionary products such as Rolo, Toffee Crisp and Fruit Pastilles. Alongside the 475 employees based in Fawdon, 98 jobs in York would be lost if the proposals go ahead.
Commenting on the news, Catherine McKinnell MP said:
“Today’s announcement that 63 years of chocolate manufacturing in Fawdon could soon come to an end is absolutely devastating. This will be an extremely worrying time for loyal workers who produce some of the best-known names on the sweet aisle and have helped keep the nation fed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is particularly difficult to accept that the world’s largest food company needs to make hundreds of Newcastle workers redundant at a time when it has just achieved its strongest quarterly growth in a decade.
I will be meeting urgently with the GMB union and employees impacted to discuss how we respond to the proposals.”


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Tracing bitcoin transactions, some security experts suspect multiple gangs have each amassed more than $1 billion, making them the equivalent of "unicorns" - a term venture capitalists apply to extremely successful startup firms. In case there was any doubt, cybercrime really does pay.
Slamming a Ukrainian energy provider for recently falling victim to a spear-phishing email and Excel macro attack might be easy. But security experts recommend all organizations use the incident to ensure they won't fall victim to copycat attacks.
Four years after European criminals exploited EMV implementation vulnerabilities to steal an estimated $650,000, security experts say not all banks have adopted full fixes. But the payment card industry contends related mitigations are in place and working.
Adobe is warning Flash users to update their software immediately in the wake of zero-day attacks that can enable attackers to take full control of vulnerable systems. This year, Adobe has patched 316 bugs in Flash. Is it time for the plug-in to die?
Twitter has issued its first-ever alerts to some users that they may have been "targeted by state-sponsored actors." Some cryptographers, software developers and security experts say they have received the alerts.
A U.S. House committee recently passed legislation that's aimed at helping law enforcement bring to justice cybercriminals from other nations who buy and sell payment card data stolen from U.S. citizens. But would it really help the global fight against cybercrime?
Card-not-present fraud now outpaces card-present fraud in the U.S. by a ratio of 3:1, and is up 30 percent globally since 2014. Experts tell why ecommerce sites need to respond with stronger online authentication, tokenization and behavioral analytics.
In this video interview, former Equifax senior vice president Andy Smith examines the types of scams fraudsters are attempting in the wake of the US EMV liability shift, as well as the countermeasures financial institutions can take to derail them.
Fraudsters are increasingly using global brands, including Apple, to fool consumers into providing personal and financial information that can be used to compromise financial accounts. Experts offer insights on the latest trends and how to respond.
Distributed-denial-of-service attacks on banks are more powerful than ever, but we hear less about them than we did three years ago. How have attackers changed their tactics, and why should we be even more concerned about their strikes?
The size of the information security analyst workforce in the United States rose by nearly 20 percent in the past year, according to an Information Security Media Group analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The fraud shift as a result of the migration to EMV chip payments in the U.S. will extend beyond card-not-present payments, experts at Information Security Media Group's fraud and data breach summits in San Francisco last week warned.
Four years after the FFIEC issued its updated authentication guidance, many banking institutions say account takeover losses have gone up, a new survey shows. John LaCour of PhishLabs explains why institutions' reactive approach to fraud is failing.
The FDIC says cybersecurity is a business continuity issue. So it's offering banks a series of videos and exercises to help them address key threats, including account take-over, malware infections and other risks related to third parties.
A migration of fraud to the card-not-present environment is expected in the wake of EMV. But Fiserv's Manuel Da Silva says banks also have to be worried about fraud upticks in other areas, which are already emerging. He explains how analytics can help institutions mitigate risks.


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Statistics Canada announced that the country’s railways carried a total of 31.8 million tonnes of freight in March, up 8.8% from the same month last year.
The Federal agency reports that total rail freight originating in Canada increased 7.6% from the same month last year to 28.8 million tonnes.
Non-intermodal freight increased 5.5% to 312,000 carloads in March. The amount of freight loaded into these cars totalled 25.7 million tonnes, up 7.0% from the same month last year with help from increases in tonnage of iron ores and concentrates (+16.5%), fuel oils and crude petroleum (+40.0%), fresh, chilled or dried vegetables (+140.6%) and coal (+6.7%).
Intermodal freight loadings (containers & trailers) rose 12.2% from March 2016 to 197,000 units in March. The increase stemmed from a 12.2% gain in containers-on-flat-cars and a 16.2% increase in trailers-on-flat-cars. In terms of weight, intermodal traffic rose 13.4% to 3.0 million tonnes.
Freight traffic received from the United States rose 21.4% to 3.1 million tonnes as a result of a 24.3% increase in non-intermodal freight and a 6.9% decline in intermodal freight from the United States.< Return


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Fire TV devices now have access to plenty of live television services, and Amazon wants to be sure you know what's playing regardless of what services you prefer. The internet giant is rolling out a dedicated Live tab that showcases whatever's playing across a host of apps, whether it's a free offering like Pluto TV, a cable substitute like PlayStation Vue or an over-the-air broadcast picked up through a Fire TV Recast.
The section includes rows that highlight your recent channels as well as individual genres, including live news and sports. You can favorite channels to be sure they take priority in any given row.
The new tab will reach all American Fire TV users over the course of the next several days. It's not a channel guide (there's already an equivalent for Amazon Prime Channels users), so it won't quite replace the browsing experience you might be used to from conventional TV. However, that's not necessarily a problem. It might do the trick if you're a cord-cutter who just can't wait for an on-demand video to start watching.


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In 1964, the Aston Martin DB5 was featured in the James Bond film Goldfinger, and since that time, the brand name has been associated with style and high-performance. Aston Martin recently unveiled their newest creation, the One-77, at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. Touted as the culmination of the company’s car-building know-how, the One-77 takes Aston Martin to a new level.
The One-77 could be considered the extreme of Aston Martin, as everything from the horsepower to the price tag has been pushed to the limit. For starters, Aston’s venerable V12 engine has gotten an upgrade thanks to premium engine-building company Cosworth. The regular V12 has a 6.0-liter displacement, and the new version bumps that up to 7.3-liters, and it can now produce 700 horsepower. While this upgrade is definitely noticeable, the most important part of the change was the weight and size. The new V12 is 25% lighter than its predecessor, and a new dry-sump oil system lowers the overall height of the engine. This allows Aston to mount the engine lower, thereby lowering the car’s center of gravity and giving it a boost in handling. Also, the design of the One-77′s body allows the engine to be mounted further back towards the cabin than previous models, helping with the front to back weight distribution. It is expected to do 0 to 60 mph in about 3.5 seconds and have a maximum speed around 200 mph.
The engine isn’t the only part of the car that’s lost weight, however. The chassis for the One-77 is constructed entirely out of carbon fiber. While this construction method is incredibly expensive, it gives the car great rigidity at a fraction of the normal chassis weight. In all, the Aston Martin One-77 weighs 3,307 pounds. For the sake of comparison, a 2008 Honda Accord coupe weighs 3,446 pounds.
Of course, it’s one thing to put a huge engine in a very light car. It’s quite another to build a suspension system that will allow drivers to keep that power on the road and not go spinning out of control. Enter Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve Technology. This system allows drivers (or more accurrately, their mechanics) to adjust the compression and rebound of the suspension without removing any components from the vehicle, whereas a more traditional suspension would require the removal of shock absorbers, subsequent adjustments, and then replacement in the vehicle. So, if you want a tight ride for knuckle-whitening cornering, you can have it with a few small adjustments.
All of this incredible engineering comes at a price, however. The One-77 has a price tag of around $1.4 million. Also, the model is incredibly exclusive, with only 77 being made.
The new One-77 definitely maintains Aston Martin’s image as an ultra-luxury car manufacturer, and, considering the incredible styling of the vehicle, it may just elevate them to producers of art.


