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ONE OF THE UM MOTORCYCLES TO BE LAUNCHED THIS FISCAL WILL BE A 200CC BIKE, WHILE THE OTHER WILL BE IN THE 400CC CATEGORY.
UM Motorcycles is going to start deliveries of its Renegade Commando and Renegade Sport S models this month, which are priced at Rs 1.59 lakh and Rs 1.49 lakh (both ex-showroom Delhi) respectively. In the initial phase, the company will deliver bikes to the first 3,000 bookings registered since their launch at the 2016 Auto Expo.
UM India director Rajeev Mishra told PTI, "We will begin delivery of 3,000 bikes (Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports) from the third week of August." Mishra also told that the company will start bookings for its third model, the Renegade Classic this year by Diwali, which was also unveiled at the Auto Expo and is priced at Rs 1.79 lakh. Apart from these 300cc cruisers, the American two-wheeler manufacturer is bringing two new models in different segments by the end of this financial year.
"We will have two more models in this financial year, one in the 200cc and the other in the 400cc category," Mishra said. There are no more details on the upcoming models apart from their engine capacity. However, the company wants to concentrate only on the cruiser segment for the next two years, which means that the upcoming models could be cruisers as well.
It seems that UM Motorcycles is planning to give a tough competition to Royal Enfield, which already has decades-old dominance in the segment. Where the Indian manufacturer is slowly upgrading its product range with better technology and reducing its drawbacks, UM is ready to offer advanced motorcycles with very competitive price tags.
The existing UM Renegade range of cruisers are powered by single-cylinder 4-valve liquid-cooled engines, which are technically far better than the RE thumpers. Moreover, these motors come mated to a 6-speed synchronous mesh gearbox with overdrive and they are also lighter than RE bikes. All these features help UM motorcycles to perform better, with a top speed of 135kmph along with a fuel economy of 32kmpl.
UM Motorcycles have a 50:50 joint venture with the India-based Lohia Auto Industries to manufacture and retail its bikes in India under the brand UM Lohia Two-Wheelers Pvt Ltd (UML). Apart from the technology, the American company has also invested Rs 100 crore in Lohia's Kashipur plant, which is now capable of rolling out 50,000 bikes per year. Currently, the company imports only 30 per cent of the components to produce these motorcycles in India but is working on 100 per cent local sourcing at the earliest.
Full localisation can further reduce the prices of these highly competitive priced motorcycles, which could result in higher demand. On this, Mishra said, "The capacity can be scaled up to 1 lakh units per annum as and when the demand picks up."
UM has already received 3,000 bookings in the first phase of registration, while the second phase is open for bookings. The company has set up 50 dealers across the country and the bikes are on display at 37 of these dealerships. The company aims to make India its single largest market worldwide in the next five years. If UML succeeds in getting the quality right and building a well-functioning retail network, it could become an important player in the Indian two-wheeler market.


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A couple of stories orbiting around the binary star system of digital advertising known as Google and Facebook made a little less sense than usual in this holiday-shortened week.
Both companies have had a bad year, but maybe looking to the stock market we can gauge whose issues run deeper. Google's stock price is down 2% in 2018, while Facebook's has lost a more jaw-dropping 25%. Given the carnage, you'd be forgiven for thinking that maybe the gravitational sway they hold over advertising had weakened a bit. (It hasn’t.) Maybe that explains some of the following wackiness:

domain: news


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In the era of the connected car, automakers and third-party developers compete to turn smartphones into vehicular remote controls, allowing drivers to locate, lock, and unlock their rides with a screen tap. Some apps even summon cars and trucks in Knight Rider fashion. But phones can be hacked. And when they are, those car-connected features can fall into the hands of hackers, too.
That's the troubling result of a test of nine different connected-car Android apps from seven companies. A pair of researchers from the Russian security firm Kaspersky found that most of the apps, several of which have been downloaded hundreds of thousands or over a million times, lacked even basic software defenses that drivers might expect to protect one of their most valuable possessions. By either rooting the target phone or tricking a user into installing malicious code, the researchers say, hackers could use any of the apps Kaspersky tested to locate a car, unlock it, and in some cases start its ignition.
For now, the researchers have declined to name any of the specific apps they tested for fear they'd provide tips to car thieves. But they argue their work should send a message to the car industry in general to take connected car security more seriously. "Why don’t connected car application developers care about security as much as the developers of banking applications?" asks Kaspersky researcher Viktor Chebyshev. "They’re also controlling very valuable things for the user, but they're not thinking about security mechanisms."
The worst-case attack researchers found would allow a hacker access to the inside of a locked car; thieves would need other tricks to achieve a more serious outcome, like spoofing a key or otherwise disabling the car's immobilizer, which prevents cars from being stolen. They point out that Tesla's vehicles allow a car to be driven with only a smartphone app as an example of how compromising a phone could lead to more serious theft, though Tesla wasn't part of their research.
The analysis mostly sticks to the apps themselves---researchers only tried the attacks on one of the affected car models. And they say they haven't discovered any samples of Android malware in active use that pull off the tricks they describe. But they nonetheless argue that looking at the apps' code alone shows how car thieves could exploit their features, and they point to limited evidence from hacker forums that the black market has already taken an interest. Screenshots of postings in those forums (below) show offers to buy and sell connected car app credentials including usernames and passwords, as well as PIN numbers and Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) for different makes and models of car. The going rate is hundreds of dollars per account. "Cybercriminals are preparing these attacks now," Chebyshev says.
The Kaspersky researchers outline three techniques for exploiting the Android apps they tested. (iOS is generally considered far more difficult to hack.) All but one of the apps, for instance, stored the associated username, password, or both in an unencrypted form in the phone's storage. By rooting the victim's phones---using an exploit that gains full privileges in the device's operating system---a hacker could access those stored login details and send them off to his or her command-and-control server. Alternatively, they suggest hackers could trick car owners into downloading altered versions of the connected car apps that include malicious code that siphons off their login details. Or thieves could infect phones with malware that performs an "overlay" attack: When the car app launches, the malware would detect it loading and preempt it with a fake interface that steals and transmits the user's credentials. A hacker could even load the malware with multiple overlays, so that it's ready to spoof any connected car app the victim loads. "If I were an attacker, I would overlay all the connected car apps and just steal all the apps’ credentials," says Chebyshev.
The researchers say they've reported the security issues they're highlighting to several of the affected car companies, and are still informing others. But they also note that the problems they're pointing out aren't security bugs, so much as a lack of safeguards. Encrypting or hashing the credentials stored on the device, adding two-factor authentication or fingerprint authentication, or creating integrity checks that the apps would perform to see if they've been altered to include malicious code would all go a long way toward mediating the problem.
It's not the first time that a lack of safeguards in connected car apps has come back to bite automakers---nor is the problem entirely confined to Android phones. Security researcher Samy Kamkar showed in 2015 that he could use a small piece of hardware hidden on a car to wirelessly intercept credentials from iOS apps like GM's Onstar, Chrysler's UConnect, Mercedes-Benz mbrace, and BMW's Remote. Kamkar's attack similarly allowed him to remotely locate those cars, unlock them, and in some cases start their ignitions. With that method, "there would be no warnings; your credentials would be stolen and reusable by the attacker without any phone modifications," says Kamkar, contrasting his attack with the Android hacks suggested by Kaspersky. "But it’s nonetheless interesting to see that when a phone is compromised now, so many other areas of your life can be taken."
As connected cars gain features, the Kaspersky researchers argue, the need to lock down the apps that control those features will only grow. "Maybe today we can open the car without triggering the alarm, but these functionalities are only the beginning," says Kaspersky researcher Mikhail Kuzin. "Car manufacturers will add new features to make our lives more convenient. To prevent more attacks in the future, we need to think about this now."


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In its Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) report released today, Europol has detailed today's top 8 most prevalent cybercrime trends, for which investigators have seen a rise in detected incidents since the start of the year.
The report, which highlights an upward trend for volume, scope and material cost of cybercrime, comes on the heels of UK authorities announcing earlier in the year that cybercrime has surpassed traditional crime for the first time in their country's history.
Europol says that the digital underground is shifting towards a Crime-as-a-Service business model, with various individuals and groups specializing in a niche crime and providing technical support and service for that crime alone using online services.
From illegal weapons sales to on-demand hacks, and from DDoS-for-Hire services to exploit kit packages, you can buy online almost any type of cybercrime service these days.
If you read Softpedia's Security News section, you can hardly go one day without reading a report on ransomware-related topics. Besides ransomware, Europol also says that banking trojans have been a popular form of malware this year as well.
Recent hacks and data breaches have thrust troves of data in the public eye, which crooks are leveraging for other hacks, fraud, and even extortion.
Europol says it received a large number of fraud complaints, which were traced back to organized crime groups hacking ATMs, EMV, and contactless (NFC) cards.
#5: Online child sexual abuse
The large number of online tools and services providing complex and unbreakable end-to-end encryption, along with anonymous payments supported via crypto-currencies has resulted in "an escalation in the live streaming of child abuse."
More and more crime-related activities have now moved to the Darknet (or Dark Web), a portion of the Internet for which you need special software like Tor and I2P to access. Criminals are taking advantage of the anonymity these networks provide to go about their business unabated.
#7: Social engineering
Europol says that spear-phishing incidents aimed at high-value targets have gone up in 2016, and it highlights the increase in CEO fraud (BEC scams) attacks.
#8: Virtual currencies
Europol says Bitcoin has become the de-facto standard currency for extortion payments. This is also the reason why Europol established a Bitcoin Money Laundering Division earlier this month.


