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Gender pay gap begins early and grows
Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, April 22, 2007
NEW YORK -- Women make only 80 percent of the salaries their male peers do one year after college; after 10 years in the work force, the gap between their pay widens further, according to a study released Monday.
The study, by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, found that 10 years after college, women earn only 69 percent of what men earn.
Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors known to affect earnings, the study found that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained. The group said that portion of the gap is "likely due to sex discrimination."
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"Over time, the unexplained portion of the pay gap grows," the group said in a news release.
Catherine Hill, the organization's director of research, said: "Part of the wage difference is a result of people's choices, another part is employer's assumptions of what people's choices will be. ... Employers assume that young women are going to leave the work force when they have children, and, therefore, don't promote them."
The organization found that women's scholastic performance was not reflected in their compensation. Women have slightly higher grade point averages than men in every major, including science and math. But women who attend highly selective colleges earn the same as men who attend minimally selective colleges, according to the study.
"The pay gap is not going to disappear just through educational achievements," Hill said.


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Earlier today while checking my Facebook account I saw a jaw dropping item show up in my trending topic news feed. No joke, I got a little misty and the little kid in me danced for joy at the best Christmas present ever.
So basically Facebook News announced the launch of a new Sega game console.
Sega’s (imaginary) response: We’re doing what now?
“Dreamcast 2: Sega Reportedly to Release New PC-Console Hybrid”
Should’ve known it was too good to be true. To many console gaming fans (at least of a certain age) the Dreamcast was one of the best and innovative gaming systems released. In addition to great and creative games (like Crazy Taxi, ChuChu Rocket, Space Channel 5, Shenmue, Power Stone, just to name a few), the Dreamcast introduced hardware innovations like the Visual Memory Unit (VMU) that stored games and also functioned as a second screen within games (so your buddies couldn’t cheat and see what play you picked in NFL2K).
While a fan favorite, the Dreamcast was discontinued after only three years, largely due to high production costs and completely inept business decisions by Sega. It proved to be the last hardware entry by the formerly dominant Sega.
Anyways, back to today.
So about a week ago, a FaceBook group was announced with the name “Project Dream-Dreamcast Revival”. At the same time a website at www.projectdream.co launched featuring a countdown to the end of the year. You can also sign their petition over at change.org.
Somehow, Facebook interpreted all of this as Sega announcing a new game console. Which is news to Sega of course. And both hilarious (for pointing out how broken the Facebook trending news can be) and sad for the Dreamcast fans (me).
If you’re a fan, please sign the petition and join the facebook group – I don’t have a lot of hope that it will result in a Dreamcast 2, but hey, you never know.
Kotaku has a great article with more details here

domain: news


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Like many dealers across the country, Mark Casstevens’ dealership, Countryside RV, has boomed in recent years.
The modest dealership near Yadkinville, N.C., was, until recently, an auto and RV lot, and has increased business about “100 percent” to start the year, and has grown from a three-person staff to around 10 in recent years, according to Casstevens.
Most recently, the company decided to expand its service operation, hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 15 for a new 6,500-square-foot service garage with two drive-through bays that can hold up to four RVs at once.
The growth, while modest compared to multi-location dealers throughout the country, is near overwhelming for Casstevens and his wife, who co-manage the company.
“We outgrew the shop about a year ago, so it’s absolutely through the roof. I can’t hardly keep a grip on it,” he said.
The small size of the dealership doesn’t bother Casstevens, though. In fact, he’s aimed to identify the dealership with its down-to-earth staff and up-front ownership.
“We’re out in the country, so it’s a country setting,” he said. “We still have a log cabin office up front.”
The dealership, which specializes in towable and park model sales, also features a covered parking area with full power and water hookups, where prospective buyers can spend the night in an extended “test drive”.
After spending the previous 31 years of his life working in the auto industry – including the dealership’s first 15 years – Casstevens made the decision to drop auto sales from the dealership two years ago to focus on RV, and is glad he did.
“I jumped in this thing full-time and like I say, it’s full-time,” he said. “I wouldn’t have any time to do anything else.”
Now 17 years old, Casstevens credits the dealership’s long-running success with the pride he and his employees take in their work, and with the respect shown to customers.
“It’s all in pride,” he said. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, but if you go online and look at our testimonials, we’ve sold two in California this month and Colorado. It’s all about how you treat people, and the testimonials are filling up.
Casstevens’ broad business model remains the same as it did 17 years ago when he opened the dealership with a staff of three: “I just treat people like I want to be treated,” he said.


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XM Satellite Radio said Tuesday that it has corrected a problem that disrupted service to an unspecified number of customers nationwide.
XM blamed the 24-hour outage that began Monday on a software glitch that “resulted in a temporary loss of signal from one of the company’s satellites.”
The company would not say how many of its more than 8 million subscribers were affected.
While angry consumers had their say in Internet chat rooms — some complaining of lengthy phone calls to XM customer-service representatives — Wall Street mostly shrugged off the incident. XM’s stock, which has been on a long slide since the company agreed to merge with Sirius Satellite Radio, rose Monday and Tuesday.
“We imagine that the company’s call centers are being overloaded,” said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst William Kidd, adding that “this type of service disruption is a natural concern.”
While some observers warned that XM might see an increase in churn because of the service interruption, others said the company fixed it quickly enough to dissuade defections.
Kidd maintained his $14 price target on XM shares, which closed Tuesday at $11.16.
Separately this week, XM launched a new channel it calls POTUS 08 that will broadcast to all XM receivers regardless of whether owners have purchased a subscription to XM’s service.
The channel, named for the acronym for President of the United States, was created with C-SPAN and other media outlets and aims to deliver nonpartisan news about the 2008 presidential candidates.
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The lack of communication or collaboration between the big players at either end of the supply chain spectrum prevents companies from gaining efficiencies in costs, design and materials, says Anupam Agrawal, a professor of business administration at Illinois.
"There's more power at the end of supply chains, and we found that not talking to the firm that provides your suppliers with their raw materials is not very helpful," he said. "We think that there's a lot of efficiency to be gained there."
If you're an automobile company, you're buying parts that contain steel and aluminum from small suppliers, who, in turn, buy these raw materials from another firm. And these main suppliers of raw materials, whether it's raw aluminum or raw steel, are fewer and as big, if not bigger, than the automotive firms - "as big as Ford or GM, but on the other side of the supply line," Agrawal said.
"But we find that most companies focused on producing cars and trucks don't have open lines of communication with the firms that produce steel or aluminum," he said. "They only talk to the middle men, the suppliers. The auto firms believe they should only focus on what they do best, and that it's incumbent upon their suppliers to talk to the raw material supplier."
But that's a shortsighted proposition, according to Agrawal.
"There is a lot of value in the big players at the far ends of the supply chain talking to each," he said. "As a firm, you become much more competitive."
According to the paper, the creation of a "sourcing hub" - a collaborative center involving the firm, its suppliers and raw material suppliers as a mechanism for capturing and deploying sourcing knowledge of the raw material - would be beneficial.
Keywords Supply Chain Management, Sourcing, Procurement, Supplier Relations, Multi-tier Supplier Network
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The Ellen Show is always offering help to those in need. When Mary and Jonathan welcomed their new baby girl, Claire, into the world, it was a joyous occasion. However, they also came to find their daughter had medical complications, which lead to high medical bills each month to maintain her care. As if this situation wasn’t unfortunate enough, next came the accident.
Check out the video to hear Mary and Jonathan’s story and to see what Ellen had in store for their family as well:
Videos like this are all part of Subaru’s new emphasis on safety, “Live.Love.” The safety of drivers and passengers has always been of high concern for the Subaru brand. To learn about what makes a Subaru safe, and hear from Subaru owners about how their cars helped save their lives, visit their custom page.
Not only is Ellen Degeneres supporting this, Subaru is also collaborating with The Weather Channel, launching the Driving Difficulty Index, and Anderson Cooper to share stories of Subaru owners impacted by Hurricane Sandy.


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BlackRock is exploring the potential of defined contribution schemes with built-in self-investment options, PP can reveal.
Head of UK defined contribution Steve Rumbles said the growing trend of closing defined benefit schemes to future accruals will “change the landscape” of DC provision. He predicted the average age,...
Responses to the Professional Trustee Standards Working Group's consultation have flooded in. While the industry mostly welcome the proposals, there is disagreement on some areas, writes Kim Kaveh.
A new criminal offence of neglecting pension responsibilities will be announced in a pensions white paper this week, the prime minister has confirmed.
Despite improvements in investment manager attitudes towards responsible investment, research reveals there is a way to go before the majority deliver meaningful action. Victoria Ticha explores why
The Co-operative Bank is set to continue de-risking pension schemes after it mitigated further losses by switching from the retail prices index (RPI) to the consumer prices index (CPI).


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Nokia will pay $235 million to InterDigital Communications to settle a patent dispute, an InfoWorld Daily news report said.
The report said InterDigital, however, failed to re-negotiate a licensing agreement for 3G mobile products that Nokia was currently selling
InterDigital joined Qualcomm among the companies that Nokia was negotiating with for new patent licensing agreements, the report said.
The settlement with InterDigital ended a dispute between the companies over licenses Nokia required to sell GSM/GPRS/EDGE phones and network equipment, InterDigital said, according to the report.
Nokia said it now had a perpetual license to sell those products.