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Labor Day, which takes place this year on Monday September 3, celebrates the many social and economic achievements of American workers: the 40-hour workweek, the 8-hour workday, the right to be safe in the workplace, a minimum wage, pensions, health insurance and many other benefits.
Today we'll head to a barbecue or enjoy the hot bargains in store for shoppers at Labor Day sales. We'll relax, enjoy our day off from work and say thanks.
Here is a list of what’s open and what’s closed in observance of the holiday:
Most government offices will be closed Monday.
will be closed Monday. Express mail will be delivered.
Trash will not be picked up on Monday (Monday pick-ups will be on Tuesday). Trash collection will be one day late for the remainder of the week.
Most grocery stores and supermarkets are open with regular hours Monday, include , andin Encino.
Most standalone banks and credit unions will be closed. However, in-store branches such as the US Bank located inside on Ventura Boulevard and Hayvenhurst will be open.
The will be closed Monday.
Most medical providers will be closed Monday, with a few exceptions.
All area schools will be closed Monday.
Convenience stores and most retail stores will be open. Look for those deep Labor Day discounts!


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Albion Online has two currencies inside the game: money, which allows you to realize all your virtual transactions, and gold that you can buy with real money and that costs a silver arm of the game. Sandbox Interactive Is being waged against the ill-advised people who sell gold to the players to make profit on the back of Albion, causing the anger of these same sellers.
By eliminating the possibility of exchanging gold directly in play, Sandbox has managed to totally stop the possibility for third parties to sell gold for money, putting their lucrative practice to the side of their game. The problem is that these people do not see a good eye on the shutdown of their business and have therefore decided to fight against the developer’s decisions by taking hostage the entire community.
Thus, for several days, the already unstable servers of Albion have been attacked by hackers to prevent the game from running smoothly. These denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are aimed at preventing players from enjoying their purchase by Prohibiting access to the servers of the game. These same hackers claim their right to sell gold and ask Sandbox Interactive to replace the old system.
Obviously, developers continue to refuse practice and do not accede to the claims of the hackers, they have banned almost 800 accounts in the last days and continue to banish accounts involved in the sale of gold. These DDoS attacks should therefore continue for a while, as long as Sandbox has not found how to prevent them and strengthen its security system. If the players suffer from the rigidity of the studio in front of the demands, it is absolutely intolerable that a small niche of players dictates its law to the whole of a community, it is necessary to encourage Sandbox in the combat and to help as much as possible their In this endeavor.
Albion Online is released on Android, PC, Mac and Linux.


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The Australian dollar gained a respite from recent selling pressure on Wednesday, as Beijing's efforts to stabilise its currency soothed sentiment just enough to spark profit-taking on US dollar positions.
The Aussie dollar got an added lift from solid data on domestic retail sales and crawled up to 74.03 US cents, moving away from an 18-month trough around 73.11 US cents.
Dealers cautioned that some of the bounce was simply due to a lack of liquidity with the United States on holiday and the selling could easily resume on Thursday.
Much depended on the course of the Chinese yuan which managed to eke out gains after the country's central bank assured markets it would keep the currency stable amid heightened trade tensions.
Investors are on tenterhooks ahead of the July 6 deadline when the US administration is due to slap tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Beijing has said it would retaliate with tariffs on US products, an escalation that could endanger economic growth more broadly.
Australia's exports account for fully 22 per cent of annual economic output, making it very vulnerable to a global trade conflict.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data on Wednesday showed exports rose a healthy 4 per cent in May, led by iron ore, coal and liquefied natural gas.
Local retailers also did a bit better with sales rising 0.4 percent in May, after a 0.5 per cent gain - revised up from 0.4 per cent originally - in April.


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BlueIndy is pulling the plug on its Indianapolis operations. The electric car-sharing service will end service in May, saying on its website “the service did not reach the level of activity required to be economically viable here.”
A statement on the site said, “We regret to announce that BlueIndy will end its collaboration with the City of Indianapolis, effective May 21st, 2020.”
The company launched in Indianapolis in September 2015, the first U.S. market for the France-based company.
BlueIndy says further information has been sent directly to existing customers through their BlueIndy accounts.
“We thank you for your support and for your understanding and remain available for any additional information,” and directed members to BlueIndys’s customer service center.
One month after the 2015 launch, the company told Inside Indiana Business it had attracted more than 500 members who took 1,500 trips during its first month of service. The company said it intended to have 500 electric vehicles and 200 charging stations across the city.


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The company, which delivers three million packages a day, is implementing a 20Tbyte datawarehouse from Teradata to increase internal efficiency and provide a platform for new services such as its real-time Track & Trace facility.
The Teradata system, which will run on NCR Unix servers, will also be used to help DHL integrate its IT systems following mergers with Danzas and Euro Express in Europe and Airbourne Express in the US.
Having a centralised system for storing and analysing data from all areas of the business will help iron out a number of inefficiencies, said Peter James, global programme manager at DHL.
"We have multiple datawarehouses, each of which has its own data sources, which leads to inconsistent reporting and totally inadequate quality control," he said. "With this, we will have one set of information based on global rules. It will also be based on a real-time continuous feed rather than the batch method we currently use."
James admitted that the investment in Teradata was "significant" but said it could be entirely justified by the replacement of redundant database systems, many of which are Oracle-based.
The single system, which will use Cognos and Ascential software for business intelligence, will also mean DHL will not have to spend "huge amounts" on business reports as it does now, James said.
"Business intelligence will no longer be about propeller-heads looking for trends but about real data," he said. "It will also ensure consistency across our regions as everyone is measured against the same set of key performance indicators."
The roll-out of such a large system will be technically challenging but DHL has put in a number of measures to ensure there are minimal problems, James said.
"We need a bullet-proof service, so we have got a project team of 30 made up of people from DHL, Teradata, Ascential and Cognos," he said. "We are also working closely with users to put together testing plans."


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2016 Jaguar XJ facelift launched in Malaysia, priced from RM645k
Jun 7, 2016 12:05 pm
The Jaguar XJ lineup has just been refreshed for the Malaysian market. The six-year-old aluminium-intensive limo was given an update last year, and finally...
Get up close and personal with the Volkswagen ID.4 EV at...
Proton sold 14,872 cars in September – X50 & X70 lead...
Lamborghini unveils new base-spec Urus S – same 666 hp as...
Volkswagen Malaysia kicks off ‘We Drive Football’ promo – up to...
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Summary: A leaker and developer, Alessandro Paluzzi, has hinted that Facebook and Instagram could be working on a paid verification system similar to Twitter’s. The possibility of a paid verification system has sparked interest as verification on these platforms is currently difficult. However, it could also dilute the value of verification and it is unclear if the payment would include a version of the Meta platform that offers additional features.
Facebook and Instagram could be working on paid verification just like what we currently have on Twitter, according to leaker and developer, Alessandro Paluzzi.
Paluzzi has proven to be reliable on several occasions and this time, he claims to have spotted code lines that said: “IG_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV” and “FB_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV.”
Of course, both Facebook and Instagram are yet to confirm or deny the news, and there is no point in waiting as they typically don’t comment on ‘rumours’ or ‘speculations’.
–YouTube Shorts Clocks 50 Billion Views Daily!
–Apple Active Devices Reaches 2 Billion!
–Microsoft Teams Premium Launches With ChatGPT And Other OpenAI Tools.
Paid verification was not a thing among the likes of Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, at least not in the open, until Twitter under Elon Musk came around. However, Engadget claims that there is a black market for it that requires some users to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the blue tick.
Verification on Instagram and Facebook is an uphill task and a paid option may appeal to many, although, like we see on Twitter now, it could water down the value. Also, it is not yet clear if the payment would include a version of the Meta platform that brings more features as Twitter Blue does.
We look forward to when Meta would announce the paid version of its social media apps, as there is little doubt that they would come soon. If you recall, the company had hinted at monetising its more than four billion combined users directly in the wake of declining digital ads revenue.
For your daily dose of tech, lifestyle, and trending content, make sure to follow Plat4om on Twitter @Plat4omLive, on Instagram @Plat4om, on LinkedIn at Plat4om, and on Facebook at Plat4om. You can also email us at firstname.lastname@example.org and join our channel on Telegram at Plat4om. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL.


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Global eCommerce firm eShopWorld, Ireland’s fastest growing technology company, has announced just this morning that they will be adding 250 new members to its workforce over the next three years.
The positions in question have not yet been announced, but have been described as 'high-end'.
The announcement coincides with the official opening of its global headquarters at Airside Business Park in Swords, Co. Dublin by Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, T.D.
eShopWorld was launched in Dublin in 2010 by founder and CEO, Tommy Kelly. It has grown from a team of just six staff to 150 today with a presence in Dublin, Newry, the US, Singapore and the Netherlands.
Commenting on the announcement, eShopWorld CEO Tommy Kelly said;
“We are very pleased to be adding jobs and investment to fulfil demand from leading global brands. Premium brands see our technology platform as a key pillar for growth and establishing long term sustainable relationships with brand loyal customers. This is a really important investment for eShopWorld and one that will further our capability to optimise our technology, driving growth through existing and new revenue streams.”


