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We're days away from the launch of the upcoming OnePlus Nord on July 21, and ahead of its launch, the company will finally be putting up the mid-range smartphone on pre-orders today. The company had announced previously that the OnePlus Nord will be available for pre-order on 15 July 2020 at 1:30pm IST on Amazon.in.
Users pre-ordering the device have been promised a surprise gift box containing limited-edition merchandise from OnePlus. Pre-order customers who complete the purchase of the device by August 31, 2020 will receive a second gift box with more surprise gifts. To complete the pre-order process, customers will have to pay a deposit amount of Rs 499 to pre-book their phones.
Ahead of the phone going on pre-orders today, OnePlus' co-founder, Carl Pei, has shown off the design of the phone in a video uploaded by YouTuber, Marques Brownlee. In the interview, Pei gives us our first real look at the OnePlus Nord, which is shown to be available in in two colours -- Grey and Teal. The video also reveals the front of the Nord and gives us a glimpse at its two front-facing cameras.
While the video doesn't throw up too many surprises, as much of the design details of the phone have already been seen in the past leaks, it does interestingly also reveal a few OnePlus Nord prototypes that the company had rejected before going with the final design.
As for the internals, we have previously read reports that the OnePlus Nord could come with a 6.44-inch AMOLED panel running at a refresh rate of 90Hz. The display is rated to provide 408ppi pixel density and 20:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the phone is expected to be made available in two variants, with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM and storage of 128GB or 256GB. Keeping the lights on could be a 4115 mAh rechargeable battery with support for fast 30-watt recharge via the USB Type-C port.
For cameras, the phone could come with a quad-camera set-up that houses a 48-megapixel Sony IMX 586 sensor with an f/1.75 lens and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) + Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) support. This will be sat next to an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens with 119 field-of-view (FOV), a 5-megapixel macro lens with an f/2.4 aperture, and 2-megapixel depth sensor unit.
More on the device will be known in the coming days as we get close to the Nord's July 21 launch date. OnePlus Nord's launch event on July 21 will be an online-only affair, with users promised the chance to join the live stream in AR on the OnePlus Nord AR app. The launch event will begin at 7:30 pm IST.


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[Updated: 9/15/2021] ATVI Stock Decline
The stock price of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) reached its all-time high of around $105 in Feb this year. It hovered in the 90s levels between Feb and Jul before seeing a sell-off in late-Jul and early-Aug to levels of under $80. ATVI stock currently trades at $78, reflecting a 25% decline from its Feb highs. There are two factors driving the stock down. 1. There is a fall in user engagement levels when compared to last year, but this was anticipated as people spent more time on gaming with shelter-in-place restrictions last year, and now with the global vaccination rate rising, people have started to venture out of their homes. 2. A California based agency filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for sexual harassment and discrimination, and this did not bode well with the investors. To add to its woes, the employees of the company and a major media labor union have recently filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. The company is accused of worker intimidation and union busting.  But now that ATVI stock has declined 3% so far this week and it is also down 13% year-to-date, will it continue its downward trajectory over the coming weeks, or is a recovery in the stock imminent?
According to the Trefis Machine Learning Engine, which identifies trends in the company’s stock price using ten years of historical data, returns for ATVI stock average 1% in the next one-month (twenty-one trading days) period with only a 53% probability of a positive return, after experiencing a 5% drop over the previous week (five trading days). But how would the returns fare if you are interested in holding ATVI stock for a shorter or a longer time period? You can test the answer and many other combinations on the Trefis Machine Learning Engine to test Activision Blizzard stock chances of a rise after a fall. You can test the chance of recovery over different time intervals of a quarter, month, or even just 1 day!
- What’s Next For Activision Blizzard Stock?
- What’s Happening With Activision Blizzard Stock?
- What’s Driving Activision Blizzard Stock Higher?
- Will Activision Blizzard Stock See Higher Levels Following Its Q4?
- Microsoft To Acquire Activision Blizzard For $69 Billion
- Forecast Of The Day: Activision’s Revenue Per Active User
Some Fun Scenarios, FAQs & Making Sense of Activision Blizzard Stock Movements:
Question 1: Is the average return for Activision Blizzard stock higher after a drop?
Answer: Consider two situations,
Case 1: Activision Blizzard stock drops by -5% or more in a week
Case 2: Activision Blizzard stock rises by 5% or more in a week
Is the average return for Activision Blizzard stock higher over the subsequent month after Case 1 or Case 2?
ATVI stock fares better after Case 2, with an average return of 0.9% over the next month (21 trading days) under Case 1 (where the stock has just suffered a 5% loss over the previous week), versus, an average return of 1.6% for Case 2.
In comparison, the S&P 500 has an average return of 3.1% over the next 21 trading days under Case 1, and an average return of just 0.5% for Case 2 as detailed in our dashboard that details the average return for the S&P 500 after a fall or rise.
Try the Trefis machine learning engine above to see for yourself how Activision Blizzard stock is likely to behave after any specific gain or loss over a period.
Question 2: Does patience pay?
Answer: If you buy and hold Activision Blizzard stock, the expectation is over time the near-term fluctuations will cancel out, and the long-term positive trend will favor you – at least if the company is otherwise strong.
Overall, according to data and Trefis machine learning engine’s calculations, patience absolutely pays for most stocks!
For ATVI stock, the returns over the next N days after a -5% change over the last five trading days is detailed in the table below, along with the returns for the S&P500:
You can try the engine to see what this table looks like for Activision Blizzard after a larger loss over the last week, month, or quarter.
Question 3: What about the average return after a rise if you wait for a while?
Answer: The average return after a rise is understandably lower than after a fall as detailed in the previous question. Interestingly, though, if a stock has gained over the last few days, you would do better to avoid short-term bets for most stocks.
It’s pretty powerful to test the trend for yourself for Activision Blizzard stock by changing the inputs in the charts above.
[Updated: 8/6/2021] ATVI Stock Update
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) recently reported its Q2 results, which were better than the street estimates. The company reported revenues of $1.9 billion, in-line with our forecast, and higher than the consensus estimate of $1.8 billion. The company’s adjusted EPS of $0.91 was well above $0.78 per Trefis and $0.75 consensus estimates. All three segments – Activision, Blizzard, and King – saw a y-o-y decline in sales. This is due to a tough comparison to the prior year quarter, which benefited from Covid-19 related lockdowns, as people were confined to their homes, eschewing more public forms of entertainment. This resulted in higher user-engagement levels for Activision Blizzard. However, the engagement levels remain much higher than they were before the pandemic, a trend likely to continue going forward.
Looking forward, the company has raised its outlook for revenues to be around $8.6 billion, and adjusted EPS to be $3.54 for the full-year 2021. Despite an upbeat quarter, and a strong outlook, ATVI stock hasn’t seen much appreciation since it reported the Q2 earnings. In fact, it is down 14% over the last one month. This can be attributed to a recent sexual harassment and discrimination scandal, and a California based agency filing a lawsuit against the company. While the company’s management has stated that it has taken important steps and it will continue to take necessary actions to address any cases of discrimination or harassment, the scandal hasn’t been received well with the investors.
That said, we maintain our Activision Blizzard Valuation of $119 per share, based on expected adjusted EPS of $3.85 and a P/E multiple of 31x, reflecting a solid 45% premium to the current market price. In fact, the average price of analysts’ estimates stands at $117. This suggests that ATVI stock is significantly undervalued at the current levels, and investors can use this dip as a buying opportunity for long term gains.
[Updated: 6/29/2021] Activision Blizzard Q2 Earnings Preview
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) is scheduled to report its Q2 2021 results on Tuesday, August 3. We expect the company to likely post revenue and earnings above the consensus estimates, primarily led by continued growth in the Call of Duty franchise as well as World of Warcraft. Activision Blizzard should see an overall pickup in demand due to higher gaming engagement levels seen over the recent quarters. We expect the company to navigate well based on these trends over the latest quarter.
Furthermore, our forecast indicates that Activision Blizzard’s valuation is $119 per share, which is a large 40% premium to the current market price of around $85. Our interactive dashboard analysis on Activision Blizzard Pre-Earnings has additional details. Actually, the premium has risen over the last few days, given that ATVI stock saw a 6% decline in a single trading session on Tuesday, July 27. The decline came in after the company is being sued for a hostile work environment. Furthermore, the company’s initial response to the allegations angered its employees and hundreds of them staged a walkout.  How this impacts the company’s performance is yet to be seen, but surely this development didn’t bode well with the investors.
(1) Revenues expected to be slightly above the consensus estimates
Trefis estimates Activision Blizzard’s Q2 2021 revenues to be around $1.95 billion, slightly above the $1.85 billion consensus estimate. Despite the economies opening up with vaccination programs underway in multiple countries, the user engagement levels for gaming has remained on the higher side, aiding Activision Blizzard’s sales over the recent quarters. Furthermore, the company has been focused on its free-to-play offerings across mobile, PC, and console, given that it was able to add over 100 million players in a little over a year just for the Call of Duty franchise. The company is now replicating this free-to-play offering across its other franchises, which will likely result in an increase in user-engagement levels, and its in-game sales. Activision Blizzard’s Q1 2021 sales were also up 27% y-o-y to $2.3 billion, with growth seen in all of its segments. Our dashboard on Activision Blizzard Revenues offers more details on the company’s segments.
2) EPS likely to be slightly above the consensus estimates
Activision Blizzard’s Q2 2021 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) is expected to be $0.78 per Trefis analysis, slightly above the consensus estimate of $0.75. The company’s adjusted net income of $768 million in Q1 2021 reflected a solid 30% rise from its $591 million figure in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to higher revenues. For the full year 2021, we expect the adjusted EPS to be higher at $3.81 compared to $3.21 in 2020. The company has reduced its sales and marketing costs over the recent quarters, and we expect this trend to continue in the near term.
(3) Stock price estimate 40% above the current market price
Going by our Activision Blizzard’s Valuation, with an EPS estimate of $3.81 and a P/E multiple of 31x in 2021, this translates into a price of $119, which is roughly 40% above the current market price of around $85. In fact, at the current market price of $85, ATVI stock is trading at just 22x its 2021 EPS estimate of $3.81. The 22x figure compares with levels of over 26x seen in 2019 and a 29x figure seen as recently as late 2020, implying there is more room for growth in ATVI stock.
Note: P/E Multiples are based on Share Price at the end of the year and reported (or expected) Adjusted Earnings for the full year.
- Activision Blizzard employees file unfair labor practice suit against company, Shannon Liao, The Washington Post Sep 14, 2021 [↩]
- Blizzard employees walk out over company’s handling of discrimination, sexual harassment suit, Shannon Liao, July 28, 2021, The Washington Post [↩]