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TSI Group finalizes Yessamin, Ltd. deal and expands China base
Missoula, MT –
TSI Group, the Hong Kong registered global researcher, developer and manufacturer of ingredients and finished products, has finalized the purchase of Yessamin Health Company, Ltd., a Norwegian invested contract manufacturing facility in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China. This strategic acquisition has significantly elevated manufacturing and supply chain strengths and capabilities for the TSI Group according to Larry Kolb, TSI Group managing director of the innovation products division in Missoula, MT.
Yessamin was operating as a contract manufacturer producing and packaging tablets, hard two-piece gelatin, vegetarian capsules and softgels for dietary supplements, including technical support within QA/QC and production planning, primarily serving the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as China. With Yessamin facilities being BRC, NSF and GMP certified, TSI Group saw this acquisition as an excellent way to expand its capabilities in China.
Coupled with five existing manufacturing facilities and Q/C infrastructure platform in China, TSI now has added Yessamin as the newest finished dose manufacturer under their umbrella to expand its capabilities in manufacturing and supply chain management.
"We have invested heavily in the development of innovative products and established strategic collaborations that will develop market changing products for our global customers," said Kolb. "We strategically positioned ourselves to serve customers looking for a reliable Asian manufacturing partner to produce products that support brands entering the emerging Chinese market."
Kolb adds that the future of dietary supplement manufacturing in China is very bright. "The country as a whole is already the largest supplier of the raw materials in the supplement industry and the quality standard of Chinese manufacturers has improved significantly in recent years," Kolb said.
TSI Group has continued to evolve over the past decade to excel in superior manufacturing processes and assurances to become one of the leading developers and producers of nutraceutical products sold in over 30 countries. In addition to its China and U.S. base, TSI Group also maintains offices in Australia and Japan.


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The Blackview Alife S1 might not be the newest phone in town, but the phone just got a new lease of life thanks to a new ROM.
The Alife S1 now runs CyanogenMod 12.1 based on Android 5.1.1. Considering that the phone isn’t powered by the most powerful processor in the MediaTek MT6592W, the new ROM should give the device some extra snappiness that would've been missing from the original ROM.
If you aren't aware, the Blackview Alife S1 dates back to last year (which in the smartphone language is quite a long time), and comes with a 5-inch HD display, Quad-core MediaTek MT6732 procesor. It has a long life battery and a 13 mega-pixel rear camera with a 5 mega-pixel front snapper.
You should rejoice if you own one of these, for CyanogenMod 12.1 should extend the usability of the Blackview Alife S1 by a couple or so months.


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MightyVine is doubling their greenhouse acreage from 15 to 30 acres. This expansion is driven by the growing demand for safe and locally grown produce. CEO Gary Lazarski explains how the company manages to serve both local outlets as well as bigger retailers in the area, and to grow their own brand identity.
It’s been only three years since the first tomato plants were put into the first MightyVine greenhouse, and just two years since the first expansion was opened. Now the Chicago greenhouse is doubling in size again: Two new greenhouses will be built, resulting in 30 acres of premium tomatoes.
MightyVine grows tomatoes on the vine, both regular and cherry. “The TOVs cover 80% of our acreage”, CEO Gary Lazarski explains. “We also grow other products for specific customers - Roterno, beefsteak or yellow beefsteaks for example.”
The varieties they cultivate, are based on customer feedback. “We don’t say yes to everything, but if a customer is committed to buying, we’ll plant for sure. Of course we look for a balance: growing various tomatoes makes things difficult, and we want to keep our focus on what we do best.
We grow fewer, but better, products.”
This focus on the customer and the quality is at the heart of the company, and has been since the start. “Compared to other greenhouse growers we are not the biggest, nor are we growing the fastest – even if you take our current expansion into account. We do not want to compete in the commodity market; we’re trying to build a brand established on quality, flavor and the local aspects. Therefore it is important to listen, to get to know the market.”
About that market
In the marketing of their products, MightyVine primarily serves two different outlets. Retailers take most of the produce, but local food service and restaurants aren’t less important to the grower. “Restaurants are not the biggest customers in terms of quantity, but they are definitely important when it’s about building the brand and the association. By now we even see our own brand on menus in town, such as a Mighty Vine Caprese Salad. That’s the business: we know we are on the right track and they help us build a local brand. Making a tomato that the restaurant chefs in Chicago, being one of the great food cities in the world, would appreciate and would ask for by name has always been a focus point.”
To serve these outlets, MightyVine has a marketing agreement with Local Foods, a distributor selling a range of produce to restaurants and retailers in Chicago. “Our sales team focuses on larger retail opportunities. Going to all these smaller restaurants wouldn’t make sense for ourselves – but thanks to Local Foods we can serve them as well.”
A second important marketing agreement is the one with Robinson Fresh, part of CH Robinson. While Local Foods helps in connecting to local restaurants and retailers, Robinson Fresh is a wholesaler to the larger retailers. “For a small farm like us it’s hard to get the attention of big companies, retailers”, says Lazarski. “Robinson Fresh got us in and continuously guides us through.”
Serving big retailers
So what are the most important topics when it comes to serving big retailers? To consumers, the origin of the produce is becoming increasingly important. “Consumers want fresh, local produce, and they’re also willing to pay for it”, Gary knows. “Historically there haven’t been such produce farmers in the Mid-West and our labor costs for example can’t compete with the ones in Mexico. But for a slight increase in price, a big increase in quality is realized, and consumers see the difference. It turns out people are willing to spend that extra dollar a pound for a product that looks fresh and red, is grown local and, most important, tastes great. That’s what makes customers return to a store.”
And retailers, as big as they are, are also savvy: they want to fulfill this demand and their consumers’ wishes. “They rely on you: week after week. They want customers to be able to come in and see all the products on the shelf for a consistent price and quality. Therefore you have to be able to fill their demand, deliver on time and meet the specs you’ve established. Week after week. That’s an important topic.”
Doing this results in a growing business to Mightyvine. And so the expansion is the direct proof of the company’s vision. “We’re not trying just to expand or build the largest greenhouse we can finance and worry about the sales later. We want to grow at a size that allows us to maintain our high quality. The process of doubling is in response to the market demand. To me, that’s the sustainable way of growing.”
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The best of Peruvian apparel and jewelry industry will be exhibited at Colombiamoda 2010, Peru’s Export and Tourism Promotion Board (PromPeru) reported today.
Considered one of the most important fairs in the region, Colombiamoda is an international fashion fair with exhibitors and buyers coming from all around the world. This show opens its doors between July 27 and 29 in Medellin, Colombia.
It is organized by Inexmoda, a private, not-for-profit, service foundation, which researches and enables design, marketing and sales processes in the textile-manufacturing-distribution sector.
“Creative transformation” will be the main theme and will be the inspiration for being at the forefront of the global macro trends.
Promperu’s Export Director Juan Carlos Mathews pointed out that Peruvian companies’ participation will be promoted in this event in order to enhance visibility of their brands and increase their knowledge on trends, consumers, products and industry.
Peruvian companies participating in the fair belong to clothing and jewelry industry.


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Despite a virtual panic that the limited edition box set of Beatles in Mono was going to sell out and be impossible to find, fans can still snag copies via Amazon. The Beatles in Stereo set is also still in stock.
Just how limited is the mono box? The Los Angeles Times reports: "Reportedly only 40,000 copies of the mono box have been manufactured for worldwide distribution, with 13,000 of those allocated to the U.S. market."


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This frozen raw pet food product, made for both dogs and cats, has the potential to be contaminated with listeria.
Maker: Columbia River Natural Pet Foods Inc.
Cause: Potential for listeria
Announcement: FDA announcement dated Dec. 5, 2018 (archived here)
What was recalled: 2 lb. packages of Cow Pie with Lot #81917 (processed on Aug. 19, 2017)
“Cow Pie is a fresh frozen meats product intended to feed raw to dogs and cats,” according to the recall announcement, which added that the products were distributed in Alaska, Oregon and Washington through retail stores and direct delivery.
The packages are purple and white and tube-shaped (“chubs”), and the lot code is printed on an orange sticker on the back.


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New study shows that consumers across Southeast Asia continue to show high enthusiasm to own an electrified vehicle. The enthusiasm is largely driven by a growing need to create a more sustainable future.
37% of the surveyed car drivers state they would certainly consider an electrified vehicle as their next car purchase within the next three years. Respondents from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand show the most eager purchase consideration for an electrified vehicle.
The second edition of the Nissan-commissioned study by Frost & Sullivan, titled “The Future of Electrified Vehicles in Southeast Asia” was released today during “Nissan FUTURES – Electrification and Beyond”, a virtual gathering of industry leaders, government officials and media.
Consumer research in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore reveals that nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents across Southeast Asia say they are more willing to consider an electrified vehicle than they were five years ago. 66% of consumers across the region believe they will inevitably adopt electrified mobility as part of their lives in the near future.
Isao Sekiguchi, regional vice president for Nissan in ASEAN, said: “We are encouraged by the fact that consumers in ASEAN see electrified mobility as a viable means to support them in being more environmentally friendly, and to help reduce the stress on our megacities.”
Speaking at the event, Sekiguchi added: “As the pioneer in electrified mobility, Nissan is delivering on its commitment to making electrified mobility more accessible to more people. We have already introduced electrified vehicles to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as to Hong Kong. And Thailand is the first country outside Japan to produce e-POWER, Nissan’s unique technology that provided the excitement of driving an electric vehicle, but without the need to charge. Today, I’m proud to announce that we will also bring the Note e-POWER to Singapore and Hong Kong within the coming months.”
Contribution to a greener future
The study also unveils growing environmental awareness across Southeast Asia, with respondents believing that their adoption of an electrified vehicle would undoubtedly contribute to environmental protection. In 2020, 38% of respondents can be classified as ‘environmentalists’, compared to 34% in a similar research in 2018. This group of consumers is driven by strong environmental awareness and climate change concerns. They view electrified vehicle use as a way to do their bit for the environment.
81% of study respondents mentioned that their choice would be significantly influenced by different power sources. This care for the environment was found to be most important to consumers in the Philippines and Thailand.
Barriers for adoption reduced
The fear of running out of power before arriving at the charging station (48%) continues to be the most significant barrier in the adoption of an electrified vehicle. However, the perception of the respondents towards barriers to purchase electrified vehicles has significantly improved as compared to three years ago, demonstrating an increased enthusiasm for electrified vehicles across the region.
“Our findings show that consumers generally value the overall driving experience of an electrified vehicle, given their innovative and high-technology features matched with high performance engines. Over time, increased environmental awareness, lower maintenance costs for an electrified vehicle coupled with tax incentives and improved public and private charging facilities will be key motivators for consumers to possibly switch to electrified vehicles, and purchasing one in the near future,” noted Vivek Vaidya, Associate Partner and Senior Vice-President, Mobility, Asia-Pacific at Frost & Sullivan.
In line with the 2018 findings, over three-quarters of the recent study respondents (77%) indicate that tax benefits and installation of charging stations at residential buildings (75%) are the top-2 incentives for them to switch to an electrified vehicle. This demonstrates the ongoing need for car manufacturers, policy makers and private parties to collaborate to spur the adoption of electrified mobility.