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Toyota Urban Cruiser competes against a long list of rivals including Maruti Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Kia Sonet, Hyundai Venue and Nissan Magnite to name a few
Automotive sales have been badly affected since the outbreak of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. With states easing restrictions, automakers are trying hard to lure new customers during the ongoing crisis by offering attractive schemes. Toyota has jumped into the bandwagon by introducing an attractive scheme on Urban Cruiser.
The Japanese carmaker has come up with a new “Buy Now and Pay Later” scheme which allows consumers to own a vehicle and make payment later. According to the new advertisement, interested customers will be allowed to own an Urban Cruiser now and pay for it from October 2021.
More Details Awaited
The carmaker is yet to reveal more details about this new scheme but this offering is already being promoted on the company’s social media handles like Facebook. As of now this offer is currently being limited to the subcompact SUV but is expected to be carried forward to other Toyota models.
A customer can enjoy driving the Toyota’s sub-4-meter crossover till he/she has enough funds. In this program, a customer who buys the car in finance, needs to pay the instalments starting at a later date.
Apart from this, there are no other details on this offer as of yet. Earlier, a similar scheme was introduced by Skoda in India a few years ago. This is the first time Toyota is offering a scheme of this kind. As we all know, Urban Cruiser is essentially a Maruti Vitara Brezza in skin with minor cosmetic updates. These updates include the SUV wearing a new Toyota logo.
Urban Cruiser- Specs & Features
Underneath, it is every bit identical to its Japanese twin. It is powered by the same 1.5-litre K-series naturally aspirated petrol motor which returns an output of 104 bhp and 138 Nm of peak torque. This four-pot motor is paired with either a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 4-speed torque converter gearbox. The latter also comes equipped with a 12V SHVS Smart Hybrid system which features an Integrated Generator System.
Urban Cruiser packs the same set of features as Vitara Brezza which includes a 7-inch SmartPlay touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Other features offered include auto climate control, rain-sensing wipers, push-button start/stop and 16-inch dual-tone alloy wheels, LED headlamps and taillamps. Safety kit on offer includes features such as dual front airbags, rear parking sensors, ABS with EBD, ISOFIX child seat mounts and hill hold control.
Trims & Prices
Toyota retails the sub-4 metre UV in three trims- Mid, High and Premium, with prices starting from Rs 8.62 lakh and going up to Rs 11.40 lakh (ex-showroom). More details on this attractive scheme is expected to come out soon and is likely to be extended to other Toyota models as well.


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“The POCO X2 will tout a high refresh rate, Snapdragon chipset, and dual-camera setup at the back”
POCO has confirmed the launch of its next-gen smartphone in India. The handset will be dubbed as POCO X2 and will launch in the country on February 4th. The POCO X2 will be the first smartphone from Xiaomi’s spin-off brand POCO since 2018, ending a lull that had kept fans hooked. The phone is being touted as a gaming-focused smartphone with high refresh rate and Snapdragon chipset ticking at its core. A Flipkart listing has confirmed the POCO X2 will be sold exclusively via the e-commerce platform, the same as its predecessor, the POCO F1.
The company is teasing the high refresh rate as the USP of the POCO X2, along with a focus on gaming as well as photography. We can expect the smartphone to feature a 90Hz display, though 120Hz panel is not out of the question either. And with the teaser mentioning gaming, we can expect it to pack the Snapdragon 765G SoC. Per a leaked Geekbench listing from earlier this month, the POCO X2 will rock 1.80GHz octa-core chipset codenamed as “phoenixin,” paired with 8GB of RAM under the hood. Phoenixin will likely be a mid-range Snapdragon 700-series chipset.
It was previously reported that the handset could be a rebranded version of the Chinese Redmi K30 smartphone. However, the official teaser suggests that won’t be the case. The POCO X2 seems to pack dual rear cameras, with the listing page teasing the Sony IMX686 64MP primary sensor, and a physical fingerprint scanner just below the dual cameras. The Redmi K30, on the other hand, rocks 64MP quad-camera setup and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
Apart from this, the POCO X2 is also slated to pack liquid cooling tech and high refresh rate to keep its thermal under check and offer smooth gameplay respectively. It’ll most likely be backed by a beefy battery cell since high refresh rate consumes more battery. Lastly, the handset is confirmed to sport a USB Type-C port, sandwiched between the speaker grille and a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom.
That’s basically everything we know about the upcoming POCO X2 smartphone at the moment. Stay tuned to 91mobiles for more updates. Separately, the company is rumoured to launch as many as four smartphones, including the successor of POCO F1 from 2018, this year.


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Cintas Corporation (CTAS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Investment Research
Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday. They currently have $153.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.
According to Zacks, “Cintas aims to continually achieve revenue build-up by increasing penetration levels at existing customers and broadening the customer base. The acquisition of G&K Services is anticipated to be accretive to Cintas’ earnings. The combined company is likely to cater to over one billion business customers with an extended product portfolio and additional processing capacity. The synergies from the combined operations are expected to yield $130 million to $140 million in cost savings from the fourth year of its operation. Cintas’ investment strategy takes a holistic view of the rapidly evolving market and deploys a dynamic capital allocation approach to focus on the relative value of the various sectors within the broader industry. Cintas has also outperformed the industry year to date. However, volatility in raw material prices and third-party supply constraints remain potential headwinds for the company.”
A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CTAS. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Cintas Corporation from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a hold rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Cintas Corporation in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Nomura downgraded shares of Cintas Corporation from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an underweight rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $107.00) on shares of Cintas Corporation in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Cintas Corporation from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $135.70.
Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ CTAS) opened at 136.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $133.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.29. Cintas Corporation has a 52 week low of $102.07 and a 52 week high of $139.74.
Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Cintas Corporation had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 23.38%. Cintas Corporation’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts expect that Cintas Corporation will post $5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.
In other news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 2,000 shares of Cintas Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.69, for a total transaction of $267,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,018.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Michael Hansen sold 800 shares of Cintas Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.75, for a total transaction of $104,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 54,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,108,877.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cintas Corporation by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Mountain Capital Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Cintas Corporation during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $120,000. QS Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cintas Corporation by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. QS Investors LLC now owns 995 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. YorkBridge Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Cintas Corporation by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. YorkBridge Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, First Personal Financial Services lifted its position in shares of Cintas Corporation by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.76% of the company’s stock.
Cintas Corporation Company Profile
Cintas Corporation is a provider of corporate identity uniforms through rental and sales programs, as well as a provider of related business services, including entrance mats, restroom cleaning services and supplies, carpet and tile cleaning services, first aid and safety services and fire protection products and services.
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- Ford is recalling nearly 49,000 Mustang Mach-E SUVs in the US.
- The electric vehicles could lose power due to a potential defect.
- Ford told dealers not to deliver new Mach-Es until it issues a fix, likely in July.
Ford is recalling tens of thousands of electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs and instructing dealers to stop delivering the model until a potential safety defect is resolved, a company spokesperson confirmed to Insider.
CNBC first reported the news on Tuesday, citing a notice Ford sent to its dealers on Monday. The safety issue comes as Ford works furiously to ramp up production of electric vehicles and catch up to Tesla.
According to Ford, DC fast charging and repeated instances of intense acceleration can cause a component in the high-voltage battery system to overheat. Over time, this could cause a loss of power, which could elevate the risk of an accident, Ford said.
The potential defect impacts 48,924 Mustang Mach-E SUVs in the US.
Ford expects to send out an over-the-air software update to remedy the issue by July. In the meantime, it has told its dealers they can still sell Mach-Es but can’t hand over SUVs to customers until the update occurs, the spokesperson said.
The Detroit automaker and others are in the midst of a massive transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean, battery-powered vehicles. The shift hasn’t come without its stumbles.
Last year, General Motors recalled every Chevrolet Bolt EV after reports of battery fires and halted production of the model. Hyundai faced a similar issue, recalling electric models over fire risks. There is no evidence that fires are more likely in electric cars versus gas vehicles.