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The highlight of the Ford display at the 2012 SEMA show for me so far had to have been the introduction of the latest Ford project car build with the legendary SO-CAL Speed Shop, Detroit Street Rods and clothing/motorcycle brand Champions Moto. This car celebrates the 80th anniversary of what has became an icon for classic car design, and the perfect canvas to begin with to create an artistic hot rod, the 1932 Ford roadster. Dubbed the Coyote Roadster, this is a high-technology-inspired hot rod that features Ford Racing Parts 5.0L crate engine, a 6-speed manual transmission and a SO-CAL New Traditionalist chassis under a reproduction Dearborn Deuce all-steel 1932 Ford body with a Bonneville Salt Flats racer-themed paintjob.
Ford Design Director Freeman Thomas said, “This car is one that is really done by holding a line between old and new, and it really blurs that line. It’s the perfect vehicle to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the legendary 1932 Ford.”
The ‘80th anniversary Coyote Roadster marries the best of retro style with cutting edge performance technology, something that’s very important to Ford and its customers, and is just one example of the beautiful pieces of art that make up the floor of the 2012 SEMA Show.


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After visiting MAPLE’s “Disco Devil” lookback late last month, the noted accessories purveyor is back to present a new batch of pieces from its Fall/Winter 2018 collection. Shot by noted photographer Kevin Wilson, “Flower Dub” showcases key pieces from the label’s expansive catalog, including Safari socks, a double wallet chain, Italian Casentino wool caps & slippers, in addition to an assortment of rings and pendant-style necklaces — all of which come packaged in a set of trippy red light-style visuals.
The featured pieces are up for grabs now via MAPLE’s official online store. Meanwhile, keeping with statement accessories, Gucci’s Fall/Winter 2018 Siamese Snake Tiger Head Ring is now up for grabs.
- Omari Jesse
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On Wednesday 31st October, 30 curvaceous models stood towering in sky high stilettos, designer jewels and glossed lips, waiting for Australia's first curvy couture model casting. Simone Pérèle's senior marketing team, together with Darrianne Donnelley, Director of BGM Models, spent hours trawling though the 200 online entries to find their top 30 girls in their quest to find the next Laura Wells... A curvaceous girl in between a size 12-16 who radiates confidence, elegance and femininity — with the potential to grace the covers of fashion powerhouses like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Madison.
The winner of this illustrious title will be awarded a 12 month contract with BGM Models, Australia's first agency to represent models over a size 10, and the opportunity to model for global lingerie house, Simone Pérèle.
To hear more about the search for Australia's first Curvy Couture Model, just . . .
Each girl was asked to walk for the judging panel and then explain why they wanted to win the coveted title of Australia's first Curvy Couture Model. The answers were inspirational.
"I was bullied all through high school because of my shape, and now I want to encourage all girls to embrace their curves, they're beautiful", says Katie, 14DD.
"I want to show young girls out there that they can model high fashion and have an amazing career, whilst maintain a healthy, curvaceous figure — it's not just for size six girls!" says Rhiannon, 12DD.
After much deliberation, five finalists were selected from all around Australia — VIC, NSW, WA and QLD. The girls will attend a glamorous photo-shoot today, complete with hair and makeup styling and media interviews, whilst modelling Simone Simone Pérèle's latest Haute couture range for D-H cups, 'Revelation'.
The photographs of each girl will be posted on the Simone Pérèle AUS Facebook page and voting will commence on Monday 5th November. To find out more, head here.


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Women are 71% more likely to buy a new car online than men, according to a new study from Buyacar.
Analysis of its visitor behaviour found that women are also significantly more likely to order a car online than those who visit a traditional dealership.
Austin Collins, managing director of Buyacar said: "We have long been aware that our female customers are driving sales growth faster than men but this is the first time we have put a figure on how much more likely women are than men to place an order.
"With women forming 28% of our website visitors but consistently accounting for 40% of our sales, it's clear that women are generally the most purposeful and decisive visitors.
“It's yet more evidence that offering the no-pressure transparency of an 'Amazon-like' car buying experience, complete with home delivery, is especially welcomed by the section of the population that consistently reports feeling less happy taking the traditional approach to buying cars."
Last year, the traditional market saw a sales downturn of 6.8% while online sales continued to grow for the third year running. To date, in 2019, the traditional 'bricks and mortar' market is down again by almost 3% while sales on BuyaCar.co.uk are up by 12%.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), women account for about 34% of all car purchases in the traditional dealer environment, despite forming around half of all showroom traffic.
But at Buyacar, just over 40% of car orders come from women even though almost three times as many men visit the site.
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'High' tech pot vending machine makes debut
Two students create a sign language brochure.
KFC is bringing back the Double Down, a bacon and cheese sandwich that uses two fried chicken filets as a bun. But like a spring chicken, it won't be around for long.


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Rediscovered Bookshop Celebrates Grand Reopening Following Remodel
After closing its doors for five days in July to undergo an extensive remodel, Boise, Idaho’s Rediscovered Bookshop marked its grand reopening on September 5. The public was invited in to see the store’s newly expanded space and enjoy face painting, prizes, craft beer, and live music.
When a neighboring retailer moved earlier this year, Rediscovered Bookshop seized the opportunity to open its back wall and increase its footprint. Owners Bruce and Laura DeLaney also upgraded the store’s furniture, flooring, counters, and events space.
Following the party, the DeLaneys shared a special note of thanks on Facebook. “We often say that we have the best job in the world, and we thank you all. The last nine years have been a fantastic journey and we are looking forward to having many more years of connecting readers with books for them to love,” they wrote.
Books & Books Offers Expanded Spanish Language Programming
South Florida’s Books & Books currently boasts one of the most extensive selections of bilingual books in the area, reported the Miami Herald, an effort accelerated over the years by Gloria Noriega, the bookstore’s director of Spanish language inventory.
In addition to its robust Spanish language stock, Books & Books now hosts 15 events in Spanish each month, with many being held at the shop’s newest location, which opened at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami last fall.
In August, the bookstore launched a writing contest, Cuentomanía, which invites writers to read short narratives aloud in front of a panel of judges and audience members. Finalists will compete later this year for the top prize — publication by Suburbano Ediciones, a three-night stay in the Writer’s Room at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, and a $200 Books & Books gift card.
“All of this is an experiment,” said Noriega. “In general, we’re having fun with it and in the end literature wins. We wanted it to be exciting and entertaining, something that would attract a varied public.”
The Morris Book Shop’s New Event Series Wines and Dines Readers
This summer, The Morris Book Shop in Lexington, Kentucky, launched the Pen to Plate Dinner Series, which invites 16 diners into the bookstore for a multi-course meal curated by an area chef, based on his or her favorite cookbook.
Local retailers Mulberry and Lime, Thoroughbred Antique Gallery, House by JSD Design, and Street Scene are working with the bookstore for each meal to create artfully decorated tables.
The series was inspired when store staff began sharing memoires associated with the classic Moosewood Cookbook, the vegetarian recipe collection by Mollie Katzen first published in the 1970s. Local chef Dan Wu, who appeared on the competitive cooking show MasterChef in 2014, helped the bookstore recruit three fellow chefs to conduct the dinners.
On September 17, chef Allison Davis will prepare the meal for the third Pen to Plate dinner, using recipes from The Nourished Kitchen: Farm-to-Table Recipes for the Traditional Foods Lifestyle by Jennifer McGruther (Ten Speed Press).
BookPeople of Moscow Fundraises to Improve Events
Moscow, Idaho’s BookPeople of Moscow is conducting a series of fundraising campaigns to improve a variety of aspects of the store. The first campaign, which launched on September 8, aims to help the bookstore’s events programming through the purchase of a new sound system and chairs.
“BookPeople of Moscow wants to keep hosting lots of events, because the feedback from the wide range of people who attend is consistently enthusiastic and positive,” organizers wrote on the campaign’s website. “A better sound system and chairs will make it much easier for BookPeople staff to set up for events and for the attendees to enjoy them.”
Donors can receive rewards including their name on one of the bookstore’s chairs, a BookPeople of Moscow mug or T-shirt, a year-long 20-percent discount, or their name on the bookstore’s Wall of Fame.
Upcoming campaigns will raise funds to create a learning wall in the children’s area and to build a fireplace in the store’s back room.


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Evan Eisenberg and Greg Ciaschi have recently purchased a food truck, which they have dubbed the Hot Box. Food trucks are a growing part of the restaurant business. Food critics are advising travelers to seek them out when they are in a new city because they are often home to up and coming chefs. Eisenberg is one of the owners of City Lights Bed and Breakfast and Ciaschi is a member of an Ithaca family that has and does own several restaurants.
Ithaca Times film critic Bryan VanCampen paid his usual first of the month visit to talk cinema.