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Chris Dodds, who serves on the board of directors of the Charles Schwab Corporation, has joined cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s board of administrators, in accordance to an announcement released Oct 2.
The Charles Schwab Corporation is a brokerage, banking and monetary advisory expert services agency based in San Francisco. Per the firm’s annual report, the organization experienced $3.36 trillion in shopper belongings, 10.8 million active brokerage accounts, and 1.2 million banking accounts, as of December 2017.
In addition to the Coinbase board, Dodds will reportedly lead to the exchange’s growth in phrases of financial providers abilities.
In accordance to the announcement, Dodds has held several leading economical positions in treasury, corporate improvement, and economical organizing and evaluation. At Charles Schwab, Dodds has labored as VP of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, as well as treasurer.
Dodds’ becoming a member of Coinbase is the most recent in a series of talent acquisitions by the San Francisco-centered crypto exchange and wallet providers provider.
Past month, Coinbase employed previous Fannie Mae Basic Counsel Brian Brooks as their new Chief Authorized Officer, who will be liable for authorized, compliance, and governing administration affairs. Also in September, the exchange welcomed Former LinkedIn government Michael Li as the VP of info.
In August, former Amazon Web Expert services (AWS) and Microsoft worker Tim Wagner joined Coinbase as VP of engineering, even though in July the exchange announced that ex-Pershing exec Jeff Horowitz will sign up for the company as Main Compliance Officer.
Not too long ago, Coinbase rolled out a new update referred to as “Coinbase Bundles,” which are built to simplify cryptocurrency trading. The products represents a basket of five cryptocurrencies supported on Coinbase — Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Hard cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum Vintage (Etc) — and are acquired in proportion to their sector capitalization in U.S. bucks.


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Dean Foods this week announced it was bringing its 31 fluid milk brands under one label - DairyPure - and appears to be pushing the latest "...
Liquid milk is not a category that benefits from significant added value. While milk is on the shopping list, generally speaking, it is not...
| 11 Sep 2014
General Mills' move for Annie's has further fuelled the belief US natural and organic food companies, including Hain Celestial and WhiteWave Foods, could become takeover targets for mainstream groups searching for growth. But the price General Mills has agreed to pay for Annie's also underlines such deals would likely be expensive.
| 17 Apr 2014
Food manufacturers seem to be willing to take more risks on NPD, which is encouraging after seeing years of caution and a focus on nostalgia or new packaging formats. However, for those operating in struggling categories, innovation may not solve the dilemma of how to reignite growth.
| 17 Feb 2014
Read the financial statements and listen to the conference calls from US food manufacturers in recent days and it is clear: companies operating there are still facing tough conditions and cautious consumers.
| 13 Nov 2013
Dean Foods said an expected increased savings in the fourth quarter and into 2014 will help offset volume deleveraging from its lost business.
| 17 Sep 2014
WhiteWave Foods, the US-based organic and natural foods specialist, was spun off from dairy giant Dean Foods last year. Deanna Bratter, senior manager of corporate sustainability at WhiteWave, spoke with Ben Cooper about the company's approach to sustainability as an independent operation.
| 28 Oct 2013
Alpro has had three owners in four years but one executive that has been at the company throughout is CEO Bernard Deryckere. He talks to Dean Best about the success Alpro, now owned by US firm WhiteWave Foods, has had with the recent expansion of its product portfolio.
| 24 Jul 2015
The speculation around General Mills' ailing Green Giant brand continued this week with claims Bonduelle is eyeing up the unit. We looked at the likelihood of the French group making an offer. Meanwhile, Danone decided to merge is under-pressure Chinese infant formula arm business with local dairy giant Mengniu and we looked at the key takeaways from Campbell Soup Co.'s investor day in the US.
| 22 Jul 2015
Freedom Foods Group has refused to be drawn on whether it and fellow suitor Dean Foods will table a new expression of interest in New Zealand milk group A2 Milk Co.
| 20 Jul 2015
New Zealand dairy processor A2 Milk Co. has turned down takeover interest from Freedom Foods Group and the Australian group's bid partner, Dean Foods, the US dairy giant.
| 24 Jun 2015
Dean Foods has been revealed as the party that has expressed interest in a joint acquisition with Australia's Freedom Foods of the A2 Milk Co.
| 12 May 2015
US milk supplier Dean Foods has insisted its launch of national brand DairyPure fills a gap in a market where liquid milk consumption continues to fall.
| 11 May 2015
Shares in Dean Foods jumped today (11 May) despite a reported first-quarter loss as the US milk supplier's underlying earnings beat analyst forecasts.
| 11 May 2015
This week, Kellogg reported its first-quarter results and, despite sales and profits being down, CEO John Bryant said the firm was on the right track. Elsewhere, Mondelez International took steps to bolster its e-commerce efforts, announcing a tie-up with technology firm ChannelSight. Dean Foods announced it was bringing its 31 milk brands under one label, a move we analysed to find out whether it could put the dairy maker back on the road to recovery after a string of loss-making quarters. Here is the week in quotes.
| 11 May 2015
Kellogg reported its first quarter results and despite sales and profits being down, CEO John Bryant said the firm was on the right track. We took a look at the Chinese milk market which revealed the importance of international dairies in its future. Lactalis swooped to acquire a majority holding in Yildiz Holding's AK Gida. And we explored what UK supermarket Sainsbury's latest loss and plan to cut prices would mean for suppliers. Here are the highlights from just-food this week.
| 5 May 2015
Dean Foods has consolidated all of its milk brands under one label in a bid to boost sales.
| 10 Feb 2015
Dean Foods stressed today (10 February) it continued to see "sequential improvements" throughout 2014 but shares fell in pre-market trading as the group reported fourth-quarter profits that missed analyst expectations.
| 30 Jan 2015
Dean Foods is closing its Verifine Dairy fluid milk processing plant in Sheboygan as part of a move to consolidate operations in Wisconsin.
| 14 Jan 2015
The Schwan Food Co has appointed Robin Galloway to the post of EVP and chief financial officer.
| 18 Dec 2014
Our interviews with senior United Biscuits executives - in the year the company's owners agreed to sell the UK snack maker to Turkey's Yildiz Holding - featured highly on the list of 2014's most-clicked interviews on just-food. Interviews with the CEOs of the UK's Premier Foods and Canada's Agropur, as well as the CFOs of Arla Foods and Brazil's BRF were also popular as we continued to gain access to some of the industry's leading lights.
| 10 Nov 2014
Alpro and Silk owner WhiteWave Foods today (10 November) lifted its forecasts for 2014 sales and underlying earnings per share after reporting a "record" third quarter.
| 10 Nov 2014
Dean Foods has seen its share price jump today (10 November) after the US dairy group beat third-quarter analyst expectations and guided to an improved fourth-quarter performance.
| 22 Sep 2014
After General Mills' move to buy Annie's, M&A advisor Stefan Kirk took to just-food's pages to argue Lifeway Foods could be a takeover target for Danone. General Mills, meanwhile, battling to improve the performance of its US business revealed it will close two plants. And we took a look at the most eye-catching products being showcased at the Natural Products Expo East show in Baltimore.
| 22 Sep 2014
US food groups General Mills and ConAgra Foods were under scrutiny this week with both reporting first-quarter results. WhiteWave Foods, the US natural and organic specialist, struck a deal to buy dairy-free brand So Delicious, while Thai seafood giant Thai Union Frozen Products made its second acquisition in Europe in a matter of weeks. Meanwhile, we spoke to the CEO of Wise Foods about his plans to grow the US snacks business.
| 12 Aug 2014
Dean Foods has reported a second-quarter loss - and warned of another loss in the third quarter in 2014 - as the US milk supplier battles "volatile" commodity costs.
| 9 May 2014
Shares in Dean Foods dropped more than 5% yesterday (8 May) after the US dairy group lowered its forecast for annual earnings following a loss in its first quarter.
| 12 Feb 2014
Shares in Dean Foods tumbled yesterday after the US dairy giant warned commodity prices would weigh on the business this year.
| 11 Feb 2014
Baskin-Robbins ice creams are set to go on sale in US grocery stores, owner Dunkin' Brands has announced.
| 7 Feb 2014
Canadian dairy major Saputo has booked an increase in third-quarter sales and earnings, boosted by its acquisition of Morningstar Foods and a strong performance from the group's international businesses.
- Briefing: How is gluten-free faring in Europe?
- Happy Family CEO on baby and beyond
- Pricing, productivity pay off for Mondelez
- BRICs and beyond: Kam Tai's Chinese growth story
- Analysis: Unilever's global ice cream push
- Lactalis surpasses Danone on dairy league table
- Mondelez Mexico investment to hit 600 US jobs
- Post, TreeHouse "in talks over ConAgra own-label"
- Mondelez profits down but gives guidance boost
- Lindt adds Hello Bites to US portfolio