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- Jet.com is relaunching its website with a focus on a unique experience and a carefully chosen assortment of brands and merchandise.
- The Walmart-owned e-commerce site is also bringing in key retail partners like Nike, scheduled to debut on the site in September.
- Jet is also planning same-day grocery delivery in the New York City area.
Jet.com is a go for relaunch.
The Walmart-owned e-commerce site has overhauled its website as part of an effort to "re-humanize e-commerce," as the company put it in a press release.
"I think we've been indoctrinated over the last 10 years that e-commerce is a very transactional experience," Simon Belsham, the senior vice president at Walmart who is president of Jet.com, told Business Insider. "We know that a lot of people shop for enjoyment, inspiration, and discovery, and with the new site we're putting that customer centricity back into the experience."
The 'e' in e-commerce also stands for 'emotion'
Walmart purchased Jet in 2016 for $3.3 billion. It repositioned Jet as an online-shopping site for upscale millennials who live in cities. The new Jet.com keeps that focus, but now it's focusing more on the emotion of shopping and what it brings out in customers.
"There's this sense that e-commerce is about algorithm driving everything and it's all trying to lead to a transaction," J. David Echegoyen, Jet's chief customer officer, told Business Insider. "We want to do things that are not just about the transaction but about the relationship and to do that you need humans, you need people thinking about what it is to be in the customer's shoes."
The website will now shift based on the city a customer is in and what time of day it is. For example, New Yorkers will get a look at the skyline as they browse for products, and that skyline may feature the sun rising, setting, or out of sight. More materially, the site hopes to allow New Yorkers to more easily shop local brands and to present national brands in a way that speaks to local tastes.
"We've discovered a lot of these brands were so hungry to partner," Belsham said. "E-commerce has had the bad rap of being the small-business killer. We want to be the complete opposite."
Jet will also now offer different shopping experiences for different categories. For example, shopping for fashion and clothing items will have more pictures and a different feel than shopping for groceries, while the section selling furniture will look different from both.
In those categories, Jet will be introducing other partnerships with brands and prominently featuring them. For example, Jet plans to launch a partnership with Nike to sell both Nike and Converse footwear, apparel, and accessories on the site.
But while most of Nike's past online partners have stuck to the basics, Jet wants to do more with the brand.
Belsham said it's about "really inspiring people about fitness or the sport they want to play" and "not just a search engine to find specific products."
A new focus on grocery
For grocery products, Jet is leveraging new resources like a fulfillment center in the Bronx and the Walmart-owned courier service Parcel to offer grocery delivery to New York City.
For a $6 fee, the new service, called City Grocery, aims to offer same-day or next-day delivery within a three-hour window.
Many local brands are set to be featured, like Orwasher's bakery, Pat LaFrieda meats, and Bedford Cheese Shop, but the company says plenty of national brands will be offered too. The company says the service will be available in most of New York City and parts of New Jersey.
As the Bronx facility ramps up, Belsham said, customers will be able to add merchandise to their grocery orders as well.
The delivery service is starting in New York, but Jet says it will consider expanding to other cities.
Walmart has seen explosive e-commerce growth in recent years, including 40% growth online in the most recent quarterly results, reported in August.
That's in part because of a massive investment in brands like Jet meant to better compete with e-commerce natives like Amazon. Jet's relaunch is likely an attempt to stabilize that growth and further differentiate Jet from its mass-market parent brand.
"Really the whole new site and business relaunch is just the beginning really of our direction for Jet and broader than that how we're thinking about the future of where we want to take retail and e-commerce," Belsham said. "E-commerce today isn't going to be e-commerce in the future, and this is the start of how Jet can fit into that."
Echegoyen, the chief customer officer, agreed.
"This is only the beginning," he said. "We are not putting a flag on the moon saying we've arrived."


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PokerStars has debuted The Rail, a new personalized home screen in the online poker client. It is currently live in the UK and is expected to roll out to other markets soon.
The global online poker leader has also finally started to deploy “throwable” objects, a fun feature that lets players lob virtual items at opponents at the tables. After a trial of almost a year in the Italian market, PokerStars has launched the feature in the UK this week.
“One of the best parts of the job is bringing our players something that is brand new, unique and which adds to their excitement every time they visit PokerStars,” said Severin Rasset, Managing Director and Commercial Officer of Poker at The Stars Group International.


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Austin business produces nation's first organic-only sake
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A former University of Texas student who fell in love with sake while in Japan is producing and marketing the nation’s first organic-only sake.
Texas Sake, owned by Yoed Anis, brewed its first batch in July in a nondescript warehouse off North Lamar Boulevard, where vats, pipes, coolers and dryers turn rice and water into a drink that it sells for $35 a bottle. In October, Anis and his two employees held a grand opening featuring Japanese Consul General Takahiko Watabe.
Anis’ plan is to craft his sake — called Whooping Crane-Tokubetsu Junmai Sake and Rising Star-Nigori Junmai Sake — in small batches and continually improve it while growing the business through restaurants, retailers, social networking and Texas Sake’s website.
“We just got a call by Whole Foods” Market Inc. (Nasdaq: WFM), said Anis, displaying green bottles of sake with labels featuring the Texas whooping crane.
These days, Anis — the sole owner — is content with his capital on hand, but he doesn’t rule out seeking outside investors.
Anis hopes to eventually sell his sake at a lower price and to increase each batch’s size, currently about 500 bottles. Much of his plan is based on the hope that Texans will embrace sake like they do beer, given that rice grows so well in Texas — the second-largest rice-producing state in the country. The rice Anis uses is grown in fields on the Colorado River.
Nationwide sales figures for sake are elusive, partly because there’s a lack of consensus on how to categorize it. Some consider it a wine, and others call it liquor; it’s actually a rice-based fermented drink.
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WHISTLER, British Columbia, May 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. move to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union overshadowed a gathering of G7 finance ministers and central bankers on Thursday, amid fears a trade war will imperil global economic growth.
The meeting of top financial policymakers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Canada is set to focus on reducing income inequality, but trade concerns have made U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin the top target for bilateral complaints and lobbying from disgruntled allies.
The United States on Thursday said it was moving ahead with imposing the steel and aluminum tariffs, ending months of uncertainty about potential exemptions and sending a chill through financial markets.
Concern about Trump’s hardening approach to trade dominated the discussion panel as top policymakers from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada gathered in the alpine village of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
“(Trade) is not our direct responsibility. But ... this focus on goods trade, bilateral goods is not the right focus in a hyperconnected world where most of the economic activity, most people work, most small businesses, most women work in the service sector,” Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said.
“If we were to liberalize services to the same degree as we have liberalized (trade in) goods, these balances would be cut in half for the United States and for the UK,” he added.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said if trade is “massively disrupted,” the level of public trust in leaders will be severely damaged.
“First of all, those who will suffer most are the poorest, the less privileged people, those who actually rely on imported goods to have their living,” she said, adding that longstanding supply chains also would be disrupted.
The three-day finance leaders’ meeting is set to conclude on Saturday, but U.S. moves on trade policy, which also include potential tariffs and investment restrictions on China and a national security probe that could lead to tariffs on auto imports, are expected to also dominate the G7 summit of world leaders in Quebec next week.
“Facing up to the rise of counterproductive nationalism is a major issue that the G7 cannot avoid,” former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin told the panel. (Additional reporting by David Lawder and David Milliken; editing by Clive McKeef)


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MILAN: The brand stuff The fashion house has begun charting the legacy of its business, announcing Tuesday that it is mining a LVMH operating as the next CEO and confirmed that Miuccia Prada will continue in her creative role.
Andrea Guerra will be confirmed by the board next month as the new CEO, succeeding Patrizio Bertelli, who will continue as chairman. The move is intended to be a step towards finally handing the reins of the Prada Group to Bertelli and Miuccia Prada’s son, Lorenzo Bertelli. The younger Bertelli now oversees digital marketing and sustainability.
The statement highlights that Miuccia Prada will remain Prada’s co-creative director alongside Raf Simons, Miu Miu’s creative director and board member.
“This is a fundamental step that we have decided to take, while fully participating in the company, to contribute more to the growth of the Prada Group and facilitate its succession. Lorenzo Bertelli, future leader of the group,” Patrizio Bertelli and Prada said in a statement.
Guerra, 57, is one of Italy’s most senior executives, having served as the longtime CEO of Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company, then a stint at the home chain. Eataly global restaurant and market for Italian-made specialties. Most recently, he took up an executive position at the French group LVMH.
Succession is an issue at family-run companies in Italy, not just in the fashion sector, and the move appears to be intended to send a message to the financial markets that a plan is in place. . Guerra has long experience in a family run company, having served for a decade as CEO at Luxottica before the owner and founder, the late Leonardo del Vecchio, took over. resume daily operations after disagreements.
Prada denies bringing in Raf Simons in 2020 is a move to establish a creative successor at the fashion house specializing in luxurious exquisite handbags, shoes and clothes. However, speculation started again after the Belgian designer announced last month that he would be shutting down his eponymous brand. fashion brands after 27 years.
In addition to the fashion houses Prada and Miu Miu, the Prada Group also includes footwear companies Church’s and Car Shoe, as well as the Marchese pastry shop with 627 stores in 70 countries.
Prada trades in Hong Kong, where shares closed down 2.33% shortly before the announcement was made.