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GOOD NEWS Hundreds Show Up to Eat Burgers with 'Sad Papaw' at Cookout
This grandpa captured our hearts when a photo of him sadly eating a hamburger went viral.
dinner with papaw tonight... he made 12 burgers for all 6 grandkids and I'm the only one who showed. love him pic.twitter.com/0z0DkPtUiR
— kelsey (@kelssseyharmon) March 17, 2016
That night, Kelsey Harmon was the only one of six grandkids to show up for burger night at “Papaw’s” house, she wrote.
That definitely wasn’t the case on Saturday, as hundreds in Dibble, Oklahoma made their way out to eat a burger with “Papaw” at a giant cookout.
(The grandkids were all there this time, too.)
As attendees lined up to try one of his $2 burgers, many posed for pictures in T-shirts that read, “I ate a burger with Sad Papaw.”
“It’s fantastic. Hard to believe that this many people are excited about a cookout,” said Kenny “Papaw” Harmon.
“My grandkids have always been very special to me.”
“Papaw” says that all the money raised from his cookout will be going to his grandkids’ college funds.
See more on this story, via Fox 8.


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Roche Latvija is pleased to be part of the AmCham community.
Rauls Vēliņš, General Manager, Roche Latvija
Gatis Kokins, Chairman of the Supervisory Council of Lattelecom addressed AmCham on January 15, 2016. He offered his views on the global and local trends in the Telecommunications industry and spoke about further direction of Lattelecom.
Mr. Kokins explained the history, ownership structure, revenue model and services of Lattelecom. He also expanded on the digital single market: “Latvia could become the role model for the rest of EU and there are huge opportunities ahead.” He added that Riga is already among top WiFi hotspots in Europe.
Regarding the competition, Mr. Kokins was sure the largest challenges are continued innovations between systems, not necessarily between companies.
Mr. Kokins concluded his presentation by giving an overview of strategic direction of the company and possible merger with LMT. In his view, the merger would be beneficial to both customers and stakeholders as it would increase the competition.
Asked about the next trends, Gatis Kokins named two – the world will get even more connected and the role of entertainment will grow significantly, shaping the telecoms industry even further.
I look forward to promoting stronger U.S.-Latvia ties and working with AmCham members to ensure Latvia is a trusted destination for international business.
John Tully, Chairman of the Board of MikroTik


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Dixons Carphone Plc (LON:DC.) said Andrew Harrison will step down as deputy chief executive to return to the helm of struggling subsidiary Carphone Warehouse.
Harrison, who was chief executive of Carphone before its £3.8bn merger with Dixons in 2014, will become chairman of the business to help lead its turnaround.
“I am extremely proud of what we have achieved through the merger of Dixons Carphone over the last three years,” Harrison said in a statement on Thursday.
“With the ongoing changes in the mobile market, I now want to focus my attention more sharply on Carphone Warehouse, a business that has been close to my heart for over 20 years, as we enter the next stage of its development."
Dixons Carphone’s mobile phone division has come under pressure as UK consumers have been holding onto their handsets for longer rather than updating to the latest releases as a weaker pound pushes prices higher and puts a strain on household incomes.
In August, the group warned that it expects its full year profit to drop due to challenges in its UK mobile business.
Chief executive Sebastian James said in Thursday’s statement: “We are aware that this part of our business, while retaining a high degree of appeal and relevance to customers, operates in a market where customer behaviour is changing.”


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Google will soon know far more about who you are and what you do on the Web.
Google has already been collecting some of this information. But for the first time, it is combining data across its Web sites to stitch together a fuller portrait of users.
Consumers won’t be able to opt out of the changes, which take effect March 1. And experts say the policy shift will invite greater scrutiny from federal regulators of the company’s privacy and competitive practices.
The move will help Google better tailor its ads to people’s tastes. If someone watches an NBA clip online and lives in Washington, the firm could advertise Washington Wizards tickets in that person’s Gmail account.


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While hops get a lot of the attention from brewers and drinkers alike, and malt has intrigue, especially as the craft segment of that ingredient is on the rise, there is another area that deserves renewed focus.
Yeast is the workhorse of beer and while it is critically important, it can sometimes be taken for granted. Still, there are several advancements happening with the microbe in labs across the globe and Lance Shaner, the owner of Omega Yeast recently spoke with Beer Edge editor John Holl about innovation in the yeast space.
“We are doing, and others too, things with engineered yeasts that we’re excited about,” he says. “We’re still full service and there are all of the old favorites made fresh but we believe that some of these newer engineered yeasts that can pull out interesting flavors and nuance.”
The company has conducted and read surveys from brewers on what professionals are looking for with their yeasts.
This includes thiolized strains, others that can be turned around faster, and others that won’t not produce diacetyl.
He also said there are modifications that can be made to existing yeasts to make them more suitable for hazy IPA or other styles with big interest. This will mean better beer with unique flavorings.
Kveik is still of great interest to brewers, he says.
“It came out of nowhere several years ago, and there is more mining and discovery of strains,” Shaner says. But, he says, that does not mean Omega will be blanketing brewers with every conceivable strain. Shaner says the key is to offer ones that can truly bring something different or special to a beer.
There are also ways to engineer Kveik with other existing strains, like Chico, Shaner says.
“We can find some of those unique traits and we we better understand the genetics we can pul those out, like heat tolerance and fermentation speed, for example, and we can allow Chico to ferment out to 85°F or 90°F and turn around beer faster while making the same beer.
For all the innovation happening there is also a lot of unknowns.
“There are plenty of things that aren’t on our radar right now, but we’re paying attention to problems that brewers are having, be it with diacetyl or hop creep, and seeing how we can solve for that.”
He said Omega is conducting research tests on what brewers can do to mitigate hop creep from dry hopping, for example.
“Anything we can do help a brewer that is going to help with their beers is what we’re doing.”


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Jump in the Vapid Taxi and start picking up customers.
Florida rapper Cochise leads this year’s Neon Nights event.
The Definitive Editions of GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas are now on Steam.
Experience the game again through New Game+.
EA Sports PGA Tour tees off this March.
Two more games are free to play for a limited time on Xbox consoles.
Rudol von Stroheim joins the fight.
Doom Slayer, Cyberdemon, and Cacodemon have also returned.
Ping, place markers, and highlight enemies with this new piece of tech.
Season 2 has been pushed back a few weeks.
Get a first look at the upcoming Console Edition of Transport Fever 2.
Ryoma puts down his sword and runs a farm in Another Life.
Ray tracing can now be selected in the graphics options.
Sega shows off the returning and revamped British forces.


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Electric version of the iconic black cab hits London roads
Thu, Dec 07, 2017 - 5:50 AM
"It's bringing clean air to London," says Chris Gubbey, CEO of the London Electric Vehicle Company, of the new electric black cab.
LONDON'S black cab has gone electric - and it's just hit the roads.
Wi-Fi, USB charging and even a sunroof are among the new features of the six-seat, battery-powered cabs, with a range extender of up to about 640 km. Fares match those of diesel predecessors, so users can go...


