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Not everybody hates WeWork: Morning Brief
What makes WeWork's business bad is what makes it great
News only seems to be getting worse for The We Company, parent of WeWork, and its investors. In just the past week, news broke that the company was delaying its IPO and that top investors were looking to push out its co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann. Some might wonder: why does WeWork exist at all? The short answer: businesses love it!
For a little bit of money, The We Company will set you up with a cool desk, a cool office, or even a cool headquarters with "custom art and furniture designed for creativity, comfort, and productivity," and all of the necessary comforts of the working creature like "fresh fruit water, micro-roasted coffee, and tea."
It's great for the small business that doesn't have the time or money to build that office from scratch, and it's great for the large business that needs a little bit of extra space for a short burst of time.
Over time, it probably makes economic sense to set up your own office. But for a small premium, WeWork will give your business a whole lot of flexibility right now.
To put it another way, WeWork will assume a lot of risk for you.
And that's what makes the short-term, shared-office space business so risky.
"We is highly susceptible to a recession, as the company signs long-term leases with office landlords and then sub-leases to tenants on a shorter-term contract," D.A. Davidson analyst Barry Oxford explained after news broke that WeWork would delay its IPO. "By leasing space on a short-term basis, the company is able to charge a premium, which has fueled growth, but in a potential slowdown, the mismatched duration may put the company at risk."
You see, when you buy an office or sign a long-term lease, you are on the hook. With WeWork, you can walk away. So when times get tough, your small business can move its HQ to your dining room and your large business can just cut this variable expense. It's not unlike how a business will let go of its freelancers before its full-timers, which is meta because WeWork's risk section notes: "A significant portion of our member base consists of small- and mid-sized businesses and freelancers who may be disproportionately affected by adverse economic conditions."
But WeWork, of course, isn't totally exposed. The company uses something called "special purpose entities" to hedge itself should things go south. From We's S-1 filing: "A majority of our leases are held by individual special purpose entities."
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren flagged this in a speech he gave on Friday ( h/t Yahoo Finance's Brian Cheung): "This structure may allow the co-working company to potentially walk away from unprofitable lease arrangements in an economic downturn without the property owner having recourse to the ultimate parent, the co-working company. Simply put, I am concerned that commercial real estate losses will be larger in the next downturn because of this growing feature of the real estate market, which could ultimately make runs and vacancies more likely due to this new leasing model."
Whoa! Everybody hold your horses. We've gone from talking about a risky business model, to mapping out what happens in a recession, to explaining why WeWork-like businesses can exacerbate a commercial real estate crisis. That's a lot of scary stuff.
Specifically, it's a lot of scary stuff a business has to think about as it models out its long-term strategy. Importantly, a business will want flexibility should things turn south. Fortunately, there are service companies whose whole business model is about supplying flexibility and insulation from risk. Like WeWork.
What to watch todayEconomy
8:30 a.m. ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index, August (0.13 expected, -0.36 in July)
9:45 a.m. ET: Markit U.S. Manufacturing PMI, September preliminary (50.3 expected, 50.3 in August)
9:45 a.m. ET: Markit U.S. Services PMI, September preliminary (51.4 expected, 50.7 in July)
9:45 a.m. ET: Markit U.S. Composite PMI, September preliminary (50.7 in July)
First Lady Melania Trump will be ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Watch The First Trade, beginning at 9 a.m. ET, for coverage of the event.
On the Move co-anchor Julie Hyman will be at the Annual Concordia Summit 2019 NYC. Watch her coverage of the event throughout the day on Yahoo Finance's live shows from 9 a.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET.
Thomas Cook is dead and 150,000 UK holidaymakers are stranded [Yahoo Finance UK]
The U.S. Finally Has a Plan for Releasing Data on Treasuries Trading [Bloomberg]
ndonesia finds design flaw, oversight lapses in 737 MAX crash: WSJ [Reuters]
Amazon dominates comedy Emmys with 'Fleabag' and 'Maisel' [Bloomberg]
YAHOO FINANCE HIGHLIGHTSWhy Netflix CEO Reed Hastings once fired his co-founder via a PowerPoint Author details 'the worst drug crisis in American history' Are meatless burgers bad for you? Impossible Foods CEO responds
More News in Finance
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- They built him up. And now they want to bring him down. SoftBank Group Corp.'s sudden turn against WeWork CEO Adam Neumann highlights how the Japanese conglomerate has wielded far
Those holding V2 Retail ( NSE:V2RETAIL) shares must be pleased that the share price has rebounded 33% in the last thirty days. But unfortunately, the stock is still down by 31% over
Property hunters hoping to snap up a bargain in Sydney's suburbs have missed the boat as values surge across the city. The typically blue collar Cabramatta is one surprising suburb riding the property recovery and has
(Bloomberg) -- Want the lowdown on European markets? In your inbox before the open, every day. Sign up here. Thomas Cook Group Plc collapsed under a pile of debt after talks with creditors
The report provides a detailed summary of the Global Cardiovascular Surgical Devices and Technologies Market, market definition, size, share, classifications, applications, end-users, industry verticals, and the industry chain structure. The statistical surveying report


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The Stafford Sheriff’s Office is again warning residents to be cautious when selling items online.
Two county residents have been ripped off in recent days after meeting up with prospective buyers with items they’d advertised on Craiglist, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Amanda Vicinanzo said. Both had been swindled by the time they realized that the money they’d received was counterfeit. Both thefts took place in the 200 block of Dover Place in North Stafford.
The latest reported incident happened Sunday. The victim had placed an ad on Craigslist regarding the sale of his laptop computer and accessories. He was contacted by someone who agreed to purchase the computer for $500.
The victim met up with two men and exchanged the laptop and accessories for money. As the purchasers began walking away, the victim more closely examined the money and realized it was fake.
He yelled at the men and began chasing them. One of them dropped the laptop and kept running. The other got away with the accessories.
Two days earlier, another victim showed up in that same area to sell an Apple watch he had advertised online for $300. A man who identified himself only as “Phillip” agreed to buy the watch.
He paid for the watch and walked away. The seller soon realized that the bills felt different than usual and noticed they had “For Movie Use Only” printed on the back. He looked up and saw the thief running away in the distance.
Deputy Alex Smith and his police dog, Lobo, attempted to track the perpetrator, but were unable to find the suspect.
Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 540/658-4400.
Vicinanzo said police want to remind residents of the safe exchange zones in front of the Public Safety Building at 1224 Courthouse Road. There are two parking spots there that provide a safe and well-lit area for people to exchange goods or conduct custody exchanges in a law-enforcement protected area.

domain: news


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Earlier this year, Eat24 wrote an impassioned breakup letter to a metaphorical lover. The web-based food delivery service had used Facebook to accrue more than 70,000 “likes” and reach consumers on the social network. But Facebook’s reduction of organic reach now means that if you have used Facebook to reach a professional audience for free, you now need to pay up.
This is what happens when social networks treat all users as equals—first as experts, then as noise.
We like to believe that social media is a true equaliser. It’s why Quora saw an estimated 14.6 million visits this past April from users who spent an average of 4 minutes and 28 seconds on-site. Users can choose from over 400,000 topics to create informational feeds that are “tuned to your interests,” thereby having the platform act as “your best source of knowledge”.
- Great for entrepreneurs
- Powerful data analytics
- Manage sales and data
- Cutting-edge marketing
- Ideal for teams or solo use
- Measure sales conversions
- Great for startups
- Powerful web page builder
- E-commerce available
- Great for marketing
- Better than lists or sheets
- Manage social media
- Launch your website fast
- Powerful data intuitive
- No coding skills needed
But who—or what—is “your best source of knowledge”? Is it Quora as a tech/social platform and distributor of these 400,000 topics? Or one of 14 million random users who pose as experts?
The answer is neither, for the simple fact that everyone’s knowledge is not equal. The rush of everyone trying to demonstrate their expertise has done the opposite of providing knowledge—it has created such an overload of noise that seemingly “open platforms” are now adopting the role of publishers—or, as Matthew Ingram calls them, “content gatekeepers.”
It’s no accident that both LinkedIn and Facebook are evolving in this manner. Earlier this year, LinkedIn’s Ryan Roslansky wrote about their decision to open their publishing platform to all member. A B2B publishing space once reserved for the likes of Bill Gates and Richard Branson is now open to anyone, irrespective of experience.
“Combined, our members have extremely valuable and varied experiences; however, their knowledge and expertise has not yet been captured and shared”, Rolansky wrote. “The average Influencer post drives more than 31,000 views and receives more than 250 likes and 80 comments. By any measure, this is a remarkably high level of engagement for digital content.”
Information is easy now; clarity and insight are not. LinkedIn’s decision to expand its archive of digital content may indeed yield high levels of engagement. But it also means that users must shift through even more noise to gain the knowledge they need. On the surface, LinkedIn and Facebook appear to be moving in opposite directions—LinkedIn is opening access to members while Facebook pulls back. But in terms of assisting the knowledge economy, both the bait-and-switch tactic of Facebook and the open access of LinkedIn fail to contribute.
Amongst all of this, there lies a silver lining. The latest Ten-Year Forecasts from Palo Alto Think Tank the Institute for the Future proposes a new Internet model that is “post-NSA and post-Comcast”, and relies on peer-to-peer structure in a way that more closely resembles the Internet’s first purpose.
Over the last decade, the Internet has evolved much more hub and spoke”, IFTF Fellow Jamais Cascio explained. “Everything has to go through the major services. The idea with the second-curve Internet would push back into that other model. Peer-to-peer, mesh focused, and getting away from those central points of control and failure.”
Cascio’s colleague Mike Liebhold uses the Greek myth of Icarus as a metaphor for the “brief historical moment” where a first-generation distribution of online ideas has proven to be vulnerable. He concludes that just as humans surpassed Icarus in their knowledge of how to build a better aircraft, the Internet’s second curve will distribute knowledge more appropriately. Publishers are, and always have been, curators of content created by experts. The second curve will involve online knowledge networks where both internal and experts can collaborate.
What does this mean for consultants, publishers, and any business with industry expertise as their core value proposition? Instead of going to websites like Quora or LinkedIn, where everyone clamours to demonstrate their expertise and simply create noise, go to businesses that have this at the heart of their IP. They haven’t had a solution to deliver their experts in a smart way—but the second-curve Internet will change that.
From social noise, to tool fragmentation and saturation to a more consolidated and knowledge-based orientation that is in context of solving a problem with collective intelligence, not just creating user-driven communications (and cat videos).
This article was written by Charles Thiede. Charles is co-founder and CEO of Zapnito, a SaaS platform that allows users to both create and monetize expert networks and membership models. He previously served as CTO of Informa Business Information, where he oversaw a $400m publishing portfolio and acquisition integration of Datamonitor, a $1 billion value, over the course of 12 months. He has recently served as interim Chief Product Officer at Nature Publishing Group which represents brands such as Nature.com, Scientific American, and Palgrave.