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Five food and drink trends you could see in 2018
December 01 2017
The back-end of any year always raises the same question amongst Canadian chefs and restaurateurs: ‘what will be the biggest food and drink trends next year?’.
We can’t know for sure until they happen, but someone who has a decent idea is market intelligence agency Mintel, which has just laid out what it predicts will be the five key trends to hit the global food and drink market over the coming year.
In 2018, the sound, feel and satisfaction that texture can deliver will become more important for consumers.
Texture is a sometimes-overlooked avenue to engaging the senses and delivering remarkable dining experiences; restaurants that prioritise addressing this are set to capitalise, Mintel reckons.
Restaurants and chefs should exploit the opportunities presented with multisensory food and drink by incorporating unexpected texture to their dishes, providing consumers - especially the younger generations - with tangible connections to the real world, as well as moments worth sharing either in-person or online.
Plenty of consumers love to feel like they’re an extra special priority and that the standard of service they’re receiving is above the norm, whether it’s in the mall, the gas station or the dining area.
Consumers are sampling a variety of channels and technologies when shopping for food and drink, such as home delivery, subscription services and automatic replenishment.
Mintel suggests that opportunities exist for restaurants to tempt consumers by offering deals or combinations of dishes/promotions and other options across consumer categories that make dining more efficient and affordable for customers.
Mintel believes that consumers will demand and expect complete transparency from food and drink companies.
Manufacturers will have little option but to offer thorough and honest disclosures about how, where, when and by whom food and drink is grown, harvested, made, and/or sold. And it’s all down to widespread distrust caused by things like the horsemeat scandal from 2013.
This wariness among consumers has already led to an increased use of natural, ethical and environmental claims in global food and drink launches, and clearer labels will challenge manufacturers and retailers to be more transparent.
Sure, this point largely concerns food manufacturers, but this increased demand for transparency and traceability of ingredients is likely to be sustained when consumers eat out.
Consequently, diners will be keen to know not only what they’re being served, but also how it got there, so devise your dishes with the aim of addressing perceived nutritional, physical and emotional needs.
2018 is expected to see consumers take their attitude to healthy eating to the next level, Mintel says, as flexible and balanced diets become integral elements of self-care routines.
This is the result of modern life becoming more hectic and stressful, with consumers looking to their food for ways of escaping the negativity in their lives.
Things like portion sizes, as well as a variety of formats and formulations, will have the opportunity to present consumers with positive solutions that can be incorporated into their definition of health and wellness.
Again, ingredients and combinations of food and drink that provide nutrition, physical or emotional benefits can play a major part in advancing self-care.
Mintel’s fifth and final point centres around the manufacture of food itself.
The agency believes that technology will begin to disrupt the traditional food chain as enterprising manufacturers aim to replace farms and factories with laboratories.
Lab-grown, cultured or synthetic food and drink is only just beginning to emerge, but technology could eventually be used to design food and drink with a greater nutritional value.
This could extend the consumer audience for scientifically engineered food and drink beyond environmentally conscious shoppers to reach consumers who are concerned about ingredient consistency, efficacy and purity.
In a nutshell, transparency and traceability of ingredients will be key in 2018. Meanwhile, the rapid expansion in the variety of food and drink retail channels will fuel the opportunity for recommendations, promotions and product innovations that are personalised based on individual consumer behavior.
Finally, progressive and forward-looking companies will be working hard to replace traditional farms and factories with scientifically engineered ingredients and finished products.
Jenny Zegler, Mintel’s global food and drink analyst, said: “In 2018, Mintel foresees opportunities for manufacturers and retailers to help consumers regain trust in food and drink and to relieve stress through balanced diets, as well as memorable eating and drinking experiences.
“There also is an exciting new chapter dawning in which technology will help brands and retailers forge more personalised connections with shoppers, while enterprising companies are using scientific engineering to create an exciting new generation of sustainable food and drink."


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2 min read.Updated: 19 Aug 2021, 04:32 PM ISTAgencies
The world's largest automaker announced suspensions in operations at multiple Japanese plants next month due to a “parts shortage resulting from the spread of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia”
Toyota has announced plans to cut global production in September by 40 per cent compared to earlier plans as Covid-19 constricted supply of semiconductors. The Japanese automobile behemoth became the last major industry player to reduce output due to this reason.
The world's largest automaker announced suspensions in operations at multiple Japanese plants next month due to a “parts shortage resulting from the spread of Covid-19 in Southeast Asia".
"We plan to reduce our global production by some 40 per cent in September, from just under 900,000 originally planned," a Toyota spokeswoman told AFP.
The world's largest automaker by sales volumes has fared better than rivals, having built a larger stockpile of chips under a business continuity plan adopted after the 2011 earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. But a resurgence in Covid-19 cases across Asia has compounded the semiconductor crunch.
A Toyota executive said the September cuts included 14 factories in Japan and overseas plants, and that it was reducing its planned global production that month by around 360,000 vehicles.
Japan's Nikkei daily had recently reported that the global chip shortage was behind Toyota's planned reduction in new vehicles. The Nikkei said Toyota would also scale back production in North America, China and Europe from early September.
Microchips are essential for the electronics systems of modern cars, and have been in short supply since the end of last year.
When the pandemic hit, carmakers scaled back orders and chipmakers shifted output to consumer electronics as people splurged on equipment to work and relax at home -- leaving automakers in a tight situation as demand for vehicles picked up.
The chip crunch and other virus-related supply chain issues had already caused several short suspensions at Toyota's Japanese factories. The carmaker had already halted assembly lines at some Japanese factories between late July and early August, including its Tahara plant, due to a surge in infections in Vietnam which had constrained the supply of parts, the Nikkei reported earlier.
Toyota had also suspended production at one assembly line in Guangzhou, China, which it operates with its Chinese joint-venture partner Guangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd. In Thailand too, Toyota suspended production last month at three factories due to a pandemic-related parts shortage.
The company reported a record first-quarter net profit earlier this month, with strong sales fuelled by the recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Toyota shares plunged 4.42 per cent to 9,295 yen on Thursday, their biggest daily drop since December 2018 that pulled the benchmark Nikkei average to a seven-month low.
(With agencies' input)
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Wednesday, May 20, 2015 9:49:00 AM
Thermoseal Group, the UK’s leading manufacturer of warm edge spacer systems and bespoke accessories, announces further manufacturing expansion to meet the requirements of a continued increase in demand for Thermobar and Thermoflex warm edge spacers and accessories.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015 11:58:00 AM
FENSA Pay As You Go is the new surveillance process that enables companies to demonstrate Building Regulations compliance without individual operatives having to hold an MTC (Minimum Technical Competency) Card. It is designed for companies that infrequently install replacement windows and doors in domestic properties.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015 11:53:00 AM
Polyframe Group has been recognised as ‘a company to inspire Britain’ in a report produced by The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE). The landmark report, 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain, is a celebration of the fastest-growing and most dynamic in the UK.
Monday, May 18, 2015 12:21:00 PM
PJ Plastics have just upgraded their stunning showroom in Bexley, Kent, which now features 10 beautiful Solidor composite doors, with all 18 colours on show including the latest Cotswold-inspired Painswick finish.
Monday, May 18, 2015 10:48:00 AM
GBW have just celebrated manufacturing their 100,000th foiled door panel and thanks to the use of the CoolSkin® product from 3D Laminates, product remakes now account for just 0.035% of production.
Friday, May 15, 2015 10:34:00 AM
National Plastics, the UK’s largest independent trade counter network now stocks one of the industry’s most comprehensive ranges of internal cladding throughout their 31 stores.
Friday, May 15, 2015 9:33:00 AM
PROFILE Systems Company Deceuninck has welcomed the latest Google algorithm change thanks to an on-going partnership with digital specialists The Consultancy.
Friday, May 15, 2015 9:27:00 AM
Yet another fabricator-installer has shut down its factory and turned to Glazerite Windows Ltd as supplier – and now Glazerite is repeating its call to other retail fabricators to think seriously about doing the same.