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Toyota Kirloskar Motor endured a total of 8,312 units in November 2019 as against 10,721 units during the same month last year with 22% decline
Toyota Kirloskar Motor managed to garner a total of 8,312 units in the month of November 2019 as against 10,721 units in the corresponding month in 2018 with Year-on-Year de-growth of 22 per cent. The Japanese auto major ended up seventh overall ahead of Honda, Ford, Morris Garages and Volkswagen.
The Innova Crysta continued to be the most sold model last month as 3,414 units were retailed against 5,425 units with YoY decline of 37 per cent. The premium MPV will receive a new rival in the form of Kia Carnival by February 2020. Waiting to make debut at the 2020 Auto Expo, it will be offered in multiple seating configurations.
The Carnival has a long list of comfort and convenience-based features to be offered but Kia won’t be targetting high volumes with the MPV. The Glanza finished second within Toyota’s domestic portfolio with 2,313 units. The rebadged Baleno has gained some momentum in the last few months and its consistency of around 2,000-2,500 units will likely be maintained.
|Model (+/-%)||November 2019 Sales||November 2018 Sales|
|1. Toyota Innova Crysta (-37%)||3,414||5,425|
|2. Toyota Glanza||2,313||0|
|3. Toyota Fortuner (-28%)||1,063||1,475|
|4. Toyota Etios (-44%)||913||1,622|
|5. Toyota Liva + Cross (-77%)||314||1,389|
|6. Toyota Yaris (-82%)||107||600|
|7. Toyota Camry||99||0|
|8. Toyota Corolla (-62%)||76||200|
|9. Toyota Vellfire||8||0|
|10. Toyota Landcruiser (-29%)||5||7|
|11. Toyota Prado (-100%)||0||3|
The Fortuner stayed put leading its segment ahead of Ford Endeavour in November 2019 as 1,063 units were sold against 1,475 units during the same month last year with 28 per cent volume decline. The Etios, on the other hand, came home fourth by recording 913 units against 1,622 units with 44 per cent sales drop.
The combined sales of Etios Liva and Cross led to 314 units as against 1,389 units with 77 per cent volume decline while the Yaris continued its volume slump as only 107 units were registered. In November 2018, the C-segment sedan managed 600 units. Last month, no Toyota model posted positive sales growth.
The Camry flagship hybrid sedan was only introduced earlier this year and it has been posting good numbers. It gathered 99 units last month while the Corolla recorded 76 units against 200 units in November 2018 with YoY decline of 62 per cent. The Vellfire luxury MPV endured a tally of 8 units and 5 units of Land Cruiser were retailed as well.


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Last year, TJX, the parent company responsible for bringing us epic deals through off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, added yet another affordable chain called Homesense. Since opening in 2017, the store has become known for stocking affordable pieces that feel higher-end and offer a wider selection of furniture.
Flipping through Homesense’s Instagram, there are plenty of chic pieces to pine over. However, many TJX shoppings us have never had a chance to shop in the store because there are only four locations of the new home retailer in the United States. But, Country Living reports that this won't be the case for much longer.
During a TJX earnings call that took place last week, the company's president and CEO, Ernie Herrman, stated that eventually there will be 400 Homesense locations in the U.S. Yes, 400 seems like a massive number, but according to the call transcript provided to us by a TJX representative, Herrman specified that this is a "longterm store target." How longterm are we talking? Well, we don't know for sure, but we do know what TJX has planned for Homesense in the next fiscal year.
On the same call, Herrman confirmed that this Homesense expansion across the United States would begin with 15 new locations, which will open by the end of February 2019. The call also happened to mention that 85 new HomeGoods locations will open within the next year.
While clearly there is a lot to look forward to for everyone who is obsessed with redecorating their spaces with the latest trends but might not have unlimited funds to do so — we're raising our hands, are you? — we still don't have many specific details. A representative explained to Refinery29 that she can't yet share much beyond what was reported during the earnings call, which means we have no idea where the new locations will pop up and when. We just hope TJX plans to share the Homesense love and opens stores outside of Massachusetts and New Jersey, where the four current locations are. While we wait for that to happen, we'll just continue to peruse Homesense's Instagram feed.


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Attorneys seek class-action status in a lawsuit filed in Denver District Court against a Denver company that gave away “unsafe and hazardous” glasses for viewing the solar eclipse, claiming they damaged a Castle Rock woman’s eyes.
The lawsuit was filed Sept. 2 on behalf of Kendall Heise and Kim Heise of Castle Rock against Europtics Inc. of Denver, which owns the store at 7301 Santa Fe Drive in Littleton where the couple received eclipse glasses.
“After using the Europtics eclipse glasses, Ms. Heise began to experience injuries including, but not limited to, discomfort, blurred vision, increased sensitivity to light and distorted vision and certain of these harms and impairments continue,” the lawsuit says.
Attorneys Kevin Hannon and Justin Blum, who filed the lawsuit Sept. 2, are seeking class action certification so that anyone who received the glasses and then used them to view the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 could join the lawsuit. They are seeking compensatory damages, injunctive relief to fund medical monitoring and court costs.
The attorneys are seeking class action status because they believe it would be impractical to file individual lawsuits for such a large group of plaintiffs, given that Europtics is a leading optical chain store in Colorado. The exact number of potential litigants would not be known until Europtics provides the number, the lawsuit says.
Europtics gave customers who bought glasses at their stores the eclipse glasses after buying them from Amazon, Europtics officials say. They declined to comment further.
The eclipse glasses did not meet international safe-eclipse viewing standards called ISO 12312-2 even though it advertised on Aug. 10 that its glasses were safe, the lawsuit says. The company advertised that not using safe glasses could cause irreparable damage, the lawsuit says.
“Even short exposures can cause vision impairment, including solar retinopathy. Exposure of the retina to intense visible light causes physical damage to the retina itself, triggering chemical reactions within the retina,” the lawsuit says.
But when Kim Heise used the glasses it was apparent her eyes were not protected, the lawsuit says. The legal complaint questions whether Europtics adequately tested the glasses before giving them away to buying costumers.


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Take a break with Laura Knowles
Humans of Ravensbourne Laura Knowles
Here Sophie looks at the use of atmospheric visuals to help bring an architectural project to life.
Ravensbourne hosts spectacular 2023 NaSTA awards ceremony
Ravensbourne students featured in the specialist technology magazine, LSi.
Ravensbourne students win big at the virtual D&AD New Blood Awards
Five of Ravensbourne’s Department of Fashion students will be joining the esteemed Best of Graduate Fashion Week and Exhibitions Awards Show
Ravensbourne University London awarded their own degrees for the very first time at this year’s graduation ceremonies at the iconic Barbican Centre
Four Product Design students nominated in the Beyond Plastic Awards
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Dakar Fashion Week is currently the biggest runway fashion platform in Senegal presented by designer Adama Paris. Her ties with various designers in France and other fashion engagements around the world allows her to bring various international participants to the capital of Senegal.
The event which usually takes place in the middle of the year has once again been announced to be execute the 14th edition on on 8th June. Once again Senegalese fashion culture will come to light. See a few behind the scenes camera snaps on the site.


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Insight TV announces new co-production with VICE Studios
Insight TV, the world’s leading 4K UHD HDR broadcaster and producer of native UHD content, is announcing details of its gritty new series Streetkings in Jail, a co-production with VICE Studios, the production company from VICE. Featuring 4 x 44 minute episodes, Streetkings in Jail will launch on Insight TV on September 10th.
Football stars from all over the world hone their skills in playgrounds, parks and on the streets from an early age. As well as building world-class players, these environments are a backdrop for those whose lives travel in a very different direction. In Streetkings in Jail, Insight TV puts the spotlight on those that ended up in prison, spending the majority of their life in a concrete cell.
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- A+E Global Content Sales releases summer catalogue featuring high profile first-run projects and returning hits 52 views | posted on July 3, 2020
- Universal Music Group announces strategic global partnership with Sugar, Italy’s leading independent label 39 views | posted on July 6, 2020


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MAY 15, 2008; New research shows the cost of needlessly wasted foodto UK households is £10 billion a year, £2 billion higher thanpreviously estimated.
Speaking at an event to launch the report, by WRAP, Environment Minister, Joan Ruddock said: “These findings are staggering in their own right, but at a time when global food shortages are in the headlines this kind of wastefulness becomes even more shocking.“This is costing consumers three times over. Not only do they pay hard-earned money for food they don’t eat, there is also the cost of dealing with the waste this creates. And there are climate change costs to all of us of growing, processing, packaging, transporting, and refrigerating food that only ends up in the bin.“Waste reduction is a key priority for the Government, giving us our greatest environmental and economic gains. If we are to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle, we need to encourage behaviour change to reduce the waste we generate. So we cannot ignore the implications of the 6.7 million tonnes of food which this report indicates are wasted unnecessarily every year.”The research gives detailed new insights into the nature and amount of food waste thrown away in the UK and is believed to be the most comprehensive study of its kind ever carried out.It reveals that the average household throws out £420 of good food a year, while for the average family with children it’s higher at £610.Researchers found that more than half the good food thrown out, worth £6 billion a year, is bought and simply left unused or untouched. For example, each day 1.3 million unopened yoghurt pots, 5,500 whole chickens and 440,000 ready meals are thrown away in the UK. The study revealed that £1 billion worth of wasted food is still “in date”. It costs local authorities £1 billion a year to dispose of food waste. Stopping the waste of good food could avoid 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents from being emitted each year – the same as taking 1 in 5 cars off of UK roads.


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Indian billionaire Anil Ambani will invest $550m in
Steven Spielberg, on the other hand, has already become a legendary figure in
Reliance, which is also picking up cinema chains in the
The deal is not officially announced yet, but reports have it that the work of Dream Works will begin in January with the initial aim of producing six films per year. However, it is not yet confirmed if Steven Spielberg’s next project Tintin will be produced from his own studio.