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Basic materials companies are the unsung heroes of an economic recovery. While vulnerable to times of slowing growth, many of these companies are first in line to benefit from rising industrial production. Demand for everything from chemicals, to plastics, to metals and minerals is rising. And that makes the materials sector worth a look.
With that, we asked some of our contributors which basic materials stocks they thought stood out from the pack. They chose Celanese (CE -0.11%), Linde (LIN -0.03%), and Sherwin-Williams (SHW -1.10%). Here's why each company is worth adding to your portfolio right now.
Lee Samaha (Celanese): Global chemical and specialty materials company Celanese isn't a household name, but its products are everywhere. It produces intermediate chemicals used in a wide range of industries, including coatings, paints, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, automotive, consumer electronics, electrical appliances, and even food. In other words, Celanese processes raw materials into intermediate chemicals, which manufacturers then use to make finished products. As such, it's a near-term play on an economic recovery, and in particular the industrial economy, and it's also a medium-term play on the completion of its strategic targets through 2023.
Rising raw material costs are a concern, but Celanese tends to have long-term supply agreements and forward purchase contracts in place to mitigate the risk. Moreover, chemicals suppliers usually pass on price increases if end demand is strong enough, and with a recovering economy, that should be the case in 2021.
Over the medium term, management aims for adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $13 to $14 in 2023, with operating cash flow of $4 billion to $5 billion from 2021 to 2023. Given that capital expenditure is forecast to be around $1.5 billion in the period, it implies $3 billion in free cash flow (FCF) through 2023, or about $1 billion in FCF a year. Based on the current market cap, Celanese would trade on less than 17.5 times FCF in 2023 and around 11.4 times the midpoint of earnings guidance for 2023. An excellent value.
Moreover, the operational enhancements made at the company over the last decade mean that Celanese's FCF substantially covers its dividend. As you can see below, FCF per share was markedly higher in the challenging year of 2020 than it was through nearly all the decade.
Don't be surprised if the company raises its dividend, makes more share buybacks, or invests in new projects or acquisitions to boost revenue growth beyond 2023. Celanese looks like an excellent value option to play a cyclical recovery in 2021 and beyond.
Time to gas up with a proven materials powerhouse
Scott Levine (Linde): Unlike the latest electric vehicle or cryptocurrency stocks, materials stocks often aren't the ones found in the headlines of business articles. But investing isn't a popularity contest; there's no reason to believe that your most successful investments have to be easily recognizable names. Take Middleby, a manufacturer of commercial cooking equipment, for example. Far from a household name, Middleby's stock has skyrocketed more than 15,000% over the past 20 years while the S&P 500 has risen 252%.
Now, consider the materials maven Linde. A global purveyor of industrial gases and engineering solutions, Linde is a materials company that people are unlikely to be discussing around the dinner table, yet it's a stock that has outperformed the market considerably over the past 20 years, climbing more than 1,100%. And there's good reason to believe the company will continue its impressive performance in the future. Since merging with Praxair in 2018, Linde has grown to be the top dog in its field as the world's largest producer of industrial gases. Its proficiency in engineering solutions, moreover, helps to distinguish it from competitors. From oil and gas, to energy storage, to hospitality, a wide range of industries rely on Linde's solutions.
One area in particular that I find compelling is its exposure to the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Whereas fuel cell companies like Plug Power and FuelCell Energy are positioning themselves to play prominent roles as hydrogen occupies a greater position on our energy landscape, as investments they are fraught with risk as they haven't proven that their endeavors can be profitable. Linde, on the other hand, is a mature company that doesn't rely so singularly on the growing emphasis on hydrogen, yet still stands to benefit considerably from it, especially considering its position. The company, for instance, proclaims that it's "the only company to cover every step in the hydrogen value chain from production and processing (including purification and liquefaction) through distribution and storage to everyday industrial and consumer applications" -- a fortuitous position for a potential multi-trillion opportunity. Illustrating its sought-after prowess in hydrogen, Linde announced last month that it had inked a deal to supply hydrogen and the related infrastructure to help power the world's first hydrogen-powered ferry, located in Norway.
While the hydrogen narrative plays out, investors can expect the company to prosper nonetheless. In 2020, for example, Linde reported adjusted EPS of $8.23, a 12% increase year over year, and management expects the bottom line to grow further in 2021, forecasting adjusted EPS of $9.10 to $9.30. The company plans to announce results from the first quarter of 2021 in early May -- an event interested investors would be wise to follow.
Paint your portfolio with profitability
Daniel Foelber (Sherwin-Williams): As Scott mentioned, materials companies rarely capture the spotlight like other sectors do. But Sherwin-Williams deserves some time in the sun. It has spent the last 10 years doing what it does best: crushing the market and raising its dividend. The company has raised its dividend for 40 consecutive years, making it a Dividend Aristocrat. There's just one issue: Its dividend yield is now only 0.9%. But this is because its share price has risen faster than the company can increase its quarterly payout, which is a great problem to have if you're a shareholder of Sherwin-Williams. To make it easier for investors to buy its stock, Sherwin-Williams issued a 3-for-1 stock split that went into effect on April 1. The stock split doesn't shrink the value of the Sherwin-Williams pie per se, it only triples the number of slices.
Sherwin-Williams' long-term success can be attributed to its high profitability across different markets. Its overall gross profit margin is consistently above 40% -- and it finished 2020 with a record-high operating margin of 15%. A 15% operating margin means Sherwin-Williams is pocketing $0.15 of every $1 it brings in. Few industrial or material companies are that efficient.
The pandemic is a great example of how Sherwin-Williams' three business segments work together to grow sales and net income. The company's Americas group, its largest division, consists of Sherwin-Williams-branded products for commercial and residential customers. Despite COVID-19-related challenges affecting its retail outlets, the division benefited from DIY home improvement projects. The consumer brands group, which holds non-Sherwin-Williams brands sold at Lowe's and other retail outlets, grew sales by 14% last year. Performance coatings, which is tied to industrial manufacturing and production, was hit hard by an economic slowdown but recovered well toward the end of the year. All in all, Sherwin-Williams was able to grow its adjusted EPS by 16% and generate a record-high $18.4 billion in revenue. In 2021, it expects the narrative to change, with the Americas group and performance coatings leading a 9% increase in adjusted EPS even after a strong 2020.
Simply put, Sherwin-Williams is exposed to a lot of different sectors of the economy, giving it a business that can perform during good times and bad.


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With StackPath’s background as a content delivery network, the company is well-equipped to provide fast and reliable online services to game developers.
StackPath is an edge computing company that offers game studios, publishers, and tech providers the means to deliver the necessary top-tier network performance to their customers.
“It’s still early days in edge computing,” said Nathan Huey, chief marketing officer at StackPath in a recent Q&A held for GDC 2021.
As games grow bigger, faster, and more interactive, Huey said StackPath looks to provide game companies with the online tools services they need to succeed.
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Blockchain Foundry Inc. (BCF) the blockchain based business solutions provider and developer of the Syscoin blockchain today confirmed that it has entered into a pre-design and ICO (Initial Coin Offering) consulting agreement with Global CPQ.
Global CPQ is a US-based company that is focused on the Enterprise CPQ (Configure Price Quote) space by developing a crypto-compatible, blockchain CPQ and pricing intelligence solutions.
The company’s aim is to equip sales teams with intelligent software that allows users to “spend less time quoting and more time closing.”
BCF will provide Global CPQ with the knowledge base to create its ICO and the architecture to begin building blockchain-based platforms; leveraging the Syscoin blockchain.
“We are extremely excited about our strategic partnership with the team at Blockchain Foundry. Our team has extensive experience in the technology consulting industry, and as a result, we have very high standards when it comes to choosing a partner. The team at BCF is truly the best in the industry when it comes to building enterprise blockchain solutions, and their experts consistently deliver well beyond our expectations. We are very excited about the future of Global CPQ and we view this partnership with BCF to be a vital part of our long-term business strategy.”
The Global CPQ Platform is designed to streamline the enterprise business-to-business (B2B) quote-to-cash process and will integrate seamlessly with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Global CPQ’s Syscoin blockchain-based platform utilizes Syscoin’s immutable blockchain technology to provide the platform with quick, seamless transactions, enabling individuals to buy and sell with cryptocurrency or fiat in an encrypted, secure environment.
“We are excited to be assisting Global CPQ with its ICO and blockchain ventures. We believe we will continue to see businesses migrating towards blockchain-based technology solutions in the coming year, and enjoy having the opportunity to share our knowledge with this great company.”
For more information on Global CPQ see the company whitepaper.