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Downtown Hastings lights up the night for the holidays
HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - The holiday season is officially underway in Hastings, as of Thursday night, residents lit up the downtown area with the help of Santa Claus and the Kool-Aid Man.
As people get ready to pull up a chair to the Thanksgiving table, the Downtown Hastings Center Association is ringing in the holiday season with the Downtown Celebration of Lights.
The event helped the businesses of downtown gain some exposure from holiday shoppers. It is also Hastings tradition that has carried on for generations.
“We have grandparents who were on the stage when they were young and now they’re bringing their grandchildren down to see it,” Director of the Downtown Hastings Center Association,” Tammy Orthmann said. “I brought my kids down and they sang on the stage, and they did all of the the fun attractions, now they’re grown ups and they bring their kids here.”
Mayor Corey Stutte told Local4 News this event carries a lot of weight in the community.
“This is such a big event there are so many people that show up for this it’s,” Stutte said. “Probably the best family event that we have every year here in Hastings, and it’s just exciting to see everyone come out and support our downtown businesses.”
Orthmann stated that that shopping small is important as we head into the Christmas season, and she invites everyone to downtown on November 25 for Small Business Saturday.
Click here to subscribe to our KSNB Local4 daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Copyright 2023 KSNB. All rights reserved.


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Kulevi oil terminal output decreases
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, March 12The world economic crisis has influenced the functioning of the Azerbaijani-owned Kulevi oil terminal near Poti. Director General of the terminal Kerim Guliev has stated that trading companies donít want to sell for less a product they now have to pay more for and therefore transportation of oil products from the terminal has halved.
Traders are waiting for the price to improve and not selling their stock, therefore oil transportation and sales have decreased. However February saw a slight increase in terminal activity, by 15%.


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The company, a venture between Global Crossing, Microsoft and Softbank to build a trans-Pacific and pan-Asian communications network, rose 5.4 percent Friday afternoon and traded at $7.38.
In its initial stock sale, Asia Global Crossing raised $476 million through the sale of 68 million shares at $7--about half of what it initially planned. The $7 share price reflected a reduced sale price from the earlier range of $9 to $11.
Asia Global Crossing originally planned to debut Wednesday at a range of $14 to $16. The two lead underwriters, Goldman Sachs and Salomon Smith Barney, may buy up to 14 million shares.
Market experts say investor pessimism for Nasdaq companies and the broader markets has sapped enthusiasm for IPOs. The Nasdaq fell 3.2 percent in afternoon trading Friday, hovering around 3,361.04.
"(Asia) Global Crossing is probably the epitome of what investors are not looking for," said Steven Tuen, a portfolio manager with the Kinetics Internet Fund. "It's a company that's in the telecom business that's looking to spend a lot of money to build out a network."
The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company is building a fiber-optic network across Asia. The company trades under the ticker symbol "AGCX."


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The real letter from Target
Are you one of the roughly 70 million people who got an email from Target last week about the store’s mega security breach? If so, be careful. Target did indeed do a blast to customers to offer one year of free credit monitoring. The problem is scammers are also on the prowl and are sending out similar emails. Target even says it has identified and stopped at least 12 scams preying on consumers via email, Facebook and other outlets. The real Target emails went to customers whose personal information was in the Target database that cyber thieves hacked into over the holiday season. The full extent of the hacking is still under investigation.
In the meantime, here’s what to do if you see an email from Target pop up in your inbox. If you’ve already opened the email: Target has posted a copy of the email it sent out online. Check it out here (opens a PDF file) to ensure the email you opened, the address it came from, and the link you clicked all matches up. If it doesn’t match, and especially if you clicked a link to an external website and entered personal information, you need to take action quickly, according to Credit.com. They say first, get a copy of your credit report, check your bank and credit card activity on a daily basis and call the credit reporting agencies to tell them what happened. You can ask to have a fraud alert placed on your account, meaning it will be flagged to lenders if someone attempts to open credit in your name.