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From the confines of a light-blue shipping container next to a busy roundabout, Ousmane Fall runs a modest business transferring money across Senegal, with little more than his smartphone.
A red poster for Free, a telecomms provider and money transfer service, hangs outside. As does a metal sign for YUP, the recently discontinued offering from French bank Societé Générale. Another poster bears a penguin, the mascot for the Senegal-founded mobile money startup Wave, with a sky-blue background almost matching the paint of the container. It almost seems like color coordination — after all, Wave is now the only service Fall offers. Wave has begun to dominate the Senegalese market by offering lower fees to users. As rival services, including Free and Orange Money, once the market leader in mobile money, have dwindled, Fall has had to ditch them.
Before Wave came to town, Fall earned around 15,000 CFA francs ($24) per day in commissions sending money with Orange Money. He’s now making around 6,000 CFA francs per day. His predicament is the flipside of the low fees that Wave’s users love so much: they mean lower commissions for agents like Fall.
In a country long dominated by what one analyst calls Orange Money’s “abusive” rates, which could range between 5% and 10%, Wave was a hit when it launched in this West African country in 2018. Now, the four-year-old startup — backed by Silicon Valley’s Sequoia Heritage and fintech giant Stripe, among other major names — has cracked open Senegal’s mobile money market as a whole.
In a race to catch up to Wave — with its 1% fee on money transfers as well as free deposits and withdrawals — Orange Money dropped rates last year to 0.8%. While this left agents like Fall in the lurch, it’s been a massive win for users in a lower-middle-income country, where a dollar saved here or there goes a long way. The low rates have also spurred small businesses to start accepting mobile money payments, in an economy where cash is still king, leapfrogging a still-lagging adoption of credit and debit cards.
“Wave didn’t bring any new technology, per se,” said Amadou Diop, president of international firm MNS Consulting, who splits his time between Dakar and Paris and has consulted for Orange Group in the past. “What has been really important in the rise of Wave in the market was the marketing strategy: Coming up with an offer of 1% fees was really something that spread [their business] very, very fast.”
Orange Money’s initial growth in Senegal was aided by the fact that the French telecomms group Orange, through its Senegalese subsidiary Sonatel, has long been the dominant telecomms provider in the country. That gave it a leg up over home-grown money transfer initiatives like Wari and Joni Joni, which predated the launch of Orange Money, since those ventures — like many mobile money operators — use basic USSD technology for their transactions. But the USSD system uses SMS services to send and encrypt data, meaning Wari and Joni Joni were reliant on buying wholesale USSD capacity from telecomms operators. With Orange being the biggest telecomms provider in Senegal, mobile money operators had to go through them as a middle man. And Orange’s dominance of the existing telecomms sector then gave it a structural advantage when it introduced Orange Money to Senegal in 2011. Orange’s subsequent dominance of the mobile money industry also provided it with insulation from competition — leading to unfairly high pricing, analysts say.
When Wave came to town, though, it had an advantage: It could circumvent Orange’s USSD dominance with app-to-app payments. And, as a third-party app, it could pull in users from competing telecomms providers, like Free. It also distributed physical cards with QR codes for those without smartphones.
Now that Wave has broken the market wide open, the whole mobile money landscape could become far more competitive — between Wave, Orange, and future mobile money competitors. On the other hand, though, a potential future of cheap money transfers and high levels of competition is dependent on whether rates of near 1% or lower are actually sustainable.
Fueling Wave’s rapid expansion is $200 million in series A funding acquired last year, with backers including Sequoia Heritage, payment processor Stripe, and former Y Combinator president Sam Altman. Soon after, with a $1.7 billion valuation, Wave — founded in Dakar by Americans Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk, who met as roommates at Brown University — became Francophone Africa’s first unicorn. It added to its coffers earlier this year $91.5 million in loans backed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, which Wave is planning to use to expand its current operations in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.
But low commissions for the agents who Wave run is reminiscent of practices by other high-valued, cash-infused startups: For Fall, being an agent for Wave was initially good business, replete with bonuses that made it competitive with Orange Money — until they suddenly disappeared. In Côte d’Ivoire, where Wave launched in 2019, mobile money operators have been under pressure from the same price wars seen in Senegal and launched a strike last month, after Wave lowered its commission.
“The Wave model is disruptive because it is funded by venture capital funds with little commitment to short-term profitability,” Alioune Ndiaye, Orange’s former Africa and Middle East boss, recently told Radio France Internationale and Jeune Afrique. “It resembles the Amazon model: We burn cash … hoping to kill the competition.”
And while Wave and Orange Money are competing more fiercely with one another, it remains to be seen whether the country will see more competition as a whole. YUP, the service from Société Générale, stopped operating earlier this year, in part due to the Wave–Orange Money price war. “The arrival of new competitors caused a very sharp drop in prices that we could not anticipate,” Société Générale executive Philippe Amestoy told The Africa Report in April.
Diop admits that a 1% transfer fee might not be profitable in the short term. But, he said that it could become so if companies can grow to the right scale, considering how cheap transferring money actually is, from a technological point of view. Either way, he predicts that on average, customers should expect relatively cheap mobile money services going forward. “People discovered they have been paying abusive prices,” he said. “We’re not talking about complex infrastructure here.”
For Ke Ba, a restauranteur, Wave opened up a new opportunity: accepting mobile payments at his small breakfast and lunch stand, which helps him avoid having to find the correct change, a notorious problem in Senegal. Before, Ba said, with Orange Money’s high rates on transactions, accepting mobile payments wasn’t an option. “Senegal is a poor country,” he said. But now, he said, “People come; they see it; they pay; it’s done.” Ba estimates he gets somewhere between 5,000 and 12,000 CFA francs per day, paid to his Wave account, which he said is more secure than having cash. Down the street, a café advertises that it accepts Orange Money, one of many merchants increasingly taking advantage of lowered rates to accept money transfers at the register.
Souleymane Gning, a Senegalese insurance startup founder who previously worked in and consulted for telecomms in Africa and Europe, was more skeptical of the sustainability of the 1% and 0.8% rates currently on offer. But the lowering of rates in general will drive more financial inclusion, he said, and could spur future innovation in mobile money.
“Mobile wallets need to grow into value-adding services and charge for those services — that’s the only way to be profitable in the future,” he said. “It can be loaning; it can be savings; it can be insurance — anything that would be around money.”
Mobile money agents need to adapt to a future of cheaper mobile money by offering other services, he said. Boutiques — as Senegal’s corner stores are known — have long been a mainstay in the money-transfer business, with mobile money being just one product among many.
“[Mobile money agents] should also grow into doing other things — that makes sense,” Gning said.
Wave did not respond to requests for comment, but in a Q&A published on the site Effective Altruism two years ago, Quirk admitted the company wasn’t profitable and that it was “likely years away” from being so. In June, the company laid off about 15% of its workforce, roughly 300 people mostly from operations recently established in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Uganda.
Still, a Wave official told Quartz in July that Wave’s long-term vision — including insurance and microcredit — was sustainable. “One percent of all of these payments flowing through an entire economy is not an unprofitable business,” said Rashmi Pillai, Wave’s head of public policy.
Wave’s easy-to-use app and low prices also brought criticism that Orange Money, absent of real competition, had been slow to innovate. In an email, a spokesperson pushed back on that narrative and also noted that the average fee on withdrawals before the rate slashes was “a little bit more than 3%,” which Orange said was “average in the [African] market” as a whole. The spokesperson also cast doubt on the long-term viability of its current low rates for customers, saying “a rate of 1% or 0.8% fees in our markets is not a sustainable price.”
Not far from Fall’s shipping container, boutique owner Djibril Diallo sells everything from rice to cooking oil, cookies, and phone credit. He also transfers money for Orange Money. Although he’s lost income during the price war — he declined to say how much — Diallo isn’t bitter. As soon as he can figure out how to sign up to become an agent for Wave, he plans on offering the service.
“There’s only one thing I’m mad about — that I can’t send money with Wave,” Diallo said. If the boutiques — historically Orange Money strongholds — start migrating to Wave, he said that it’ll be a massive blow to Orange. “Every day people come to ask if I have Wave.”
By June, Fall’s container has gone through several changes. He’s now selling Senegal’s iconic café touba, a coffee spiced with grains of Selim, along with wass, a lemony tea that gained popularity during the pandemic as a health drink. A grill sits next to the thermoses of coffee, with a menu offering burgers and shawarmas.
Fall is still transferring money for Wave, but he’s embraced a boutique ethos to survive.
With the musky scent of café touba drifting through the air, it’s clear the game has changed. The customers have won. Low rates have prevailed — for now, at least. And the heyday of Fall’s time as a money transfer agent has come to a close.
Source: Nick Roll | Westofworld.org


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KUALA LUMPUR, 8 June 2022: Malaysia’s travel companies are looking forward to participating in a major consumer travel event, Bazaar MATTA, organised by the country’s Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents.
Designed to drive bookings to domestic destinations, the event scheduled for 18 to 19 June in Kuala Lumpur will be packed to the rafters with travel deals for land and air transport as well as accommodation. Bazaar MATTA flies the flag for domestic travel, which is right now helping to keep thousands of resorts, hotels and homestays open and counting an improvement in cash income. The show will be hosted at the Sunway Velocity Mall in Kuala Lumpur from 1000 to 2200 on 18 and 19 June. Bazaar MATTA’s lead sponsors are Sabah, Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines.
MATTA is promoting the event to revive domestic travel but has an eye on international travel markets such as Singapore, Australia and Europe in the long run. But the priority since international borders reopened on 1 April is to boost domestic travel to put cash in the pockets of small to medium-sized travel operators.
MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang told the New Straits Times earlier this week he expects travel arrivals to Malaysia to hit 5 million this year. Source markets such as India and Singapore will play a big part in boosting arrivals during the second half of 2022. According to Tourism Malaysia, the first four months of 2022 delivered 1 million visitors, with around 600,000 travelling from Singapore.
Key source markets looking forward to Q4 are India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and Europe. Indonesia and Thailand will emerge too as strong supply markets by the fourth quarter.