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In December The athletics It highlights coaches, athletes and other individuals who have made a significant impact in the fields of American sports, as well as sports business, media and culture. Michael Rubin, our perennial sports business honoree, is the CEO of Fanatics, which is poised to become the “Amazon of sports shopping” in sports apparel, collectibles and more. The full schedule is here.
Love or loathe Fanatics Inc., the premier retailer of collegiate and pro sports apparel and merchandise. Merchandise
That’s why owner and CEO Michael Rubin. The athleticsThe 2022 Business Person of the Year topped a field of contenders including Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, Amazon executives Jay Marin and Marie Donoghue and others.
In the past year, Rubin has ushered Fanatics into the sports crowdfunding space, expanded its swimwear business with new deals and acquisitions, and set the stage for a move into sports betting.
What particularly stands out for Rubin is his two-pronged masterstroke to quickly dominate the trading card business in the ongoing sports collectibles movement.
In the year By 2021, Fanatics has surprised the industry by creating future long-term licensing deals for trading cards with Major League Baseball and its players union, the NBA and its association, and the NFL union (and soon, the NFL itself).
That rattled longtime industry kingpin Topps, which suddenly found itself facing the loss of key licenses as it attempted a SPAC deal to boost its value. The Fanatics card move has angered rival Panini, which has dominated NBA cards for years.
It was last January that Fanatics completed what seemed inevitable at the time – buying Topps at a discounted price of $500 million to dominate the domestic business card market, which has grown into a multi-billion dollar retail and physical and digital cards business.
“This will be their industry. The success of modern cards and new releases will be on their shoulders,” said Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, one of the card industry’s premier auction houses. “They made a desperate bet.”
The company announced this summer that it plans to start selling licensed college business cards next year.
While Fanatics has critics in other parts of the business, Topps’ stewardship has so far flown under the radar. Golden is optimistic.
“I expect them to do an excellent job and deliver a superior product to collectors, but at a time when they’re doing it, they feel like they’re getting value,” he said. “I would say the consensus of the industry is to be optimistic and wait and see. I don’t think there is much pessimism.
There is concern that the Fanatics could cheat the big card business, but Goldin thinks the risk is low.
You are the name everyone knows. The danger is lack of creativity,” he said.
Rubin entered the digital crowdfunding space last year with a controlling investment in Candy Digital, an NFT platform with MLB and WWE. However, the continued failure of collectible NFTs and the collapse of the cryptocurrency space this year has led to layoffs in the tech sector, including an undisclosed number recently at Candy Digital.
Outside of cards and collectibles, Rubin and Fanatics have made several business decisions in 2022 to strengthen relationships with current partners.
In March, Fanatics signed a long-term deal with WWE to handle its e-commerce business and create new licensed merchandise, trading cards and NFTs.
Over the summer, the company said it would begin producing most Nike Inc. pro apparel for major colleges starting in 2024, while Nike itself continues to make on-field gear for players.
In the collegiate name-image-matching space, the Fanatics started a football jersey program with more than 4,000 players.
These deals help Rubin and Fanatics further strengthen their presence in the licensed sports apparel and merchandise sector.
“He’s definitely a big player in the space. The apparel business has gone direct to consumer and he owns it. Larry Mann, CEO of Revolution, a Chicago-based sports marketing and media agency and former vice president of sales at ESPN, is the Amazon of sports buying.
Fanatics recently completed another round of fundraising aimed at funding future expansion and acquisitions. At the time, it was $700 million that boosted Fanatics’ valuation as a business to $31 billion, up from $27 billion after a $1.5 billion investment earlier this year.
Three years ago, Fanatics had sales of $4.5 billion. The company projects $8 billion in revenue by 2023.
What if Fanatics’ core business — the e-commerce and brick-and-mortar sale of licensed sports apparel and accessories — expands into other segments and other wallet concerns for consumers?
Matt Powell, vice president and senior sports industry analyst at market research and consulting firm NPD Group Inc., said consumers continue to buy jerseys and sports apparel.
“The e-commerce side of the business should continue to be the best part,” he said. “Assuming the (consumer spending) trend continues, the future looks good for licensed sports brands.”
And Fanatics is particularly well placed because of how the business is structured, Powell added. That includes being a licensor, manufacturer and retailer online and in stores.
“That’s the magic of the model for them — touching every aspect of the process,” Powell said.
Radicals is said to have a customer database of over 80 million consumers.
To bolster its business, Fanatics in February paid a reported $250 million for popular sportswear brand Mitchell & Ness in a deal that included notable investors such as Jay-Z, Maverick Carter, Meek Mill and Lil Baby.
Radicals previously bought a stake in ball cap retailer Leeds, which, like Mitchell & Ness, operates as its own independent brand.
Next, Rubin is set to enter the sports betting space with BetFanatics, which is expected to launch in early 2023 and could be in up to 20 states by fall.
In October, Rubin sold a 10 percent stake in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the corporate parent of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, to clear legal and regulatory slates for entering gambling and other sports deals.
As gambling has become widely legalized in recent years, with more states beginning to allow it, it’s a busy new frontier, but it’s a crowded place. How Fanatics operates its licensed betting business and how it differentiates itself from other betting companies will shake up over the next two years.
After the bet, it’s unclear what the Fanatics might do next. the media? Issuing a ticket?
Contrary to Alexander the Great’s supposed lament that there is no world left to conquer, Rubin and the Fanatics believe there is more work to be done and want to be all things to all sports consumers.
“I like his comment that he wants to be everything to the consumer,” Mann said. “All the emotional points of the sports consumer, he wants to touch. I find that really unique.”
Explosives, of course, face the same risks as any company – oversupply, recession, consumer habits, dud products, etc.
The company is said to be cash flow positive, so new investment rounds are for mergers and acquisitions rather than funding.
“We are not privy to his finances to know he has overextended himself. “I don’t think so,” said Mann. Unless he overextends himself, I don’t see much danger.
Rubin, 50, got his start in the business as a teenager selling used ski equipment from his parents’ Philadelphia home, and later branched out into e-commerce in the 1990s as a reseller and turnkey online retailer for large companies.
Rubin, who was not available for comment, said: He founded Fanatics in 2011 after another company sold it to eBay for $2.4 billion and bought back some of the company, including Fanatics. The business owner’s company is based in New York while the day-to-day operations are conducted in Jacksonville, Florida.
Forbes estimates that he is worth $11.3 billion. Outside of Fanatics, he is the chairman of the REFORM Alliance, which seeks to reform the criminal justice system and end prejudice.
Rubin, who briefly attended Villanova University before building the businesses, has made many strong connections both in and outside of sports during his career, bolstering the growth of the Fanatics.
One is Dallas Mavericks owner and longtime entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who has become a fan of what Rubin has done with the Fanatics.
“Michael has done an amazing job building the Fanatics. He is on a mission to reshape and take over all aspects of sports branding and is well positioned to do so,” Cuban said in an email. “He has the drive, the EQ, the brains and the focus. He is an amazing entrepreneur.”
Athletics’ Athletes of the Year: Athletes and Coaches Who Defined 2022
(Example: Sean Riley/ The athletics; (David Dow / NBAE via Getty Images)


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The Morning Report
The five best stories from around the web.
Ethan Thomas of Valet.
Wednesday, March 4th Edition
A myriad of gardening shows are now available ... and they're both boring and perfect.
So Long Stereotypes
Why beauty brands are removing gender from their marketing to better attract men.
If millions of Americans had to stay home because of Coronavirus, would their allotted sick time off accommodate?
True To Their Roots
The future of fan-favorite brand On Running lies in what lifestyle shoes they can make (without forgetting about performance).
Worth a Follow
Two times a week, SHIFT sends off a handful of stories from the edges of the web geared towards enhancing your mind, body and spirit.