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Gold price soars
The price of gold continued to forge ahead today as the market braced itself for a flood of announcements from the world's biggest producers that they are pulling out of hedging activities.
Bullion was fixed at $316.60 an ounce mid-morning, its highest since last October, and climbed on to $319. The gains added to Friday's spectacular $23 jump following news that Canada's second-biggest gold miner, Placer Dome, was suspending its hedging activities 'in expectation of improving gold market sentiment'.
Today, Australia's biggest producer, Normandy Mining, said it had not entered into any new hedging contracts for almost two months. American giant Barrick Gold was expected to make a similar announcement.
Hedging enables producers to guard against a fall in gold prices by selling future production at a fixed price. A withdrawal from the forward market signals confidence that the price of gold is set to rise, a belief that in itself can trigger a market rally.
Meanwhile, the euro resumed its slide on the foreign exchanges, falling half a cent against the dollar to 97.68. Bank of England Governor Eddie George, chairing a meeting of central bankers, said there was reasonable confidence that the currency had room to rise.
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Supplier News Breaks Archives
Kleenex tool predicts where cold/flu will strike
September 25th, 2013
DALLAS – Kimberly-Clark Corp. is launching the achoo by Kleenex tool, which it calls the first and only cold and flu predictive tool that can determine where the flu will hit next.
The company said Tuesday that the online tool can help consumers lessen the uncertainty seen in flu seasons like last year's, which saw its earliest start in nearly a decade.
The achoo by Kleenex tool utilizes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data and a proprietary forecasting model developed by a global network of professors, business leaders and highly trained analysts, according to Kimberly-Clark. The tool predicts where cold and flu will hit next up to three weeks in advance and has an average accuracy rate of more than 90%, well beyond the "current status" that other sources provide, the company noted.
"For years, we have seen the cold and flu wreak havoc on our lives. It hits without warning, and the timing, location and severity vary from year to year, leaving everyone unprepared," stated Anna Elledge, Kleenex brand manager. "The achoo by Kleenex tool gives everyone the opportunity to see when and where the cold and flu will hit their area. It's one more way for Kleenex brand to help families prepare for the season and avoid sickness before it hits."
Starting in late September, consumers can go online to my-achoo.com to access the Kleenex tool and get a cold and flu forecast for their area. Users enter their ZIP code or city and state, and the tool provides a cold and flu outlook for the next three weeks. The website also features cold and flu-related tips, including covering your cough or sneeze with a facial tissue as recommended by the CDC.
"We've all been there, increasing our normal vitamin C intake and tearing apart the house looking for a tissue," added Elledge. "This winter, we're helping parents avoid the 'day one scramble' by showing them when the cold and flu will hit so they can go out and stock up on essentials, such as Kleenex brand tissue, ahead of time."
Also in September, Kleenex will host Checkpoints in cities identified as "high risk" by the achoo by Kleenex tool to help people prepare for the cold and flu season. The Checkpoints will kick off in Chicago on Sept. 25 and be hosted by a well-known mom who will be talking to consumers about cold and flu preparedness. The company said consumers can look for Checkpoint Ambassadors in high-traffic areas for a chance to redeem retail gift cards and coupons for cold and flu essentials like Kleenex Everyday Tissue, which is now thicker and more absorbent to help keep hands clean and dry.


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AAC NEWS – FOLLOW-UP
CRISTIANO RONALDO wiped $4BILLION off Coca-Cola’s market value after his press conference stunt on Monday.
The Portuguese legend – who scored two late goals in a 3-0 win against Hungary – had told the watching world to ‘Drink Water!’ as he sat down to speak to the media.
The Juventus forward removed two bottles of the fizzy drink from the desk in front of him during his pre-match press conference ahead of their opening game win.
Coca-Cola’s share price promptly dropped from $56.10 (£39.80) to $55.22 (£39.19).
At one point during the day 1.6 per cent of the company’s value had been wiped off – meaning the market value of Coca-Cola went from $242bn to $238bn – a drop of $4bn (£2.84bn).
There was a late recovery, with the price back up to $55.44 (£39.38) at closing.
Coke has since issued a statement in response to CR7’s actions, saying “everyone is entitled to their drink preferences” and that everyone has different “tastes and needs”.
A spokesperson added: “Players are offered water, alongside Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, on arrival at our press conferences.”
Later on Tuesday, devout Muslim Paul Pogba removed a beer bottle during his press conference following France’s 1-0 win against Germany.
Ronaldo, 36, has a famously strict diet and avoids sugary foods, eating clean up to six times a day to maintain his incredible physique while he ages.
While still at Real Madrid, the club doctor said he had the body of a player ten years younger and could continue playing at the top level into his 40s.
While the drinks company were trying to save face on Tuesday, Ronaldo was his typical self on the pitch against Hungary.


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New egg packaging helps to reduce food waste
The packaging will help to reduce waste as any seepage resulting from broken eggs is contained within a single pack and does not damage those beneath it.
The packgaging is recyclable and is made from old plastic bottles.
Emma Marsh, Head of the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, said: “We’re always very pleased to see packaging innovations that save perfectly good food from going to waste. Eggs are such a versatile ingredient and can bring together so many ingredients to make a tasty dish so it’s great to see that more will be reaching the homes of shoppers who can make the most them.
"The results of the trial have been very positive and we hope to be able to roll out the packaging nationwide by the end of the year."
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AstraZeneca Wins With Concentration On Rural China
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
U.K.-based AstraZeneca has developed a different China strategy than most of its global competitors in the drug-making business. Instead of concentrating on a quest for big sales in the largest of China's cities, AstraZeneca has been working on sales in more rural parts of the country ignored by competitors. The firm's sales in China about quintupled since 2001, with sales last year amounting to $423 million, making it No. 1 in the Chinese market. That domination could add leverage for AstraZeneca as it seeks to expand its share of the lucrative Chinese market. (Click here for more - a subscription may be required
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Payaca secures prestigious Go:Tech nomination
Posted on 08/02/2021
Payaca, the fast-growing software solution for home improvement businesses, has been named a finalist in the prestigious Go:Tech Awards.
The Bristol-based firm has been recognised in the Best Tech Start-up category for its user-friendly software that’s helping small businesses boost conversions and make higher-value sales.
The Go:Tech Awards celebrate businesses and entrepreneurs leading the way in technology and innovation around the UK.
After being scrutinised by expert judges from across the tech sector along with hundreds of other entrants, Payaca was one of the select few deemed worthy of being put through to the final.
Payaca is the only software of its kind to combine job management, finance and analytics for home improvement SMEs.
It helps them level the playing field with bigger national firms by giving them the ability to create, send and track professional quotes and invoices, collect e-signatures, calculate profit margins and measure performance analytics, all while integrating with popular accounting platforms like Stripe, Xero and Quickbooks.
The nomination comes as just the latest cause for celebration in what’s been an extraordinary year for Payaca.
Despite coronavirus – and lockdown preventing its target market from working - Payaca has had an immensely successful 2020, with hundreds of businesses signing up, immediately realising returns, and seeing conversion rates on quotes increase by over 30%.
“We’re absolutely delighted to have been recognised with a Go:Tech Award nomination,” comments company founder and director Matt Franklin.
“I started Payaca because I passionately believed we could use the power of tech to make life easier and business more profitable for thousands of amazing home improvement firms around the country.
“These are people who were already doing outstanding work, but didn’t have the resources to offer a lot of the sales tools that bigger rivals could.
“Even despite the challenges of the pandemic, we’ve had a fantastic start as a business, and it’s incredibly rewarding to be recognised by experts in the field.”


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What you need to know
- Videographer Andy To has shared a new video filmed entirely on iPhone 12 Pro.
- The video takes us on a tour of the parts of New York City that don't often get shown.
- The whole thing is filmed in 4K and HDR.
Apple's iPhone 12 Pro will go on sale this coming Friday and some people have already been able to take one for a spin Videographer Andy To is one of those people with the result being a cinematic tour around New York City. In 4K and HDR, no less.
The video, according to To, was recorded in 4K 60FPS / 4K 24 FPS HDR without the use of any external lenses. It was edited in Final Cut Pro and the result is impressive by any measure.
Check it out.
I've been home in New York for the past 7 months and a lot has changed. I've never explored the city this much before and with the release of the new iPhone 12 Pro I wanted to make sure I captured little more than just Manhattan.
I'd say he did a good job of showing what iPhone 12 Pro is capable of, wouldn't you?
The iPhone 12 Pro is the first to record in 4K Dolby Vision which is a big deal. We might not all have the skill of Andy T, but we can rest assured that the videos of our kids falling off bikes will look glorious!


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As JBS reopens plants after cyber attack, security concerns linger
GREELEY, Colorado: JBS, the world's largest meatpacker, said it is working to make the "vast majority" of its plants operational after a weekend cyberattack took all of its U.S. beef processing offline and disrupted global operations, upending agricultural markets and fueling concerns over food security.
"Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat," said JBS U.S.A. chief executive officer Andre Nogueira, in a statement, quoted by Bloomberg News.
The Sao Paulo-based company, which owns facilities in 20 countries, has yet to disclose how many of its plants globally were affected by the attack, attributed to Russia-linked hacking group REvil, also known as Sodinokibi.
Coming just three weeks after a ransomware attack on US gasoline pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline and a series of similar attacks targeting American government agencies, businesses, and health facilities, most of them blamed on Russia or Russia-based hackers, the latest cyber hack turned the spotlight back on meat monopolies and their implications for food security.
According to Allan Liska, senior security architect at cybersecurity analytics firm Recorded Future, more than 40 ransomeware attacks have been reported against food companies since May last year.
Tyson Foods, JBS, and Cargill control two-thirds of America's beef production. Thus, idling even a few plants could upend supply chains, as was evident last year when the pandemic forced plants to shut down, resulting in nationwide meat shortages.
The cyberattack on JBS kept the U.S. government from releasing daily meat-pricing data, which is key for agricultural markets, and caused pork prices to soar and livestock futures to dive.
The attack also forced slaughterhouse closures, thereby further aggravating an existing supply glut of livestock.
However, its impact on meat prices was not immediately clear, given retailers' reluctance to pass on price hikes to consumers.
"Attacks like this one highlight the vulnerabilities in our nation's food supply chain security, and they underscore the importance of diversifying the nation's meat processing capacity," said U.S. Senator John Thune of South Dakota.