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For our second annual #BoF500 ‘Polymaths & Multitaskers’ special print edition, BoF meets fashion’s consummate multitasker, Karl Lagerfeld, who manages to balance his work for Chanel, Fendi and his own brand, as well as a steady stream of photography and illustration commissions, by cultivating a zen-like detachment from his work.
Luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo will seek to woo investors with a share market flotation prospectus promising industry-beating annual sales growth of more than 10 percent on the back of aggressive expansion plans in Asia and elsewhere.
Today, BoF brings you an exclusive first look at Louis Vuitton’s ‘Celebrating Monogram’ collaboration with six art and design legends: Karl Lagerfeld, Frank Gehry, Cindy Sherman, Marc Newson, Christian Louboutin and Rei Kawakubo, each of whom have re-imagined the fashion powerhouse’s iconic monogram.
Jimmy Choo, the luxury shoemaker owned by JAB Holdings, may begin its initial public offering in London as soon as this month amid rising demand for expensive footwear, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
Salvatore Ferragamo SpA Chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo ruled out selling a stake in the luxury shoemaker founded by his father amid speculation that the company could attract interest from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA signed an accord with Google Inc. to tackle the advertising and sale of counterfeit goods online, ending a legal dispute between the two companies.
A long and bitter battle that has gripped the luxury goods industry and pitted two of France’s richest families against each other came to an unexpected end on Wednesday when LVMH and Hermès agreed to a truce.
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA plans to distribute its stake in French luxury-goods company Hermès International SCA to its shareholders, ending a four-year battle over LVMH’s stake-building in the Birkin bag maker.
Yves Carcelle, a longtime LVMH executive and former chief executive of Louis Vuitton, has passed away.
Hermès International SCA, the French maker of $10,000 Birkin bags, reported a 6.3 percent increase in first-half earnings as sales in Asia rose.


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Artist Helina Metaferia Celebrates Black Women Activists in Two Solo Shows
“For me, the pandemic was initially a time for introspection and rest, and then quickly picked up when the 2020 uprisings began,” Ethiopian-American artist Helina Metaferia recalls. Picked up indeed. She and her work, a hybrid of mediums that centers women of color as protagonists and explores how generational traumas inform present-day experiences, have taken major cities by storm. Last summer, two of her large-scale murals emblazoned buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx. “Generations,” her solo show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, opened in November. This spring, “All Put Together” bows at Praise Shadows Art Gallery nearby; it’s a continuation of Metaferia’s By Way of Revolution series, focusing on the overlooked yet vital role of Black female activism. The exhibit consists of text-based installation, video, live performance, and collage, the latter featuring such portraits as Black Lives Matter’s Megan Castillo and Resistance Revival Chorus’s Zakiyah Ansari with “crowns” made from Black Panther newspaper archives, the women essentially wearing their histories on their heads. “I’m hoping,” adds Metaferia, who’s also an assistant professor in Brown University’s visual art department, “this work can document more than a moment.”
ESI Design Captures the Life and Times of Famed Fashion Shutterbug Bill Cunningham
A vacant Abercrombie & Fitch store in New York’s South Street Seaport became the unlikely location for a retrospective of the late fashion photographer Bill Cunningham’s life and work this fall.
Honoring Black History Month
In honor of Black History Month, the Interior Design team is spotlighting the narratives, works, and craft traditions of Black architects, designers, and creatives. See our full coverage here, including interviews with…
Black Artists and Designers Guild Teams Up With Pottery Barn on New Line of Home Accents
When offered an opportunity, seize it. That’s how three designers at the Black Artists and Designers Guild approached their first foray into product design while working with a major brand: Pottery Barn, to be exact. �…


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Rumor | Sony's new IMX800 camera sensor will debut in an upcoming Honor phone
Honor is slated to replace its 60 and 60 Pro upper-mid-tier smartphones with newer models thanks to the detection of new registrations by the OEM with the Chinese regulator 3C. However, a subsequent leak may be the one that pushes 70-series hype into overdrive. Almost unsurprisingly, this one concerns the most powerful camera that may become a headline of the putative devices' launch event.
The eminent leaker Digital Chat Station has previously alluded to an "IMX800", tipped to launch as one of an advanced new crop of Sony sensors with a flagship of a ~1/1.1-inch footprint. This, then, might put the 800 at least on par with the Honor Magic4 Ultimate's main camera sensor, and may thus beat it in terms of clarity, quality and low-light performance even if it debuts with the same 50MP resolution.
Digital Chat Station now asserts that it is Honor that has secured the right to launch the world's first Sony IMX800 smartphone, and that it will emerge as a member of the 70 series. It is thus now backed to pre-empt other plausible candidates, even the Xiaomi 12 Ultra or Huawei Mate 50 Pro, in this respect.
Should this be the case, it would be a major coup for Honor, a brand recently tasked with re-building its recognition worldwide. Its rumored 70 series is also tipped to combine its new alleged top-end main camera sensor with other desirable specs; therefore, it is to be hoped that a long-overdue design update is also on the cards for the rumored new phones.


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GREENVILLE, S.C. (Sept. 27) – To support the standard fitment of the Pax run-flat tire/wheel system to the 2005 Honda Odyssey Touring vehicle, Michelin North America Inc. and Honda North America Inc. are making sure all 1,000 Honda and more than 200 selected Michelin dealership locations in North America are equipped with a replacement Pax unit.
Michelin North America said it seeks to keep Odyssey owners satisfied by providing quick repair or replacement of Pax system tires through a "multi-tiered service program." Michelin said each Honda dealership location will have on hand a Pax system "hatbox," or a complete, ready-to-use Pax system.
Odyssey owners requiring tire service can locate the nearest service spot by calling toll-free 1-877-PAXTIRE, Michelin said.
The used Pax assembly is placed in the recyclable hatbox and returned to Michelin for inspection and analysis, the company said. A new hatbox then will be delivered to the dealer.
The 200-plus authorized Michelin dealership service locations will provide more traditional repair or replacement of Pax system tires, Michelin said. In addition, Michelin will rely on its 32 TCI Tire Centers L.L.C. distribution points to supply to the remainder of the Michelin dealer network with Pax hatboxes as needed.
Michelin also said it is boosting its standard tire warranty to include replacement for road hazards during the first two years or 50 percent of tread wear coverage at no charge.


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A 10% growth in broadband penetration leads to a 1.3% growth in gross domestic product of a developing country, according to a World Bank study. IT experts often quote this study to make their case for broadband penetration but it is about time Pakistan can prove if the study is accurate. The country, as announced by Minister of State for IT and Telecom Anusha Rahman, is rolling out third generation (3G), or even advanced 4G, mobile spectrum technology this year.
With a cellular subscriber base of over 122 million, Pakistan’s mobile penetration is reaching close to 70% – this also includes multiple SIM users. The country has 30 million internet subscriptions, of which 50% access the internet through their mobile phones, according to Ansr.io, a mobile survey blog.
These figures, along with other statistics by Ansr.io, reflect a positive outlook for the country’s technology sector now heading for 3G and 4G.
The introduction of high-speed mobile internet, according to industry experts, will not only attract investment, but also boost internet penetration, increase smartphone usage and boost the growth of local IT content. In short, it will provide the spur for the growth of digital economy.
The government is expected to fetch somewhere between $800 million and $1 billion by auctioning 3G/4G mobile spectrum licences alone, a much-needed investment for the cash-starved economy. This will follow more investment in terms of infrastructure development.
Speaking to a group of journalists at the company’s headquarters in Oslo, Telenor Group’s CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said Pakistan can attract $5-10 billion in next five to eight years from the five telecom operators.
The Telenor Group itself pledged an investment of up to $1 billion in 3G licence and network upgrade over the next two years. Baksaas also said Pakistani market is mature enough for the demand for 3G services.
Besides investment, industry experts say, the introduction of high-speed mobile internet is expected to increase the growth of internet economy.
The 3G/4G technology will be an enabling factor for the growth of e-commerce and digital economy, said Afaque Ahmed, Member of Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and IT-enabled services.
“The mobile internet penetration can increase manifold with the launch of high-speed mobile internet,” he said. At present, the mobile internet penetration is about 12%, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
Explaining, Ahmed said many people do not use mobile internet mostly because of slow connectivity on GPRS mode while majority of those using mobile internet depend on Wi-Fi connectivity. This will change if there is high-speed internet, he said.
The telecom operators have invested heavily in infrastructure and are in a position to bring internet revolution in the country, Ahmed said. It is only a matter of time as mobile networks cover 92% of the geographical land of Pakistan.
He said the smartphone penetration will increase after the launch of 3G/4G technology – the smartphone penetration in the country is about 15%, according to industry sources.
Firstly, the demand for 3G-enabled mobile phones will increase. Secondly, the price of smartphones will decrease to as low as $50 (Rs5,000). “Today, you can buy a smartphone for Rs10,000,” he said.
While high-speed mobile internet will result in an increase in the usage of smartphones, the latter will create demand for local applications.
“Bandwidth price is going down, smartphones are becoming cheaper and then you have 3G coming. So the name of the game will be the local content,” Google’s country consultant Badar Khushnood told this correspondent during a conversation recently.
People have already tried basic internet, they know there is a lot of content available to consume for every class of consumers, Khushnood said, all they need is high-speed internet.
“The country is at a turning point as the real growth will come now,” Khushnood said while referring to the digital economy. “The country will leapfrog with 3G/4G technology just like it had by switching from CDMA to GSM,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2013.