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Rumoured $1.4bn deal is the largest acquisition in Estée Lauder’s 70 year history
Estée Lauder has signed an agreement to purchase Too Faced cosmetics – one of the fastest growing brands in the US.
The $1.4bn deal is said to be the largest acquisition in Estée Lauder’s history, according to WWD.
With Too Faced, we see terrific opportunity for additional value creation through expansion in new and existing markets in the US and internationally.
Estée Lauder said that the deal would help strengthen its position in prestige make-up, particularly with the millennial market.
Too Faced was created in 1998 by Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson and focuses on high quality formulas and fun product names. The brand has a huge presence online with 7.3 million followers on Instagram.
Fabrizio Freda, President and CEO at Estée Lauder, said that Too Faced is one of the “most dynamic” brands in the world.
“It has tremendous growth momentum in speciality-multi and online – important, strategic channels. With Too Faced, we see terrific opportunity for additional value creation through expansion in new and existing markets in the US and internationally,” he said.
Jeremy Johnson and Jerrod Blandino said that they were “delighted” to partner with Estée Lauder.
“We started our careers behind the counters of the Estée Lauder brand, so this is truly a homecoming for us,” they said.
They added: “The Estée Lauder Companies appreciates our unique vision – to provide innovative, cruelty-free makeup products that give women the confidence to ‘have fun, play and dream big’ – and is committed to ensuring that we retain and build on the core pillars of our brand that are so important to us and our fans.”
Too Faced’s most popular products include its famous Better Than Sex Mascara, which is a number one bestseller in multiple retailers and several markets.
Last year, the brand launched the Born This Way foundation which has also become a bestseller, alongside its eye shadow palettes.
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman at Estée Lauder, added: “Jerrod and Jeremy started the brand with a simple, yet compelling creative concept, and transformed it into something that is truly extraordinary.”


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New York-based Supreme is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a box logo t-shirt and hoodie made in collaboration with Swarovski. The t-shirt and hoodie each feature over 1,000 crystals, hand applied in New York City.
Reflecting on its silver anniversary, in a press release, the brand stated, “In April 1994, Supreme opened its doors on Lafayette Street in downtown Manhattan, becoming the home of New York City skate culture. At its core was a group of neighborhood kids, skaters and local artists who became the store’s staff, crew, and customers. Over 25 years, Supreme has expanded from its New York City origins into a global community with 11 stores worldwide and an even larger network of friends and family that make up the fabric of the brand.
“To commemorate its 25 years, Supreme will release a Swarovski crystal box logo t-shirt and hooded sweatshirt. The hooded sweatshirt features 1,201 Swarovski crystals and the t-Shirt features 1,161 crystals. The crystals are applied by hand in New York City.
There’s nothing Supreme makes that’s more coveted than its bogo t-shirt and hoodies so if you’re hoping to buy one on the day of the drop, visit this reddit.com thread for beginner tips.
The t-shirt and hoodie along with additional items will drop on April 25th at 11:00 AM local time at Supreme’s stores in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Manhattan, London and Paris. It will go live on supremenewyork.com at 11:00 AM EST in the United States and at 11:00 AM GMT for Europe.
The collection drops in Japanese stores on April 27th.
Check out the Supreme and Swarovski crystal hoodie and t-shirt plus additional items below.


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Samsung and Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) have announced that they have signed a sponsorship agreement that will see the electronics giants support the operator’s rollout of its new HD decoder.
The deal will run until the end of September, 2011.
“We are very pleased to be collaborating with Samsung Electronics for our high definition decoder roll out,” said Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, CEO, OSN. “Watching HD content on an HD ready TV will offer the ultimate TV experience,” he added.
Samsung will also use the tie-up to promote its LED 3D screen that can convert 2D programming to 3D.
“Our association will further enhance Samsungs market awareness across the fast-growing Middle East Consumer Electronics segment,” said Kyungtae Bae, president, Samsung MENA. “Several value added offerings will be realised through this partnership, ultimately providing consumers with the best home entertainment solution.”
OSN has established a portfolio of eight HD channels with Dolby Digital sound.


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Xiaomi’s ‘Mi Fan Festival’ begins, here’s how you can buy Mi 5 smartphoneNew Delhi: The sixth edition Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s ‘Mi Fan Festival’ has begun in India. During the 14-hour long festival, which started at 8am, the company will sell a number of accessories at discount
New Delhi: The sixth edition Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s ‘Mi Fan Festival’ has begun in India. During the 14-hour long festival, which started at 8am, the company will sell a number of accessories at discount prices including recently launched smartphone Mi 5.
According to the company, buyers can avail a variety of offers by visiting its official website Mi.com between 8 am to 10 pm today. The company is celebrating a-day long ‘Mi Fan Festival’ to commemorate its sixth anniversary.
The recently launched Mi 5 smartphone, which carries a price tag of Rs 24,999 for 32GB variant, will be up for flash sales at 11 am, 2pm and 5pm. According to the company, only the white variant of the device will be available and buyers need to login using their Mi account to purchase the smartphone.
The Mi Protect insurance plan for the company’s flagship smartphone will also be available at Rs 499 against the regular pricing is of Rs 699. The Mi Protect insurance plan has services like accidental liquid damage, doorstep pickup-drop service, SIM card blocking, Docusafe and more.
The Redmi Note 3 smartphone too will be up for flash sale during the festival timing. The 16GB and 32GB variants will be available at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999, respectively. The company is also offering Rs 50 discount on a protective case for the Redmi Note 3.
The other products that will be put up for sale include: Xiaomi’s 20,000mAh Mi Power Bank, Redmi 2 Prime 16GB, Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro, LED Light Enhanced, Mi USB Cable (120cm) etc.
Xiaomi, headquartered in Beijing, is the world's 5th largest smartphone maker company. Last year, it had sold 70.8 million units and was countable for almost 5 per cent of the smartphone global market share. The company sold over 60 million smartphones in 2014.


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There’s a long way to go before the electric car revolution even comes close to…
The latest .Com Winners & Losers
Here’s how registrars fared in the latest Verisign report.
ICANN has published the latest .com transactions report from registry Verisign, showing official results from August. Other than a bit of shakeup in the net inbound transfers category, there aren’t many changes from the previous month. The top registrars had some improvement in new registrations as summer came to a close.
Here are the top 5 registrars in August in terms of new .com registrations:
1. GoDaddy* 899,189
2. Rightside** 209,763
3. HiChina 132,914
4. Tucows 118,592
5. PublicDomainRegistry 117,039
Here are the top five registrars for net inbound transfers:
1. EIMS.cn +21,122
2. HiChina +19,594
3. Mesh Digital +13,716
4. NameBright +11,963
5. Google +6,153
On the flip side, these five registrars saw the biggest net outflow of .com domain names due to transfers:
1. Tucows -21,298
2. eName -15,363
3. GoDaddy -10,990
4. Domain.com -8,857
5. PublicDomainRegistry -7,429
*Includes GoDaddy and Wild West Domains **Includes eNom and Name.com, but not dropcatching registrars.
© DomainNameWire.com 2016. This is copyrighted content. Domain Name Wire full-text RSS feeds are made available for personal use only, and may not be published on any site without permission. If you see this message on a website, contact copyright (at) domainnamewire.com.
Latest domain news at DNW.com: Domain Name Wire.
The post The latest .Com Winners & Losers appeared first on Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News & Views.


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For generations, Americans have relied on public service workers to inspect the food we eat. In fact, one major concern of the recent government shutdown was that food inspectors would be furloughed, endangering or shutting down the food supply chain across the country.
American public institutions have a long track record of keeping our food disease-free. Yet as this service is increasingly outsourced to for-profit corporations, it is leading to repeated oversight failures that have caused illness and even death. And too often, the for-profit entities that are now responsible for keeping our food safe have conflicts of interest that encourage them to rubber stamp inspections rather than ensure our food is safe.
The Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has proposed a "Modernization of Poultry Inspection." But "modernization" is just public relations babble for removing USDA inspectors from poultry lines and letting companies police themselves. That's right. The fox is literally guarding the hen house.
As Food and Water Watch has noted, this "modernization" -- actually, privatization -- "jeopardizes food safety" and prioritizes "poultry industry economic interests over consumers and workers in poultry plants."
According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report last month on outsourced inspection pilot sites, FSIS's "modernization" did not meet sound standards for data collection. The report also found that "sorting responsibilities on the slaughter line [were] not required or standardized and that faster line speeds allowed under the pilot projects raise[d] concerns about food safety and worker safety." Sorting refers to the process of removing unsafe birds from production.
The GAO report is an unwelcome addition to a pile of evidence showing the perils of food safety privatization. Recall the deadly listeria outbreak tied to cantaloupes from Colorado in 2010. An underreported yet highly significant detail of the case was the fact that inspection of the melons had been outsourced to a for-profit corporation:
In 2010, Primus Group food auditors visited a Colorado melon farm run by brothers Ryan and Eric Jensen. The company told the farming brothers how to install a new cooling system. In 2011, the inspectors returned and gave the flawed new system, which violated federal guidelines, a "superior" safety report.
Within a year, 33 cantaloupe consumers had died painful deaths after being infected with Listeria monocytogenes, a type of bacteria that was harbored by the brothers' fruit. Federal investigators concluded that the installation of the new cooling system was a fatal flaw.
According to an investigation conducted by Bloomberg News, the FDA had never inspected the Jensen farm. In fact, the year before the listeria outbreak, the FDA inspected just 6 percent of domestic food producers and 0.4 percent of importers. Instead, the work was done by for-profit entities, like Primus Group, hired by the producers. These auditors are not required to meet any federal standards and only monitor certain guidelines by choice. Those guidelines are set by trade groups made up of food producers like ConAgra and Kraft.
Without rigorous and independent oversight, the Jensen brothers created the "largest food-borne disease outbreak in almost a century."
Taxpayers have long relied on public inspection of the food we eat because, thanks to the accountability and oversight built into a public inspection system, we have come to trust the food we consume. Bungled contracts of roads, schools and prisons are bad enough when only taxpayer dollars are at risk, but in the case of food inspection, the stakes are literally life or death. Handing over control of food inspection to for-profit corporations is just too hard to swallow.