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Buy now, pay later provider Affirm is eyeing opportunities beyond U.S. retail to fuel growth, as the evolving BNPL market contends with intense competition and rising regulation.
The U.S. is the largest market for San Francisco-based Affirm, which also operates in Canada, said Affirm’s Chief Revenue Officer Wayne Pommen. Now Affirm has its sights set on the U.K., where the company sees an appetite for the longer-term, interest-bearing loans it does far more of than its BNPL rivals.
Beyond that market, Affirm may seek to plant a flag where its large partners such as Amazon and Shopify have a presence, said Pommen. He was president and CEO of Canadian BNPL firm PayBright, which Affirm acquired in 2020.
As Affirm has matured, the BNPL company has experienced growing pains, exiting the Australia market last year and cutting employees. Affirm, which seeks to be involved in more of consumers’ everyday spending with its debit card, is also targeting verticals beyond retail goods, including elective medical spending, said Pommen, who spoke with Payments Dive Feb. 13.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
PAYMENTS DIVE: What’s Affirm’s outlook for expansion beyond North America?
WAYNE POMMEN: We are on our way to the U.K. We haven’t given a precise date, but it’s coming up pretty quickly, as the next market. We have a team on the ground there that’s building a pipeline, and we have our Financial Conduct Authority licensing as well, so we’re in pretty good shape there for a reasonably quick launch.
Beyond the U.K., we have not put a pin in or announced exactly which markets we would go to and when. But western Europe is of interest and one of the main reasons for that is, when you look at some of the biggest partners that we already have, they have really significant presence in some of these countries. Being able to work with some of those partners in western Europe is interesting.
Are you referring to the likes of Shopify or Amazon?
Yes, it’s those types of partners.
Of Affirm’s recent tie-ups — a Google Pay pilot, retail giant Walmart adding Affirm as an option at its self-checkout kiosks, or Affirm linking with Amazon Business — which presents the biggest growth opportunity?
It’s early to say which of those is going to be the most important, but they're all bang-on strategy.
I put our business into these buckets of growth. First, continuing to sign up new merchants — there's still lots of merchants that haven’t adopted BNPL. And also unlocking new segments of retail that we haven't gotten into.
Next, of the partners that we have, we tend to be able to grow our share with them for many quarters and years after we launch. The third thing we're focusing on from a growth perspective, is how do we accelerate the distribution through partnerships, and one-to-many partnerships, where through a partner, we're able to get to a lot of merchants quickly? So Shopify being an example of that.
Google Pay is a great example of a distribution partnership, where by partnering with them, we can get a lot of reach out to the merchant and consumer. Walmart’s self-checkout is a great example of the middle bucket, so growing share with an existing partner. We've been with Walmart for five or six years now, and so pushing more into other segments of their businesses is valuable.
Where do you see other growth opportunities for Affirm?
We have a team that is systematically working through adjacent markets and developing entry strategies for these, which are at varying degrees of development. One, for example, where we’re seeing some good progress is elective medical, so higher-ticket medical services and products where it may not be covered or people are paying out of pocket. When we look at where the U.S. consumer spends money, we've only been addressing a relatively small portion of it so far.
How do you compete with the more niche BNPL players you might find in those verticals?
For the most part, we are really going up against traditional payment methods like credit cards. In some cases, when we do run up against niche incumbents, we’re arriving with a far larger user base, brand recognition, scale, product capabilities that position us well to make an impact. When we go into other verticals and there are incumbents, they might have deferred interest and late fees. When we go into new verticals, we find that our proposition resonates really well with merchants and consumers.


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US 3M breaks ground for $500 mln Turkish facility
ÇORLU3M, the U.S.-based multinational conglomerate active in a wide range of sectors, has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $500 million investment in a production facility in northwestern Turkey.
A statement from the company yesterday said it would be one of the largest 3M facilities in the world.
The investment will increase the production capacity of the company in Turkey, according to Hak Cheol Shin, the 3M vice president responsible for international investments, speaking at the ceremony yesterday.
The company wants to establish the facility at the Çorlu European Free Zone, the large industrial area neighboring Istanbul, before the end of 2012.
“The facility will produce for various sectors and will recruit more than 1,000 people,” Shin said.
The local branch of the company is marking its 25th anniversary in the country, according to 3M Turkey Gerela Manager Andrei Holban.
The branch currently employs 400 people and is among the top 1,000 exporters in the country.
“We will offer made-in Turkey labeled goods to Turkish companies to replace the ones they are currently importing,” Holban said.
Thanks to the planned exports from the new facility, 3M will also contribute in cutting Turkey’s current account deficit, he said.
Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan thanked Kemal Şahin, chairman of Şahinler Holding, which founded the free zone in 1996.
The new 3M facility hopes to reach $1 billion in revenues in five years, Çağlayan also said.


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Ingles Markets reports higher 1Q sales, lower net income
Ingles Markets reported lower first-quarter net income but higher sales.
The Asheville-based supermarket chain said net income totaled $9.5 million, or diluted earnings of 42 cents per Class A common share, for period ended Dec. 28. That compared with net income of $11.6 million, or diluted earnings of 48 cents per Class A common, in the year-earlier period.
Net sales totaled $945.1 million, 1.1 percent higher than a year earlier.
Excluding gasoline sales, grocery segment comparable store sales decreased 0.8 percent, weekly customer visits increased slightly and the average transaction amount decreased slightly, Ingles officials said.
“We wanted to keep prices low for our customers throughout the holiday season. We believe these actions strengthened ties with our customers and will benefit us in the long run,” Chief Executive Officer Robert P. Ingle II said in a statement.
In other results, Ingles said:
• Gross profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 totaled $203.5 million, a decrease of $4.7 million, or 2.3 percent, compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Gross profit as a percentage of sales was 21.5 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 compared with 22.3 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2013.
• Total operating expenses were $177.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 compared with $174.8 million for the comparable fiscal 2013 quarter. Operating and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales, excluding gasoline sales and associated operating expenses, were 21.9 percent and 21.6 percent for the three months ended Dec. 28, 2013, and Dec. 29, 2012, respectively.
• Interest expense decreased $3.8 million for the three-month period ended Dec. 28, 2013, to $11.8 million from $15.6 million for the three-month period ended Dec. 29, 2012. Total debt on Dec. 28, 2013, was $925.1 million compared with $877.0 million at December 29, 2012.
Interest expense decreased despite the increase in total debt due to the lower rate on Senior Notes issued in June 2013 compared with the debt that was repaid, Ingles officials said. The company currently has a line of credit totaling $175.0 million with $14.4 million borrowed and $10.3 million of unused letters of credit issued at Dec. 28, 2013. The company said it believes its financial resources, including these lines of credit and other internal and anticipated external sources of funds, will be sufficient to meet planned capital expenditures, debt service and working capital requirements for the foreseeable future.
• Income tax expense as a percentage of pre-tax income was 37.5 percent in the December 2013 quarter, virtually unchanged from 37.4 percent in the December 2012 quarter.
• Capital expenditures totaled $30.8 million for the three-month period ended Dec. 28, 2013. Ingles officials said most of the capital expenditures were related to remodeling projects in a number of the company’s stores and to new store construction. Capital expenditures totaled $28.1 million for the three-month period ended Dec. 29, 2012.
Ingles said its capital expenditure plans for fiscal year 2014 include investments of approximately $100 million to $140 million.
Ingles operates 203 supermarkets in six southeastern states. In conjunction with those operations, the company operates neighborhood shopping centers, most of which contain an Ingles supermarket. The company also owns a dairy facility that supplies company supermarkets and unaffiliated customers.
The company‘s Class A Common Stock is traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market’s Global Select Market under the symbol IMKTA. For more information, go to www.ingles-markets.com.


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UK: Distillery investment at Glenmorangie
The Scotch whisky producer, Glenmorangie, is to invest £0.5m in expanding its Tain distillery to accommodate new fermentation vessels. With the expansion, production capacity at the distillery will increase from 3m litres a year to 4m litres. The work is due to be completed by September.
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Brown-Forman has reported earnings growth of 21% for its fiscal year to 30 April....
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Alliance Group can now use a unique chemical test to prove the sheep meat it exports to customers across the globe originates from NZ.
The test analyses the meat’s unique geochemical profile, which is based on the water, soil and air where an animal grazes, and compares the information with a database, much like that of fingerprint technology.
“This technology provides our customers, and ultimately consumers, with a scientific assurance their meat originates from NZ,” Alliance Group general manager marketing Murray Brown said. “Our ability to prove provenance for our premium NZ lamb can only enhance the value of our products.
“Alliance Group already has well-established traceability systems. However, we’re excited at the potential of this science to enhance our existing systems.
“Alliance Group has always been at the forefront of new technology and this development underlines our commitment to innovation, which benefits our suppliers and customers.”
Dr Helen Darling, of Oritain, said the rapid increase in global food fraud meant the ability to scientifically prove the origin of a product was increasingly important for producers and processors.
NZ lost about $89 million every year to the black market, but this was a conservative figure because it did not include trade within countries, she said.
“The world trade in counterfeit goods is estimated to exceed NZ$298 billion every year and is growing.
“It’s likely that this actual value is much higher, given that the estimate is based on actual interceptions.”


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Mail.ru, the Russian internet company, today launched a mobile ad platform called myTarget, opening up the Russian mobile audience to advertisers within Russia as well as internationally. The Russian online advertising market has historically been very insular, which is an issue that Mail.ru wanted to tackle, according to CEO Dmitry Grishin.
“It’s usually local advertising agencies working with portals, and it has worked for many years,” Grishin told AdExchanger. “But because of the nature of platforms like Google Play and Apple’s App Store, we’ve seen that more and more people from many countries want their applications globally.”
myTarget will tap into mobile Mail.ru properties, and will also work with a wide range of mobile applications in Russia. Mail.ru owns some big gaming networks and social sites in Russia, including VKontakte (VK) and Odnoklassniki (OK).
While the company already offers desktop display advertising solutions, it wants to be more innovative in the mobile space, Grishin said.
“Innovation on mobile is better,” he added. “There is user attention already in mobile and we’re capturing that attention.”
Several clients that already use Mail.ru display ad products are lined up to use myTarget. Those clients include Uber, Unilever, Coca-Cola, P&G, and Ford, according to the company.
Currently about 100 employees are working on myTarget, Grishin said, as the technology was all developed in-house. The main office is in Moscow, with other offices in Amsterdam and Silicon Valley, to connect with European and U.S. clients. But Grishin has bigger plans for myTarget.
“It can be a solution for advertisers from all over, like China,” he said. “A lot of Chinese developers, especially in the gaming world, spend a lot of money. For us, this is an interesting way to integrate ourselves into the global advertising community.”