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In Touch of Irony Mother Nature, or Rather Mother Internet, Reminds Us Who’s in Charge
LWith great fanfare, Crestron kicked off their annual festival of all things Crestron – Crestron Masters 2021 – with a keynote address titled “Innovation Fuels Us.” And in a bit of irony, Mother Nature, or should I sway Mother Internet, reminded us all of who’s in charge by causing the program to suddenly stop at about five minutes in. About fifteen minutes or so later, the program started again and, save for a couple of stutters later, attendees were entertained with an impressively professional and compelling pre-recorded video presentation that celebrated Crestron’s history of innovation and set the tone for the week of education and conversation to come.
See more on the Crestron ‘Innovation Fuels Us‘ keynote
This was not a keynote presentation in the traditional sense – that is, one speech by one particularly special presenter. Rather, in this case Crestron devised a 90-minute program covering several highlighted elements of the event with multiple presenters, such as company heavyweights Ranjan Singh (Executive VP Product and Technology) and Brad Hintze (Executive VP, Global Marketing), as well as guests from Microsoft, Zoom, and Samsung. They even chatted with an integrator who worked with the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and NASA on the Mars rover project.
With tight scripting, compelling visuals, and new clues as to the company’s new priorities – the Innovations Fuels Us keynote was a fascinating glimpse of what Crestron believes will power their – and their partners – business for the near-term future and beyond. For Crestron partners, it was equal parts inspiration, information, and excitement.
Their Goals for the Day…And…Landing Rovers on Mars
At Crestron we are driven to create products and experiences for businesses and homes. And we know, like us, you too are fueled by bringing ideas to life – often in ways never done before. From meeting places…to distributing audio and video all over the globe…to smart home…and even landing rovers on Mars – today is all about those innovations we enable and create together.”Brad Hintze, Crestron Executive VP, Global Marketing
Hintze laid out the goals for the day: “Today, we’ll speak with our key partners about what we’re doing together to bring you new opportunities. We’ll highlight some of the innovative projects you have built. And we’ll introduce new Crestron products and capabilities.”
The Four Pillars of Crestron Product Innovation
Innovation, Ranjan Singh declared, is the domain of Crestron employees, partners, and customers. They “passionately” believe that, he said.
Crestron has developed four pillars upon which their product innovation is set, according to the product and technology VP. These four pillars are (the highlights are mine):
- Creating the best technology experience for end users
- Building platforms that offer long term value and growth
- Scalable deployment, management, and support that is securely delivered through the cloud
- Using data to provide actionable insights that inform decisions
Pay Particular Attention to the Power of Platforms
Singh put a particular emphasis on platforms, which* he described as superior to a collection of disconnected or unrelated products. “We invest in product platforms, rather than one-off products. Platforms give you the best return on your investment – continually evolving and giving you new capabilities over time,” Singh stressed.
He noted that Crestron has four strategic platforms that drive their business: 1) Crestron Flex, their video collaboration and room technology platform; 2) DM NVX, their digital media content distribution platform; 3) XIO Cloud, their cloud-based monitoring and management platform; and 4) Crestron Home, their Smart Home platform. Central to these platforms for integrators, Singh said, is remote monitoring and management – which includes self-healing and recovery capabilities. But Crestron is going further, Singh says, by developing APIs and new integration capabilities into their cloud platform so integrators can build their “own pane of glass.”
“We look forward to our continued partnership. We are inspired by the way you use our products, and your input helps us shape and fuel our product innovations,” Singh concluded.
The New Reality of ‘Hybrid Work’
Brad Hintze took over to discuss what would emerge as one of the central themes of the entire keynote – the new reality of hybrid work. Hintze noted that there is a lot of speculation by many that predict “the end of office life.” However, Crestron believes that neither a mass return to central offices…nor a permanent stay in the home as remote workers…is the future. Rather, they have gazed into their crystal ball and see a future of hybrid work – with some returning to the office, while others will remain remotely working either permanently, or on some type of rotating basis.
Crestron is hardly alone in this thought as many believe that some form of hybrid team deployment – with a mix of in-office and remote workers – is the new way to configure work forces. Some companies are even planning flexible permanent/temporary workspaces with rotating workers. But this plan presents its own challenge. IF you believe, as Crestron clearly does, that effective interpersonal team collaboration is the key to success – how do you hold effective meetings that creates the environment to drive true collaboration between those employees who are in the office, and those employees working remotely?
Does Microsoft Have the Answer?
“No one has studied the future of work more than our longtime partner, Microsoft,” Hintze said. “I recently sat down with the head of Microsoft Teams devices to talk about what we’ve learned, and what we should look forward to.”
And with that, Microsoft’s Ilya Bukshteyn, their General Manager of Microsoft Teams devices, joined the conversation. Bukshteyn says that their research shows that for meetings to be effective, everyone – decision makers or key collaborators – needs to be able to see and hear each other “equitably.” But pre-pandemic, he said, only about 10-15% of all meeting room spaces were video-enabled. Now, some of the major corporations that Microsoft interfaces with are telling him that want 40-60-100% of their spaces video-enabled to facilitate meeting participants, no matter where they are in the world.
15,000 Meeting Spaces Now Need New Gear; So Do Key Employees’ Home Offices
He says this feedback mirrors Microsoft’s experience. With 15,000 meeting rooms worldwide, Microsoft had been planning to add video capability in about half of them before that pandemic hit. “That plan has now changed,” he told Hintze. Microsoft now wants all of their meeting spaces to have video conferencing capability.
Bukshteyn also noted that he believes that company’s will end up taking the additional step of outfitting key employees homes with a great home office kit – which he said is the new gourmet cafeteria – both for a better experience for the user and an easier, more uniform cross company collaboration platform. So the employee and IT both benefit from this type of standardization.
Flex Line Expands by Adding Phones to ‘Flex’ Its Communications Muscle
One epiphany that hit Microsoft from surveying their customers is that businesses want dedicated collaborative devices so that meetings don’t rely on everyone getting on their laptops. Mostly, meeting participants prefer to use their personal devices for note taking, or otherwise textually chatting with other meeting participants.
Crestron agrees with that assessment and as a result is expanding their Flex platform. Flex now offers a deeper, native integration with Microsoft Teams to become that dedicated second device. Flex is the perfect tool for this purpose, according to Ranjan Singh, who says that Flex has three unique characteristics the make it the best platform for this use. First, Flex can easily go into any room, from the smallest huddle space, to the largest conference room. Singh adds that Flex soon will natively integrate with the Android operating system, which makes it usable with any “room OS.”
Second, Crestron has now launched a dedicated Flex phones for Microsoft Teams users. This dedicated secondary device adds calendars and contacts access, freeing up users’ laptops. And third, Flex is the only room systems platform that natively integrates all of the technology in the modern workplace.
“You can easily integrate Flex** with the broader ecosystem of enterprise technology to unlock new and interesting use cases,” Singh said. “Crestron Flex even helped NASA land the rover on Mars through an innovative integration with our digital media platform.”
Crestron’s Role in the Mars Mission
From there the program segued into a discussion with Tony Caraffa of Amplified Design, an integrator who had a major project with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to outfit NASA’s Mars control space. We learned that he chose Crestron’s DM-NVX video distribution system for this mission critical, ah, mission.
While Crestron may not have directly put the Mars rover on the planet, they certainly did help all of NASA and the world to find out about it, as those video images were definitely distributed via the DM-NVX. Also, we learned that Crestron Flex – actually the commercial version of that which is called Crestron Mercury – was used all throughout the entire 45-room complex that is a new multi-mission space. The Mars mission is but the first of what will be several missions using the same space.
So apparently Crestron technology is rocket science!
Ranjan Singh then took a few minutes to update attendees on two more of their platforms – Digital Media and XiO Cloud. Since the launch of the DM-NVX video distribution system, Crestron has steadily upgraded and expanded the line. Singh talked about some new features being added to NVX, including one that caught my ear, support for HDR+ and Dolby Vision high dynamic range video standards. But there were many more new capabilities beyond that.
He also spoke at length about their XiO Cloud support and management solution. Here too, the company continues to expand the capabilities for integrators to facilitate system deployment, management and monitoring.
The company also noted several medical, government, and sports organization (Green Bay Packers, for one) that rely on a range of Crestron technologies for their ease of use, capabilities, and security. Crestron is one of a few companies certified to provide products to government installations.
The Most Interesting Platform Upgrade (To Me): Crestron Home
I’m not going to lie to you…I was skeptical when Crestron announced Crestron Home a couple of years ago. I still remember when the company made the then shocking decision to pull out of CEDIA Expo 2016. It seemed a repudiation of everything that CEDIA and the residential integration community stood for. As I researched my coverage then, I learned that Crestron’s business was far and away mostly centered in the commercial space. Residential was little more than an afterthought with minimal meaning and impact for them. Sort of like the 80/20 rule in reverse.
But since then the company brought John Clancy on board and began devoting significant financial and engineering resources to the division – slowly…surely…I have become a believer. I now firmly believe that Crestron is completely committed to the residential space. In fact, I suspect they’d like to replicate the success that they’ve had in the commercial space and become a dominant platform in the residential space as well.
New Crestron Home Strategy, Drive Scale to Become the Dominant Player
Not only that, but the company is operating in a wholly new manner – pursuing partnerships, like the one with former enemy Lutron and the more recently announced partnership with Origin Acoustics. In fact, the speed with which they are pursuing partnerships is almost dizzying. This is not at all like the Crestron of the past – with its walled garden matrix systems and not-invented-here attitude.
It is refreshing…and we heard more of it at Crestron Masters.
Singh told attendees that Crestron seeks to change the way its products are used and deployed in the home. He noted that there have been a lot of changes in the smart home market over the last decade – but the biggest change, Singh said pointedly, is in the “experience demanded by the consumer.” And the customer experience is Crestron’s intense focus – “front and center in our minds at all times.”
Embracing an Open System Concept
To help drive that experience, the company is willing to take a fresh and more open approach, such as embracing and leveraging “the power and speed of native iOS and Android applications.” They also want to help integrators to quickly deploy Crestron Home systems. They even want to enable consumers to be able to customize elements of their homes’ system themselves! This would be heresy at the old Crestron… Meet the new Crestron!
Is this change real? Ranjan Singh said this:
To make the Crestron Home system more open, they are expanding the ecosystem of products that natively integrate with Home. New partnerships have been created with residential wellness brand Delos, lighting kingpin Lutron, voice control specialist Josh.ai, Amazon Alexa, and many, many more.
The company has also driven a surprising level of Home product and capabilities development as well. In the last twelve months, there have been no less than ten major updates in Crestron Home. Just recently we learned about how their new NAX audio-over-IP system integrates with Home, and they just announced an attractive, colorful thermostat.
The company is planning more development in Home, including creating new systems that will help their dealers scale with Home deployment, and to effectively develop, deploy, manage, and monitor customer systems.
This is definitely not your father’s Crestron!
New Partnerships Extends Crestron’s Influence Throughout the Industry
I already mentioned that Crestron is partnered with Microsoft, yielding deep native integration of Microsoft Teams in their various collaborative products. But beyond that, based on what I heard from Brad Hintze’s interview with Microsoft’s Bukshteyn, I’d say the partners may be working on an even deeper partnership on other products, both in the commercial space, as well as the residential space.
At this event, I heard for the first time that the company has also partnered with Samsung, who is integrating their XiO technology in select displays. Samsung VP of Product Marketing Mark Guiroz spoke to attendees about the partnership. Samsung, he said, had to figure out during the 2020 year of COVID, how to reach out to customers remotely, “without losing the personal touch,” he said. Samsung’s teams, like all companies, “worked remotely and collaborated virtually.”
Now, as the world slowly begins to regain its footing, your customers, employees, and stakeholders will have a new set of expectations. They will demand more personalized experiences that blend the physical and digital worlds. They will seek out new tools that bring greater flexibility and collaboration to their workplace, wherever that might be. And they will blend work and life seamlessly to maximize every moment and opportunityMark Guiroz, Samsung VP of Product Marketing
XiO Cloud Embedded in Samsung Displays; An Opportunity ‘To Make an Immediate Impact’
Of course, he sees Samsung at the forefront of this transformation. But it is true that Samsung’s business displays now have Crestron’s XiO connectivity embedded natively. “We are really excited about this partnership,” he added. With people beginning to return to their physical company offices, Guiroz believes that there is a real opportunity for Samsung and Crestron “to make an immediate impact.” Expectations for how meetings will change favor the approach that Crestron, Samsung, Zoom, and Microsoft have, and will continue to create.
Zoom also spoke at the “Innovation Fuels Us” keynote. Jeff Smith, the company’s Head of Zoom Rooms (yes, that is*** his title) told attendees that they share Crestron’s vision of the changing nature of collaboration in a hybrid work world and the new tools that will be needed to drive team interactions in this scenario. Smith said in the presentation that “…we have heavy reliance on our partners like Crestron to build solutions that are fit for purpose in all those different physical spaces…” where collaboration will take place in the near future.
Crestron Masters is All About Education
Very few companies are as dedicated to education as is Crestron. I saw their Crestron University facility when I toured their headquarters. And Crestron Masters is the mac Daddy of their educational initiatives. An annual event, here is where Crestron dealers get to receive their training and certifications that can drive their personal technology careers.
Normally an in-person event, thanks to COVID, the last two versions have been virtual. Still, enthusiasm seems to still run high at these events. This year, according to President and CEO Randy Klein, 2,800 people have registered to take classes. And more than 5,000 people showed up to the Innovation Fuels Us keynote presentation. There are over 50 courses being presented during the week, with 100 presenters participating. It is a big venture.
I myself took a few classes and I’ll share those experiences with you in another post. But I’ll say this, it is hard not to be impressed with an event the scale of Crestron Masters 2021. In the classes I took, each had at least 150-200 (or more) “students.” That is an impressive level of participation considering the total number of classes taking place at any one time.
See more on Crestron by visiting: crestron.com.
* Fixed a typo from “we” to “which”
** Fixed typo – added initial capitalization on Flex
*** Fixed typo – added missing word “is”
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Obama Boosts Michigan’s Advanced Battery Industry
HOLLAND, Michigan, July 16, 2010 (ENS) – The official groundbreaking of a new advanced battery manufacturing plant in Holland on Thursday attracted both President Barack Obama and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.
“Just a couple of years ago,” President Obama said at the event, “American businesses manufactured only two percent of the world’s advanced batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. But because of what’s happening at places like this, in just five years, we’ll have up to 40 percent of the world’s capacity.”
Compact Power, the North American subsidiary of Korea-based LG Chem Ltd., won a $151.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant last August to begin production of lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles.
The award was one of 13 Michigan-based projects awarded more than $1.35 billion in Recovery Act funding to support advanced battery and electric vehicle manufacturing and development.
“For years, we’ve heard about manufacturing jobs disappearing overseas,” Obama said. “You are showing us how manufacturing jobs can come back.”
The $303 million Compact Power plant is already slated to produce batteries for the new Chevy Volt and the new electric Ford Focus.
President Barack Obama checks out Chevy Volt and Ford Focus electric cars at the site of the new battery plant in Holland, Michigan. July 15, 2010. (Photo by TRN)
Obama said, “That means that by 2012, the batteries will be manufactured in Holland, Michigan, instead of South Korea. So when you buy one of these vehicles, the battery could be stamped Made in America – just like the car.”
Today most of the world’s advanced batteries come from Korea, Japan and China.
The Compact Power facility, expected to create approximately 440 direct jobs and more than 800 spin-off jobs in west Michigan by 2015, is part of the state’s long-term strategy to make Michigan a center for advanced battery research and production. The strategy includes creation of the first state battery tax credits in the nation.
Governor Granholm projects that 62,000 new jobs will be created in Michigan in the advanced battery industry in the next 10 years.
“We’re well on our way to becoming the advanced battery capital of the world. It’s the result of our aggressive state strategy combined with Recovery Act investments through our partnership with President Obama and his administration,” said Granholm, a Democrat.
Obama told the audience at Holland that the goal of his $787 billion Recovery Act, signed early last year, “has never been to create a government program, but to encourage private-sector growth.”
“This is the ninth advanced battery plant to begin construction because of our economic plan,” the President said, “plants that will put thousands of people to work. This includes folks working at a couple of facilities being built in Michigan by another battery technology company called A123.”
“In every case, we’ve been guided by a simple idea. Government cannot generate the jobs or growth we need by itself. But it can lay the foundation for small businesses to expand and hire, for entrepreneurs to open up shop and test new products, for workers to get the training they need, and for families to achieve some measure of economic security.”
Obama pointed to a report from his Council of Economic Advisers issued Wednesday showing that the administration’s tax credits leverage nearly three private dollars for every public dollar credited to advanced energy manufacturing, loan guarantees for small businesses, and financing for infrastructure projects.
“That’s an incredible bang for our buck,” he said. “By making critical seed money available, we have attracted more than $280 billion dollars in investment … for industries of the future.”
Because of advances in the manufacture of these batteries, Obama said their costs are expected to come down by nearly 70 percent in the next few years, which will make electric and hybrid cars and trucks more affordable for more Americans. “That, too, will mean more jobs – not to mention less dependence on oil.”
The Compact Power facility in Holland will be able to manufacture up to 20 million battery cells a year, enough for about 150,000 vehicle battery packs.
In addition to Compact Power’s Holland facility, five other lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing plants are either under construction in Michigan or soon will be. They are: A123 Systems in Livonia, Dow Kokam in Midland, fortu PowerCell in Muskegon, Johnson Controls-Saft in Holland and Sakti3 in Ann Arbor.