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A recent survey conducted by Global Cyber Alliance draws alarming conclusions: almost half of consumers cannot determine the safety and legitimacy of online shopping sites. In United States for example only half of consumers think they can determine if they browse a secure shopping website while in United Kingdom 36% cannot determine the safety and legitimacy of online shopping sites and 45% have stopped an online purchase because of security fears.
These findings are doubled by research of Anti-Phishing Working Group, their specialists discovered more than 100,000 phishing websites targeting over 300 individual brands. The brands with the most spoof-able websites included popular online retailers Amazon (82%), Walmart (36%), and Target (20%).
It is easy for scammers to trick users with websites that look like they are legitimate company websites – either an international brand or a local store – but have a different IP address – something that most users would find very hard to detect.
One method for scammers? Registering web domains that are misspellings of popular brands and destinations. According to the Global Cyber Alliance survey, 76% of U.S. and U.K. consumers have mistyped a website address into their browsers and 60% have clicked on a link in an email that has taken them to a different site than they expected.
Other findings from the Global Cyber Alliance survey include:
Online Safety vs. Physical Safety
- Only 16% of consumers fear a burglar breaking into their home more than an online hacker stealing personal information
- Only 11% of consumers think that their mobile phone is more secure than the front door of their house
The Threat is Real
- 60% of consumers have had their computer infected with malware
- 50% have visited a website that they feared could do harm to their computer or device
The good news is Global Cyber Alliance, along with IBM Security and Packet Clearing House launched Quad9, a free service that protects both consumers and businesses from the most popular phishing websites. In four easy steps, computers can be configured to automatically check every link that is clicked on – or address that is entered – against a directory of millions of bad web addresses compiled from companies that specialize in categorizing online threats and scams. If a user tries to access a website that is on any of the lists of malicious websites, they are blocked from accessing the site.


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Inflation is expected to have remained in the middle of the Reserve Bank's 1%-3% target range in December and figures out tomorrow should not cause the Reserve Bank to change its plans for rate hikes.
The Reserve Bank is expected to make its first change to the official cash rate (OCR) in March, possibly April, although it does have an opportunity later this month to lift the rate from the current 2.5%.
While inflation for the three months ended December was expected to have fallen slightly, annual inflation was expected to have reached 1.5%.
ASB economist Christina Leung said weaker tradeable inflation was a key feature of the subdued outcome expected from December. She expected tradeable inflation to have fallen 0.8% in the quarter.
That largely reflected the seasonal fall in fruit and vegetable prices.
Added to that was the modest fall in petrol and diesel prices over the quarter, which ASB estimated provided a negative contribution of 0.2% to the consumer price index (CPI) - the official measure of inflation.
The continued strength of the New Zealand dollar had placed downward pressure on the price of imported goods over the past year, she said.
The Reserve Bank highlighted the dampening influence of the high New Zealand dollar on tradeable inflation.
However, tradeable inflation had been lower than movements in the dollar would suggest, largely reflecting modest household demand, Statistics New Zealand having reported widespread discounting of imported household items.
''This reflects the increasingly competitive retail environment, with retailers' margins crunching in over the past few years as a result.''
More recently, household demand had improved, reflecting increasing consumer confidence in light of a stronger labour market and higher house prices.
Market speculation of an OCR increase at the January meeting had increased in recent weeks, the December CPI being seen as a ''game changer'', Ms Leung said.
The Reserve Bank's December forecast of a 0.2% fall in the CPI would still leave annual inflation at 1.4%, still in the bottom half of the target range.
It was extremely rare for the CPI to surprise by more than 0.5%. Since March 2004, there had been only two quarterly CPI results which had been 0.5% or more off forecast in either direction, while two others had surprised by 0.3% to 0.5%.
Ninety percent of quarterly results had differed less than 0.3% from market expectations.
''In fact, markets have had a tendency to overestimate the CPI, particularly over the past two years,'' Ms Leung said.
ASB saw the risks to its inflation forecast as fairly balanced, she said.


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In a panel today at Comic-Con, Sea of Thieves art director Ryan Stevenson revealed that the new game will pay homage to titles that earned Rare so many fans. One way this will be accomplished is through the use of unique figureheads that players can equip on their ships.
One of the shipheads shown featured a pirate-ized version of Joanna Dark from the Perfect Dark series. Another was a ferocious bear holding a crest that displayed a bird — a clear reference to the lovable duo from the Banjo-Kazooie games.
While Sea of Thieves is distinct from Rare’s past works, Stevenson said the developer felt that the game truly encapsulates the Rare style. "We wanted to reimagine what a Rare game is today with all of our knowledge and embracing all the technology available to us," he said.
In addition to its own past works, Stevenson said that the Monkey Island games are a major inspiration for Rare’s approach to pirates. He also showed off some of the non-player-controlled enemies that seafarers will face in the game, including Ray Harryhausen-esque skeletons, mermaids and ghost pirates who pilot their own phantom ships.


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Nash DavidMay 30, 2016 12:56:36 IST
Since becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has worked effortlessly in pushing his Digital India programme. In addition, there has been the Startup India as well as Make in India projects that have received immense media coverage over the past couple of years. Some sceptics do question the hype around these programmes, while others question, well, the very right to question.
Since taking over as PM, Narendra Modi focused on bringing a sense of optimism in the Indian industry, and reduce red-tapism experienced by businesses thinking of setting up shop here. In the tech world, some of these names would include Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and many more. In September 2015, PM Modi embarked on a trip to the US. Turns out, Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit happened at the same time. Both had the same agenda – to woo American businesses to come and set up shop in their respective countries. While Jinping had to focus his concerns towards Capitol Hill due to security, hacking and business, Modi addressed the innovation hub – Stanford, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Apple and the business leaders of the US who have an eye on India.
Luckily for India, a significant percentage of popular tech companies are led by Indians, or have Indians in senior leadership positions. Business decisions, however, aren't taken based on the nationality or affinity of a company's leader. It's taken on merit of the market, the dynamics of business environment prevalent in that specific markets, and the overall nature of opportunities that lie ahead. So when Modi met key leaders – Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Tim Cook, and a host of others – the agenda was clear. To communicate that India is a land of opportunities, growth and ease of doing business.
Irrespective of their nationality, business leaders view India as a market of opportunity. It provides the essential numbers to provide growth to businesses that were otherwise plateauing in developed markets. The result has been a surge of interest in India. Over the past couple of years, there has been a lot of activity in India.
Free Basics and the battle for free!
February 2015 saw Internet.org, Zuckerberg's pet project get launched in India. This happened via a partnership between Facebook and Reliance Communications. Back then the plan was to go online pan-India 'over the next 90 days.' That period was to end in May 2015. Over the course of these months, voices calling for a free Internet began to gain prominence. Free here referred to freedom, not so much free as in a free beer.
The days and weeks that went by saw a significant opposition to Internet.org. Some referred to Free Basics as 'so-called philanthropy' – which keeps coming back in different avatars – is nothing but an attempt to buy the de-anonymised packets of the Indian poor at a bulk rate, breaking their security in the process of destroying their privacy. Before long, Kirthiga Reddy, Facebook India's first employee decided to move back to the US and 'explore new opportunities at Facebook back at Menlo Park.'
Free Internet and the widespread support
On the other hand, when Sundar Pichai visited India, he brought with him the idea of internet infrastructure that offered free Wi-Fi at hundreds of railway stations in India. The idea of a private company helping out to meet the requirements of million of citizens was welcomed by Indians. There's certainly a lot that Facebook could've learned from Google in the way it tried to bring 'free internet' to million of Indians.
Nonetheless, here was a company that was investing in India – and was solving a problem that is at the core of every Indian's online experience – low bandwidth, patchy connectivity and last mile hurdles. The availability of internet connectivity at railway stations, similar to airports, helps millions connect with millions more!
Support for Startup India
Overall the industry has been quite supportive of Indian government projects such as Startup India and Digital India. Many companies announced Make in India plans to woo Indians. But what is needed is far beyond rebranding business as Make in India. What's needed is local employment, local sourcing and local pricing. Generally speaking, up until now, Make in India literally was business for Foxconn India. Life went on as usual because it was pretty much business as usual. Only the manufacturing partner now had a manufacturing plant in India, which was optimally utilised. In fact, the Sri City plant caters to a bunch of popular smartphone manufacturers.
Apple incubator and iPhone pricing
A surprise visit in the recent weeks was Apple CEO Tim Cook. He took India by surprise. Among the few signals that were given out was the possibility of iPhone prices being at par with international pricing. Currently, India happens to be among the costliest places to buy Apple products.
In addition, the opening up of a mapping centre in Hyderabad and a startup accelerator in Bengaluru were key highlights. However, there's much more for Apple to gain from these moves. Apple needs to overhaul its Maps offering, and hence it's focussing on India. Similarly, the app accelerator in Bengaluru is aimed at giving a push to the developer community to build apps for iOS in a market that is ruled by Android. The one announcement that many in India would be waiting for would be a fall in prices of devices. These are tangible benefits for India amidst the frequent visits by global tech leaders.
Tesla preorders in India
Among the prominent business heads who PM Modi met while in the Silicon Valley was Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Now certainly, there's time before we see Elon Musk come to India and announce local manufacturing. Even the government machinery in India says that for hi-tech businesses, 30 percent sourcing needs to happen locally. But on a case-to-case basis, this could be overruled. A small step towards this direction was the availability of the Tesla Model S pre-booking in India.
The pre-booking became as popular as a viral video, garnering billions of dollars for Tesla.
What is left to be seen is how much of the 'warmth of Indian people' translates to tangible benefits for the Indian market. One thing is to visit India, and praise Indians for their warmth. On the other hand, it might just help to treat the Indian market with equal fervour and priority that it deserves.
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Tesla to Delay its High-Performance Roadster, Claims Elon Musk on Podcast
The Tesla Roadster is one of the most anticipated electric vehicles of the decade. With the Roadster, Tesla was going to firmly plant itself as the king of high-performance EVs. The second generation of the Roadster is expected to have impressive specifications and an insane price tag. Unfortunately, the world is going to have a wait a little longer for the release of the Roadster, because it's been delayed.
Roadster Not A Priority
During his second appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained that the upcoming Roadster will take a backseat when it comes to going into production. Before worrying about the Roadster, Tesla will focus on increasing production of the Model Y, constructing a vehicle factory in Berlin, and beginning deliveries of the Cybertruck, claims Reuters.
"Roadster is kind of like dessert," said Musk in the podcast, states the outlet. "We gotta get the meat and potatoes and greens and stuff."
While Musk never came out with a formal timeline for the Roadster when the electric vehicle was unveiled back in 2017, the car was expected to arrive in 2020. Reuters claims that Roadster sales were supposed to begin after Tesla came out with an updated version of the Model S sedan. That was supposed to happen at the end of 2020.
Possible New Production Schedule
With all of those things taking priority over the Roadster, Digital Trends believes the vehicle is set to enter production before the end of 2021 – and that's being optimistic. Production of the Cybertruck is set to begin before the end of 2021, though that could be pushed back as Tesla hasn't found a location to build its factory to manufacture the electric pickup yet. Quite a few states are bidding for Tesla's business. The Semi, an all-electric semi-truck, has been delayed recently, as well, to 2021. Clearly, the Roadster has a difficult road ahead of itself.
It's a shame that consumers will have to wait a few more years to see the Roadster, because the specifications were expected to be ludicrous. Musk previously stated that the Roadster would have a range of 620 miles from a 200-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, a top speed of 250 mph, and a zero-to-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds. The high-performance electric vehicle will reportedly start at $200,000 for base models and $250,000 for Founders Series models.
For Tesla, focusing on other models, especially ones that will make up the brand's core lineup, is certainly the rationale decision. Tesla was flooded with interest for the Cybertruck and the electric pickup war is set to heat up within the next few years. Getting a strong foothold in the segment before competitors enter the scene is vital to give Tesla a major hand up on the competition.
- Amazon Testing Rivian Electric Delivery Vans in San Francisco
- 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV’s Range Takes a Hit Compared to Regular Bolt EV
- Hyundai, Kia to Build EVs in US as Part of $7.4 Billion Investment
- Electrify America Outlines Third $200 Million Investment in California
- Arrival, Uber Partner to Come Out With Electric Ride-Hailing Car
- Study Finds Range Is Now the Top Priority for EV Shoppers
- Senators Introduce SAFE Act That Could Mandate Driver-Monitoring Systems
- Ford Mustang Mach-E Helping Brand Reach New Buyers