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The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has launched its ‘Greenprint for Sustainable Vaping’ outlining steps to help tackle the environmental impact of single-use vape products.
At its virtual summit last week, it said while disposables were responsible for “record numbers” of adult smokers switching to vapes, the summit’s participants were unanimous that much more must be done to protect the environment.
“The Greenprint for Sustainable Vaping aims to mobilise environmental action to support a sustainable vaping sector. It will include recommendations on creating a national recycling and waste treatment capability fit for the vape industry, driving new vape innovations that make products easier to recycle and reuse, and supporting greater retailer and consumer participation in the recycling and reuse of vape products,” said UKVIA director general John Dunne.
OPINION: We’ve recycled 500 vapes since Christmas – Trudy Davies, Woosnam & Davies News, Llanidloes, Powys
He added the clear message from the summit was that there is more education needed both from consumer and industry perspectives.
“It is important for regulators, the industry and those dealing with the recycling and environmental aspects of this issue, to all come together to seek a common solution because this problem is not going to go away without action,” he explained. “We found a great deal of common ground at this summit and the focus now must be on ensuring that all importers, manufacturers and retailers of vaping products step up to the plate and ensure they are compliant with all environmental obligations. If they don’t, they are committing a criminal offence.”
Adam Afriyie MP, vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group for vaping, said how the industry has helped to “secure the health of the nation’. He added it was now vital that action was taken to lessen the impact of single-use vapes on the environment.
The Windsor MP explained: “Vaping has already saved so many lives in the UK that is has become part of the healthcare industry and now it must come together to find a sustainable solution for disposing of these vape products and prevent the naysayers from undermining an industry that has probably saved more lives than any other modern innovation in the history of our country.”
Over 90% of vape producers are failing to meet eco regulations
Delegates were also told that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was currently reforming the Regulations Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) which may see vapes given its own separate category, partly in response to the rise in demand for single-use devices.
More details will be published shortly and a formal consultation is due to be held before the summer. Companies in the vape sector were advised to ensure that they are fully compliant with regulations and must not wait until the outcome of the current review to do so.
Elsewhere, it was bought up that innovative solutions were required to encourage consumers to recycle more widely including educational campaigns, information being provided at point of sale, incentive schemes and establishing recycling points at locations where they were most likely to be used.
Innovation in product design to support more environmentally friendly vape products was another key discussion area.
Order your copy of Vape Retailer today, the leading vape magazine for the convenience sector. Click here for vape product news and category advice.
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The blockchain and NFT-focused video game studio Vulcan Forged has secured $8 million in Series A funding led by SkyBridge Capital. The venture capital has the option to invest an additional $33 million.
Vulcan Forged aims to use this funding to further the growth of its metaverse-as-a-service engine MetaScapes and scale the operations in North America as well as key markets the company already operates.
The gaming studio pushed out several Web3 games in the recent past, some of them being Berserk, Forge Arena and VulcanVerse, however, they’re currently heavily concentrated on MetaScapes, which allows users to design and build their own metaverse spaces and store the data in an NFT.
Jamie Thomson, Founder and CEO of Vulcan Forged says their product saw rapid organic growth over the last two years and their headcount grew to over 130 people from just two workers. During this time, MetaScapes acquired over 200,000 users across 15 games. Thomson said:
“As we look to expand into new markets like North America and open our office in New York City, we believe that now is the perfect time to capitalize on our momentum with a strategic investment from Anthony Scaramucci and his team at SkyBridge Capital.”
Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner at SkyBridge Capital also commented:
“Jamie is a brilliant entrepreneur and has impressed me as he bootstrapped Vulcan Forged from a small startup to a top 10 metaverse project in the last two years, with a strong commitment to their growing community.
“Vulcan Forged and their MetaScapes engine are well-positioned to completely disrupt the legacy gaming and entertainment industries and we are excited to help take them to the next level.”
The studio’s main goal with this product is to compete with Mojang’s Minecraft in the long run.


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Canadian players have lots of exciting new online slot machines to look forward to over the coming weeks and months. On Wednesday April 6th, Microgaming will launch a brand new online slot called Bar Bar Black Sheep and then in May they will be launching another new slot called Win Sum Dim Sum.
If you live in British Columbia, you will be able to enjoy playing on these new slots in the real money mode or in the free play demo mode at any of our top-rated Microgaming casinos, some of which include Platinum Play Casino, Ruby Fortune Casino, Gaming Club Casino, Spin Palace Casino, Crazy Vegas Casino, All Slots Casino, Jackpot City Casino, Royal Vegas Casino and Maple Casino.
“Bar Bar Black Sheep is a fun addition to our ever expanding games portfolio,” said the Head of Product Channels at Microgaming, Neill Whyte. “Available on desktop and mobile, we are upholding our commitment to supply our operators with cross-platform content, to ensure players can experience the same game no matter what device they are playing on,” added Whyte.
The new Bar Bar Black Sheep slot has 5 reels and 15 winning paylines with a Nursery Rhyme/Farmyard/Animal theme and it has a Free Spins Bonus Round to win prizes from and also a Bar Bar Black Sheep Bonus Feature which can boost your total bet by up to 999x. This new Microgaming slot will be available next week across Microgaming’s Flash, download, Quickfire and mobile casino platforms.
Microgaming also recently announced that it is currently developing another branded slot called Jurassic World which unfortunately will NOT be available in casinos until later on this year. For more information about these top Microgaming casinos, head over to our British Columbian online casino review section now.
Playtech will also be releasing an exciting new range of online slot machines over the coming weeks and months. Canadian players can look forward to lots more branded slots such as Green Lantern, Batman Classic TV Series, Man of Steel, Superman I, Superman II, The Flintstones and Nostradamus. Playtech will also soon be releasing new slots such as Age of the Gods, Magical Stacks and Tiki Paradise. All of these new Playtech slot machines will soon be available across multiple platforms at a top British Columbian online casino called Omni Casino.
All of these Canadian online casinos are free to sign up to and they all currently have some attractive new player welcome bonuses worth claiming. Just remember to claim this free bonus cash when you deposit for the very first time at any of these fully licensed online casinos. All of the comments contained within this article came directly from an official Microgaming press release.


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Appearing before the Senate Judiciary committee today as part of the ongoing investigation of Cambridge Analytica and various forms of meddling in the 2016 elections,
Elon Musk has, as I imagine he often does during meetings or long car rides, come up with an idea for a new thing. Unlike the HyperLoop, which was cool, and various space-related ideas, which we know he's at least partly expert about, this one is just plain bad.
GUN is an open-source decentralized database service that allows developers to build fast peer-to-peer applications that will work, even when their users are offline. The company behind the project (which should probably change its name and logo…) today announced that it has raised just over $1.
A uniquely 21st-century constitutional question received a satisfying answer today from a federal judge: President Trump cannot block people on Twitter, as it constitutes a violation of their First Amendment rights. The court also ruled he must unblock all previously blocked users.
On the same day that Spotify’s class-action settlement with musicians gets final approval, the company is making a big push to encourage artists to participate on its streaming service – in this case, by offering them a host of educational material to help them get started.
Uber, which had already pulled its autonomous cars off the road following a fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona, is officially calling it quits on the state of Arizona, the Wall Street Journal first reported, citing an internal memo from Uber Advanced Technologies Group lead Eric Meyhofer.
Samsung’s AR Emojis were met with a…lukewarm reception when they launched alongside the Galaxy S9. The augmented reality avatars were regarded as a me-too response to Apple’s Animojis — and more to the point, were downright creepy. But at launch,
A slew of well-funded new entrants backed by massive amounts of capital are chasing Tesla’s lead in an effort to power the next generation of the electric vehicle industry. Electric vehicle startups have raised more than $2 billion in the U.S. over the first months of 2018 alone,
Here in the States, ZTE has been content with a kind of quiet success. The Chinese smartphone maker has landed in the top five quarter after quarter (sometimes breaking the top three, according to some analysts), behind household names like Apple, Samsung and LG. Suddenly, however,
Hot on the heels of a surprising 52-47 Senate disapproval of the FCC's new, weaker net neutrality rules, the House of Representatives will soon attempt to force a similar vote.
Is Facebook trampling over laws that regulate the processing of sensitive categories of personal data by failing to ask people for their explicit consent before it makes sensitive inferences about their sex life, religion or political beliefs?
An Egyptian judge sentenced to death 529 supporters of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Monday for the murder of one police officer.The verdict came down after only two court sessions, and the second lasted just around five minutes. Only 147 suspects were present at the trial,
To answer this, you need to know Consumer Cyclical vs. Consumer Non-Cyclical.These two terms are created to define whether or not a sector is correlated to economic cycles.Consumer Cyclical includes sectors that are highly influenced by economic cycles.
Argentinian beer Andes had a great idea: Let people use QR codes printed on their bottles to record video messages so friends or family could get them by pointing their camera phones at it. Then they made this hilarious ad campaign showing one potential use:
美国领土位居世界第四，要横跨美国东西海岸需要多少时间？如果给出的答案是 45 分钟，大家一定觉得小编在痴人说梦。不过美国 CNBC 已经证实，加州明年就要开建一条比飞机还快的 Hyperloop 超高速铁路。
通常一款手機推出了新型號之後，舊型號的銷量便會隨著時間推移而逐漸下降， 而且亦難以反彈。不過最近有分析師卻發現，Apple iPhone 5s 今季在 iPhone 總銷售所佔的比例，竟然比起上季大幅增加一倍，情況並不尋常。


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RSCPA Victoria has slashed adoption prices for cats because of an oversupply.
From today until Sunday, keen pet owners can pick up a cat, aged four months or older for $39, instead of the regular $120.
Kittens are also available for $99, instead of the usual $195.
"We are at CatPacity," RSPCA Victoria Chief Executive Officer Dr Liz Walker said.
"We have so many cats coming through our doors and even more already awaiting adoption," she said.
The RSPCA said at least 400 felines are "urgently" seeking a home.
RSPCA Victoria cares for around 10,400 cats each year, with numbers peaking as a result of "kitten season" - the breeding season typically between spring and summer.
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2019


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On May 20, 2010, the top management of both U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade. Chairman Tanner said the hearing was "to strike the right balance" between trade facilitation and security. Unfortunately, the Committee heard all about the enforcement success of both ICE and CBP without hearing about the difficulties faced daily by importers and customs brokers.
Chairman Tanner accurately stated:
There has been a growing concern that, in particular, CBP’s modernization of trade functions, facilitation of trade, and enforcement of traditional customs laws have appeared to lag while the agency tightened security screening of passengers and cargo.
ICE was particularly proud of its accomplishments by its National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. In ongoing Operation Guardian, ICE has interdicted substandard, tainted, or counterfeit products, including food and medicine that pose health and safety risks to American consumers. $26 million of such condoms, circuit breakers, toys, extension cords, honey, and shrimp were seized by ICE and CBP.
What was not revealed was how many unnecessary delays and expenses were caused by ICE and CBP for the legitimate merchandise that entered or transited the United States. In order to determine the effectiveness of the targeting programs used by CBP, Congress needs to inquire about the number of detentions and examinations by CBP, and the consequential financial costs to importers. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is also concerned with properly targeted imported food shipments, as indicated in its May 6, 2010 report on "Food Safety".
Does CBP do a good job at targeting imported shipments?