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Today sees the official start of the Olympic Games, with the opening ceremony soon to kick off in London. Samsung, being a big Olympic sponsor, has decided to support the home team with a new series of official limited edition Team GB Galaxy S III (Galaxy S3) phones. Similar to the designs seen on the Olympic edition Galaxy Note, the Team GB Galaxy S3 models feature the union flag on a pebble...
Portions of this page are modifications based on work created and shared by the Android Open Source Project
and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution License. AndroidCentral is an independent site
that is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.


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NSBA 2017 Mid-Year Economic Report
September 14, 2017
Washington, D.C. – The National Small Business Association (NSBA) today released its 2017 Mid-Year Economic Report where the small-business outlook on the overall economy is at its highest point in seven years despite growing frustration over elected officials’ inability to enact needed reforms.
“For the first half of 2017, we’ve seen record highs in small-business confidence and outlook, however our most recent report shows more muted projections in hiring and revenue growth, ” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. “The absence of any meaningful legislating is a driver of changes in anticipated growth, and is the reason why small businesses believe the first thing Congress and the administration need to address is ending the partisan gridlock.”
Among the most positive findings: 45 percent of small businesses say today’s economy is better than six months ago; 83 percent are confident in the future of their business; and the number of small-business owners who said “economic uncertainty” was a significant challenge to the future growth and survival of their business dropped to 36 percent, the lowest this indicator has been since February 2008.
Unfortunately, there were less-positive results as well: there was a drop in the number of small businesses anticipating economic expansion in the next 12 months; slightly fewer businesses reported revenue growth in the past year; and even fewer small-business owners reported hiring in the past 12 months or plans to do so in the coming 12 months.
“In this survey, we also asked several energy-related questions and found that the majority of small-business owners are concerned about future energy costs,” stated NSBA Chair Pedro Alfonso of Dynamic Concepts, Inc. in Washington, D.C. “As such, the majority of small firms annually review their energy costs and take steps to reduce their energy consumption.”
The 2017 Mid-Year Economic Report was conducted on-line July 24 through Aug. 14, 2017 among 1,134 small-business owners.
Celebrating 80 years in operation, NSBA is a staunchly nonpartisan organization advocating on behalf of America’s entrepreneurs. NSBA’s 65,000 members represent every state and every industry in the U.S. Please visit www.nsba.biz or follow us at @NSBAAdvocate.


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Coronavirus Panic Disrupts Cryptocurrency Markets
The Black Swan of 2020, Coronavirus outbreak, has hit cryptocurrency market, sending Bitcoin to it 10 month minimum, below $6000, on March 12.
Bitcoin price fluctuates around $5800, falling more than 25% in the last 24 hours, according to Coinmarketcap. Main cryptocurrency dramatic drop dragged down other main cryptocurrencies: Ethereum fell over 30%, XRP over 23%.
On March 12, Bitcoin trading volume, reached $55 mln, per Coinmarketcap, stretching cryptocurrency exchange’s capacities. Notably, bitcoins mined as early as in 2010 started to move this March, according Blockchain.com.
Even the CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao called March 12 “Bloodbath day”, reporting on his tweeted “5x system load than all previous peaks”.
It is too early to determine, where the price will go in the nearest time. Some experts note the upcoming halving as an opportunity to grow, others predict further downtrend.
Coronavirus declared pandemic dropped traditional financial markets as well: Dow Jones Index has fallen 9,99%, S&P 500 – 9,51%.


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High-level delegation to take part in event
A high-level delegation from Kerala comprising Principal Secretary, IT, P.H. Kurian, Technopark CEO K.G. Girish Babu and Infopark CEO Gigo Joseph is participating in the digital industry’s biggest international event - CeBIT 2013 - being held in Hannover, Germany, from March 5 to 9.
CeBIT is one of the leading ICT events in the world where global companies showcase their products and services.
It provides a platform for leading professionals in the ICT sector to interact and expand their marketing networks.
This year, the government has sponsored five incubated companies from the Technopark TBI to showcase their products and services at CeBIT 2013. A separate pavilion has been set up for the incubated companies. The delegation from Kerala includes representatives of Zesty Beanz, Mirox Cyber Security & Technology, Akira Software Solutions, Creace Technologies, and Techrishta as well as Technopark Senior Business Development Manager M.Vasudevan, Infopark Assistant Manager Arun Rajeevan, and Palnar Transmedia MD Syed Ibrahim.
“We have received positive reviews from the people visiting our pavilion and the meetings conducted at our stall. With rigorous follow-up action from our side, we hope to see some fruitful investments in our parks. The incubated companies are having a great run showcasing their products and services and are hopeful of bringing in some relevant business as a result of participating at CeBIT 2013,” Mr.Kurian said.