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Audi is one of the winningest automakers at Le Mans in recent history — and now, Audi is finally returning to world of prototype racing. Although the luxury German automaker has been absent from the world of prototype racing since 2016, Audi intends to make its triumphant return in 2023. Currently, the automaker is cooking up a vehicle that fits the regulations of the Le Mans Daytona hybrid class.
Audi could get some serious mileage out this souped-up hybrid — a Le Mans Daytona hybrid class vehicle can also compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship,
Audi Sport managing director Julius Seebach explained that the upcoming electrified racecar will have a ripple effect throughout the automaker’s lineup. “We are evaluating other possible fields of activity for us in international motorsport. In doing so, we have our customers’ wishes in mind as much as the company’s future strategy, which is clearly focused on electrification and carbon-neutral mobility.”
With Great Power
Audi hopes to imbue its future vehicle with a whopping 630 horsepower to supplement the 40 horsepower provided by the kinetic energy recovery system. Currently, it’s not known whether Audi will pull from its many production engines or designed a new powertrain from scratch. Whichever route Audi chooses to go, drivers win — you’ll get to enjoy a future lineup of vehicles with breathtaking power alongside clean, green, fuel-saving efficiency.
Want a sneak peek at the electrified future of Audi? Check out the e-tron, available at Gossett Audi in Memphis, Tennessee.


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More alleged examples of copying within Formula 1 have emerged with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff saying 3D cameras have been used to scan their car.
The big question of what can and cannot be copied between the 20 Formula 1 cars on the grid is very much the hot topic after the FIA delivered its verdict on the RP20, and more specifically its brake ducts.
The governing body deemed the parts themselves legal but the manner in which Racing Point obtained the rear brake ducts were in violation of the Sporting Regulations.
As a result, they were deducted 15 points and fined 400,000 Euros, but that punishment covers the entire 2020 season and therefore Racing Point are able to continue using the brake ducts.
But, as the fall-out from that part of the copycat saga rumbles on, Wolff has revealed some other methods used in the past to copy from other cars.
Toto says a rival team used a 3D camera to scan the Mercedes last year.
— Jennie Gow (@JennieGow) August 7, 2020
“I can’t say who it was but it is pretty obvious. But when you plug it in the computer, it gives you everything,” said the Mercedes boss in Friday’s FIA press conference at Silverstone.
“This technology exists. There is nothing that prohibits it.
“We saw last year on a few occasions, one of our main competitors with a 3D camera scanning our cars, inside and outside our garages.”
Mercedes has started the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekend in dominant fashion as expected, with Valtteri Bottas finishing fastest in FP1 ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton as the Silver Arrows put clear daylight between themselves and the rest of the pack.


text: Black History Month Nike Zoom Kobe VI Tribute Tradition Mr. Spark January 17, 2011 News Nike Zoom Kobe VI 'Black History Month' February will be a special month here in the States as we will all be celebrating Black History Month. Today, we pay tribute to one of the most prominent and influential human beings in the history of our civilization, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s become a recent tradition of sorts for Nike and Kobe to pay homage to Dr. King and Black History Month ever since the Nike Zoom Kobe IV started a trend of dominance for the Mamba. Last year, we saw Kobe rocking a special tribute colorway of the Nike Zoom Kobe V on MLK day. This year, the Nike Zoom Kobe VI will feature a build that resembles the Kobe V ‘Big Stage’ from last season’s NBA Finals. Sporting a black a metallic gold upper, this special colorway is stacked with tributary elements with regards to Black History Month. What you probably notice first is the African sacrificial art graphics that are entrenched throughout the scaly upper. The letters “BHM” can’t be missed on the lateral side of the heel in green, gold and red, respectively. Roman numeral “XXXV”, commemorating 35 years of celebrating Black History Month are on display on the inner tongue and left insole. The left insole also features the words, “A call to greatness,” while the right insole says, “Overcome the odds. Make an impact on your sport. Change the world.” Nike really upper their game this year for Black History Month with this edition of the Nike Zoom Kobe VI. Release information is still under wraps for now, but we will keep you informed as always . Most importantly though, keep an eye out for these kicks tonight when the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Los Angeles Lakers in their first matchup of the season. We will also be taking a look at the Nike Zoom KD III ‘Black History Month’ during the week so look for those in tonight’s game as well! *UPDATE: These kicks will drop across the country on February 26, 2011! [phpbay]nike zoom kobe vi black history month, 6, “”, “”[/phpbay] Nike Zoom Kobe VI 'Black History Month' Nike Zoom Kobe VI 'Black History Month' Nike Zoom Kobe VI 'Black History Month' [phpbay]nike zoom kobe vi black history month, 6, “”, “”[/phpbay] source: nicekicks.com, solecollector.com Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Name* Email* Website Comment Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.


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Bloober Team may have delayed its upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive Basement Crawl at the very last minute, but that’s not stopping the Polish production house from working through the preliminary stages of a new next generation project. Marketing manager Aron Cender confirmed the snippet in an exclusive interview with us earlier in the week, adding that it’s focused on producing content solely for Sony’s formats for the foreseeable future.
“We have another PS4 project in progress and several prototypes in the works,” the studio told us when we asked what the future holds for the A-Men creator. “We have some pretty nice ideas that we want to develop, but I can’t really say anything more right now.” When quizzed on why it’s committed to Sony’s systems, Cender continued: “PlayStation is where the hardcore gamers are and we make games for them, so it was natural for us to stick with [the Japanese giant].”
The company’s abovementioned maze-based multiplayer dust-up was due out this week, but the outfit delayed it due to “exciting opportunities” that it stressed would help it to improve the game. Exactly what those irresistible openings entail remains unclear, but there’s some speculation that the release may deploy as part of PlayStation Plus a little later down the line. Whatever the case, the studio stresses that we’ll definitely be playing the title before the end of March.


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Singular Intelligence teams up with Shekel bringing retail automation to market
18th June 2018
Level39 member Singular Intelligence has announced a partnership with leading retail sector manufacturer, Shekel Brainweigh, to bring a joint retail automation solution to market.
The technology, powered by Singular Intelligence’s AI software, aims to trim part of the 4-6% annual revenue lost through inefficiencies.
A lack of real-time knowledge on products available in the store or on the shelf are a key driver for a lack of stock, shrink and customer experience issues.
Physical retailers are under increasing pressure to deliver in an increasingly digital world – and with the potential for global automation to hit a $19bn market valuation by 2023 – there’s huge potential for this offering.
‘’We are augmenting and automating decision making for humans and machines in the Industry 4.0, which improves performance and eliminates unsustainable inefficiency and wastage, essentially a result of millions of sub-optimal decisions in the entire value-chain”, said Sarvesh Kumar, CEO of Singular Intelligence. “The Singular Intelligence solution brings tangible operational and financial gains in excess of 10% to both FMCG brands and retailers. It’s a real game-changer.”