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Emma made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night (April 7th), you can watch it below if you missed it or want to see it again. We have also added captures and HQ stills to the photo gallery.
Archive for the 'media' Category
Emma will be promoting SCRE4M on the talk shows below, we will have caps and video up sometime after they air if you aren’t able to tune in. • April 7th – Jay Leno • April 12th – Jimmy Kimmel • April 18th – Conan Below is a video of a cast interview, warning strong […]
Emma was spotted shopping at Alpha-man on Melrose and lunching at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood yesterday (April 1st). Below is a video of some of the new blood at a press confrence for SCRE4M that was held March 23rd. EDIT: Emma was spotted at Sunset Plaza in Los Angeles today (April 2nd). We added two […]
Sorry guys we are running into internet troubles at the moment (not an April Fools joke) so be patient with new updates. We have added candids of Emma shopping and at the gas station yesterday (March 31st). We reported a while back that Emma would make an appearance on Disney’s Phineas and Ferb Take Two […]
Emma was spotted at Starbucks in Los Angeles on Thursday (March 24th), check out the candids below! Check out a video below of Emma being interviewed by MTV News about Scream 4, The Hunger Games and Pretty Little Liars. EDIT: Added more Starbucks candids plus Emma was spotted shopping in Beverly Hills yesterday (March 25th).


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Los Angeles-based gaming company Combiform, Inc., maker of the first digital-game platform primarily focused on active real-time social interaction, is announcing it will launch a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising $300,000.
Combiform's updated gaming console design won the Laval Award in Emerging Technologies at last week's 2012 SIGGRAPH conference and will be the first-ever add on combinable controller to transform your mobile technologies into a home entertainment console. Its unique square design, LED lights and magnetic connectivity are guaranteed to attract a slew of Kickstarter donations from the gaming community at large.
Limited quantities of the console are priced to move - the company plans to retail the full bundle set of four controllers and two games for $99 but early adopters can pre-order it on Kickstarter for just $88.
"This is a unique project because it is not merely using novel technologies to promote new forms of interactions during play, it also endorses a movement, an emergent change in the game-design community," remarked Edmond Yee, Co-founder and President of Combiform. "We have taken advantage of the unique hardware design to further a new perspective on digital games that uses old rules to create new types of play."
Already an award-winning platform, Combiform is hitting on a unique trend of removing gamers from a physical screen and instead encouraging real time, face-to-face engagement and play. The distinctive controllers are designed such that players focus on other players, embracing their physical bodies as part of the game to enhance the gaming experience. The LEDs make the game's feedback apparent not just to individual players, but also to the play community.
The company plans to use the Kickstarter funds to finance the gaming hardware production and distribution. Combiform team member David Waterhouse adds: "We're creating a new type of fun that has already been street-tested by casual gamers and gaming elite alike. Players are engaged from the first moment of play and are breaking spatial boundaries that would otherwise be nonexistent within current gaming formats."
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Grad Viewbook and Design Refresh Launch Update
Posted by Megan Otis on Friday, November 17, 2017 at 10:46 AM PST
Happy Friday content editors:
Two pieces of news to share with you this morning.
New Graduate Viewbook
Today, we have launched the new digital Grad Viewbook. The new viewbook is the result of collaboration between Graduate Admissions, Marketing Communications and our branding agency 160over90.
To ensure we are able to focus on any potential issues that may arise, we are shifting the launch of the design refresh and template changes, along with the launch of the new Seattle U homepage, until after finals week in December to minimize impact on the campus community.
We are still temporarily pausing publishing this afternoon, as an opportunity for the Web Team to do a dry run for the design refresh launch in a couple of weeks. But publishing will resume by 5:00pm this evening.
Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding.
Have a great weekend,
The MarCom Web Team


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Amazon claims it missed out on a potentially $10 billion contract because of President Trump. That's the assertion in a lawsuit by Amazon Web Services unsealed Monday. The Department of Defense ended up handing the JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) contract to Microsoft in late October, a move that AWS alleges came after "behind-the-scenes attacks" from the president, who it alleges has a "personal vendetta against Mr. Bezos, Amazon, and the Washington Post." It wants the DOD to cancel the award and circle back to all the proposals for a fresh look. The latest:
- CNBC reports the company alleges Trump "intervened directly in the very final phases of the two-year procurement process. ... The question is whether the President of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends," the suit states.
- By way of background, the AP reports Oracle and IBM were knocked out earlier in the process, leaving Amazon and Microsoft as the ones vying for the contract. Oracle sued, arguing the bidding was rigged in a way that benefited AWS. This summer, Trump got involved, saying he had heard the complaints and wanted the situation reviewed.


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Japan's Caution Riles Ranchers
Reviewed by Hitoshi URABE
Japan's Caution Riles Ranchers
(David Ivanovich) Houston Chronicle
Despite the title of the article may seem to imply the villain being the Japanese, the tone of the report is very objective. In fact, while casually suggesting Japan may have been overcautious and showing sympathy toward the beef producers, the article points out the inconsistencies on the policies of the U.S. side to be more responsible in delaying the reopening of U.S. beef import to Japan.
In December 2003, upon a case of BSE discovered in the U.S., Japan halted import of U.S. beef, which until then amounted to one-third of total beef consumption in Japan. While the incident was being analyzed in both Japan and the U.S., BSE was found in a cow raised in Japan, totally independent of the U.S. case. The Japanese government, in order to calm the confusion and fear of the people, quickly implemented a system to test every slaughtered cow in order to confirm it uninfected. The measure was at the time criticized to be too cautious, but it did calm down the social anxieties, and the people began to eat domestic beef again, knowing it is safe.
This, however, made the restart of the U.S. beef import difficult. It was natural for the Japanese people to expect the same level of safety standards for the foods to be imported - as would people of any civilized country. But for the U.S., implementing a system to test every cow was simply inconsiderable. Rather, the U.S. utilized the usual tactic of employing members of the congress to speak up angrily, in order to "pry open" the Japanese market again. As with similar tactics often adopted by the U.S., based upon threat and force, it only had the detrimental effect on the Japanese people as the details of the negotiations were disclosed.
As reported in the article, at least one U.S. beef processor, Creekstone, was willing to accept the procedure in accordance with the Japanese standard, to test every cow. The company's CEO explained its position that he does not believe 100 percent testing is necessary from a food safety standpoint. "But that's not the issue," he said. "Our Japanese customers are skittish on this issue. And if they want it, why wouldn't we go ahead and do that? If it makes them feel better, why not?"
A very legitimate response to a request from a large - and perhaps pampered - customer, wouldn't you say? But the U.S. government prohibited Creekstone to adopt the proposed testing procedures, for whatever authority the government had, and kept on pressuring Japan to accept its own method to sustain safety of beef. It is explained in the article that indeed Creekstone in March sued the Agriculture Department in federal court, arguing the government's response was "irrational" and "capricious."
Japan is apparently ready to re-re-open its market for U.S. beef with enhanced, more stringent, conditions. But Japan is a consumer led market, and consumers always have a right not to buy. When the U.S. beef was banned, there were many who wished for its quick return. But during the while the U.S. was attempting to "pry open" Japan's market, people became used to eating beef from other sources, including Australia and China. They learned how unreliable the U.S. safety standards were and how clumsily they were being executed - in terms of Japan's commonly accepted criteria. Also, the people became aware of the arrogant approach by the U.S. in "pry-opening" Japan's market again, which amplified the consumers' skepticism. As such, it is interesting to see how much of the market share the U.S. beef would regain once the U.S. beef were to be allowed into Japan again.


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The 2013 American Boating Congress in Washington, D.C., will host Ken Walsh, the White House correspondent for US News and World Report, as well as Coast Guard Rear Adm. Dean Lee, as speakers.
“This year, kudos go to the National Marine Manufacturers Association,” Marine Retailers Association of the Americas legislative director Larry Innis told Trade Only Today. “They expanded ABC to include all industry participation and they have done an outstanding job.”
Schedule planning and coordination for the conference, which is set for May 8-9, has been done with the now 30 industry co-hosts of the conference, more than double the number of co-sponsors last year, NMMA president Thom Dammrich told Trade Only.
“The co-hosts have been making suggestions on topics and speakers, and the NMMA is listening, so it’s not just focused on the manufacturing side,” Innis said. “They’re making a point to focus on the whole industry, from dealers to manufacturers to marinas.”
One issue on everyone’s mind is ethanol, Innis said — a topic that is uniting the industry in a way he hasn’t seen since the days of the luxury tax. But there are other issues, too.
Many co-hosts asked for a representative from the National Ocean Council to attend as the group creates a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts and the Great Lakes, NMMA legislative director Jim Currie told Trade Only.
“We were concerned initially last year when the group put out a 118-page draft on ocean policy and didn’t mention recreational boating a single time,” Currie said. “There has been a great deal of angst that those who are connected with the White House might come out with some things that would put some restrictions on or potentially stop some of the things that we do on oceans.”
Organizers are also trying to add some congressional speakers to the lineup, but haven’t received confirmation at this early date.
— Reagan Haynes