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Facebook’s latest quarterly SEC Filing has been posted online. That may sound like a boring proposition, but a new freelance writer at CNET actually read it and discovered that a notable portion of Facebook’s 955 million users aren’t, well… real people. 8.7 percent, or 83 million of the social network’s monthly active users are fake or mislabeled accounts, it estimates.
Here’s the breakdown of Facebook’s users:
- 4.8 percent (46 million) of active users are duplicate accounts
- 2.4 percent (23 million) are misclassified, like a family dog or a business posing as a person
- 1.5 percent (14 million) are spammers and other bad people
- 57 percent (543 million) users accessed Facebook from a mobile device in June
When Facebook first filed for its Initial Public Offering a few months ago, it estimated that the number of fake accounts stood at only around 6 percent, but must have developed more precise algorithms (or gotten more honest) since. Some gaming and forgeries are to be expected, but 10 percent does sound like a high number of fake accounts.
We’ve seen an uptick in updates from Pages filtering into our newsfeed, but haven’t noticed a huge spam or duplicate account problem. What do you think? Have fake accounts been contacting you lately?
- Facebook removed 583 million fake accounts in the first quarter of 2018
- DT Daily: Facebook deletes over a half-billion fake accounts
- Hearts broke because Facebook made it hard for Tinder users to log in
- Fake ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ accounts are scamming people out of cash
- Be our guest: Wire now lets customers communicate securely with their clients


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For the rest of the hours of the day, the frequency was increased from 60 minutes to 30 minutes. It also increased the city metro's operation timing during the peak hours, it said.
On Monday, the DMRC said that services during the lockdown period for peak hours -- morning (8 am to 10 am) and evening (5 pm to 7 pm) -- across the network will be available with a frequency of 30 minutes.
"To offer more capacity in compliance to 50 per cent seating provision with no standing to eligible people travelling by the metro during the curfew period, which is imposed in NCT of Delhi till 5 am of 26th April 2021, the DMRC has now decided to revise its operational plan with immediate effect," said the DMRC in its statement.
While services during the morning (7 am to 11 am) and evening (4 pm to 8 pm) peak hours across the network will be available with a headway (frequency) of 15 minutes, for the rest of the hours of the day, services across the network will be available with a frequency of 30 minutes, it informed.
The decision comes after the DMRC earlier in the day temporarily closed entry points of several metro stations to ensure social distancing of passengers.
Metro services can be availed only by the exempted category of people on production of valid identity proof.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a six-day lockdown in Delhi to deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases as the city''s health system was stretched to its limits.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Sumitomo Mitsui, 4 Others Sought Info on IDBI Sale
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and one other global bank are among five potential investors that have sought information from the Centre about the sale of state equity in IDBI Bank through a formal query process that closed on November 10, people familiar with the matter told ET.Flipkart may go in for $700m Esop Buyback
Walmart-owned homegrown ecommerce marketplace Flipkart is likely to facilitate a $700 million employee stock buyback as part of digital payments platform PhonePe’s new financing round, multiple sources briefed on the matter told ET.Falling Input Costs may Cool Prices of Essentials, Apparel
Prices of groceries, daily essentials and apparel are likely to fall over the next two quarters as input costs are expected to decline, spurring sales in the process, according to consumer goods makers.
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Tesla has been focused on making its cars fully autonomous and the latest Model S update is asking Tesla owners to help out.
There’s now an opt-in/opt-out data sharing agreement that confirms Tesla is collecting short video clips using the car’s external cameras to learn how to recognize things like lane lines, street signs and traffic light positions, Electrek reports. The company says, “The more fleet learning of road conditions we are able to do, the better your Tesla’s self-driving ability will become.”
For those with privacy concerns, Tesla reassures that the short video clips aren’t linked to the vehicle identification number (VIN) and ensures there’s no way to search its system for clips that are associated with a specific car.
Owners can choose to not check the “I agree” box to opt-out of sending the short video clips back to the company. They can also change their mind at any time. There’s also an additional clause for data collection: “Tesla measures the road segment data of all participating vehicles but in a way that does not identify you or your car, and may share that with partners that contribute similar data to help us provide the service. At no point is any personally identifiable information collected or shared during this process.”
Again, owners can choose to not agree to the data collection as well.
Discuss this story on our Tesla Forum


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An evolving lineup that matches consumer demand is the hallmark of any healthy automaker, and Ford has no problem dropping unpopular models.
That’s the message delivered by Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, who hinted that changes could be in store for the company’s car lineup in the face of a crossover and SUV-hungry marketplace. (Read More…)
We’ve seen some early images, and we know that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles feels the upcoming Jeep Wagoneer could warrant a price tag of up to $140,000.
What the folks at Jeep aren’t exactly sure of is how diverse they want the brand’s flagship SUV to be when it rolls out, likely as a 2019 model. One this is for sure — a model that exclusive likely needs some electrification, and Jeep brand chief Mike Manley knows it. (Read More…)
Automakers have an easy way of determining which new model is guaranteed to make the company money. If the answer to the simple question “Is it an SUV?” is a clear, definite “yes,” well, that’s a good enough indicator for most.
Alfa Romeo knows that in this day and age, not including an SUV in its lineup would be the kiss of death, hence the need for the 2018 Stelvio. Revealed in images on the eve of its Los Angeles Auto Show debut, the Stelvio borrows the face, platform and performance characteristics of its midsize sedan stablemate, the oft-delayed Giulia.
Sporting Italian lines that make vehicles built north of the Alps look frumpy and bureaucratic in comparison, Alfa Romeo also hopes the Stelvio temps buyers with what’s underneath its dress. (Read More…)
Jaguar has pulled the wraps off its I-Pace Concept SUV ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show, but this prototype isn’t just a one-off piece of vaporware, never to be seen again.
The automaker’s first electric vehicle is a go, and is expected to hit the road in 2018 to challenge Tesla’s Model X in the fledgling premium electric SUV segment. (Read More…)
Burying its loathed “shield”-style grille in the deepest depths of history’s dustbin is a big part of Acura’s plan to reverse falling sales, but product seems to be at least as big a problem as design.
The automaker, which has seen its U.S. sales fall 10.5 percent so far this year, is in the midst of a design pivot, though many feel that the brand needs a bigger shake-up then just a “diamond pentagon” grille. (Read More…)
Alfa Romeo, the company that has had repeated difficulties getting the Giulia into North America, is planning to launch nine new models over the next five years.
How it actually plans to do this is anybody’s guess.
The post-recession era was an interesting one. As automakers struggled to cram every last piece of fuel-saving technology into their vehicles, gas prices shot up and grimly stayed put. Engine displacements small enough to inspire locker room bullying were suddenly the mainstream.
Naturally, both corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) and sales-weighted fuel economy shot up like U.S. jobs numbers.
America’s rapidly growing lust for light trucks, crossovers and SUVs has been well documented, but until now, the trend has only served to flatline the average gas mileage of the country’s new vehicles. Well, the trend could only go so far before reaching a tipping point. (Read More…)
The skyrocketing popularity of utility vehicles in the U.S. marketplace has left Honda scrambling to catch up with the rapid change in consumer demand.
Production doesn’t turn on a dime just because more Americans want to option of transporting four kids, their stuff, and their sister’s dog. So, as it trims its sales forecast due to a car-heavy product mix, Honda has rolled out a plan to give buyers more of what they want.
It’s also prepared to use boats, if necessary. (Read More…)
Even though Ford hasn’t confirmed it, we know a reborn Ford Bronco is on its way.
Long before a UAW rep spilled the beans about the manly model’s return, Bronco buffs were already giddy with anticipation. TTAC’s managing editor has hardly slept a wink.
Now, word comes that there is indeed a development team hard at work on the model (expected to appear sometime in 2018), but you won’t find them in the vast lands bordered by the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. (Read More…)
Cars. They still make ’em, don’t they?
Automakers do, in fact, still produce cars, but they’re the last thing those companies’ bosses want to talk about, and they’re no longer on the top of most buyers’ shopping lists.
For the world’s largest automaker, the U.S. public’s shift towards trucks, SUVs and crossovers presents a problem. Toyota has them, but can’t build enough of them. With the rapidly declining interest in cars threatening its tentative No. 1 standing, Toyota needs to find a way to give buyers what they want. (Read More…)


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Apr 10, 2014 4:41 PM by MELISSA CANONE
UL Press is having its first warehouse clearance tent sale on Friday, April 11th on the UL Lafayette campus.
There will be almost 100 titles to choose from. Books are drastically reduced with titles up to 90 percent off, slightly damaged books as low as $1, and even some free ones up for grabs too.
7 hours ago


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HUNTINGTON BEACH, California — The redesigned 2017 Hyundai Elantra compact sedan will be unveiled at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show in November and arrive at Hyundai dealerships in early 2016, Edmunds has confirmed.
The new Elantra will have an upmarket appearance, Dave Zuchowski, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, said in an interview.
"It looks like a very expensive vehicle," Zuchowski said.
Upgrades are expected to include a quieter cabin, improved ride and higher-quality interior materials.
Pricing has not been announced.
Details about the 2017 Hyundai Elantra GT hatchback were not disclosed. The Elantra coupe was dropped during the 2014 model year.
The 2016 Hyundai Elantra is on sale now.
Zuchowski said that earlier this month the redesigned Elantra was reviewed by a consumer focus group that also viewed the Civic, Focus, Mazda 3 and Corolla.
"It did very well against its key competitors," he said. "We are very optimistic. It is very important for us."
Production of the 2017 Elantra sedan begins in November at Hyundai's South Korea plant and in December at its Alabama plant.
Edmunds says: Car shoppers in this crowded segment can look forward to a new-and-improved Hyundai Elantra sedan early next year. But there are plenty of good choices at dealerships in the meantime.