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From time to time, we like to profile businesses and people who really seem to “get” the essence of what mobile marketing SMS is all about. One of those people is Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods. He said that the company’s vision was to “be wherever the consumer is” and inspire people to live healthier, better lives — be it emotionally, socially, financially, or what have you. You can call it “conscious capitalism.”
Mobile Marketing Helps You Share Vision…
“Great companies have a great purpose,” Walter Robb told audiences. “Purpose creates alignment. Why shouldn’t businesses have the same depth and aspiration that individuals have? Purpose is also about inspiration.” He adds that SMS is the ideal medium for their company to reach their vision because it’s a convenient way of accessing customers in a big, exciting way.
SMS Marketing Gives You A Medium To Communicate…
Recently, Whole Foods unveiled a mobile marketing SMS app that helps consumers lead a healthier lifestyle by delivering healthy recipes and practical advice on cooking, nutrition, green living, food storage and more. Users can search recipes by budget, ingredients, gluten-free or allergy preferences, kids meals, or quick and easy. They can also build a shopping list and search for the nearest Whole Foods store. Mobile is an exciting new medium to deliver the content that people want to read, no matter where your consumers happen to be — whether it’s at home or in the aisles of a Whole Foods store.
Marketers Plan To Spend More On Mobile
Undoubtedly, 2011 was a huge year for mobile advertising. Yet, mobile advertising spending is set to rise even higher in 2012, as more companies adopt mobile strategies. SMS appeals to marketers because it reaches the 50 percent of Americans who still don’t want or have smartphones. It’s also an easy way to create a monetized database and new avenues for data mining. Berg Insight estimates that mobile marketing SMS will account for 15.2 percent of global online advertising expenditures by 2016. They add that the value of the global mobile advertising market will grow from $3.4 Billion in 2010 to $22.4 Billion in 2016, growing at an annual rate of 37 percent.
Small Businesses Are Drawn To Mobile Technology Too.
“Similar to social media, mobile marketing spend as a whole will impressively increase in 2012 not so much in terms of greater budget allocations by a few enterprises but in terms of volume due to more SMBs and consumer affinity groups getting in the mobile marketing game,” explains Angelo Biasi, adjunct professor at NYU.
He adds that the “easy to use do-it-yourself SMS campaign… and tools that remove traditional barriers to entry, will become more attractive and consolidated service offerings by organizations that cater to these segments.”
Access our mobile marketing demo platform FREE today by visiting


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Sievo, a leading procurement analytics SaaS company, announces new customers and record revenue in Jan-July, new hires and an incoming CFO from Nokia.
CHICAGO, US, September 16, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — Sievo this week reports record revenue in January-July 2020, as well as new customers including Citrix, Delivery Hero and Refresco. They've also strengthened their team with new hires and a new CFO who joins them from Nokia.
The B2B software market is expected to decline by upwards of 3% in the wake of Covid-19 according to Forrester Research, but Sievo is bucking this trend as enterprises seek better spend visibility and ways to accelerate data-driven savings. Sievo’s new sales grew by 59% year-over-year during January-July, with July new sales hitting an all-time record.
Growth came especially from the US market, where Sievo first opened its Chicago office in 2017 and has added new headcount during the summer. New customers come from a variety of industries including manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, consumer packaged goods and professional services. New Sievo customers include online food delivery platform Delivery Hero, CPG leader Refresco and digital workspace platform company Citrix.
“I want to thank all Sievonians for making growth possible during a year like this – it hasn’t been easy, but we have delivered. In addition to our internal efforts, this growth is also a testament to how relevant analytics is in tackling business during periods of high uncertainty, and how relevant procurement is to saving companies in supply crisis.” says Sammeli Sammalkorpi, cofounder and Group CEO.
Sievo also announces a new CFO and management team member, Cristian Arias (CPA, MBA). Arias joins them from Nokia, where he worked in several finance roles, most recently as Head of Transformation, leading financial and operational transformation.
“We’re seeing through this crisis that it isn’t size but agility that matters. Smart money is on the companies that use this period of intense change as a catalyst to reinforce their business models, and Sievo is definitely one of them. I got to know Sievo during my times in Nokia and I was impressed with their value proposition and the way they conduct business. I expect Sievo to be one of the key players in the industry – supporting companies in coming away from this crisis stronger, and focusing much more on how to act in a data-driven way.” says Cristian Arias.
Established in Finland in 2004, Sievo has long been a forerunner in procurement analytics software, offering spend analysis, savings lifecycle, spend forecasting, contract management, procurement benchmarking and 3rd party data enrichment solutions. Their customers base includes such multinational industry leaders as brewery group Carlsberg, telecom giants MTN and Telenor, facilities services provider ISS and elevator manufacturer Schindler Group.
About Sievo: Sievo helps businesses turn procurement data into dollars. By consolidating all procurement related data under one information hub, Sievo uncovers hidden value and provides insights for data-driven decisions. With AI-driven classification and data-driven external benchmarking, Sievo provides the leading procurement analytics solution powering procurement organizations worldwide. More information is available at Sievo.com
Source: EIN Presswire


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Papa John’s Christmas Wrapper Company, which manufactures wrapping paper for American homes, has a US presence.
In January, the company began manufacturing wrapping paper in New York City, with offices in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Now the company is expanding to other US cities.
Here are the details of what you need to know about the company’s US operations.
New York Times: The company began its US operations in January 2016, in Brooklyn, New York.
But the company has since expanded to a wide variety of US cities, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, Detroit, Chicago, and Indianapolis.
The company’s expansion is part of a broader trend, which has seen several US companies launch operations overseas.
New American: New American is a company founded in 2015.
The firm manufactures wrapping papers for businesses and institutions in the United States, including the government, hospitals, universities, churches, universities of higher education, and churches of the United Methodist Church.
Its products are designed and manufactured in the USA.
In 2016, the firm was named as one of Fortune’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.
The New American logo is the same one that is on the wrapping paper produced by Papa John’s, the namesake company for the company.
The product line includes a variety of different wrapping paper products, including its signature Papa John.
The Papa John product line is available in six sizes, including an 11-inch by 12-inch and a 13-inch.
The 14-inch version is available as a 10-inch product.
Both are available in black and white.
The paper is made in New Jersey and made from 100% polyester and polyurethane, both of which are recyclable.
Papa John said it was able to grow its US footprint and market the product in areas where the company had never done business before, in part because the company started by looking at the traditional American market.
“We looked at the US as a place to grow,” said Josh Schanz, who is the CEO of New American.
“It’s a big opportunity for us.”
The company started as a single mother in New Mexico.
“My husband was an electrician and he worked on the roof of the house,” she told CNNMoney in 2016.
“I was an assistant teacher and I would come home and do the dishes and then go and do other things.”
The family eventually moved to New Jersey, and Schanpman began working on her own.
She began working as a freelance teacher at a Catholic school in Newburgh, New Jersey.
Schan panned the idea of starting a company.
“There’s a lot of potential here, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it yourself,” she said.
“You’re not going to make money, and you’re not a very good manager.”
The business was able sell the business to Papa John, and it was purchased by the company in 2018.
It is still owned by Schanj, but her husband is now the CEO.
Schon said the company now has around 30 employees.
“Every day I get excited to have a new employee,” she added.
New America started by manufacturing wrapping papers in New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Texas, before expanding to more locations around the country in 2019.
The expansion has included a new facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the firm has been working on developing its packaging technology.
The move was part of an effort by New American to increase its presence in other markets, Schanpan said.
The business now has offices in the New York area and Atlanta, Georgia.
The brand name is the New American name.
The papa jane’s name is a nod to the papas own line of papas products.
“People who know us are excited to see what we’re going to be able to do with that brand,” Schanbans said.
Papa Johns CEO Josh Schon and CEO of the company, Josh Schans wife, Michelle, hold the new Papa Johns brand logo.
(Photo: New York Philharmonic) The business is working on its product line to meet the needs of the US market.
Schans has said the New America packaging technology will allow the company to reach new customers in areas of the world that are not yet served by traditional retail outlets.
“New American is going to help us serve the world,” Schans said, in a statement.
“Our goal is to bring our products to as many people as possible.”
The New America brand has been used by other US companies in the past, including Walmart, and the company said it has plans to sell its product in the Philippines.
The first of the New Americas products was introduced in 2018 and the brand was discontinued in 2018, after it failed to make enough money.
Schahn said he is looking to the future, and said the business will continue to grow.
“What we do


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OKLAHOMA, 18 July 2023: SK Signet Inc, a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, has signed a long-term agreement with Francis Energy, the fourth-largest fast-charging network provider in the U.S.
The partnership aims to support the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program‘s goal of creating a widespread and reliable charging network across the country. As part of the agreement, SK Signet will supply 1,000 400 kW EV charging dispensers during the initial phase.
Last week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine revealed the locations for new EV charging stations along Ohio interstates, making it the first state to announce sites as part of the NEVI Program. SK Signet and Francis Energy were recognized as participants in this project, highlighting the partnership’s commitment to providing American-made chargers and achieving a safe, convenient, and affordable charging infrastructure.
Jung Ho Shin, CEO of SK Signet, emphasized the importance of accessible and efficient charging to encourage the adoption of EVs as an environmentally friendly transportation option. The partnership with Francis Energy and the deployment of ultra-fast chargers aim to make EV driving a viable choice for more Americans.
David Jankowsky, Chairman and CEO of Francis Energy, highlighted the significance of SK Signet as a reliable partner in building a convenient, efficient, and affordable fast-charging network across the nation. He praised SK Signet’s ability to adapt quickly to market changes, including the integration of adopted standards like the North American Charging Standard (NACS) into their hardware solutions. Jankowsky expressed excitement about bringing SK Signet’s ultra-fast charging stations to EV drivers in America.
SK Signet’s fast-charging infrastructure is designed for maximum user accessibility, accepting various payment formats and accommodating a wide range of vehicles. The charging stations also offer drivers the option to reserve a charging location through their vehicle or a mobile application.
The partnership announcement follows the recent opening of SK Signet’s EV charging manufacturing facility in Plano, Texas. This facility, the company’s first in the U.S., has the capacity to produce over 10,000 ultra-fast chargers annually when operating at full capacity.
Seung June Oh, President of SK Signet America, expressed pride in the Texas facility’s contribution to the national EV charging network through partnerships with esteemed companies like Francis Energy.
SK Signet, established in South Korea with a US headquarters in McLean, Virginia, was acquired by SK Inc., the SK Group’s strategic investment arm, in April 2021.