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Besides a few fogged up camera shots and a sideline photographer who got drenched, CBS’ production of the Super Bowl came off without a hitch. Crews wiped off camera lenses as fast as they could, as the director switched through the 48 cameras to keep a clear shot. This AP story praised the game coverage and the halftime show, but had a few choice words for the heart-tugging pregame show. “As you can imagine, all the feel-good segments got a lot more airtime than, say, the story about the Bearsâ€™ Tank Johnson needing a judgeâ€™s OK to get out of house arrest on gun-possession charges and travel to Miami.” Yes, but whaddya expect?
Crews clean the lens on the overhead cable camera.


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Home, Garden, Rec & So Much More to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Massena!
Last year’s inaugural event brought thousands of amazing people together to support the Boys & Girls Club of Massena. Vendors, partners, advertisers, volunteers, and attendees shared their time and their treasure to help us open the doors to GREAT FUTURES for the kids of our community.
It’ll be even bigger and better this year! We are still holding it the first Saturday of May (May 5, 2018). But this year we are offering more space for vendors to participate with a move to the Massena High School campus, with businesses from across the region filling the gym, cafeteria, lobbies, halls and front courtyard to delight attendees with product demonstrations and deals on products and services.
Special advance registration is open now to last year’s exhibitors through Sunday, February 25th. Click here to learn more and register.
Then, starting February 26th, registration for new exhibitors will open to fill any remaining spaces.
Opportunities also exist to support the Club by placing an ad in the EXTRAVAGANZA Commemorative Program. Decide the ad size you’d like, then email your ad copy and submit payment. Learn more on our EXTRAVAGANZA! page.
We want to thank everyone for their support of last year’s event and look forward to having you join us for the EXTRAVAGANZA! this year on May 5th. Every dollar made at the EXTRAVAGANZA stays right here, to provide the programs and place that is making a difference in the lives of our kids — more than 500 members strong!


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Activision Blizzard destroys expectations in the second quarter, increases prospects when Call of Duty records records
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) have them profit for the quarter ending June 30, 2020and like Electronic Arts, the company profited greatly from the COVID-19 pandemic when their customers stayed at home and connected with live service money makers such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Acti-Blizz generated $ 1.93 billion in net income in the second quarter (their fiscal year coincides with the regular calendar year), which is much higher than $ 1.4 billion made in the second quarter of 2019. In fact, this is the best second quarter of Acti-Blizz in the history of the company. Second quarter net income was $ 580 million from $ 328 million a year ago. Earnings per share were $ 0.75 for the second quarter, or about 17 cents above forecasts. Despite the good news across the board, Activision Blizzard shares are still down slightly in after-hours trading as investors may even have expected Lake brilliant results.
Call of Duty levels up
To the shock of no one, Call of Duty was the most important thing driving Activision’s success in Q2 2020, especially the massive success of Call of Duty: Warzone. The free-to-play CoD battle royale game has amassed over 75 million players to date, bringing Acti-Blizz’s (MAU’s) monthly active users to over 400 million. Overall, involvement in the Call of Duty franchise increased a whopping 8x in the second quarter of 2019, and a significant portion of those playing Warzone upgrade to the premium Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which includes the CoD franchise moved more copies in Q2 than any other non-launch quarter in history.
Obviously, the Call of Duty money train isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Acti-Blizz reaffirmed a new premium Call of Duty from Treyarch and Raven Software (reportedly the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War) launching this year and Warzone will receive a large amount of infusion of fresh content based on the new game.
Call of Duty isn’t the only property benefiting from the pandemic – Blizzard, which has been struggling in recent years, saw a big boost in World of Warcraft involvement in Q2. Blizzard grossed $ 461 million in net sales in the quarter, a very good result by recent standards, and WoW engagement would be higher than in a decade when Blizzard is preparing to launch the major Shadowlands expansion of a new WoW Classic content. Of course, people who were stuck at home without doing anything were also good for Acti-Blizz’s mobile division King, who milked Candy Crush for $ 553 this quarter.
At least someone is enjoying 2020
While the effects of COVID-19 may diminish somewhat in Q3, the effects should be strongly felt for some time to come, and again, Call of Duty is an absolute joke at the moment. In addition to the new premium Call of Duty, Warzone content and WoW Shadowlands expansion, Acti-Blizz also plans to release the nostalgia-tweaking titles Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time this year what this year should both do well. As such, Activision Blizzard has again raised their full year 2020 outlook to $ 7.28 billion (up from the $ 6.8 billion they expected during their latest earnings report and the $ 6.45 they initially of the year).
In the longer term, Acti-Blizz has also vowed to apply their new Call of Duty model, in which they support multiple interconnected yet separate titles simultaneously, to some of their other major franchises. They’ve already announced that the Crash series is jumping to mobile, and who knows what can be done with franchises like World of Warcraft or Overwatch? While Bision Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, warns of COVID-19-related volatility, it seems that he has legitimate confidence in the future of the company …
Our mission to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment has never been more meaningful. Our 400 million players continue to experience fun, joy and achievement through our games. Our record engagement resulted in higher sales and earnings per share than previously forecast. While economic uncertainty could impact our short-term results, the initiatives that fueled our growth for the first half of the year should also form the basis for long-term growth.
Many thought Call of Duty couldn’t get bigger, but Activision Blizzard has taken someone to the next level again. If they can do a similar trick with their other major series, the future of the publisher looks very lucrative indeed.


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Shrinking overseas demand for information technology and telecom products led to a year-on-year decline of 11.6 percent in Taiwan's export in July, the government said Tuesday.
The $24.9 billion fall was a fifth consecutive monthly drop in the island's exports. It was led by a 20.0 percent fall in exports to the United States, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Shipments to Europe declined 14.4 percent while those to China, the island's biggest overseas market, were down 11.0 percent, it said.
The weak demand for Taiwan's telecom items was reflected in leading smartphone maker HTC's worse-than-expected 45 percent slump in July sales from the previous year, according to sales figures released by the company.
The island's export totaled $171.65 billion in the seven months to July, down 5.8 percent from a year ago.
Taiwan's trade-reliant economy has shown signs of weakness in recent months due to falling demand from its key markets China, Japan and the United States.
The economy dropped 0.16 percent in the second quarter of 2012, the first quarterly contraction since 2009, according to the government.


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To stand out from the competition in a market that is struggling to renew itself, nothing better than to innovate. And this, the Danone Eaux France group has understood. Innovation in the format, in the packaging, in the way of consuming, Evian is launching the “Goutte d'eau”, only available in Paris, Geneva and London this summer.
A drop of water in the heat of summer
Evian has just unveiled its mini 20 centilitre bottle in a super light format, without label or cap. The brand plays the card of transparency on its packaging, the aim of which is to be recycled immediately after consumption. Indeed, the Pilot brand has signed a partnership with Evian so that recycling at each point of sale can be used to transform these empty “Drops” into pens.
However, it is useless to look for this bottle in the supermarket shelves, “Goutte d'Evian” will not be marketed in the traditional way. Exclusively available in Paris, London and Geneva by this summer, it will be available in the street through street sales using trolleys, but also in spas, in certain boutiques and other kiosks.
In the case of itinerant sales, the brand plays the card of connectivity. Indeed, thanks to the hashtag #evianjaisoif, the various nomadic points of sale will be indicated to you on your smartphone.
Evian has become a master of marketing in the water market in France and its “Goutte” will surely appeal to many city dwellers during the summer, despite its high price of € 1. By the end of the year, the brand aims to reach one million consumers in France. At the same time as this launch, the Danone Eaux France group is launching a campaign created by the BETC agency entitled “The Eaux-rigines campaign”. Playing the transparency card for the consumer, this operation aims to reassure the latter about the 100% natural origin of the water.