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Do you have ads following you around? Let me explain. There is tracking technology embedded with each ad that pops up so that it can follow you on multiple platforms and apps. This means that you can see an ad for a specific pair of
95% of the content essential for decision making in an organization is unstructured, residing in PDFs and various file formats that defy easy indexing and quick access, according to MIT Media Labs. 80% of typical organizations’ data is unstructured, slowing down work, often leading to
Google was under fire for a while about former employees coming forward with the discriminations they faced working there. But the unveiling of discriminations did not stop there. Other employees continue to come forward and the DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has taken
On January 4, a handful of Google employees and contractors announced that they are forming a union. Typically when unionization comes to mind, better compensation and working environments become associated with the movement. However, big-tech companies, Google included, pays their employees on average six figures.
On January 14th, Google officially acquired Fitbit for $2.1 billion. But what the heck does Google want with Fitbit? Google’s purchase of Fitbit comes with established smart tech manufacturers, 29 million active users, and proprietary health tracking algorithms. Founded in 2007, Fitbit quickly became the
Ask yourself this: How often do you rely on Google? Between Docs, Gmail, and Search, busy entrepreneurs regularly rely on the Google ecosystem. But a wide range of antitrust lawsuits threatens to change the way we work and, more importantly, the way we access information.
Google. We all know this large tech company that, over the years, has completely implemented itself into our daily lives. From using their search engine to using their products, Google is one of the most popular large corporations in the world—no one can deny that.
There are tons of things on the internet and on social media that can be triggering for millions of people. From ads on your social feeds to just Aunt Karen posting on Facebook about controversial topics, it can all blend into one another and make
Choosing a compatible eCommerce platform is pivotal to the success of an emerging business. But after you have built your site and kicked off your online store, how do you go about grabbing the attention of prospective customers and turning their heads in your direction.
The ways in which Google has influence in our daily lives cannot be underestimated. Google is no longer just a search engine. To name a few, Google Maps, Google Hangouts, Google Calendar, YouTube, Gmail, Google Chrome, Android, Chrome Books, Nest and Google Wallet are platforms
One company in the tech world has always—and probably will always—be the top dog, and that company is Google. The undefeated search engine and major brand has created a lot of things over the years that keep them on top. With new features releasing over
Do you still have cable? Or do you depend on online and streaming websites to keep you up to date on all your favorite TV shows? Well, depending on technology in our day and age, it is not something to shy away from. Streaming your
While Facebook and Google have become essential in easing our daily lives, the monopoly and influence that they hold can be dangerous. For example, the way in which these companies harm local communities is massive. From spreading disinformation to controlling money for advertisements, their affect
If you’ve never played Fortnite before, you’re at least aware of its existence. The ubiquitous game has infiltrated every level of pop culture; its floss dance has been used in movies, TV commercials, and video games. Even the game itself was featured in the biggest
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way we do business, on a global scale. Many things we took for granted such as last-minute flights to Las Vegas or enjoying a day at the beach with a large group of friends are no longer options.


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By Bridget McCrea
Last week, Anixter International Inc., (NYSE: AXE) announced that it was acquiring the Power Solutions segment of HD Supply (NASDAQ: HDS) for $825 million. As the largest acquisition in Anixter’s history, the deal – which is expected to close near the end of the third quarter of 2015 – should result in future tax benefits from acquired U.S. intangible assets with a net present value estimated to be approximately $70 million.
Brent D. Rakers, CFA, senior analyst-industrial distribution with Thompson Research Group in Nashville, calls the deal a “strategic game changer for Anixter.” The most attractive transaction points include the fact that combining electrical and datacomm platforms has worked for similar companies in the past. In particular, he points to Wesco’s 2006 acquisition of Communications Supply (CSC), which “created a different competitive environment, as the combination bundled electrical and datacomm packages to customers on project business.”
“During the past five years, this bundled offering in part has allowed Wesco to outgrow Anixter by 400 bps annually in datacomm,” Rakers points out, adding that the combination of power solutions with Anixter’s wire and cable business strengthens both entities. He expects Anixter to “stay aggressive” in filling out meaningful gaps in HD Supply’s electrical branch network. “Given geographic gaps in HD Supply’s electrical products reach,” Rakers says, “we believe Anixter management will engage in an aggressive future acquisition strategy to build out a national network.”
An Interesting Transaction
Headquartered in Atlanta, Power Solutions distributes over 200,000 utility, electrical, and industrial MRO products to approximately 13,000 customers including investor-owned utilities, public power utilities, electrical contractors, and industrial businesses. Operating from a broad geographic footprint of approximately 130 branches in 30 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces, Power Solutions reported fiscal 2014 revenues of $1.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $79 million.
“The Anixter-HD Supply deal is an interesting transaction,” says Rakers. In looking at the successes that Wesco had when it moved into the space with the CSC acquisition – and followed by a couple of supplementary transactions after that within the broader datacomm space – “there is certainly a proven value to combining a datacomm with an electrical products platform,” he adds.
From the deal, Rakers says Anixter is getting a “regional electrical products network” that could lead to both organic growth and more acquisitions in the future. “Certainly Anixter’s very deep as a specialty and cable provider, but it [lacks] some of the full line that HD brings to the equation,” says Rakers, who points to HD’s utilities business as one of the distributor’s more unique attributes. “I don’t necessarily think there’s as much natural crossover between a full-line electrical shop or a datacomm operation and the utilities business.”
In assessing the impact of this deal on the electrical product space, Rakers says that right now there are 5-7 large, national distributors that each do over $1 billion of sales annually. “That’s a very large marketplace,” he continues. “I think the ability of this particular niche of overall distribution to get involved with large marketing/buying [groups] may level the playing field a bit more for the smaller local distributor, compared to some of the other specialty categories that I follow.”
The Cross-Selling Advantage
Ultimately, Rakers says Anixter’s acquisition puts the company in the advantageous position of being able to cross-sell products across more categories and customers (datacomm with electrical supplies, for example).
“Certainly, it would be more attractive if you could cross over more [among] the utilities/electrical side as well; I think that’s where one-plus-one is worth a little bit more than [two],” says Rakers. “For companies that are trying to compete on project-type business, and if there really are those [distributors] out there that compete for this project size, that could be a significant competitive threat.”
McCrea is a Florida-based writer who covers business, industrial, and educational topics for a variety of magazines and journals. You can reach her at email@example.com or visit her website at www.expertghostwriter.net.
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Dozens of rogue cannabis shops doing business in the City of Vancouver — collectively responsible for more than $2 million in unpaid city-issued violation tickets, according to new city data — will have a harder time operating after legalization comes into effect this fall, senior city officials said Wednesday.
This week, Vancouver moved to align its retail cannabis sales regime, the first of its kind in the country, with the provincial and federal regulatory frameworks as Canada prepares to become the first G7 nation to legalize recreational cannabis.
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Meanwhile, the B.C. government is seeking to hire a director to lead a new cannabis enforcement unit, which is expected to be staffed and running by the time federal legalization of recreational cannabis comes into effect Oct. 17.
The retail cannabis regime pioneered in Vancouver will transition well into Canada’s new legalization framework, said Kaye Krishna, Vancouver’s general manager of development, buildings and licensing.


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A specialist automotive business is keeping a famous Midland motoring marque alive with a modern version of one of its most famous cars.
Gama Cars, based in Cropredy near Banbury, is already wowing enthusiasts with its 21st century take on the iconic Jensen Interceptor.
The car, which was originally built in West Bromwich by Jensen Motors and considered to be decades ahead of its time when it was launched in the Sixties, is now appealing to a whole new generation of fans thanks to a shining example of old-fashioned British engineering skill and craftsmanship.
Production of the new Interceptor R might be strictly small-scale, with between six and eight cars being produced a year, but given its starting price of £138,000 and the fact each car takes between 1,500 and 2,000 man hours to build, it is hardly surprising.
The Interceptor R is based on an original donor vehicle, which is rebuilt from the ground up using the shell of the original at Gama Cars’ Cropredy Bridge Garage.
Old cars are carefully dismantled piece by piece and the body shell dipped in an acid bath before work starts on creating an all-new car.
While some elements are retained, most of the car is new, including the engine, suspension, gearbox, electrics and interior. At its heart is a 6.2-litre Chevrolet Corvette engine, replacing the 7.2-litre Chrysler engine fitted to the original which managed as little as six miles to the gallon.
A Jaguar-designed chassis is also fitted and some models even feature an old-style radio that is actually state-of-the-art technology in disguise, complete with an in built sat nav system.
Gama Motors is building the car on behalf of Jensen International Automotive (JIA) and the specialist manufacturing operation is headed by its technical director Gregg Alvarez, a car restoration expert who did his apprenticeship at Cropredy Bridge, a renowned Jensen restoration specialist, before eventually acquiring the business.
Prior to his involvement, the idea of transforming old Interceptors into cars fit for the 21st century had begun but the project has only got up to speed under the leadership of Mr Alvarez’ and Gama Motors’ managing director Matthew Watts.
The Interceptor R is thoroughly modernised, offering the performance and driving dynamics of a contemporary high quality grand tourer as well as improved performance and fuel economy.
It boasts a top speed of 160mph and a 0-60mph time of under 4.5 seconds, helped by the fact that it is around 300kg lighter than the original car on which it is based.
But the R is not to all customers’ tastes. Some purists remain uncomfortable with the idea of tampering with Jensen’s automotive heritage.
But the traditionalists are not being left out in the cold with a “complete originals” option – a fully restored Interceptor that comes as close as it is possible to get to a car that came off the West Bromwich production line in the Sixties or Seventies.
The attention to detail is painstaking and the cost is around the same as an Interceptor R.
Visiting Cropredy Bridge one gets a sense of the love and enthusiasm for the Jensen marque with all members of the highly skilled team described as “irreplaceable” by Mr Alvarez.
Despite the complete originals side of the business, which accounts for around 50 per cent of production, it is the Interceptor R that has set pulses racing in the motoring world.
Even the notoriously critical Jeremy Clarkson has given it his seal of approval, though Mr Alvarez admits there was a degree of nervousness about letting him loose on one of their cars for an episode of the Top Gear television show.
“There was a big risk,” he said. “Jeremy Clarkson has destroyed much bigger companies than ours. There was also concern they might mess around with it and break it – it is a 40-year-old car after all.
"But he genuinely liked it. The coverage hasn’t necessarily translated into orders but it has certainly increased awareness.”
Plans are already afoot to expand the business with a new two-car showroom and other new facilities.
Acknowledging the Interceptor R costs a lot more than some supercars, Mr Alvarez admits it is far from cheap, but, with the interior alone costing £11,000 and given the time and effort that goes into creating each car, he says it is inevitable.
One of the lynch pins in the process is Martin Green, from Birmingham, who has an enviable reputation for coming up with solutions to seemingly impossible challenges.
The 38-year-old engineer of design offers an interesting insight into the time and effort involved in the car’s creation, which he described as “more difficult than building a new car from scratch”.
“We were a year working on the first car, ironing out all the teething problems and simplifying certain aspects of it,” said the former structural engineer, who came to Cropredy Bridge for a few weeks to share his fabrication skills and ended up staying.
These days he is involved in everything from building an engine bay and fitting an interior to building and installing an entire air-conditioning system for a car that didn’t have one in the first place.
Despite its sleek and sporty looks and what Mr Alvarez describes as “a real rock star’s car” the original Interceptor was renowned for not being the best of driver’s cars, with a live rear axle that could make driving it positively dangerous and wiring that had a propensity to set the car on fire.
“It’s not a Ferrari – it’s a grand tourer,” he added. “But at least it’s driveable and a marked improvement over the original.”