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Here's our first look at the McLaren P1 GTR that will have its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show in yellow and green livery that pays a tribute to the F1 GTR's that dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the historic debut by McLaren 20 years ago.
McLaren has announced that the 903-hp P1 supercar will reach 0-62 mph in less than three seconds, 0-124 mph in less than seven seconds and has a top speed of 217 mph.
McLaren continues to slowly release the details for the upcoming P1 supercar that is going to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show next month.
McLaren has released a new set of photos of the McLaren P1 design study following its Middle East debut in Bahrain in January.
Mclaren has released a set of interior photos of the upcoming McLaren P1 supercar, which features a very minimalistic design that is fully focused on the driver, and is clear from clutter and distraction.
McLaren is continuing work on the P1 supercar that was unveiled at the 2012 Paris Motor Show with the goal "to produce the best driver's car in the world on road and track."
McLaren has just dropped the first official photos of its latest supercar, the McLaren P1, which is going to debut later this month at the 2012 Paris Motor Show.
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'McLaren P1'.


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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is introducing new Spirits based on Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. The Spirits will debut as part of this week’s Spirit Board event, which kicks off tomorrow, April 8, at 11 PM PT (2 AM ET on April 9).
Three new Bowser’s Fury Spirits in total will be added to the game: Fury Bowser, Giga Cat Mario, and the Kittens. All three Spirits will periodically appear on the Spirit Board throughout the event, and you’ll earn extra gold each time you defeat them in battle.
The Bowser’s Fury event is scheduled to run until 11 PM PT on April 13. If you miss out on the Spirits during the event, you’ll have another chance to find them on the Spirit Board and in the game’s shop at a later date.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been regularly introducing new Spirits based on big Switch releases. Last week, three Monster Hunter Rise Spirits made their debut in the game, while two Bravely Default II Spirits were added back in February.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s most recent content update released back in March and introduced another new DLC fighter to the game: Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Two more DLC characters are still in development, but Nintendo hasn’t shared any hints as to who those will be or when they will release.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.


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Moody's puts Marconi on 'negative'
IN A sign of the growing fears over the effects of the US slowdown, rating agency Moody's placed telecoms equipment group Marconi on 'negative outlook', meaning it expects to downgrade its credit rating in the next six to 24 months.
The rating move comes as it emerged that the group is seeking a new £2bn syndicated loan to refinance its existing debt.
The City has been bracing itself for a profits warning from the company, even though it said last month that operating profits for the year would be in line with expectations.
Moody's confirmed the company's rating of £2.1bn of debt, but said it was moving to negative outlook because it was concerned that softness in the telecoms equipment market may extend to orders for datacoms networks and European carriers.
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A Leeds-based air conditioning manufacturer has hosted Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for International Trade, during her visit to the city.
Airedale International, based in Rawdon, has been exporting its products for nearly 40 years and held discussions with the cabinet minister about the importance of export business to the country and the role it has played in the company’s expansion.
Speaking after her visit to Airedale International, Ms Truss, said: “It was brilliant to come to Airedale today where I was blown away by the technology and innovation on display.
“Businesses like Airedale play such a crucial role in putting the UK on the map around the world, and I saw first-hand how exporting success is translating into jobs and investment here in Yorkshire.”
Airedale International has offices across three continents and exports to 60 countries around the world to industries including retail, pharmaceutical, data centres and healthcare. It also specialises in building management software systems which monitor, report and use diagnostic tools to easily control building services.
Managing director, Tony Cole, explains: “We were proud to be chosen by the Secretary of State as an example of an export business that is shining in the region.
“We had a really interesting discussion about the future of international trade agreements outside of the EU and how important export has been to the growth of Airedale International and the effect export has on the health of the country’s manufacturing industry.
“Inevitably, talk turned to Brexit and it was great to have the chance to discuss our thoughts directly with a member of parliament.”
During her visit to the site, Ms Truss, who was joined by Stuart Andrew MP, explored the company’s in-house R&D department, toured its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and chatted with employees about their experience of working at Airedale International.
Tony adds: “This visit from the International Trade Secretary confirmed that we’re a go-to company in the region for export matters and it has given the whole team a real boost to be recognised by the government in this way.”
Airedale International is celebrating its 45th year in business designing and manufacturing innovative and high-efficiency cooling solutions. It is based on Leeds Road in Rawdon and has around 600 employees internationally.


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Over the years, Drake has been seen in a wide range of Jordans in a wide range of places from concert stages to court side at NBA games. We’ve also had the opportunity in this time to see a few collaborations that Jordan Brand has done with OVO, which is Drake’s record label. So far, there has been two Jordan 10s and two Jordan 12s that have been released to the public and it seems, we may have two more models to add to this collection.
First seen during last year’s All Star Festivities, the “Calipari Pack” OVO x Jordan 8 features two Jordan 8 models dressed in Kentucky Wildcat colors. As most Drizzy fans know, Drake has a very close relationship with the Wildcats and Coach Calipari so it’s no surprise to see him collab with Jordan Brand to give them a tribute.
Before today, this collab was only seen as a dream to sneaker heads. But today, Drake himself posted new photos of the shoes and also added a “Soon” emoji to the caption which hints at the possibility of these coming. For now though, lets cross our fingers and stay tuned to Da Jay Way for future details.


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Avoiding the Worst of the Pandemic: New Brunswick’s Two-Year Outlook—March 2021
The Conference Board of Canada, 13 pages,
March 18, 2021
This quarterly economic forecast for the province of New Brunswick examines the economic outlook for the province, including gross domestic product (GDP), output by industry and labour market conditions.
- New Brunswick was more successful than most provinces in limiting the impact of the pandemic in 2020. However, the start of 2021 has seen higher COVID-19 caseloads, which will weigh on growth in the first half of the year.
- New Brunswick’s real GDP is estimated to have declined by 4.1 per cent in 2020, compared with the national average of 5.3 per cent. The economy is expected to recover with 3.4 per cent growth in 2021.
- Widespread vaccination is crucial to this year’s recovery, most notably in sectors that were hit the hardest by the pandemic, including tourism, accommodation and food services, and arts, entertainment, and recreation.
- Net migration to New Brunswick has been increasing rapidly for the past several years. A growing number of young New Brunswickers who left the province when they were in their twenties have been coming back now that they are in their thirties, providing a much-needed boost to the province’s labour force and economic growth.
Table of Contents
New Brunswick snapshot
Key sectors outlook


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We haven’t really heard much about the Samsung i997 Infuse 4G smartphone, since it was first unveiled at the CES 2011 event back in January. That is all about to change however, as both AT&T and Samsung have now confirmed a price and release date for the much-anticipated handset.
According to a recent article by Bonnie Cha at cnet.com, both AT&T and Samsung held a special event in New York today, in which they announced that the Samsung Infuse 4G handset would be going on sale as from May 15th, for $199.99 with a two-year agreement (no mail-in rebates).
As some of you may already know, the Samsung Infuse 4G is powered by a 1.2GHz processor and runs on the Android 2.2.1 operating system with the TouchWiz overlay. It boasts a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen display, which provides better contrast and outdoor visibility.
The Infuse 4G HSUPA-enabled smartphone also comes with 16GB internal memory, an 8-megapixel camera that is capable of recording 720 HD video and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for making video calls. The phone also comes with a special edition of Angry Birds pre-installed.
AT&T is also offering the first 500,000 customers a $25 credit voucher, which they can then use with Samsung’s Media Hub video store. Are you thinking about buying a new smartphone? If you are, is the Samsung Infuse 4G a handset you’d consider?