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North American Free Trade Agreement
What is NAFTA?
The North American Free Trade Agreement, also known as NAFTA, began on January 1, 1994, and effectively removed most of the barriers to trade and investment between the North American countries of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Since its inception, NAFTA has been breaking down trade tariffs across the continent, including on agricultural products like dairy.
Dairy Groups Support Program to Comply with NAFTA Trucking Agreement
In October 2011, NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) hailed the full and complete lifting of retaliatory tariffs by Mexico to resolve a lingering cross-border trucking dispute. This action came after the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented a pilot program to allow a selected number of Mexican carriers to operate on the U.S. side of the border under strict safety standards.
These actions meant that dairy products on Mexico’s retaliation list were free of the 20-25% tariffs that were restricting U.S. access to the strongest foreign market. Mexico’s retaliation against a total of $2.4 billion in U.S. exports had come after successfully challenging the U.S. ban on Mexican trucks that has remained in place, despite a 1994 U.S. commitment under NAFTA to lift it.
The DOT pilot program announced in April provided for a 30-day comment period and another period of approximately 30 days to assess the comments received. Subsequently, DOT published a final Federal Register Notice, which outlined the implementation process for the project. Based on this notice, a final agreement was signed by the U.S. and Mexico, and Mexico immediately reduced its retaliatory tariffs on all products by 50%. Removal of the remaining tariffs only awaited today’s Mexico Federal Register announcing the Mexican President’s action of accepting that the first Mexican carrier as eligible to operate across the border.
Mexico Trucking Agreement Reached, Implementation Delayed
The United States and Mexico signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on July 6, 2011 formally outlining a pilot program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the United States.
Despite concern raised in a recent report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Transportation Department, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was ready for implementation of the U.S. – Mexico cross border trucking program. Some areas of concern in the Transportation Department IG’s report were at the border, implementation plans for electronic on board recorders for pilot program trucks, and training for inspection personnel for the pilot program.
In addition, the Department of Transportation stated that approximately 46 Mexican carrier companies would need to participate in the pilot cross-border trucking program before it terminated in three years. A Federal Register notice stated that this “statistically valid sample” must be achieved by the pilot program before a longer-term cross-border trucking program can be implemented. However, analysts suggested that, absent a longer-term cross-border trucking program, Mexico was entitled under NAFTA to re-impose “retaliatory tariffs” on US goods previously lifted.
Dairy Groups Welcome U.S. Government’s First Step Towards Resolution on NAFTA Trucking Dispute
The Obama Administration released an initial proposal on January 6, 2011 aimed at taking the first step in fostering discussions with Mexico to resolve the NAFTA trucking dispute, the fall-out of which has impacted the U.S. dairy industry by subjecting many U.S. cheese exports to Mexico to retaliatory tariffs. NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) issued a joint press release praising the development.
Given the size of this market, this issue caused great concern for NMPF. The organization was pleased to see this step towards progress and hoped that the negotiations with Mexico would be concluded within the next two to three months, as the Administration outlined is its intent. It was important to note, however, that the 20 – 25% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. cheese exports remained in place at this point. NMPF was working to urge both the U.S. and Mexican governments to lift these tariffs in a good faith gesture as soon as possible and at least by the time negotiations with Mexico conclude.
House Dairy Champions Defend U.S. Dairy Market
On September 30, 2010, the four Co-Chairs of the House of Representative's Dairy Farmer Caucus wrote to President Obama about the retaliatory tariffs by Mexico that threatened the largest export market for the U.S. Mexico accounted for one out of every five dollars of returns that dairy producers received as a result of U.S. dairy exports, making it very important as an outlet for significant quantities of U.S. milk in the form of cheese, whey, lactose, skim milk powder, and other products. In August, Mexico imposed tariffs of 20–25% on most U.S. cheese exports in retaliation for lack of U.S. compliance with its NAFTA transportation obligations. Mexico indicated that it remains willing and able to expand the retaliation list to include other products as well in the future.
In addition to the efforts by the Dairy Farmer Caucus Co-Chairs, Rep. Bill Owens (NY), a strong defender of New York's dairy farmers, led several members from the upstate NY delegation in sending a letter to President Obama similarly urging swift action by the President to resolve this situation that was negatively impacting New York's dairy industry and threatening exports from that state to Mexico. NMPF applauded the willingness of these members to stand up and urge action by the White House to address a situation of great concern to the dairy industry.
NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) expressed great disappointment at the August 18, 2010 announcement by the Mexican government that it would impose tariffs of 20% to 25% on several major categories of U.S. exports to Mexico, including many cheeses. This action targeted shipments to the largest U.S. export market for dairy products and included products such as cheddar, mozzarella, gouda, provolone, colby, Monterey Jack, cream cheese, and many others.
This retaliation had been authorized by a NAFTA Dispute Settlement Panel due to lack of U.S. compliance with its NAFTA transportation obligations. With respect to the newly published retaliation list, Mexico noted that it had “yet to receive a formal proposal for the resolution of this dispute and an unequivocal signal that the U.S. government is working to eliminate the barriers that Mexican long-haul carriers face to access the U.S. market. As a result, the Government of Mexico has renewed the list of U.S. goods subject to increased tariffs.”
Dairy Groups Convey Concern to President Regarding Dairy Exports to Mexico
In a July 20, 2010 letter to President Obama, NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) expressed concern about the potential risk to U.S. exports to Mexico that existed due to ongoing lack of action by the Administration to comply with U.S. NAFTA trucking access obligations. Mexico was applying retaliatory tariffs on many non-dairy U.S. exports due to the inability of Mexican trucks to deliver goods across the border to U.S. destinations. These tariffs were justified since the U.S. was found many years ago to not be complying with its NAFTA commitments on this issue.
Concern exists that these retaliatory tariffs could soon be applied to a greater range of products, conceivably even hitting U.S. dairy exports to Mexico. U.S. dairy exports to Mexico in 2008 totaled $935 million in 2008 and were an impressive $639 million even in 2009, making it by far the largest export market of the U.S. NMPF praised the President for his recent announcement to move ahead with resolving issues in the U.S.-South Korea FTA so that it can be considered by Congress for approval, but pointed out that even the sizable benefits we would stand to gain under that FTA pale in comparison to the size of the market we have established in Mexico and which could be put at risk if the U.S. did not act soon to resolve the trucking dispute with Mexico.
U.S. Agricultural, Manufacturing, and Services Companies and Associations Urge Obama to Resolve Mexican Retaliatory Tariff Dispute
On April 7, 2009, NMPF joined 140 other agricultural, manufacturing, and services companies and associations in sending a letter to President Obama that urged him to work with Congress and quickly resolve an international trucking issue that led to retaliatory tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of U.S. manufactured and agricultural exports. Due to the termination of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Cross Border Trucking Pilot Program with Mexico, the U.S. was in violation of its bilateral trade obligations with Mexico on international trucking. On March 19, the Mexican government instituted retaliatory tariffs.
Coalition of U.S. Food and Agricultural Organizations Oppose Managed Trade with Mexico
In a letter sent to the full House and Senate on February 6, 2008, NMPF and other U.S. food and agricultural organizations asked Congress to not include managed trade with Mexico in the 2008 Farm Bill or any other legislation. House and Senate Farm Bill conferees had been considering a proposal to manage trade in sugar with Mexico. However, adopting managed trade with Mexico would have effectively amended the free trade provisions of NAFTA by instituting export and import restraints. The proposal also contained other international trade violations that would have subjected the U.S. to challenges and unraveled the free trade opportunities that the U.S. agricultural sector worked so hard to achieve.