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THE Welsh Consumer Council is calling on the Food Standards Agency to advise the Government to back tough new rules on labelling food containing genetically modified crops.
The move follows another snub to GM food delivered by Welsh consumers.
Nearly three-quarters of them say they want to be able to choose whether to buy genetically modified food or not.
And more than a third want foods containing GM ingredients banned altogether.
The European Parliament has adopted proposals for a clear system of traceability and labelling, but the Food Standards Agency has described them as impractical, unenforceable and incapable of delivering accurate and reliable information.
The legislation has yet to be adopted by the EU Council of Ministers and member states.
A survey carried out by the Welsh Consumer Council confirmed continuing resistance to the controversial food, but also revealed confusion about what GM food actually is.
The findings will be fed into the current UK Governmentsponsored debate on whether to grow GM crops commercially in Britain.
"The report sends a clear message to government that consumers in Wales are not ready for GM," said Welsh Consumer Council chair-woman Vivienne Sugar.
"The case for GM is not proven and where it is for sale consumers demand the right to choose, and many remain deeply worried about the impact on the environment of growing GM crops in Wales or elsewhere in the UK."
The 50-page report To Eat or Not to Eat is based on a survey of more than 1,000 adults in Wales. Key findings include 74% of respondents wanting clear GM labelling on food and food products even if they contain a tiny amount.
In addition, 38% want GM food banned completely and 51% are worried about the impact on the environment.
Ms Sugar said the EU proposals would ensure tighter labelling on both food and animal feed.
"Along with every other consumer organisation in the UK and across Europe, we insist on the right of consumers to choose. And clear, comprehensive and trustworthy labelling is essential," she said.


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Men's Wearhouse turns the tables on Jos. A Bank, makes bid (Video)
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In October, Jos. A Bank unsuccessfully courted Men's Wearhouse and finally dropped its $2.3 billion bid, ending more than a month of tense volleys between the two rivals.
Men's Wearhouse's bid is 8.7 percent higher than Jos. A. Bank's Monday close and 32 percent higher than its price in October when it bid for Men's Wearhouse.
In its unsuccessful bid, Jos. A. Bank had offered $48 per share for Men’s Wearhouse, representing a 42 percent premium over Men’s Wearhouse’s closing price on Sept. 17.
There may have been a clue that a counteroffer was in the works, as our sister publication previously reported that in an interview Nov. 20 with CNBC, the CEO of Men's Wearhouse's largest shareholder, Ricky Sandler of Eminence Capital, threw out a twist — the possibility that maybe Men’s Wearhouse should consider buying Jos. A. Bank. There are “multiple ways” a deal could play out, Sandler said.
Sandler referenced an interview that Jos. A. Bank Chairman Robert Wildrick gave the Wall Street Journal back in October when Wildrick suggested the retailer would be open to an offer from Men’s Wearhouse.
The combined company would have a market value of $4.88 billion compared to a total of $2.88 billion if the two companies remain separate, Eminence said. Merging the two companies would create an additional $2 billion in value through “a combination of cost savings, revenue synergies and multiple expansion,” the hedge fund said.
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3 Mins Read
AAK Foodservice has taken over ForA:Butter, a brand developed by New York-based startup Fora Foods. The flagship product is butter made using aquafaba, which delivers performance that professional bakers look for in their ingredients. The butter has been steadily gaining presence within the foodservice sector, alongside some movement within retail.
Formerly dubbed ‘Faba Butter’, ForA:Butter is made from a combination of aquafaba, cocoa butter, coconut butter, coconut cream, and sunflower oil. AAK has been manufacturing it for ForA, before choosing to acquire the brand entirely. Financial details of the purchase have not been revealed.
Adding to the plant-based portfolio
A spokesperson for AAK said that “[ForA:Butter is a] very good fit to our plant-based expansion with premium plant butter products and will provide an addition complementary to our Green Oasis plant-based product line.”
The manufacturer states that the butter is an entirely different product from margarine and not comparable to it, being more akin to dairy butter. It claims that a 1:1 substitution for conventional butter is possible, even in technical applications. It cites laminated dough, such as that used in croissant baking, as not faltering when made with ForA:Butter.
Waiving goodbye to a brand
Fora co-founder Aidan Altman has previously secured investment from New Crop Capital and Blue Horizon, amongst others. Backing was used to develop the butter, which was put through rigorous R&D testing.
“We’ve gone through hundreds of different iterations to get where we are today,” Altman said in a statement. “The cocoa butter and coconut cream have that really nice fat profile and provide a similar melting point and smoking point to butter and then the aquafaba is a way to tie it all together and emulsify it, but it also creates a unique kind of umami flavor profile.”
Altman has been quoted by FoodNavigator-USA as stating that he can’t comment on AAK’s motivations for the ForA:Butter acquisition or the company’s future plans for the brand. He did maintain that the product stands out in the plant-based dairy market, thanks to its professional capabilities and unique flavour.
Butter by any other name
Vegan butter is a growing niche within the alternative dairy market. Consumers are no longer satisfied with margarine and are driving demand for authentically decadent and functional butter alternatives. Cow-free spreads are usually healthier, due to containing no cholesterol, and offer environmental benefits alongside, with claims that they can help reduce a personal carbon footprint by up to 30 percent. However, not everybody is delighted by the rise of plant-based butter.
In August last year, Miyoko’s Creamery secured a landmark legal victory. The vegan dairy brand took the State of California to court for attempting to impose labelling restrictions that would prevent terms such as “butter”, “lactose-free” and “cruelty-free” from being used. The case was initially launched in 2020, with Miyoko’s suing for an infringement of its right to free speech. A preliminary injunction was secured the same year and in 2021, permanent rights to use the traditionally dairy-related words were granted. It offered optimism to the wider plant-based sector, especially in light of other ongoing labelling issues.
Miyokos announced it was launching a vegan butter cooking channel last November; the YouTube-hosted channel features recipes and tips for cooking with plant-based butter, with a focus on the science of baking. Different hosts and plant-based chefs will feature. The channel was announced shortly after the dairy manufacturer closed a $52 million Series C raise.
Lead image courtesy of ForA:Butter.