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Factory Built Off-Road Machines Battle for Your Love
We are back with this week’s installment of AutoGuide’s newest, interactive weekly feature “Commute, Toy or Destroy.”
We are back with this week’s installment of AutoGuide’s newest, interactive weekly feature “Commute, Toy or Destroy.”
With success and plenty of awards being flung at the company’s compact luxury SUV, the Ranger Rover Evoque, volume sales seem more reasonable for the British brand than they might a few years ago.
Still, the new Defender will have a steep hill to climb if it is to overcome the mighty Toyota Hilux, which recently became the first vehicle to conquer the Magnetic North Pole.
Perhaps spurred on by popular sales figures for the Evoque, Land Rover boss John Edwards said he hopes the company will grow into a global brand instead of a brand being sold globally. That statement might seem a little bold in the face of only 20,000 defenders selling next to the 549,000 Hilux units sold in 2011.
Part of doing that will be offering more than one popular seller, which the Defender might be — if the company can settle on a design. The Defender DC100 concept got its North American debut last week in New York, but it’s still not clear if that model will make it to production.
Land Rover will also have its reputation for dubious reliability to contend with, especially if it hopes to challenge Toyota, a brand built on its dependability image, despite recent controversy.
The concepts heading to Moab, Utah this year are the Grand Cherokee Trailhawk concept, Wrangler Apache concept, Mighty FC concept, J-12 Conversion concept, Mopar Accessorized Wrangler, and the Wrangler Traildozer concept.
The video includes soundbites from President and CEO of Jeep Brand, Mike Manley and Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO Mopar Brand Service, Parts and Customer Care. Along with the feedback from them, we get a better look at all six concepts inside and out.
Watch the video of the 2012 Moab Easter Jeep Safari Concepts after the break.
This year the team stepped it up a notch, announcing six new Jeep concepts. Mopar has also announced an off-road division that will create authentic Jeep parts and accessories.
“The Jeep Safari has long been a great way for Jeep to connect with its core audience. We look forward to spending the week demonstrating our latest potential production and customization ideas and gathering instant feedback from the most knowledgable 4×4 enthusiasts in the world,” Jeep president and CEO Mike Manley said.
Mopar president and CEO Pietro Gorlier addded that “Mopar is tapping into a growing trend among extreme Jeep enthusiasts who want even more power and capability on the trail. This year, Mopar is pushing the envelope in this arena by offering our customers new Pro 60 portal axles and a new HEMI conversion kit, which we will showcase in those new vehicles. In addition, to further maximize our presence in the off-road market, we are creating a Mopar Off-Road division to develop Jeep Authentic Parts and Accessories.”
Chrysler released details on the Mopar Jeep Compass “True North” today, along with three other vehicles meant to mark their 75th anniversary, all of which will be on display at the 2012 Chicago International Auto Show.
Here’s what we’ve learned about the modified Compass since we published our earlier story featuring photos of all four cars.
First, we’ve found that Mopar knows better than to tinker with a Jeep owner’s pavement-optional perspective. They say it’s still an off-road capable, trail-rated vehicle, though nothing Mopar does really adds, or subtracts anything. The only modification that makes the “True North” Compass any more viable in the bush is the added brush bars on the front and back that might keep your undercarriage a bit safer from rocks.
That said, this is anything but a rock crawler. Realistically, most Compass owners probably don’t go off-roading unless you count driving on the beach or through a snowy parking lot.
The modifications are superficial, but at least they make the Compass look a lot cooler. For example, the two-tone burnt orange and matte black grille and bumper make the car look less like a boring suburb spelunker and more like a stylish SUV. The same matte black accents surround the front and rear fog lights and run along the edge of the fenders and fascia.
The interior really plays up the Compass’s appeal to the young outdoorsy types it’s aimed at. Mopar even added neoprene seats. Yup, the same synthetic rubber material that half the stuff in REI is made of. It’s a cool touch that screams out to people who own CamelBacks and Nalgene bottles.
A center stack gauge pod holds pitch and roll meters if you do decide to take that risky first trip into the wild, though you won’t be doing it without modern amenities. Aside from little interior touches, the last big change is a Kicker sounds system the company says transforms the car into a “rolling high-end sound studio.” We’re not sure what sort of audio work people do on camping trips, but maybe you can enlighten us in the comments box below.
Off-roaders may want to listen up, this is your lucky day. Land Rover has confirmed production for the next-gen Defender SUV. The British automaker intends to launch a new Defender in 2015, and the concept version (DC100) will be present at next month’s Frankfurt Auto Show.
Gerry McGovern, Director of Design for Land Rover weighed in on the issue saying, “Replacing the iconic Defender is one of the biggest challenges in the automotive design world; it is a car that inspires people worldwide. This isn’t a production-ready concept but the beginning of a four-year journey to design a relevant Defender for the 21st century.”
The next-gen Defender is likely to be quite different than the old version in several ways. It will have a more refined design with more technological features and modern structural materials. However the new version will likely stick to the traditional simplistic approach for which the Defender is well-known.
John Edwards, Global Brand Director, Land Rover added:”Loved the world over for its simple, honest and distinctive design, we are determined that the new Defender will be true to its heritage, while meeting the requirements of a changing global market. We plan to engage with existing and potential customers to help us finalize the details of the new vehicle. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be an exciting journey, and we can’t wait to get going.”
Fans of the Land Rover Defender have long feared the vehicle’s demise amid intensifying regulations and waning interest in off-road vehicles, but Land Rover isn’t giving up on their iconic product.
A report in a British magazine suggests that an all-new Defender will debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show, using the same underpinnings as Land Rover’s capable LR4 SUV. A new range of in-house 4-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines will be employed, as well as Land Rover’s Terrain Management System, which can adjust the entire driveline to cope with various off-road situations.
[Source: Auto Express]
Toyota has a long history of building rugged off-road trucks, the latest of which is the FJ Cruiser. And if you’re looking to match capability with Jeep’s “Trail Rated” machines there’s no better way to do so than with a more off-road capable Trail Teams Special Edition.
The latest Trail Teams model is available exclusively in a Radian Red paint for 2012 with black painted door handles, bumpers and front grille. Up top a set of off-road lights improve night time visibility, while inside there’s plenty of red accenting to go with the new paint color. Getting dirt into the Trail Teams model is part of the fun and getting it out is easier thanks to water resistant seats, plus a rubber floor and rear deck.
The standard 260-hp 4.0-liter V6 engine get a cyclone pre-air cleaner (another standard FJ goodie) to trap dirt, while off-road capability has been enhanced with an off-road package that includes Bilstein shocks, TRD wheels with BFG All-Terrain tires, rock rails, as well as skid plates for the engine, fuel tank and transfer case. Also standard is a rear differential lock and Toyota’s A-TRAC traction control system.
Other items that come standrad on the special edition model include a multi-information display, remote keyless entry, cruise control, 12V/100W and 115V/400W outlets, a back-up camera integrated into the rear view mirror and the final touch, a Trail Team badge.
David Coulthard and his Red Bull F1 team traveled down to Austin, Texas to check out the soon to be completed Circuit of the Americas track.
Over the weekend, David Coulthard took his 750-hp Red Bull Formula One race car on a cruise in and around the Texas capital, engaged in some hooning and put on a show for the crowd.
In this clip, Coulthard takes the high performance F1 car on the dirt roads of the soon to be grand prix track, as well as along some highways. It’s not every day you get to see one of these cars go off-roading, or tear through city steets.
Check out the videos after the jump!
And not the steakhouse either, where suburban G-Wagens are usually sighted. No, Mercedes-Benz is launching a rescue mission deep into the heart of Australia’s outback, where six of its off-roaders have been stranded.
Five standard G-Class models and one “military-spec” example are stuck somewhere along the Canning Stock Route, where they blew their shock absorbers while crossing some rough terrain. Fourteen people have been stranded and are now waiting for Mercedes-Benz to fly in replacement parts to a remote airfield near their base camp.
Luckily for the team, they have ample provisions and are in little immediate danger (as long as they watch over their babies for dingoes). But the 14-day crossing of the Outback still has 800 kilometers to go, across the aptly-named Great Sandy Desert.
“When we undertook this journey we were well aware of the punishment that the vehicles would endure,” said Horst von Sanden, a managing director of Mercedes-Benz Australia. “We put in place a group of very experienced Outback operators who have the expertise and logistical knowledge to cover off any eventuality. “I have complete faith in the team out on the Canning and the thorough logistics and preparation the team have put in place.”
The military G-Class is the only vehicle to not break, rather unsurprisingly: it is similar to ones used by the Australian Defence Force, and in civilian markets is known as the GProfessional. It will meet the rescue flight at the airport and deliver parts to the stranded team.
This is Benz’s attempt to complete the first crossing of the Outback by car, 1,900 kilometers total across the desert: if there ever was a car to have faith in for completing dangerous off-road expeditions, it is the mighty G-Class. Now that the even mightier Outback has claimed another victim, though, we’re not so sure.
[Source: The Land]
Audi has just released the new A6 Avant and is working on expanding the lineup with the all new Allroad model. The new version will be similar to before with a raised ride height, steel bumper guards and subtle plastic cladding to protect the body over off-road terrain.
Aud’s adaptive air-suspension will come standard on the Allroad, so drivers can adjust the ride height to suit different conditions at the push of a button. The Allroad will likely come with the 3.0-liter TFSI turbocharged powerplant and the 309-hp diesel engine.
As well as the Allroad, the high performance S6 sedan and wagon will debut this September at the Frankfurt Auto Show, so wagon lovers are in for a treat.
[Source: Auto Express]
If you are an avid viewer of Top Gear, you are then probably aware of the Bowler Nemesis. This custom-built off-road vehicle can tackle just about any terrain, and now its maker is hoping to make one for the high streets.
According to Bowler’s managing director Steve Haywood, they are looking to make a “Supercar SUV” based on the Range Rover Sport. Haywood, who was previously a chief engineer over at Range Rover, says his first job at Bowler is to develop the fourth-generation model of the Nemesis. Along with the hard-core Rally-Raid version, a road going version is also in the pipeline. This more luxurious version will be priced around $246,000.
Bowler is currently owned by Coventry Prototype Panels (CPP), a company which also owns Spyker and is also looking to take over the Italian design house Zagato.
Given the companies in CPP’s portfolio, they should have no problem developing a new super SUV and broadening their market. Bowler currently produces 15 to 20 vehicles a year. Haywood believes there is a market for 150 to 200 vehicles per year.
The New England Motor Press Association has voted and presented the ‘Official Winter Vehicle of New England Award’ to the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
During the winter, a side by side test compared 4×4 SUVs in winter conditions and found the Grand Cherokee to exceed expectations. Jim Morrison, Head of Jeep Product Marketing, accepted the award and felt that the Grand Cherokee combines three different aspects better than the competition. He felt the Jeep excelled in luxury, fuel economy, and four wheel drive capability. John Paul, NEMPA Winter Vehicle Awards team leader said, “It handles everything mother nature can put in its way.”
The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee comes in several trim levels including the base Laredo E for $37,995, the Laredo X for $42,995, the Limited for 46,995 and the Overland for 49,995. A 3.6-liter V6 Pentastar engine is standard with 290-hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. The optional 5.7-liter HEMI V8 is also available as an option.
Check out the video after the jump!
Jeep has just hired and filmed a commercial with Lenny Kravitz to give the brand a new cool look. The commercial features Lenny Kravitz off- roading in the backwoods in a 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. The commercial also features Lenny Kravitz’s new song from his album “Rock Star City Life”.
Check out the video for yourself after the jump!