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Beyobo Raises INR 5.5 Crore In Pre-Series A Funding According to an official statement, the company plans to use 25% of the funds towards technology enhancement, 35% to supply enhancement, and the remaining 45% will be utilized for demand generation
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
B2B commerce enabler Beyobo has raised INR 5.5 crore in a pre-Series A funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. SAN Angels, Indian Angel Network and Hyderabad Angels also participated in this round, along with several other individual angels. The funding round was initiated by CENSIE Capital Partners, who acted as the investment bank for the transaction.
According to an official statement, the company plans to use 25% of the funds towards technology enhancement, 35% to supply enhancement, and the remaining 45% will be utilized for demand generation.
"As CEO of BEYOBO, I've seen B2C businesses dominate the last decade, but now we focus on digitalizing B2B operations. Cross-border transactions pose challenges, so we've developed three engines for non-linear growth. Our deep understanding of major Asian countries empowers us, and we're ready to embrace the promising road ahead. The IPV team and their investors prove to be not just valuable in terms of providing funds, but also offer indispensable support in terms of ideating and brainstorming, providing real time feedback and sharing business connections," said Anil Agarwal, co-founder and CEO, Beyobo.
Beyobo, founded by Anil Agrawal, Kunal Jain, and Shikha Agarwal, is a cutting-edge company in the cross-border B2B procurement industry. The company plans to expand into additional categories and incorporate predictive analysis and personalized cataloguing features to enhance the customer experience, said the company in the statement.
It also claimed that BEYOBO has gained significant traction, serving over 35,000-plus retailers, and generating INR 95 crore in revenue in FY23.
"The market for international brands has seen a sharp rise due to deeper penetration of social media which has removed proverbial boundaries between large metros and tier 2 and 3 cities. The consumers are on a look out for premium and genuine international brands and Beyobo is helping such brands making inroads and opening new markets for them. We believe B2B online commerce is just beginning to unfold in India and it will see many new and disruptive models with Beyobo taking the lead," said Vikram Ramasubramanian, partner, Inflection Point Ventures.


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J. C. Penney Co. said Thursday its June same-store sales fell 8.2 percent, but beat analysts' expectations.
The department store chain also narrowed its loss estimate for the second quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected same-store sales to fall 9.3 percent. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
It also said it expects second-quarter same-store sales to fall by 9.5 percent to 10.5 percent, compared to an earlier prediction that same-store sales would fall by 9 percent to 12 percent.
In the five weeks that ended July 4, J. C. Penney said total sales fell 6.7 percent to $1.5 billion. Father's Day gifts boosted sales as did fine jewelry, which sold better than in previous months after a promotional event for diamond jewelry. The children's division had the weakest sales as the company had fewer clearance sales.
Sales results were better in the Southwest and worse in the Southeast.
J. C. Penney said it expects July same-store sales to fall by 13 percent to 16 percent.


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Leo isn't sure how this will work, but TiVo is now supporting If This Then That, as well as Amazon Echo and others. TiVo also announced it would have a 'Super Bowl Skip' feature that would skip over the actual football game and show the commercials.
Scott Wilkinson joins us to talk about the Super Bowl and the commercials that everyone wants to see. Scott says that the Super Bowl is the most watched TV show of the year and half are watching the game for the commercials. This year, there's some interesting new things, including TIVO marking each commercial break so that you can skip the game and go to the commercials directly.
Chuck got an Amazon Echo for Christmas and he's learned that he can control his stereo with it. Leo says that for $99, the Logitech Harmony Hub will not only control his stereo, but also his TV, cable box, and AV receiver, everything. It's designed to work with your smartphone, but it also works with the Echo too.
Now that Scott is outside of the fog of CES, Scott says that when it comes to TV sizes, 75" is the new 65", and as prices drop and the technology matures, the sizes are getting larger. And with microLED as a new technology, it's really remarkable. So much so that it could change everything and we'll be viewing micro and quantum dot LEDs in a few years.
Glen is thinking about buying an OLED TV, and wants to know which one to get — Sony or LG? Which one is more powerful processor-wise? Leo says that Sony isn't doing very well in the TV business, while LG is holding Strong. From a technology viewpoint, it really is a matter of taste. Both make excellent TVs. The chatroom says that Sony has better support.
Scott was at CES this week, putting over 26 miles on his feet in four days. And while there really wasn't much technology for most categories, there were some exciting announcements for home theater including a new MicroLED TV. This contains microscopic LEDs that are less than 1mm in size emitting red, green and blue. The advantage is that microLED can get a lot brighter than OLED or plasma and it can be dimmed down to nothing. So you get incredible blacks and really bold colors.
This week was the Flat Panel Shoot Out for HDTVs, and Scott has the results. This year, the shootout took place in association with CE week and featured mostly flagship TVs in a head to head evaluation. All TVs were professionally calibrated and fed the same TV feed. Then professional colorists made the determination of what TVs were best. There was also a Sony 30" OLED Broadcast video monitor which was used as the standard to compare to.
Earl is buying an LG 55" OLED TV. What's a good sound bar to go with it? Leo says that TVs have speakers, but they're largely an afterthought and they sound terrible. The TV manufacturers expect people to invest in a home theater system. An AV Receiver with surround sound and subwoofer is the best option, but if he needs to go with the sound bar option, then Leo says that Scott Wilkinson really likes Onkyo, Vizio, and Yamaha.
Scott joins Leo to talk about how January is the big time to buy a new TV because the NFL playoffs are in full swing and people want their new TV before the Super Bowl. It's also the time that TVs get discounted because TVs we see announced at CES will begin selling in the Spring. Is there any upgrade we'll see in 2018 worth waiting for? Scott says maybe not, but CES always has something new coming and Scott has heard of something that is really exciting. But on the whole, Scott only expects incremental improvements, or what Leo calls "fins" this year.
Scott joins us to talk about Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Leo saw it yesterday at the fan event and he saw it in 3D, which he says ruins movies for him. Also, the projector died twice. Scott says Leo isn't the only one to have that issue. There was a showing at the AMC Burbank where the dialogue track wouldn't play and AMC wouldn't start it over. It almost caused a riot.


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CHICAGO: Stanley Black & Decker gave corporate responsibility officer Deb Geyer and chief communications officer Shannon Lapierre a big job: roll out a brand purpose and a CSR platform and embed it across the tool company.
"Everyone we talked to after we initially launched our purpose said it’d take seven to 10 years to embed the purpose," Lapierre said. "We move very quickly at Stanley Black & Decker; there’s no way our CEO was going to wait seven to 10 years to see impacted results."
The pair was able to meet their deadline in time for their global leadership meeting, launching both a purpose for the company and a vision to double its size by 2022.
Stanley Black & Decker defined its purpose as "inspiring the makers and innovators to create a more sustainable world."
The company also set goals: continue to deliver top quarterly performance; be recognized as one of the world’s most innovative companies; and elevate its commitment to CSR, including diversity and inclusion initiatives and an effort to not only be carbon neutral, but carbon negative by 2030.
"A lot of people think [that] with purpose [ you] have to get there fast," said Geyer. "But we had to balance and make sure we were thoughtful and invested the right amount of time and made sure we had an activation before we even thought about CSR."


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Thursday, June 16, 2022
Nicalis has announced that The Legend of Bum-bo, a prequel to Edmund McMillen's The Binding of Isaac, will be coming to consoles later this month. Announced as far back as 2016 and released for PC in 2019, the ‘deckbuilding roguelike’ set within a cardboard world, will be hitting Xbox soon.
Centred upon Bumb-bo's mission to retrieve his only coin, when it's stolen by a mysterious entity and taken into the sewers, the game involves collecting hoards of items that can be modified, upgraded, and combined in a variety of ways. You can play as multiple versions of Bum-bo, each with their own abilities, then set about smashing, bashing, and splashing through “a variety of cardboard monstrosities", including giant bosses.
Featuring more than 125 unique items to modify and upgrade, over 80 trinkets that grant passive abilities, 40 enemy types, seven playable Bum-bo types, 13 “ugly-yet-cute” bosses, music by Ridiculon, a slew of unlockables, animated cutscenes “that will make you feel bad”, and oodles of poop, The Legend of Bum-bo sounds like it pretty much has it all.
The Legend of Bum-bo will be pooping its way to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch on 29th June, priced $19.99. Take a look at the poopy new trailer below.