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Noel Howley Logistics - a trusted outfit
Noel Howley Logistics is currently operating a fleet of 15 Scania and Mercedes trucks from the company’s two bases. Irish Trucker spoke with the man himself recently to learn about the service they offer and find out how business has been as of late.
Operating from two different locations in the east and west of Ireland, Noel Howley Logistics has been keeping up with the pick-up in business in recent times in the hopes of doubling their turnover during 2017.
Noel Howley has been involved in the logistics and transport business most of his working life and recently welcomed his son Brian on board the company which he first founded back in 1994, before its rebranding three years ago.
Noel Howley Logistics concentrates on the haulage of chilled, ambient and frozen foods, with 50,000 sq ft of warehousing, and recently added two new Scania trucks to its fleet. The man himself was good enough to take time out of his busy schedule to speak to us recently and explain what the company is all about.
“We’re operating from two bases here. One is in Unit 7, Rosemount Business Park, Dublin 11 and the other is in Foxford, Co Mayo,” outlined the Managing Director. “We rebranded the company in 2014 – it was Howley Distribution Services when it was set-up in 1994.
“I’m the owner of the company and my son Brian is Operations Manager, he’s the only family member involved here. He would have joined the company last September.”
The company employs some 25 staff between Dublin and Mayo in order to run its day-to-day operations, which sees them hauling chilled, ambient and frozen foods nationwide. For Noel, logistics is a business he has been in most of his working life and with his son recently having come on board the hope one day is that Noel Howley Logistics will last the test of time to become a second generation company.
The purchase of a huge warehouse facility means that the Howleys are in it for the long haul.
“We have 50,000 square foot of warehousing here which is used completely for logistics,” said Noel. “We offer the complete logistics service from our warehouse, along with chilled and frozen foods. Right now, we have 15 trucks on the road.”
Two new Scanias recently arrived via Sligo dealer Cawley’s Commercials, which is Ireland’s north-west location for Scania and Mitsubishi commercial vehicles, along with servicing and CVRT testing. Noel puts his trust in Scania, along with the Mercedes brand, as he feels that both are reliable as well as efficient for the work he carries out day in, day out.
While the economic recession had a tough effect on his business a couple of years back, Noel is glad to report a turnaround and is looking forward to growing the company even more in the coming years.
“Business is on the pick-up, slowly but surely. The downturn hurt us a bit but we are coming back from it now and growing,” he enthused. “We have 15 trucks operating in our fleet which is made up entirely of Scania and Mercedes. We buy our Scanias from Cawley’s in Sligo and our Mercedes off Simpson’s Commercials in St Margaret's.
“I think the fact that we recently brought in a few more Scanias says a lot about how business has been going and we’ll always be sure to keep up with the demand here.”
Above all, clients’ satisfaction is perhaps most imperative when it comes to frozen food logistics and down through the years Noel Howley Logistics has earned itself a glowing reputation amongst its clientele. The company provides its clients with a timely service, while their warehouse facility, which is being used purely for logistics, is a first class facility.
“We have a lot of long-time clients here and I think they trust us because we provide them with a great service which is also very reliable,” said Noel. “The likes of Eucon and Keelings would be good clients of ours that would have been happy with our service from day one and we’re happy to still have them with us.”
The aim now for Noel, Brian and co is to keep growing the business and try and add a couple more clients to the list. Now well into a new year, Noel Howley Logistics has been keeping a busy schedule and the hope is to keep getting busier and busier in the coming months.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll continue to grow like we’re doing. Hopefully we’ll double our turnover in 2017,” Noel stated.
Going on form since the upturn in the economy, it would be no surprise to see.
Noel Howley Logistics
Address: Unit 7, Rosemount Business Park, Dublin 11
Phone: (01) 822 4064


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By Storage Asia Editors | Aug 7, 2012
Quantum Corp. and NCS have signed a deal to their partnership beyond Singapore to serve customers across the Asia-Pacific region.
The partnership will see NCS become Quantum’s first top-tier channel partner for the region, with the former incorporating Quantum’s line of data protection and big data management products into its offerings.
As part of the agreement, Quantum will develop a Centre of Excellence (COE) in NCS Singapore, providing training and necessary skill sets to enable NCS to support the regional business. The COE will make it easier for NCS to support both local customers intending to expand overseas and regional customers seeking relevant support.
In addition to Singapore, the expanded Quantum-NCS partnership will initially cover the Greater China, Australia and ASEAN markets, with other markets to follow over time.
“NCS has been working with Quantum for many years in Singapore. With this, we can now bring forth our synergy to markets where NCS has touchpoints. The aggressive growth of data will bring challenges as well as opportunities to our customers both locally and overseas, in terms of managing data and deriving insights to make better business decisions,” said Vincent Lim, Vice President, NCS.


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NEW NIKE LEBRON VII 7 DUNKMAN BLACK VOLT 13 15 SIZE 14,UCLA postdoctoral researcher. "While snow likes to give up electrons, the performance of the device depends on the efficiency of the other material at extracting these electrons," he added.
After testing a large number of materials including aluminium foils and Teflon, the researchers found that silicone produces more charge than any other material.Nike Air Jordan Retro 4 IV OG White Cement Fire Red Black Grey Size 15,.
Jordan Retro 13 He Got Game Size 10.5,. The new device could be integrated into solar panels to provide a continuous power supply when it snows, he said.
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The device can also send signals, indicating whether a person is moving. It can tell when a person is walking, running, jumping or marching, they said. The team used 3D printing to design the device, which has a layer of silicone and an electrode to capture the charge. The researchers believe the deviceNIKE AIR JORDAN II 2 RETRO JUST DON C BEACH CREAM gold RED HAT 834825-250 NEW 10,.
(With inputs from agencies.)


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You're going to spend the next nine months on campus. We've got suggestions for the gear that can turn that spartan dorm room into a home away from home.
Qualcomm will integrate WiGig in the Snapdragon 810 chip after buying Wilocity.
Google launches Android TV, with shupport from Sharp, Sony, Asus, and others. It will debut this fal, replacing the forgotten Google TV technology.
The Samsung Z will be on show at the Tizen Developer Conference this week in San Francisco.
An Asus version of the "Will It Blend" video implies that the company may debut a single integrated device at Computex.
A new standard adopted by the VESA standards body preserves existing video connectors. possibly at the price of video quality.
Quick, check the couch cushions. Maybe you'll find four grand in quarters for the 55-inch curved 4K smart TV we named "best of CES."
Cord cutters should take a keen interest in Mohu Channels, which promises to deliver an on-screen programming guide for over-the-air HD channels alongside your favorite streaming services and websites.
Low demand caused the U.S. television market to fall nearly 10 percent, IHS says.
Featured at last week's CES show, LG's webOS televisions aggregate live and on-demand content into a single, easy to navigate interface.


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KLA Corporation noted that China is becoming an important region for logic and memory chip manufacturing, adding to its role as the world’s largest consumer of integrated circuits.
In addition, a significant portion of the world’s flat panel display (FPD) and printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing has moved to China.
According to KLA Corporation, government initiatives are driving China to expand its domestic manufacturing capacity and attract investment from semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan, Korea, Japan and the United States.
Although China is now considered an important long-term growth region for the semiconductor and capital electronics equipment sector, the Department of Commerce has added certain China-based entities to the U.S. entity list, which restricts KLA Corporation’s ability to supply products and services to such entities without a license.
In addition, the Commerce Department has imposed new export licensing requirements for China-based customers engaged in military end uses, as well as required KLA Corporation’s customers to obtain an export license when using certain U.S. technology-based semiconductor capital equipment to manufacture products related to Huawei or its subsidiaries.
Although these new regulations have not had a significant impact on KLA Corporation’s operations to date, these actions by the U.S. government or another country could affect its ability to provide its products and services to existing and potential customers and adversely affect its business.
KLA Corporation is a capital equipment company based in Milpitas, California, and supplies process control and yield management systems for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries.
The semiconductor capital equipment sector is currently experiencing multiple growth drivers bolstered by demand for semiconductors from leading-edge foundry and logic manufacturers to support computing power and connectivity for markets such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G wireless technology.
The growth of virtual engagement and the pace of digitization have been driven by travel restrictions and quarantines related to the Covid-19 pandemic, work-from-home requirements, and advances in healthcare and industrial applications.
These factors, along with the growing adoption of electric vehicles and in-car intelligence, are driving investments in leading-edge design node technology and capacity expansions.


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Google has now officially confirmed the nickname for Android N as 'Android 7.0 Nougat' via its YouTube channel, which is in line with its traditional dessert-based naming-convention. The Android maker announced the new dessert name in its recent tweet which also accompanied the picture of a statue depicting a bugdroid standing on a huge pile of Nougats.
With the Android maker seemingly not concerned about the importance of dessert-based nicknames, the Android naming convention seems of less prominence. Nevertheless, it continues the familiar version-number pattern starting from Android 1.0 through Android 7.0.
HTC announces arrival of Android Nougat for premium smartphones
In related news, HTC has announced the arrival of Android Nougat upgrade for HTC 10 flagship, One M9 and the sleeker One A9. Here is what the company posted on its official Twitter account while announcing the new Android upgrade.
One closer look at the enclosed image in the tweet suggests that the release time of the update as well as the announcement details for other HTC devices will be revealed later this year when Google rolls out Nougat AOSP code to manufacturers.
Note: HTC One M8 will miss the Nougat update as the company has dropped it from the list, especially given the fact that it is a 2014 device (almost two years old).
We could expect other major handset makers to offer similar promises as the public release of Android Nougat draws closer. It may be recalled that HTC had made a similar commitment earlier this year, before Android N got its official nickname and we could count this announcement as a double assurance to HTC fans.


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Advanced digital audio ad network TargetSpot has partnered with Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (SBS) (OTCQX: SBSAA), the largest publicly traded Hispanic-controlled media and entertainment company in the United States, the company said.
TargetSpot will be the exclusive third party sales network for all of SBS´s Spanish Radio streaming inventory.
According to a survey executed by Oh!Panel in May 2016, 97% of all US Hispanic Americans are reached by radio every week, the highest penetration that Nielsen measures across demographics, ethnicities and platforms. The average US Hispanic listener spends at least two to three hours a day with Internet radio.
The survey also looked at the role of advertising, revealing that 69% of respondents have bought at least one product pitched on online radio in the past year. An even more impressive 44% said they have bought between two and five products advertised in online radio.
Thanks to this partnership, SBS will have access to the most advanced targeting technology of the TargetSpot network as well as the most effective network sales extension to monetize their audience.
The expanded partnership gives TargetSpot one of the largest footprints among Hispanics in digital audio and enables its advertising partners to reachms of additional Hispanic listeners across multiple devices.