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At El Ciro Food Market and Deli at 125th Street and Broadway, teen-agers running in and sliding open the freezer bin for a Sno-Cone or an ice cream sandwich to beat the heat have been laying their hands on a new treat: St. Ides Special Brew Freeze and Squeeze, an ice cold fruit-flavored malt liquor.
Perhaps the attraction is the colorful label, with the same logo as a popular brand of nonalcoholic juices and iced teas, that makes the new drinks appealing to teen-agers.
Perhaps it's the novelty of the package -- a soft plastic pouch that allows the alcohol inside to expand as it freezes.
Or maybe it's just a simple, youthful desire for the illicit.
Freeze and Squeeze has the same alcohol content -- 6 percent by volume -- as the bottle of St. Ides Special Blend malt liquor, which is predominantly consumed by black and Hispanic men.
Whatever the reason, the shopkeeper at El Ciro, German Almanzar, says teen-agers as young as 14 have been clamoring to buy the 8-ounce pouches since they arrived at his store 10 days ago -- unsuccessfully, so far, he added.Continue reading the main story
Some shopkeepers may not have been as vigilant. Jose Maldonado, the city's Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, said that yesterday inspectors cited the Royal Deli, at 125th Street and Fifth Avenue, for selling Freeze and Squeeze to a minor, under a new city rule that makes such sales an ''unconscionable trade practice.''
Mr. Maldonado said that responsibility for keeping the product out of the hands of children falls most directly to retailers. ''But we will also be reaching out to St. Idesto take the health and welfare of this city's children under consideration in their packaging and marketing,'' he said.
In New York, so far, the new drinks remain somewhat hard to find. On Jamaica Avenue in Queens, only two stores had Freeze and Squeeze yesterday. The Stop 1 Deli Supermarket displayed them right next to the Italian ices and ice cream. The Manhattan Quality Meat Market stored them in a separate refrigerator.
The head of McKenzie River Corporation, which markets the new product, says it is aimed strictly at adults, but adds that retailers are responsible for preventing its sale to minors.
The company has been testing Freeze and Squeeze in five urban markets -- New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, at fewer than 50 stores in each city, since June.
But critics of the alcoholic beverage industry seized on the new product as yet another blatant attempt to convert children and teen-agers into drinkers.
''It's training wheels for the big stuff,'' said Hillary Abramson, a spokeswoman for the Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems, in San Rafael, Calif.
''This makes Joe Camel look benign,'' said the Bronx Borough President, Fernando Ferrer, who has attacked tobacco companies for targeting children and minorities.
Minott Wessinger, president of McKenzie River, which is based in San Francisco, denied trying to appeal to young people.
''It's not our intention at all,'' he said. ''The product is absolutely aimed at the adult market -- adults who are drinking frozen versions of fruit-based drinks. It's not intended as any kind of gateway product.''
Mr. Wessinger said that similar frozen drinks have been available since 1995, among them the Seagram Beverage Company's Frozen Paradise line of daiquiris and the Tropical Freezes and Ice Breakers produced by Brown-Forman Corporation, better know as the distiller of Jack Daniels bourbon. Those products were not on display in the handful of stores carrying Freeze and Squeeze, however.
But the introduction of the product, first reported by WNYW-TV, Channel 5, on Tuesday, comes at a time of heightened sensitivity toward marketing to youth and minorities.
Even as the Stroh Brewery Company, which brews the St. Ides drinks in such flavors as coconut-pineapple, passion and kiwi-strawberry for McKenzie River, was shipping the first cases of Freeze and Squeeze last month, tobacco industry lawyers were agreeing to bans on using cartoons and human figures in advertising and to stop advertising cigarettes on billboards.
The St. Ides products, unlike the Seagram and Brown-Forman products, are distributed almost exclusively in urban markets, a spokeswoman for the brand said.
St. Ides itself has come under attack at least once before in its 10-year history.
In 1992, the company agreed, without admitting any wrongdoing, to stop advertising its malt liquor in a way that suggested that it increased male sexual prowess, after the New York State Attorney General investigated advertisements that used rap musicians and appeared in media directed at blacks.
More broadly, critics like Ms. Abramson said the new frozen version of St. Ides, with its colorful packaging, resembled a number of new alcoholic products that have popped up on shelves across the country recently.
Among them are so-called alcopops, a variety of lemonade-flavored sweet ales with names like Yellow Belly, Two Dogs Lemon Brew and One-Eyed Jack. The next wave, she said, may be a line of alcoholic beer-flavored frozen ices that came out last year in Germany.
George A. Hacker, director of the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in Washington, said that his chief concern about the St. Ides malt liquor products is their similarity with McKenzie River's Crooked I line of juices and teas, which use the same logo.
''They're purposefully blurring the lines between alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages,'' Mr. Hacker said.
A spokeswoman for the brand, Lacey Logan, countered that its packaging materials had been approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Besides, she said, the Freeze and Squeeze package warns in three places that it contains alcohol.
Still, Mr. Hacker said that the company, at a minimum, should be required to segregate its alcoholic products in a clearly marked adults-only section of the freezer drawer.
At El Ciro Food Market, Kiamesha Todd, 24, a student at Manhattan Borough Community College and the mother of a 3-year-old boy, said she was aghast to learn that the new drinks contained alcohol. ''Why would they put them there?'' she said, referring to the freezer bin. ''That's stupid and dangerous. Little kids might think it's an icy.''
But Makeba Hoffler, 11, who lives on 125th Street, said she bought a Blueberry Natural Fruit Drink because ''it tastes good and it has no alcohol.'' She said she was too young to drink the alcoholic Freeze and Squeeze. ''Maybe in eight years,'' she added, apparently unmindful of the legal drinking age.Continue reading the main story


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Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry has announced that its OS 10.2 upgrade is rolling out to customers this week.
BlackBerry is making the latest version of its mobile operating system available for the Z10, Q10 and Q5 smartphones starting in Europe, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. See also: best BlackBerry phone in 2013.
"BlackBerry OS 10.2 introduces new features that will help you be more productive and stay better connected. It includes hundreds of new refinements that make the things you do every day faster and easier." said the firm.
New features on BlackBerry OS 10.2 include the BBM Video with natural sound, lock screen notifications, calendar enhancements and improvements to the BlackBerry Keyboard.
The Priority Hub apparently learns what conversations are most important to you and puts those messages at the top of your inbox. You can also preview BBM, texts and email from any app and Reply Now means you can respond to an incoming call with one of those three methods.
After some delay BBM has finally launched on Android and iPhone and seems to have been greeting with a warm reception. BlackBerry said the instant messaging app was downloaded a total of 10 million times in the space of 24 hours.
"While we're excited to bring BBM to iPhone and Android - we aren't stopping there. Work isn't slowing down at all. We committed to delivering a BBM experience on iPhone and Android that was equal to that on BlackBerry 10. That means bringing BBM Video, BBM Voice and BBM Channels to Android and iPhone customers too." BlackBerry said in a blog post saying the features will arrive in the near future.


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MILAN — Developments for La Perla employees in Italy are at a standstill.
After the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy summoned a roundtable with trade unions and representatives for the company on Tuesday, the latter didn’t seem to come up with a plan. German businessman Lars Windhorst, the company’s owner via his London-based private equity firm Tennor, was notably absent in person and reportedly tuned in via streaming and left before its end.
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The meeting followed news last August that the luxury lingerie brand had failed to pay July wages to its employees, as highlighted by the Filctem-Cgil and Uiltec-Uil unions in a joint statement. It is understood that those wages were later paid.
The lingerie brand employs around 330 workers in Italy, 230 of which are based at its Bologna manufacturing site. Unions said that as of Tuesday, August wages had not been paid, but clarified that the company ensured they will be wired no later than Sept. 10.
Italy’s undersecretary Fausta Bergamotto, who presided over the roundtable, urged the company to “submit an industrial plan by mid-October and to meet with Lars Windhorst in person to understand his relaunch plan,” she said. “We also expect the company to honor his duties and pay August wages,” she added. She claimed that the government is willing to help put in place all needed and available measures but said that the state is “not a debit card.”
As the roundtable unfurled in Rome, about 130 La Perla employees were demonstrating at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy’s headquarters on the capital’s central Via Veneto.
Stefania Pisani, the general secretary of the Filctem-Cgil union, said “satisfaction is partial when it comes to the company’s reassurance about paying wages, which we will only be certain about at the time of the deposits, but we’re totally unsatisfied about the company’s future plans, as there is no real relaunch plan.”
La Perla did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The troubled innerwear brand has failed to steadily relaunch in recent years, after Windhorst’s private equity firm Tennor, then known as Sapinda, took over the company in 2018. La Perla remains heavily indebted as it logged pre-tax losses of 48.8 million euros on sales of 69.1 million euros in 2022, according to the company’s annual report.
The 60 million to 70 million-euro financing to relaunch the brand which the German businessman had pledged to put in place never materialized. Last month, La Perla Fashion Holding issued 50 million euros in bonds, or 11.1 million shares, hoping to improve its financial position and allocate funds to the brand’s relaunch.
Over the past few years, the lingerie label has been searching for new revenue streams and has expanded into beauty and swimwear. It became one of the first brands to join Amazon Luxury Stores. The company also invested $50 million in the now-shuttered British couture house Ralph & Russo.
As reported, La Perla’s troubled business trickled down to its U.K. operations as last July it resolved winding-up petitions filed by a pool of its British creditors. In particular Purple PR; the accountancy firm Mazars; the design agency Edge Retail, and the consultancy firm HSO Enterprise Solutions all served winding-up notices to the company. Petitions have since been withdrawn after La Perla paid its debts, except for the latter, as the company still owes HSO Enterprise Solutions more than 701,129 pounds.
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LAHAD DATU: Interests on the business potentials at the POIC Lahad Datu here have intensified with the recent spate of positive reports in particular with regards to China.
The Sabah-China Chamber of Commerce (SCCC) is the latest group of business people making a beeline to Lahad Datu with specific focus on the state-owned POIC Lahad Datu industrial park.
Its president Datuk Frankie Liew is leading a delegation of 20 people on a two-day visit to Lahad Datu beginning June 23.
Among the group’s itinerary a visit to POIC Lahad Datu and a courtesy call on and dialogue with the Lahad Datu Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
They attended a briefing on POIC Lahad Datu’s by the Head of Marketing and Sales Division, Rose Pun, and visiting the several factories in Lahad Datu including an investor of POIC.
“In view of the visibly increasing interest of China on Sabah in general, and POIC in particular, our members feel that a visit here is relevant to enable us to see for ourselves opportunities for local investors, and to help us able to articulate accurately Sabah’s business potentials when we meet with our business friends in China,” said Frankie.
SCCC members are involved in a wide spectrum of businesses state wide and they are interested to explore opportunities in collaborating with in coming foreign investors.
“We are keen to see how our businesses can complement POIC.
We are interested in cold storage import and export of marine products, transport and warehousing, for examples,” he added.
In addition to frequent contact with China entrepreneurs, Frankie said SCCC also has frequent exchanges with businesses in the Philippines and Indonesia which, along with Malaysia, are all members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which brings together Asean nations with China, South Korea and Japan, among others.
He revealed that a SCCC delegation is scheduled to visit Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province this August to familiarise with the plan of develop Indonesia’s new capital city, Nusantara.
“This (Indonesia’s new capital) will bring huge development potential of POIC Lahad Datu, and the POIC Port will play a very important role in freight and logistics in the region.”
POIC Lahad Datu has been in the news spotlight lately. Last April, POIC Sabah, the developer of the 4,400-acre POIC Lahad Datu, signed a collaborative agreement with the China Construction Bank. This link-up with one of China’s biggest banks is seen as a potential breakthrough on China investment inflow into Sabah. Before this almost all of China’s major investments into Malaysia were confined to Peninsular Malaysia.
CCB officials led by its Senior Vice President of Strategic Development, Ms Wang Jiayang visit POIC Lahad Datu last week. The visit coincided with that of a group of top officials from Dongnam A. Circulater Co. Ltd a shipping and logistics group based in Busan, South Korea.
In early June, China Foreign Minister Wang Yi generated a buzz when he, at a stopover in Kota Kinabalu said that China has tremendous interest in the downstream potential in Sabah’s oil palm industry.
POIC Sabah is promoting investment in eastern Sabah, its oil palm belt, and urging foreign investors, including from China, to look at this area as an integral part of the resource-rich east Asean territories known as BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area) POIC Sabah Chairman Datuk Sri Panglima Yong Teck Lee welcomed the SCCC visitation and commended them for their initiative in going in-depth into understanding the business possibilities in Sabah.


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Edgewell Plans to Buy Harry’s Inc. for $1.4 Billion
The acquisition of a “digital native” challenger brand by a traditional consumer goods manufacturer — often at eye-popping prices — has become commonplace these days. But the fact that this deal is billed as a merger in which Harry’s Inc.’s shareholders gain an 11% stake in the combined company and the upstart’s founders will become co-presidents of Edgewell’s U.S. operations illustrates exactly how disruptive the industry’s disruptors have become to the status quo. (Unilever’s 2016 acquisition of another category challenger, Dollar Shave Club, was notable more for the price tag alone.)
Launched in 2013 by Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider (the latter of whom also co-founded Warby Parker), Harry's has grown to capture about $250 million in annual sales, according to industry estimates. Although it started as a “pure play” direct-to-consumer e-commerce operation, the company more recently began distributing through both Target and Walmart. It also has moved beyond men’s shaving products to include other personal care SKUs as well as lines for women. CGT profiled Harry’s as a “Standout Small Brand” in 2017.
With its Schick and Wilkinson brands, Edgewell held a 13.6% share of the U.S. shaving market in 2018, while Harry’s had about 2.6%, according to Euromonitor (as reported by The New York Times).
"The combination of Edgewell and Harry's is a pivotal step forward in further transforming our organization and strengthening our competitive position and ability to drive sustained growth and value creation," Edgewell chief executive officer Rod Little said in a media release announcing the deal. "Our combined company will have leading brands and omnichannel capabilities that are essential to meet the needs of the modern consumer and win in today's market environment.”
"Our vision was to create a grooming brand that better met our needs as consumers and, over time, a CPG platform that creates brands people love across more categories,” Katz-Mayfield and Raider stated in the release. “Together with Edgewell, we see a significant opportunity to continue delivering on that vision, leveraging Edgewell's advanced technology and global footprint alongside our customer-first approach, brand-building expertise and omnichannel capabilities.”


text: Tapadh leibh, Mr Speaker, and thank you for enabling this. During the covid crisis, people are getting a taste of border restrictions and they do not like it. Leaving the customs union and the single market would give businesses more significant Brexit borders. Anybody worth their salt in business and trade negotiations knows the numbers. Given that there is no good Brexit for the economy and that the damage to the economy was reckoned by the UK Government at one stage to be between 6% and 8% of GDP, does the Minister have updated figures for the damage, deal or no deal, to the UK economy, jobs and business, or are we still looking at 6% to 8%?


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Seven new retailers are set to inhabit The Canary District in Toronto, a community built for CIBC Athletes Village at the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Games.
The new retailers are Dark Horse Espresso Bar, Fuel Plus, OpusGlow Concept Spa, Pizza e Pazzi, Tabule Middle Eastern Cuisine, The Running Room and Think Fitness Studio.
“We are attracting the ‘best of the best’ retail operators,” said Jason Lester, president of Dundee Kilmer, which helped secure the businesses. “We know this mix of services will go a long way towards contributing to the healthy lifestyle of Canary District residents and the positive well-being and atmosphere of this engaged neighbourhood.”
LiveWorkLearnPlay Inc. partnered with Dundee Kilmer in the retail venture, approaching the selection of commercial tenants as it did with the Distillery District.
“We curated the ground floor retail uses by choosing amongst the best and most appropriate operators to fit within the health and wellness theme of the Canary District,” said Rob Spanier, partner and principal at LiveWorkPlay.
For example, when fully built, the 46,000 square feet of ground floor retail space along Cherry Street and Bayview Avenue will be home to Think Fitness Studio, a highly personalized studio specializing in small group training and one on one personal training.


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Northern Ireland companies hoping to forge valuable international business links are flying out to South Africa this week.
Eleven businesses, including Diet Express in Belfast and Edge Design in Dungannon, will be part of a 14-strong group meeting potential business contacts in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Between now and October 5, the Invest Northern Ireland trade mission will be investigating industry opportunities in sectors including including agri-technology, construction, mining, creative industries, healthcare and financial services. Anaconda Equipment International, Cookstown; MindMill, Carrickfergus; and CIGA in Ballymena, are returning to South Africa after taking part in previous trade missions.
Dr Vicky Kell, Invest NI trade director, said: “The support for this mission from so many companies new to the South African marketplace is immensely encouraging and significant. It indicates a growing recognition among business here that South Africa offers substantial opportunities across a very broad range of business sectors.”
South Africa has a population of around 47 million and is emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic markets, also providing a gateway to the rest of Africa.
“South Africa’s economy benefits from huge mineral deposits of coal, diamonds, platinum, bauxite, manganese, chrome, gold and vanadium,” Dr Kell said.
“As well as mining operations, the country has been upgrading its infrastructure and intends to spend upwards of £72bn to 2013 on projects that will bolster key industries, especially tourism, telecommunications and attract further inward investment.”


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If you’ve ever fantasized about having denim Air Force 1’s, your dreams just came true in a very big way. Nike has announced their latest collab and this isn’t one to miss. Partnering with 3x1, a premium denim brand known for its custom-made jeans, the two companies have released a trio of denim Air Force 1’s in black denim, stonewash blue, and raw indigo. We might have just become jeans on the feet people.
The story behind this collaboration is also distinct as the two brands have some shared history. Not only does 3x1’s atelier sit on 15 Mercer Street in New York City, which is adjacent to Nike’s specialty store NikeLab 21M, but the denim brand’s initial concept was to create a place where customers could come and get their jeans custom made, an idea that was originally inspired by Nike By You, the sportswear giant’s custom sneaker service.
Although they’ve shared a block and many of the same clients, the duo have never partnered—until now. And this is not your normal fashion collaboration. To create the denim sneakers, 3x1 worked closely with a Japanese mill, Kuroki, to develop two one-of-a-kind denim fabrics. This is the first Nike shoe that uses selvedge, denim that hasn’t been pre-washed and utilizes the edge of the fabric. The brands just took the Canadian tuxedo to a whole new level.
The trio of denim kicks drop today on 3x1denim.com, SNKRS (Nike's app) and at specialty stores worldwide including Kith. Each style retails for $130. Like any of your favorite denim products, these shoes are rooted in the concept of “better with time.” So, they’re kicks that will keep on giving as you wear them out and about. We recommend pairing them with your favorite all-denim look for an outfit that screams Britney and Justin circa 2001.
See the sneakers here:


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Earlier this year, Aqua Security tapped Jeannette Lee Heung as Senior Director of Global Channel and Alliances to make changes to its channel strategy – and it is doing just that.
The cloud security provider unveiled a “completely revamped” partner program on Tuesday, with Lee Heung saying the previous program “didn’t benefit” channel partners as much as it should have.
The new program, called Aqua Advantage, features a series of changes, such as more in-depth training and support services, dedicated partner managers, joint marketing development, and better business and technical alignments, according to a press release. of the company.
Additionally, Aqua Security, which has raised $265 million since its inception seven years ago and landed a $1 billion valuation last year, has created a completely redesigned partner portal with updated training, marketing and other materials sought after by channel players, the company said. The new portal will provide information in a “faster and clearer” way.
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Chris Zamagias, recently appointed Head of Channels for Aqua Asia-Pacific, said: “I‘I am delighted to be able to work with top-notch consulting and delivery partners to ensure continued, long-term success for our mutual customers. We‘Be strategic with our partnerships and base them on clients’ expertise and track record of success. CMD Solutions is one of the first fully Aqua-certified premier partners in our growing ecosystem.
Lee Heung, who was recruited into the company last winter, along with other top sellers from across the industry, have all been recruited to help privately held Aqua Security reach the next level of revenue.
In Lee Heung’s case, she came from rival Palo Alto Networks, where she was the head of the cybersecurity giant’s Prisma Cloud Global Ecosystem. Among his new tasks at Aqua Security is improving relations with the company’s channels.
In an interview with CRN US, Lee Heung said the new Aqua Advantage program is “more structured and built on business results.”
As for Aqua Security’s previous partner program, she said it had “no structure” and was not a “mature” offer for partners.
“The old system was not benefiting customers and partners as much as it could,” she said, adding that there was a need to completely overhaul the previous program and replace it with something else.
Lee Heung said she has worked closely with hundreds of chain players and technology partners to create what she called an “entirely new ecosystem” that is meant to benefit each other in the long run.
In a recent interview with CRN, Dror Davidoff, co-founder and CEO of Aqua Security, said that approximately 50% of Aqua Security’s revenue comes from this channel. But recently about 70% of his new customers have come through the channel, and he said he wants to increase that number to 85%.
“The company is growing and we want to do a lot more with the channel,” said Davidoff, whose company is also headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.